Shawkan was arrested on August 14, 2013 during protests against the government. More than 1000 people were killed and many protesters were arrested. Two other journalists were arrested at the same time, one from France and one from the United States. The foreign journalists were freed quickly, but Shawkan was charged with weapons possession, illegal assembly, murder and attempted murder. One of the other journalists, Mike Giglio, said Shawkan only had a camera.