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{
"title": "Citizen journalist arrested for publishing information before local police",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/citizen-journalist-arrested-after-publishing-information-local-police/",
"first_published_at": "2018-01-16T11:18:12.499836Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-10T19:38:54.249631Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-10T19:38:54.018475Z",
"date": "2017-12-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Laredo",
"longitude": -99.50754,
"latitude": 27.50641,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5u5sd\">Citizen journalist Priscilla Villarreal was arrested by the Laredo Police Department and charged with two felony counts of “misuse of official information” on Dec. 13, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"v0llr\">Villarreal — an independent journalist based in Laredo, Texas, who is often known by her nickname “La Gordiloca” — published the name of a Border Patrol agent who died by suicide on her Facebook page in April, before the Laredo Police Department’s official release about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"e10la\">The Laredo Morning Times <a href=\"http://www.lmtonline.com/local/crime/article/Cop-eyed-in-La-Gordiloca-case-12433615.php\">reported</a> on Dec. 15 that a veteran patrol officer, Barbara J. Goodman, provided the name of the agent to Villarreal, but the journalist denies Goodman was her source. Investigators obtained subpoenas for the phone records of both Villarreal and Goodman.</p><p data-block-key=\"gfeyp\">“Misuse of official information” charges in Texas require that a person obtain nonpublic information from a public official and disseminate it with the intention of benefiting or harming another entity. Authorities argued in the criminal complaint filed against Villarreal that she benefited from publishing the agent’s name by gaining Facebook followers.</p><p data-block-key=\"3wtcu\">Texas Monthly <a href=\"https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/lagordilocas-arrest-laredo/\">reported</a> that the complaint reads, “Villarreal’s access to this information and releasing it on ‘Lagordiloca News Laredo Tx,’ before the official release by the Laredo Police Department Public Information Officer placed her ‘Facebook’ page ahead of the local official news media which in turn gained her popularity in Facebook.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pd2a2\"><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/22/popular-texas-blogger-scooped-police-on-a-story-so-they-charged-her-with-2-felonies/?utm_term=.35272202a4c9\">According to The Washington Post</a>, Villarreal turned herself in voluntarily after a warrant was issued for her arrest, but believes she is innocent of wrongdoing and that the police are attempting to silence her reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"cthz0\">Villarreal and her legal representation were not immediately available for comment.</p></div>",
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"case_number": "5:19-cv-00048",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
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"updates": [
"(2018-03-28 13:51:00+00:00) Charges dismissed",
"(2024-01-23 11:56:00+00:00) Divided federal appeals court won’t revive Texas journalist’s lawsuit",
"(2021-11-01 00:00:00+00:00) Court of Appeals overturns ruling dismissing citizen journalist’s lawsuit",
"(2024-10-15 17:10:00+00:00) Supreme Court revives Texas journalist’s arrest-related lawsuit",
"(2019-04-08 14:41:00+00:00) Citizen journalist sues for damages following alleged unlawful 2017 arrest",
"(2025-04-08 00:00:00+00:00) Appeals court again dismisses Texas journalist’s arrest-related lawsuit"
],
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"dismissed"
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"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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"Priscilla Villarreal (Independent)"
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{
"title": "Roy Moore campaign bans Washington Post reporters from election watch party",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/roy-moore-campaign-bans-washington-post-reporters-election-watch-party/",
"first_published_at": "2017-12-13T19:43:19.102438Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T19:38:29.549560Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T19:38:29.450570Z",
"date": "2017-12-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Montgomery",
"longitude": -86.29997,
"latitude": 32.36681,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9yzum\">Reporters for the Washington Post were barred from entering an election-night party for Republican senate candidate Roy Moore in Montgomery, Alabama, on Dec. 12, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"21tkj\">“We were denied credentials and when our reporters asked to enter they were told no,” the paper said in a statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"3c7dl\">Hannah Ford, a spokeswoman for the Moore campaign, confirmed to The Associated Press that the Moore campaign had deliberately denied the Post's request for press credentials to cover the Moore election-night party.</p><p data-block-key=\"ss1ri\">Ford <a href=\"https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/364560-washington-post-press-credentials-revoked-at-moore-event/\">told The Hill</a> that a Post reporter who “didn’t get the memo” about the press credentials being denied tried to enter the Moore party and was denied entry.</p><p data-block-key=\"tg1w3\">Asked by The Hill why the campaign revoked the Post’s press credentials, Ford replied, “No comment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gqseh\">The Washington Post was the first news outlet to report on allegations of sexual misconduct against Roy Moore, on Nov. 8. After that report was published, Moore criticized the Washington Post and even threatened to sue the paper and other news organizations that reported on the allegations.</p><p data-block-key=\"6t097\">The election-night party was not the only Moore campaign event that Washington Post reporters were banned from.</p><p data-block-key=\"ii5a8\">Ford <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/washington-post-reporters-barred-from-roy-moore-election-night-party\">told Fox News</a> that Washington Post reporters were asked to leave a rally in Midland City, Alabama, on Dec. 11.</p><p data-block-key=\"vjfyh\">On Dec. 12, Moore narrowly lost the special election to Democrat Doug Jones.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Alabama",
"abbreviation": "AL"
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"The Washington Post"
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"election"
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{
"title": "Iowa judge orders Des Moines Register not to publish article about attorney",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/iowa-judge-orders-des-moines-register-not-publish-article-about-attorney/",
