Brent Renaud, US Journalist, Shot Dead In Ukraine
Under the Geneva Conventions, journalists working in conflict zones are regarded as civilians, meaning targeted attacks against them constitute war crimes. Earlier this month, a team of journalists with Britain’s Sky News came under a suspected Russian ambush despite repeatedly identifying themselves. Correspondent Stuart Ramsay was shot and wounded, and the crew was subsequently evacuated to the UK.
Carlos Martinez de la Serna, program director with the Committee to Protect Journalists, on Sunday condemned Renaud’s killing and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of the death of US journalist Brent Renaud in Ukraine. This kind of attack is totally unacceptable, and is a violation of international law,” Martinez de la Serna said in a statement. “Russian forces in Ukraine must stop all violence against journalists and other civilians at once, and whoever killed Renaud should be held to account.”
In 2015, Renaud and his brother, Craig, won a Peabody Award for their Vice News documentary Last Chance Highwhich was praised for its “uncompromising look at school violence and its compassionate depiction” of troubled public school students with severe emotional disorders.
Renaud, who was from Little Rock, Arkansas, was also made a Nieman Fellow in 2019 by Harvard University. Ann Marie Lipinski, curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, said the Nieman community was heartsick to learn of his death. “Our Nieman Fellow Brent Renaud was gifted and kind, and his work was infused with humanity,” she wrote on Twitter