A reporter and cameraman for Australian news agency 7News were caught in the crossfire following Donald Trump's national address, with one officer lashing out and punching cameraman Tim Myers' equipment as police attempted to clear the road for the President.
7News US correspondent Amelia Brace and Myers had "nowhere to go" as police cleared a path for the President following his address outside the gates of the White House on Monday evening (local time).
While reporting for Sunrise, Myers captured the moment an officer viciously punched his camera as Brace screamed out mid-report. The attack, which was broadcast live to viewers, ended as the equipment fell to the ground.
The officer's violent response came as chaos erupted on the streets of Washington DC following Trump's controversial response to America's widespread riots, incited by the alleged murder of African American George Floyd by a white police officer last Monday.
Speaking to Sunrise following the incident, Brace said the two are feeling okay after the sudden attack, but both will "have a few bruises tomorrow".
Footage from a different angle shows the officer violently throwing his shield at Myers before a second officer intervenes, pulling his colleague away and gesturing for the pair to move along.
As Brace and Myers duck and hurry away, a third officer can be seen striking Brace across the back with a baton.
"We're not too bad... it's actually the tear gas that gets you the most," Brace told Sunrise presenters David Koch and Sam Armytage following the ordeal.
"We're a bit sore. I also managed to get a rubber bullet to the backside and Tim got one to the back of the neck. We'll have a few bruises tomorrow but we're feeling perfectly safe."
When replaying the footage of the officer's assault on Myers, Koch exclaimed: "The poor bugger got smashed!"
Laughing, Brace said the cameraman shielded her from the attack and she was "very grateful".
"I definitely felt very comfortable with him leading me out of there," she continued, referring to Myers' experience in major war zones throughout his career.
"There really was no escape. We had the National Guard behind us and those police coming through so quickly... there was really no choice for us but to hide in that corner, hoping they would pass us by. As you can see, they did not."
Armytage noted that usually in these situations, officers would distinguish between media and protesters - "but in America right now, they're not," she said.
In his address, Trump threatened to deploy the US military and "heavily armed soldiers" to combat the protests flaring in Washington DC, the sounds of which could be heard in the background as the President delivered his speech.
On Monday, May 25, four officers were called to arrest 46-year-old George Floyd on suspicion of forgery. An onlooker filmed white officer Derek Chauvin pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for roughly eight minutes. The footage captured Floyd pleading for air, repeating, "I can't breathe". Floyd was pronounced dead shortly after.
Footage of the incident has caused international outrage and incited widespread riots and protests across the United States. All four officers involved in the arrest have been fired, and on Friday, Chauvin - the 44-year-old Caucasian officer at the centre of numerous conduct complaints throughout his career - was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
The Minneapolis police department claimed Floyd had been "physically resisting officers", although video captured by citizens and surveillance footage shows no evidence of Floyd fighting the arrest.
Floyd's alleged murder is the latest case to be adopted by the Black Lives Matter movement in protest of deep-seated inequality and ingrained, systemic racism in the US.
On Monday morning (NZ time), results from Floyd's autopsy revealed the man had died by asphyxiation.