"first_published_at": "2018-01-02T20:48:36.329233Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-07T14:23:43.385191Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-07T14:23:43.256101Z",
"date": "2017-12-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Des Moines",
"longitude": -93.60911,
"latitude": 41.60054,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0iikb\">On Dec. 11, 2017, Iowa Supreme Court Judge David Wiggins issued an order prohibiting The Des Moines Register and reporter Clark Kauffman from publishing information obtained legally through court records. On Dec. 19, Wiggins lifted the stay.</p><p data-block-key=\"r9hqx\">The temporary stay issued by Justice David Wiggins <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/legal-us-otc-priorrestraint/can-privacy-trump-first-amendment-in-iowa-supreme-court-case-v-des-moines-register-idUSKBN1EC2TG/\">blocked</a> the newspaper from <a href=\"https://apnews.com/general-news-national-national-4b3ea9382f604eaeb1b9499d8de26bf1\">publishing information</a> about Des Moines attorney Jaysen McCleary obtained from <a href=\"https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2017/12/15/iowa-supreme-court-justice-blocks-registers-use-court-records/952852001/\">private medical records</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jpozg\">“A temporary stay is imposed until the supreme court rules on McCleary's combined applications,” Wiggins wrote in the order. “Pending further order from this court, the defendants shall not disclose or share (other than with legal counsel) any information in the defendants’ possession that was obtained exclusively from the reports.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xz1z0\">The records in question were first made public in July 2017, when they were filed by McCleary’s attorney as part of a personal injury suit that he brought against the city of Des Moines (<i>Jaysen McCleary v. City of Des Moine</i>s). The records probably should have been filed under seal, but they were not, which meant that any member of the public could (theoretically) access them.</p><p data-block-key=\"8m0iu\">McCleary told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the records containing his private information were mistakenly attached to expert reports that were filed publicly by his attorney. </p><p data-block-key=\"v2efu\">In November, Des Moines Register reporter Clark Kauffman obtained a copy of the private records and asked McCleary for comment about them. Soon after, McCleary settled with the city of Des Moines and asked for <i>McCleary v. City of Des Moines</i> to be dismissed.</p><p data-block-key=\"973if\">On Nov. 16, McCleary filed a motion in <i>McCleary v. City of Des Moine</i>s, asking the District Court to seal the expert reports containing his private records. District Court judge Jeffrey Farrell granted the motion and issued a protective order. The protective order prohibits the parties in <i>McCleary v. City of Des Moines</i> — i.e., McCleary, the city of Des Moines, and their attorneys — from disseminating the sealed records to the public. The order also requires that any “third parties” in possession of the sealed records destroy them. </p><p data-block-key=\"znvi2\">On Nov. 27, McCleary sued Kauffman and the Register in District Court (<i>McCleary v. Kauffman</i>), claiming that Kauffman conspired with the city of Des Moines to defame him and damage his reputation.</p><p data-block-key=\"hlhd2\">McCleary then filed a motion in <i>McCleary v. Kauffman</i> asking for a temporary injunction. McCleary asked the court to order the Register not to publish any articles including information gleaned from his medical records. He also argued that the paper had violated the protective order issued in <i>McCleary v. City of Des Moines</i>, which instructed “third parties” in possession of the records to destroy them.</p><p data-block-key=\"l46oq\">On Dec. 7, District Court judge Eliza Ovrom denied the motion for a temporary injunction, ruling that the Register was not subject to the protective order.</p><p data-block-key=\"adx3m\">“Mr. McCleary alleges that Clark Kauffman obtained copies of said reports during the period they were part of the public court file,” Ovrom wrote in her order. “Even if true, this court cannot enjoin publication of the reports, as such an injunction would violate the First Amendment and Article I, Section 7. Moreover, the defendants in this case were not parties to [<i>McCleary v. City of Des Moines</i>], and are not bound by orders in that case.”</p><p data-block-key=\"umblk\">On Dec. 8, McCleary filed an application to show cause in <i>McCleary v. City of Des Moines</i>, essentially asking District Court judge Farrell to hold the Register in contempt of court for violating the protective order.</p><p data-block-key=\"zjkfm\">Farrell denied the motion on the grounds that the Register was not subject to the protective order.</p><p data-block-key=\"rgw4s\">“The application must be denied for the same reasons noted by Judge Ovrom,” Farrell wrote. “Neither Mr. Kauffman nor the Register are parties to this case, and thus, neither are subject to the protective order. As a result, the application is denied.”</p><p data-block-key=\"thuo7\">McCleary appealed both District Court decisions to the <a href=\"https://static.reuters.com/resources/media/editorial/20171219/mcclearyvregister--registerbrief12.15.17.pdf#page=39\">Iowa Supreme Court</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"hrv88\">On Dec. 11, Wiggins ordered that the Register not publish the records until court had ruled on McCleary’s appeal. </p><p data-block-key=\"l2tsb\">Wiggins may have seen the order as a typical procedural ruling, intended to ensure that the Iowa Supreme Court had a chance to consider the merits of McCleary’s appeal before the Register published the records.</p><p data-block-key=\"v426d\">But whatever his intention, Wiggins’ order had serious First Amendment implications. The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly ruled that the First Amendment prohibits the government from preventing a newspaper from publishing information, barring extraordinary circumstances in which national security is at stake.</p><p data-block-key=\"j8m55\">On Dec. 19, after the Register had filed a response to McCleary's appeal and McCleary had filed a reply to the response, Wiggins <a href=\"https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2017/12/19/iowa-supreme-court-justice-lifts-prior-restraint-order-against-des-moines-register/965110001/\">lifted</a> the stay and <a href=\"https://apnews.com/general-news-c8229b0118234499a006f30ed24c8cd9\">issued an order</a> denying McCleary’s appeal. </p><p data-block-key=\"32oxd\">Wiggins defended his decision to issue the temporary stay.</p><p data-block-key=\"8td6m\">“The stay was strictly temporary in nature, its duration limited to the time necessary for the filing of the defendants’ response, the plaintiff’s reply, and this court’s entry of a ruling on the plaintiff’s combined applications,” he wrote in the order.</p><p data-block-key=\"cfkd8\">McCleary then asked a three-judge panel to review Wiggins’ decision, but the panel affirmed Wiggins’ ruling and denied McCleary’s appeal.</p><p data-block-key=\"4aswh\">McCleary told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he now plans to appeal his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qjst\">On Dec. 20, the Register published an <a href=\"https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/12/20/lawyer-mental-disabilities-tried-stop-register-publishing-story-him-and-seal-recordsprior-restraint/965918001/\">article</a> about McCleary that included information obtained from his medical records.</p></div>",
