5 Seattle media outlets have to hand over their unpublished photos from a George Floyd protest to help police investigate suspected crimes, judge rules

• Five Seattle news outlets have been ordered to turn over unpublished videos and photos from a May 30 racial-justice protest to the city's police department, according to The Seattle Times.
• A judge ruled that the media were not protected by a state shielding law, and sided with police who argued that the materials are "critical" to their case, the paper reported.
• The Seattle Times newspaper and local TV stations KIRO 7, KING 5, KOMO 4 and KCPQ 13 will now have to hand over their pictures and footage, both published and unpublished, to the police.
• Police will now be able to use the images in their investigation into suspected arson and firearm theft on May 30, but not in connection with any other investigations, The Seattle Times said.
• The media outlets contested the case, saying it compromises their independence and their ability to cover protests safely, according to The Associated Press.

Media outlets in Seattle have been ordered to hand over unpublished photos and videos from a May 30 protest to aid police in their investigation into suspected crimes, according to multiple reports.

King County Superior Court Judge Nelson Lee ruled on Thursday that a police subpoena for the materials was enforceable, The Seattle Times reported.

News outlets opposed the subpoena, arguing that it would compromise their independence and would endanger their employees.

News organizations in Washington state are usually protected by a shield law that, in most cases, prevents them from having to hand over documents to law enforcement, according to The Associated Press (AP).

However, Judge Lee said that the materials police sought were critical for their investigation into the alleged theft of police guns and suspected arson to police vehicles, thus removing the protections of the shield law, the paper reported.

Seattle Police Department issued a subpoena on June 16 to The Seattle Times newspaper, as well as local TV stations KIRO 7, KING 5, KOMO 4 and KCPQ 13, asking for all footage and pictures — published and unpublished — taken at a protest on May 30.

Seattle Times Executive Editor Michele Matassa Flores told the court that she believes "it puts our independence, and even our staff's physical safety, at risk," the paper reported.

"The media exist in large part to hold governments, including law enforcement agencies, accountable to the public," said Matassa Flores.

"We don't work in concert with government, and it's important to our credibility and effectiveness to retain our independence from those we cover."

In an earlier declaration to the court, Seattle Times Assistant Managing Editor Danny Gawlowski said that reporters already regularly have to explain to protesters that they are independent from the government, the AP reported.

One of the paper's photographers had been punched in the face by a protester, Gawlowski said.

But Lee said that the situation had met the conditions to remove the shield law protections. He said the pictures and photographs were "highly material and relevant" and "critical or necessary" to solving a case that has high value ot the public.

In the subpoena, police said that on the night of May 30, six police vehicles were heavily vandalized and several loaded firearms were stolen from them. Some were recovered, but two of them — a Colt M4 carbine rifle and a Glock Model 43 semi-automatic pistol, both loaded — are still missing, the subpoena said.

Two protesters also used an aerosol and a lighter to set fire to five police cars, the subpoena alleged.

The protests that day, in reaction to the police killing of George Floyd, were described as largely peaceful at the outset, according to a contemporaneous report from The Seattle Times.

However, as evening set in, the city requested National Guard troops to quell increasingly chaotic demonstrations, the outlet reported.

Lee did place some restrictions around his ruling, however.

According to The Seattle Times, police can only use the materials for the arson and gun theft investigations, even if the materials contain evidence of lesser crimes. Reporters will also not have to hand over videos and photos taken from their cell phones.

Police said they had exhausted all other avenues in their investigations, another condition necessary to the case.

The media companies have not decided yet if they will appeal, according to The Seattle Times.