Expenses for Reno Reporter Who Was Assaulted

Photo: Don reporting from the White House earlier this year.

Don while being attacked on May 30, 2020 in downtown Reno, Nevada.

Please help our friend and colleague Donnell Dike-Anukam recover from a violent attack while he was reporting on riots in downtown Reno, Nevada on May 30, 2020. This fundraiser is being organized by Bob Conrad, publisher and editor of This Is Reno with support from the TIR team.

Don, who volunteers as a reporter for the independent, locally owned news source, This Is Reno, was assaulted while trying to film rioters breaking into City Hall.

His attackers remain at large.

Don suffered a concussion during the melee. He had medical visits and  had to purchase new glasses that were destroyed when he was struck multiple times by separate people. He has not been able to work normally since that night.

We are raising funds to cover his medical expenses and life expenses that arose from this incident. We are seeking $5,000 in funding but hope that reaching $3,000 is more doable given Reno's current unemployment situation and dire economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

Video evidence shows he was likely attacked for wearing his media badge, since others, including his attackers, were filming at the scene.

Read about the incident

In a personal account of the attack for the National Press Club, Dike-Anukam wrote that his heart, too, was broken by the events of May 30. He noted the irony of a Black journalist being assaulted while covering a protest in response to the killing of Floyd, an unarmed Black man.

But the assault didn’t blunt his dedication to journalism. “I am not deterred, scared, or less in love with this profession,” he wrote. (Excerpt from the US Press Freedom Tracker .)

Don's account: https://www.press.org/newsroom/student-member-gives-first-person-account-being-injured 

This Is Reno: https://thisisreno.com/2020/05/riots-in-reno-after-peaceful-black-lives-matter-demonstration-videos-and-photos/

This Is Reno: https://thisisreno.com/2020/06/chief-mayor-vow-changes-after-police-prevented-reporters-from-covering-homeless-sweep/

Reno Gazette Journal: https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2020/06/15/journalist-attacked-black-lives-matter-protest-reno-city-hall/3149426001/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Hd_p7Nhk8

Podcast: https://thisisreno.com/2020/06/podcast-reno-responds-to-george-floyds-death/

Capitol Public Radio: https://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/06/05/the-movement-for-black-lives-marches-on-in-reno/

Press Freedom Tracker: https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-while-covering-protests-reno/