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"name": "Iowa",
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{
"title": "Donald Trump says Washington Post should fire reporter Dave Weigel",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/donald-trump-says-washington-post-should-fire-reporter-dave-weigel/",
"first_published_at": "2017-12-10T23:56:16.947979Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T19:59:55.475284Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T19:59:55.391427Z",
"date": "2017-12-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f56z3\">On Dec. 9, 2017, President Trump tweeted that Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel “should be fired” for tweeting a misleading photo of a Trump rally in Florida.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/daveweigel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@daveweigel</a> of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on T.V.). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired.</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/939634404267380736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 9, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o529n\">The controversy began on the morning of Dec. 9, when Trump thanked his supporters for attending a rally the previous night in Pensacola, Florida. Trump tweeted that the “arena was packed to the rafters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3prly\">Weigel then tweeted a screenshot of the president’s tweet, alongside photos showing a largely empty arena, implying that the president had exaggerated the size of the crowd at the Pensacola rally.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mhdn\">The photos were misleading, though, having been taken before the president’s speech began. Trump later tweeted photos of the speech, taken during his speech, that showed a much larger crowd in the arena.</p><p data-block-key=\"sub2z\">Weigel deleted the tweet once he realized his mistake, and he later apologized for the misleading tweet.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">GREAT EVENING last night in Pensacola, Florida. Arena was packed to the rafters, the crowd was loud, loving and really smart. They definitely get what’s going on. Thank you Pensacola!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/939475127552618496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 9, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\r\n\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/daveweigel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DaveWeigel</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/washingtonpost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WashingtonPost</a> put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/ thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo! <a href=\"https://t.co/XAblFGh1ob\">pic.twitter.com/XAblFGh1ob</a></p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/939616077356642304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 9, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\r\n\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sure thing: I apologize. I deleted the photo after <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dmartosko?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@dmartosko</a> told me I'd gotten it wrong. Was confused by the image of you walking in the bottom right corner. <a href=\"https://t.co/fQY7GMNSaD\">https://t.co/fQY7GMNSaD</a></p>— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/939616810684514304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 9, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yh9tj\">“Dave Weigel relied on an inaccurate image in tweeting about President Trump’s rally in Pensacola,” the Washington Post’s V.P. of communications <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/president-trump-calls-for-washington-post-reporter-who-apologized-for-inaccurate-tweet-to-be-fired/2017/12/09/2fb467de-dd4b-11e7-b1a8-62589434a581_story.html\">said</a> in a statement. “When others pointed out the mistake to Weigel, he quickly deleted the tweet. And when he was later addressed by the president on Twitter, he promptly apologized for it.”</p></div>",
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{
"title": "President Trump says ABC News reporter Brian Ross should be fired",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/president-trump-says-abc-news-reporter-brian-ross-should-be-fired/",
"first_published_at": "2017-12-10T23:28:42.778484Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T20:04:23.043006Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T20:04:22.965871Z",
"date": "2017-12-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6aamp\">On Dec. 9, 2017, President Trump tweeted that ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross “should be immediately fired.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Fake News CNN made a vicious and purposeful mistake yesterday. They were caught red handed, just like lonely Brian Ross at ABC News (who should be immediately fired for his “mistake”). Watch to see if <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CNN</a> fires those responsible, or was it just gross incompetence?</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/939480342779580416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 9, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s5nie\">In the tweet, Trump criticized both Ross and CNN for misreporting news stories related to the ongoing Russia investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"3z3q1\">On Dec. 1, Ross incorrectly reported that Trump, while a presidential candidate in 2016, had directed campaign adviser Michael Flynn to reach out to the Russian government. ABC News later acknowledged that the story as reported was inaccurate, because Trump had already won the election — making him president-elect, not just a presidential candidate — at the time when he directed Flynn to contact the Russians. </p><p data-block-key=\"n5fg7\">After correcting the story, ABC News <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/12/03/abc-news-apologizes-for-serious-error-in-trump-report-suspends-brian-ross-for-four-weeks/\">suspended</a> Ross for four weeks and <a href=\"https://money.cnn.com/2017/12/04/media/abc-news-president-brian-ross-flynn-correction/index.html\">announced</a> that he would no longer report on stories related to Trump.