Zane Sparling always wanted to be where the story was. That’s how he found himself on the receiving end of a police baton while reporting on a raucous protest in downtown Portland during the spring of 2020. As a cluster of police came charging forward, Sparling called out to the advancing officers that he was a reporter. One replied, in vulgar terms, that he didn’t care and proceeded to shove Sparling and sent him flying — an episode Sparling captured on video.