Afterwards, Lt. Joe McHugh of the Coral Springs Police Department identified the man as one of his officers and defended his actions. “The reporter was running up along the side of the bus with no identification on identifying herself as a reporter,” McHugh said. “So the officer stuck his arm out to prevent her from getting to Mr. Cain and at which time he was successful.”

Boerma was not wearing press tags but was carrying a video camera with a plainly visible CBS decal. She is a member of a team of reporters covering the presidential candidates for National Journal and CBS News.

McHugh said the officer, Sgt. William Reid, suffered a hyperextended elbow.

This is not the first time journalists have been roughed up while covering Cain. On Tuesday, a Washington Post writer reported being shoved by the candidate’s bodyguards. As Cain has risen in the polls and become the center of heightened scrutiny, his campaign has struggled to control the sometimes overzealous crowds he attracts. Campaign spokesman JD Gordon, who witnessed part of the incident, said the campaign is "reviewing our own internal security procedures and we will work closely with our state directors and local hosts and security to ensure that we can protect the candidate and staff while at the same time avoiding incidents like the one today.”

Gordon, who along with several colleagues called Boerma to apologize after the incident, said she did not do anything wrong. “She did not, but other reporters have in the past,” he said. “So the police just did what they had to do given the crowd size and the pace of event so I wouldn’t fault anybody. Hopefully, we can have more clarity moving forward.”

National Journal Editor in Chief Ron Fournier said: “Lindsey and dozens of reporters from other news organizations are covering the Cain campaign thoroughly and professionally, and they deserve no less professional treatment from those involved in campaign events.”

Lindsey Boerma and Ron Fournier contributed

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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