</p><p data-block-key=\"0uiwc\">On Dec. 8, CNN reported that Donald Trump, Jr. had <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/08/politics/email-effort-give-trump-campaign-wikileaks-documents/index.html\">received</a> an email that included a link to documents that were publicly released by WikiLeaks on Sept. 14, 2016. CNN initially reported that the email had been sent on Sept. 4 — suggesting that the Trump campaign had received access to the documents nine days before the documents were made public. The story was inaccurate, and CNN later corrected it to say that the email was actually sent to Trump, Jr. the same day the documents were released to the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"k3i3j\">In a statement, CNN said that its reporters had followed editorial guidelines and would not be disciplined.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Mexican reporter Emilio Gutiérrez Soto detained by ICE while appealing denial of asylum",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/mexican-reporter-emilio-gutierrez-detained-ice-while-appealing-denial-asylum/",
"first_published_at": "2018-01-16T09:23:06.443374Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-18T20:11:12.040754Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-18T20:11:11.940438Z",
"date": "2017-12-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Las Cruces",
"longitude": -106.77834,
"latitude": 32.31232,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"soi0g\">Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, a Mexican journalist who fled to the United States seeking asylum in 2008, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Dec. 7, 2017, in El Paso, Texas.</p><p data-block-key=\"251su\">Gutiérrez worked for approximately 25 years as a correspondent in Mexico. He said in May 2008 that approximately 50 armed soldiers entered his home without a permit, claiming they were searching for “weapons or drugs,” but left after finding no evidence of unlawful activity. At the time, he was writing for the Chihuahua-based El Diario del Noroeste.</p><p data-block-key=\"9o791\">In June 2008, he said, a source informed him that he was on a “hit list” due to his reporting on the military, and he fled Mexico with his then-15-year-old son, Oscar.</p><p data-block-key=\"bl81f\">Eduardo Beckett, Gutiérrez’s attorney, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) that Gutiérrez was offered physical protection by the Mexican government but declined it because he doubted the government’s ability to effectively protect him.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mu8a\">In 2008, Gutiérrez claimed political asylum at a border checkpoint in Columbus, New Mexico, and he and his son were taken to separate detention facilities in El Paso, Texas. His son was released to family in the United States in August 2008, and Gutiérrez was<a href=\"https://rsf.org/en/after-freeing-mexican-journalist-us-authorities-urged-grant-his-asylum-request\"> released</a> in January 2009.</p><p data-block-key=\"48m8i\">While awaiting an asylum decision, Gutiérrez and his son settled in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and regularly completed their required check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.</p><p data-block-key=\"5g9ot\">On July 19, 2017, nearly a decade after Gutiérrez’s original application for asylum, El Paso immigration judge Robert Hough denied his asylum request, ruling that Gutiérrez’s testimony was not credible, he had not sufficiently established fear of torture, and he had failed to show that the Mexican government could not protect him.</p><p data-block-key=\"dha71\">Beckett, Gutiérrez’s lawyer, believes that the judge underestimated the risks that Mexican journalists face. He said that, although Gutiérrez has not received specific threats from the Mexican military since entering the United States, the reporter still<a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/17/us/mexican-journalist-detained/index.html\"> believes he would be killed</a> if he returned to Mexico.</p><p data-block-key=\"9n6nq\">“The threat is still viable, and military people have long memories,” Beckett said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6irt6\">Outside of war zones, Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world for journalists.<a href=\"https://cpj.org/americas/mexico/\"> According to the Committee to Protect Journalists,</a> at least 42 journalists and media workers were killed there in 2017 alone.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a3ma\">On Nov. 20, 2017, Gutiérrez’s attorney filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals, asking that the board reopen Gutiérrez's asylum case and grant Gutiérrez a temporary stay of removal, which would prevent ICE from deporting him while the board considered his appeal.</p><p data-block-key=\"28jr1\">On Dec. 7, Gutiérrez and his son attended a routine check-in with ICE but were unexpectedly detained, according to Beckett. ICE agents served Gutiérrez and his son with deportation papers, and walked them back towards the port of entry. When Beckett acquired an emergency stay of deportation, Gutiérrez and his son were taken to an ICE facility instead of being immediately deported.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hldg\">Beckett said that it was technically legal for ICE to deport his client, since an immigration judge had previously denied Gutiérrez's asylum request. But he said that the detention and attempted deportation was still very unexpected and unusual, since Gutiérrez had an appeal pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals and there were irregularities in the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"7g1gm\">On Dec. 22, the Board of Immigration Appeals <a href=\"https://www.press.org/newsroom/bureau-immigration-appeals-agrees-reconsider-asylum-request-jailed-mexican-journalist\">agreed to reconsider</a> Gutiérrez's deportation order. Gutiérrez and his son remain detained in ICE custody.</p><p data-block-key=\"49c4o\">Asked for comment, ICE public affairs officer Leticia Zamarripa would only confirm that “Emilio and Oscar Gutierrez, citizens of Mexico, remain in ICE custody pending disposition of their immigration cases.”</p><p data-block-key=\"beouq\">Beckett believes that by granting his client asylum, the United States would be promoting democracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"ak8mu\">“We’re in a time right now where journalists around the world are being threatened,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"78t4c\">In October 2017, the National Press Club awarded Gutiérrez the Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, which honors journalists who demonstrate the principles of press freedom and transparency in governments through their work.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"v6v5d\">Journalist Emilio Gutiérrez Soto talks during an interview with Reuters at his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on July 13, 2011.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"release_date": "2018-07-26",
