Raleigh, NC – Indy Week, a progressive, liberal newspaper based out of Raleigh had a rude awakening this weekend as their offices were ransacked by rioters and their pro-riot editor Leigh Tauss was forced to hide in the basement. Tauss had been covering the protests, which had gone from peaceful to a full-fledged riot within hours Saturday night. As the situation turned Tauss, realized rioters had turned their attention to the Indy Week offices.
“I went into the hallway. I heard someone l enter the office and what sounded like smashing inside. We are a small newspaper with a handful of desktops. I’m now hiding in the basement,” she said. Like President Donald J. Trump, she took shelter in the office basement while rioters ransacked the entire office.
Leigh continued covering the protests, even getting hit with a flash-bang grenade in the knee at one point.
Indy Week is a progressive, liberal newspaper that serves the Research Triangle region of North Carolina between Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
“I’m devastated. We are a progressive newspaper. Last night I was inside when the first brick was thrown,” she lamented the next morning.
Rioters in Raliegh protested with police, setting fires and damaging businesses in the downtown center.
The paper often has an anti-police tone. In one story recently about products on e-Bay, here’s what the paper said about people who collect police patches.
“I get that there are collectors of police patches, but I can’t decide if the idea of someone who wants to get that police-station ambiance into their home is hilarious or terrifying,” the article read.
I’m devastated. We are a progressive newspaper. Last night I was inside when the first brick was thrown #Raleigh pic.twitter.com/MJvPdscyqf
— Leigh Tauss (@LeighTauss) May 31, 2020