Police forcibly removed a Christian Science Monitor correspondent and his Chinese assistant from covering a meeting in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, between local officials and angry bereaved parents of children who died in the Juyuan middle school.
Several riot police, one regular police officer and a man in plain clothes pushed and shoved correspondent Peter Ford and his assistant out of the meeting as it was getting started, telling them it was a “special moment” and they had to leave for their own safety. The reporting team snuck back in 20 minutes later.
After another 20 minutes, police spotted Ford and told him, “This area is under police control, you must leave immediately.” He and his assistant left the gathering.