"detention_date": "2017-12-07",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"state": {
"name": "New Mexico",
"abbreviation": "NM"
},
"updates": [
"(2018-07-10 14:40:00+00:00) Judge schedules hearing in habeas case",
"(2019-02-28 09:17:00+00:00) Judge again denies asylum to Mexican investigative journalist",
"(2023-09-05 11:14:00+00:00) Mexican journalist wins asylum in the US",
"(2018-07-26 22:00:00+00:00) Gutiérrez released from ICE detention"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"ICE"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Emilio Gutiérrez Soto (El Diario Noroeste [Mexico])"
],
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},
{
"title": "Public radio reporter stopped for secondary screening while crossing U.S.-Mexico border",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/public-radio-reporter-stopped-secondary-screening-while-crossing-us-mexico-border/",
"first_published_at": "2019-12-17T18:42:55.406768Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-22T20:24:54.854766Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-22T20:24:54.784348Z",
"date": "2017-12-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "El Paso",
"longitude": -106.48693,
"latitude": 31.75872,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ofzn0\">Latif Nasser, a reporter for New York Public Radio WNYC, was stopped for additional screening while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a series about border patrol in December 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"531bw\">Nasser, then a U.S. permanent resident, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was recording b-roll, or additional background sounds of him crossing the bridge from the U.S. to Mexico and back in El Paso, Texas. Nasser said that he was wearing his headphones and was holding his recorder with a mic on it as he was returning to the U.S.-side of the border.</p><p data-block-key=\"5xudc\">Nasser noticed a sign posted at the U.S. facility which specified that cameras, video cameras and cellphones were not allowed — Nasser said he assumed that audio recording was fine. He told CPJ that he continued recording throughout handing over his passport and having “very normal” exchanges with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"02hwe\">When the officer saw his recorder, Nasser said the officer “freaked out.” Nasser said the officer asked what it was and whether he was currently recording, to which he responded yes. Nasser told CPJ that the officer then effectively shut down to entire line, ordered Nasser to stop recording and called for other officers to assist him.</p><p data-block-key=\"1v5mf\">The officers directed Nasser to a secondary screening room where they had him wait with another man, and placed his belongings — including his audio recorder, passport and green card — on a desk in his eyesight but out of his reach. While the officers examined his belongings, they did not play any files on the recorder.</p><p data-block-key=\"ma0p1\">Nasser waited in the screening room for approximately an hour, he said, with officers periodically approaching him and asking the same questions each time: Who was he, what was he doing, what was his reporting on, and why was he recording?</p><p data-block-key=\"9xmwe\">After the fourth or fifth time he was asked the same series of questions, Nasser said he told the officers that he needed to leave and that he knew the problem was with the minute-long recording of his interaction with the officer. Nasser told CPJ he offered to delete it, and after some awkward fumbling he did so.</p><p data-block-key=\"uiw1v\">At the end of the encounter, which Nasser said lasted around 2 to 2.5 hours, a final officer — who was wearing a kevlar vest with “DHS” printed on it — approached him and said that he hadn’t technically done anything wrong, but that his actions had been suspicious.</p><p data-block-key=\"uuwca\">“We were just doing our jobs,” Nasser recalled the officer saying. While the first few officers were incredibly angry that he had been recording, Nasser said, when the final officer found out it was just audio recording, with no video, “he made it seem like it was no big deal.”</p></div>",
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"border_point": "El Paso Paso del Norte Port of Entry",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"target_nationality": [
"Canada"
],
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"categories": [
"Border Stop"
],
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"Latif Nasser (WNYC)"
],
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},
{
"title": "EPA removes reporter Ethan Stoetzer from Scott Pruitt event in Iowa",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/epa-removes-reporter-ethan-stoetzer-scott-pruitt-event-iowa/",
"first_published_at": "2017-12-19T20:59:09.019729Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-07T14:27:37.238005Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-07T14:27:37.153599Z",
"date": "2017-12-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Nevada",
"longitude": -93.45243,
"latitude": 42.02277,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m1l79\">Ethan Stoetzer, a reporter with InsideSources Iowa, was removed from and prevented from covering an event with Scott Pruitt, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in Nevada, Iowa.</p><p data-block-key=\"jncq2\">On Dec. 1, 2017, Pruitt <a href=\"https://www.amestrib.com/story/news/2017/12/01/epa-chief-pruitt-talks-renewables/16927192007/\">spoke</a> at the Couser Cattle Company about the EPA and its commitment to renewable fuels. The <a href=\"https://www.iowaagribusinessradionetwork.com/epa-administrator-to-host-town-hall-in-iowa/\">invite-only event</a> was open to the press and was livestreamed to the public by The Des Moines Register.</p><p data-block-key=\"groqp\">Stoetzer attended the event as press, and gave his name and the name of his outlet to an EPA press secretary at the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"whsgh\">In an <a href=\"http://www.insidesources.com/epa-kicks-insidesources-reporter-nevada-ia-event-administrator-scott-pruitt/\">article for InsideSources</a> about the incident, Stoetzer wrote that he was approached by a Story County Sheriff’s Deputy, along with staff from both the EPA and the Couser Cattle Company, about 10 minutes after he arrived at the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"xmurw\">According to Stoetzer, the staffers and sheriff’s deputy refused to identify themselves when asked, but told him that he was not on the press list for the event and ordered him to leave the premises. </p><p data-block-key=\"euqls\">“They’re asking you to leave, you didn’t RSVP properly, and it’s too late to do it now,” Stoetzer recalled the sheriff’s deputy saying.