Journalists under attack while covering U.S. protests over death of George Floyd

Two members of a Reuters TV crew were hit by rubber bullets, and a photographer's camera was smashed in Minneapolis on Saturday night, the news agency reported.

Footage taken by cameraman Julio-Cesar Chavez showed a police officer aiming directly at him as police fired rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse about 500 protesters in the southwest of the city shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew, according to Reuters.

"A police officer that I'm filming turns around, points his rubber-bullet rifle straight at me," said Chavez.             

Minutes later, Chavez and Reuters' security adviser Rodney Seward were struck by rubber bullets as they took cover at a nearby gas station.

Attacks and assaults on journalists covering the George Floyd protests in the U.S. have intensified as protests raged across the U.S. There have been about 10 reported incidents of journalists getting injured or threatened, according to incomplete statistics.