South Salem HS student covering Portland protests for her school newspaper

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    PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) — Protests have continued in downtown Portland for more than 50 days, and now with a federal presence, media outlets from across the country have come to Portland to cover what’s happening.

Some of the youngest journalists are coming into town to cover the protests as well.

Eddy Binford-Ross is a rising senior at South Salem High School who has been driving up to Portland to report for her school’s paper, The Clypian.

She says it’s been a scary experience, but she wants to be here to document history.

Binford-Ross said she has had stun grenades thrown toward her three times.

“They kind of just lobbed it over the wall of the federal building and it came within 10 feet of us. It’s scary, it’s deafening, it’s momentarily blinding,” she said.

The South Salem High School reporter has been live tweeting the protests.

“So I’ve been covering the protests in Salem since the beginning at the end of May,” said Binford-Ross. “I made the decision on Friday that this is something I should go see for myself, go report on. I went up Friday and I’ve been up every night since.”

Binford-Ross’s journalism teacher Brian Eriksen tells FOX 12 she’s the editor-in-chief for The Clypian.

For the last few nights, she’s been driving up from Salem to cover the rising tensions between protesters and federal officers.

“It was all Eddy’s idea. As an advisor, we definitely guide and let them know what’s legal and not legal of course, but it’s the students’ decision to find stories and come up with coverage and she’s definitely come up with an amazing story and she’s really stayed with it and it’s so cool to see,” Eriksen said.

Eriksen says as a student journalist, it’s experience like this that will help shape her career.

“I’d like her to be safe, and it seems like she is doing all the right things. This experience is amazing. She’s going to have a story to tell when this is all done,” he said.

While it’s been frightening at times, Binford-Ross says it’s important for her as a journalist to witness this firsthand.

“I’m just trying to create a historical record of what’s going on because this is a monumental movement in our history,” she said.

Binford-Ross has been coming out with her parents since Friday night to cover the protests and says she’ll be out here again Tuesday to report on what’s happening downtown.

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