</p><p data-block-key=\"usons\">In his article about the incident, Stoetzer wrote that he had tried multiple times to RSVP for the event — calling and leaving voicemail messages for both a regional EPA press representative and the main EPA press office. </p><p data-block-key=\"xkljf\">Stoetzer also reported that the EPA allowed journalists from other outlets who were not on the press list to remain and cover the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"jn65j\">Barry Thomas, the Chief Deputy of the Story County Sheriff's Office, told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the office was asked to assist in removing Stoetzer from the Couser Cattle Company premises. </p><p data-block-key=\"t9ldi\">“We were asked to do this by the person in charge of the private property and, because it was not a public event, we intervened to help keep the peace,” Thomas said in an email. “It is no different than what we would do for any private citizen.”</p><p data-block-key=\"s7j0n\">The EPA did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0fj6k\">Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Washington, D.C., on July 10, 2017. </p>",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Iowa",
"abbreviation": "IA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ethan Stoetzer (InsideSources)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter called “fake news,” harassed by CBP officer when entering US",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-called-fake-news-harassed-by-cbp-officer-when-entering-us/",
"first_published_at": "2019-10-25T13:24:25.790227Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-11-10T14:06:52.699931Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-11-10T14:06:52.647839Z",
"date": "2017-11-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>Alastair Jamieson, a journalist for NBC News, was detained for hours and repeatedly referred to as “fake news” by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer when arriving in Miami, Florida, on Nov. 30, 2017.</p><p>Before leaving for the United States, a Homeland Security official, whom Jamieson identified as William Fernandez, had questioned him and searched his bag before allowing him to board at London’s Heathrow Airport. There Jamieson noticed his boarding pass was flagged with “SSSS.”</p><p>Jamieson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that his boarding pass had often been flagged with the marker used to signal travelers for secondary screening, which he believed was due to his reporting trips to the Middle East and unusual travel patterns. He added that since registering with CBP’s Global Entry trusted traveler program a few years before, he had not been flagged.</p><p>Jamieson told the Tracker that after he landed at Miami International Airport at around 7:30pm, the automated machines at U.S. Customs flagged his picture with a red ‘X’ and he was directed into the normal processing line, a first for him since applying for Global Entry.</p><p>“When I got to an agent, he immediately sent me off, without explanation, to the secondary questioning area, so I knew I was in for a long wait,” Jamieson said.</p><p>The secondary screening, Jamieson told the Tracker, was “wild.”</p><p>“I had expected a long wait,” he said. “I had not expected to be barked at by CBP agents who were trying to create a kind of ‘boot camp’ atmosphere in which everyone was intimidated and in fear of giving the wrong answer.”</p><p>The CBP officer, whom Jamieson identified as Officer Jones, confiscated his phone and kept it out of his view. Jamieson noted that because he had a screen lock, he does not believe it was accessed or searched. Officer Jones questioned him over the course of an hour, repeatedly using the term “fake news” in reference to his job and asking inappropriate questions about his romantic life.</p><p>“She knew my job without asking, and had clearly Googled my social media profile. She would ask why someone ‘with a good job at an American company’ would visit ‘these kind of countries,’” Jamieson said, referring to Turkey and other Middle Eastern states. “She then went through the list of my Facebook friends to ask which ones were friends or which ones I’d had sex with, or both.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Totally. I couldn't believe the venom of these particular officers. They also read the list of my Facebook friends out loud in the waiting/holding area and asked me to confirm which ones I had slept with. The rules allow it...</p>— Alastair Jamieson (@alastairjam) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alastairjam/status/1180495767351549952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 5, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>Officer Jones also asked Jamieson to write out a list of countries he had visited—information listed in both the Global Entry and ESTA visa systems—but refused to give him a pen, and waited for him to borrow one from another detained traveler.</p><p>“Having written out a list of countries, she looked at it, said ‘That’s ridiculous,’ and ripped up the paper in front of me,” Jamieson said. Shortly after, she told him to take his passport and “get out.”</p><p>Jamieson was directed to the specialized baggage inspection area where an officer he identified as Officer Yueng mumbled a disparaging remark and questioned whether Jamieson was a cop or insurance salesman. When Jamieson said he was a journalist, the officer responded, “Ugh, worse,” and waved him away without searching his bag.</p><p>Jamieson filed a complaint with CBP on Dec. 6, detailing the encounters and expressing his frustration with a process he said was unnecessary and avoidable.</p><p>“Assertive and robust interrogation is a useful and important tactic for agents in keeping the US border secure. Yelling idiotic and vague questions, hurling insults and generally acting like elementary school bullies is neither effective nor an appropriate use of federal resources,” Jamieson wrote in his complaint.</p><p>CBP responded to Jamieson’s complaint on Dec. 19, writing, “Please allow me to express regret for any conduct that may have been perceived as rude or unprofessional during CBP processing. CBP takes allegations of employee misconduct very seriously and has instituted policies pertaining to abuses of authority.”</p><p>As a matter of policy, CBP does not disclose the outcomes of internal investigations or disciplinary actions taken against personnel.</p><p>In a 2019 interview, Jamieson told the Tracker that while he no longer works for NBC News, this incident has stayed with him. He said, “I haven’t been back to the U.S. since. Not exclusively because of this incident, but I’m certainly not in a hurry to return.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p>Alastair Jamieson, here on a reporting assignment in Hungary in May 2018, said he was harassed and called ‘fake news’ by a U.S. Customs Border and Protection agent last time he entered the United States.</p>",
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"name": "Florida",
