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APP reporter arrested at Asbury Park George Floyd protest

Andrew J. Goudsward
Asbury Park Press

ASBURY PARK - An Asbury Park Press reporter was arrested covering a protest in the city Monday night denouncing police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death

Gustavo Martínez Contreras, who was covering the rally for the Press, was streaming the protest live on Twitter, when officers closed in to clear the street of protesters that stayed out past a citywide curfew. 

Martínez Contreras' video ends with an officer yelling "you're under arrest" and "get your f---ing hands behind your back."

Watch the video above.

A news photographer later captured an image of Martínez Contreras being loaded into a police van.

Moments before, officers in riot gear began clearing the streets of downtown after warning protesters they were in violation of the 8 p.m. curfew. The video posted by Martínez Contreras showed officers beginning to arrest several other protesters who remained in the street.

Gustavo Martínez Contreras

One woman was pushed to the ground as officers arrested a man nearby, footage posted by Martínez Contreras shows.

A police helicopter could be heard whirring overhead.

Asbury Park police later said one officer was injured after demonstrators hurled rocks at officers ordering them to go home. 

Martínez Contreras was transported to the Belmar Police Department and issued a summons for failing to obey an order to disperse. He was released from police custody early Tuesday morning.

Authorities later said the charges would be dropped and state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal apologized for the arrest.

Column:  Arrest of APP reporter covering Asbury Park protest part of a troubling trend

Officers ultimately arrested 12 people, including two juveniles, police said.

Thousands of protesters had gathered at the Asbury Park Post Office earlier in the evening to denounce police brutality in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis last week.

Asbury Park officials imposed an 8 p.m. curfew earlier in the day in anticipation of the protest. The curfew exempted credentialed members of the media.

The demonstration remained peaceful as demonstrators first gathered at the Asbury Park Post Office and later marched through the streets of downtown, chanting "Black Lives Matter" and "enough is enough."

But the mood grew increasingly tense as the night wore on. Protesters engaged in heated exchanges with officers outside the Asbury Park Police Department. 

Tension boiled over when officers in riot gear moved in to clear the streets.