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"Border Stop"
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"Alastair Jamieson (NBC News)"
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{
"title": "Fox News cameraman shoved by Roy Moore campaign official in Alabama",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-cameraman-shoved-roy-moore-campaign-official-alabama/",
"first_published_at": "2017-12-06T20:30:29.532304Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T20:08:18.176458Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T20:08:18.093870Z",
"date": "2017-11-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Henager",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q2fi6\">An unidentified Fox News cameraman was shoved by Tony Goolsby, a campaign official with the Senate campaign of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, on Nov. 27, 2017, while waiting for Moore’s arrival outside of a campaign event organized by Goolsby at a community center in Henagar, Alabama.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Raw video: Man wearing Roy Moore sticker physically attacked a cameraman attempting to film Moore's arrival outside campaign rally a few minutes ago here in Henagar, Alabama. Another man w/ Moore sticker verbally assaulted a second cameraman. <a href=\"https://t.co/faJVV8YpE0\">pic.twitter.com/faJVV8YpE0</a></p>— Connor Sheets (@ConnorASheets) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ConnorASheets/status/935303103175450625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 28, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5ho4p\">Video of the altercation recorded by AL.com investigative reporter Connor Sheets shows Goolsby, the DeKalb County chairman of Moore’s Senate campaign, <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/roy-moore-campaign-staff-push-shove-fox-news-camera-crew-at-rally\">grabbing</a> a Fox News TV camera by the lens and pushing the cameraman backwards several feet. </p><p data-block-key=\"5f4jv\">The video also shows a second man, whom Fox News later identified as a DeKalb County GOP staffer, verbally confronting a second cameraman. “Follow orders,” the GOP staffer tells the second cameraman, who backs away. “Go, now.” </p><p data-block-key=\"d0swl\">Reporting from the scene, Fox News correspondent Jonathan Serrie described what happened to “Fox News @ Night” anchor Shannon Bream.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">"Two individuals...[push] the cameras back & physically manhandle two Fox News photographers." — <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jonathanserrie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jonathanserrie</a> on "scuffle" at Moore event <a href=\"https://t.co/ojRtC1BG0A\">pic.twitter.com/ojRtC1BG0A</a></p>— Fox News (@FoxNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/935365266783068160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 28, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zks8a\">“Organizers initially informed the media that Moore would be parking at the front entrance, walking in through the front entrance, so that’s where the cameras were stationed,” he said. </p><p data-block-key=\"xlb73\">“Well, then when his car arrived, it actually pulled around to a side entrance. So cameras started running to the side entrance to get a shot of the candidate emerging from his car, and that’s when two individuals — Derwood Regan, who’s affiliated with the DeKalb County Alabama GOP and the other being Tony Goolsby, the DeKalb County chairman for the Roy Moore campaign — decided to push the cameras back and physically manhandle two Fox News photographers, pushing them away and grabbing their cameras.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6imuy\">“At some point during the scuffle, you hear my producer David Lukowitz trying to intervene, telling the men not to touch the cameras,” Serrie said. “It’s not unusual for people to get bumped around a bit in a media scrum. This was not a scrum, though, and it’s highly unusual for members of a political campaign to physically engage in this manner with members of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kixcm\">Serrie said that the altercation occurred on public land, outside of a publicly-owned community center, and added that Fox News had officially RSVP’d to the event, providing the Moore campaign with the names of the cameramen and other Fox News staffers who planned to attend.</p><p data-block-key=\"mewah\"><a href=\"https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/magazine/470265/brazening-it-out-on-the-ground-with-roy-moores-campaign-in-alabama/\">According to The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack</a>, Moore was not even in the car that Goolsby tried to stop the Fox News cameraman from filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"4rsfr\">“The Moore campaign coordinator was shoving a Fox News cameraman to keep him away from a car that Roy Moore wasn’t even riding in,” McCormack reported. “‘That was a decoy car,’ Rodney Ivey, a DeKalb County GOP official on the scene that night, told me. ‘They [the press] run over there wanting Roy Moore, and we had it already planned, and we slipped him in the back door while all that was going on.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"gyprc\">Moments after his altercation with reporters, Goolsby introduced Moore at the Henager Community Center.</p><p data-block-key=\"2tdro\">“Before we get started we’re going to lay down a few ground rules,” he told the audience. “There will be no outbursts from anyone in the crowd. If there is, we’ll ask you to leave, and if you don’t leave, we’ve got security that will remove you. Judge Moore will not field any questions from the media or anybody else.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qyt1e\">Moore campaign chairman Bill Armistead later released a statement to Fox News about the shoving incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"hxm6c\">“Our campaign certainly doesn’t condone any pushing or shoving of anyone, certainly not reporters or anyone else,” he said in the statement, before going on to accuse journalists of “trying to stampede us in a lot of different situations and running down hallways, chasing after, shouting things that are inappropriate.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d5axe\">In an <a href=\"https://whnt.com/news/northeast-alabama/tony-goolsby-of-dekalb-county-roy-moore-campaign-speaks-out-about-the-scuffle-with-the-media-before-rally/\">interview with local TV station WHNT</a>, Goolsby criticized the Fox News journalists and defended his actions.</p><p data-block-key=\"an1ug\">“The light from the camera spotlight hit me right square in the face,” he said. “Just a reaction of protection and everything, I did reach out and push the light out of my face.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"atrsa\">A screengrab from a video recorded outside of a community center in Alabama shows Roy Moore campaign official Tony Goolsby shoving a Fox News cameraman.</p>",
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"name": "Alabama",
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"Unidentified photojournalist 18 (Fox News)"
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{
"title": "President Trump says that CNN International is ‘fake news’",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/president-trump-says-cnn-international-fake-news/",
"first_published_at": "2017-12-06T10:44:58.989298Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T20:10:46.779182Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T20:10:46.682146Z",
"date": "2017-11-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1mp3d\">President Donald Trump criticized CNN International on Twitter on Nov. 25, 2017, calling the network “fake news” and accusing it of misrepresenting the United States to the world. CNN's PR team quickly replied to the tweet.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world. That's yours. Our job is to report the news. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/FactsFirst?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FactsFirst</a> 🍎</p>— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/934559957713932290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 25, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nclqd\">Two days later, CNN’s PR team tweeted praise for the network’s foreign correspondents. The tweet noted that reporters working abroad face enormous risks while doing their jobs and included a <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/27/cnn-trump-news-feud-261021\">compilation of clips</a> depicting CNN and CNN International journalists reporting in dangerous situations around the world.<br/></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">For nearly four decades, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CNN</a> has been a constant here in the United States and around the world. Our journalists, in front of and behind the camera, risk their lives in the most dangerous of places, every day, so you know the truth. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/FactsFirst?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FactsFirst</a> 🍎<a href=\"https://t.co/tFIGl34ZzI\">https://t.co/tFIGl34ZzI</a></p>— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/935226882949345280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 27, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yxl9m\">Overseas reporting is inherently dangerous, and journalists have been arrested, imprisoned, and killed for reporting in countries that lack strong press freedom guarantees. While news organizations within the United States are protected by domestic legislation and the First Amendment, American news organizations working abroad rely on the influence of entities such as the White House to cover news uninhibited. </p><p data-block-key=\"g9sau\">Joel Simon, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, told Politico that Trump’s suggestion that CNN International was “fake news” could provide an excuse for foreign countries to clamp down on journalists’ rights. (CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.)</p><p data-block-key=\"14jt2\">“To the extent that sentiment echoes the views of authoritarian leaders, it empowers them,” he said. “That authoritarian leaders who have policies that undermine and restrict press freedom don’t feel that their actions potentially undermine their relationships to the United States — that’s an important point of leverage that no longer exists.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"CNN"
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"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
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},
{
"title": "Santa Clara reporter has finger broken while filming in court records room",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/santa-clara-reporter-has-finger-broken-while-filming-court-records-room/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-11T19:49:14.894581Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-11T15:36:24.844851Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-11T15:36:24.717352Z",
"date": "2017-11-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Santa Clara",
"longitude": -121.95524,
"latitude": 37.35411,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vld5v\">While filming a police interaction at Santa Clara County Superior Court on Nov. 14, 2017, independent courts reporter Susan Bassi had her finger broken in an altercation with a sheriff’s deputy. She was later charged with obstructing a police officer and violating a court order that prohibits the use of recording devices in the courthouse.</p><p data-block-key=\"q3u6d\">Ex Parte is a court news publication, with online and print editions.</p><p data-block-key=\"rj3rm\">On Nov. 14, Bassi was inside the Santa Clara County Superior Court’s eighth-floor family records room, assisting family court litigant Scott Largent with research. After Largent took a photograph of some records with his phone, sheriff’s deputies entered the room and confronted Largent, ordering him to delete the photos.</p><p data-block-key=\"2kg3w\">When the deputies approached Largent, Bassi took out her own phone to record the interaction. She would <a href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Woman-Claims-Santa-Clara-Deputy-Broke-her-Hand-After-Courthouse-Confrontation-458410203.html\">later tell the local NBC news affiliate</a> that she decided to record the deputies’ interaction with Largent because she believed it could be newsworthy.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ck9m\">After Bassi began recording, one of the deputies approached her and ordered her to stop recording — an interaction that Bassi captured on video.</p><p data-block-key=\"0nscf\">In her <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0cdz_8JRuI&t=0s&index=2&list=PLMijyO2QQNo47cYyXTyh-zbdaqEgQSGVI\">recording of the incident</a>, a sheriff’s deputy tells her to “stop recording.” Bassi responds, “I heard you,” but continues to record. The deputy then reaches for the phone in Bassi’s hand, and Bassi says, “Give me my phone!” and “You broke my finger!”</p><p data-block-key=\"e5vu8\">When asked by Bassi, the officer identified himself as Joshua Seymour.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ke3w\">Bassi and Largent filed a complaint later the same day with the internal affairs division of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department alleging excessive use of force.</p><p data-block-key=\"ytmvw\">On Nov. 15, the day after the incident in the records room, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint against Bassi for an earlier, separate incident. The complaint alleges that Bassi took a photograph of a person next to an American flag in the courthouse on Aug. 31, 2017, in violation of the court order that prohibits the use of any recording devices inside the courthouse.<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"51yve\">Bassi <a href=\"https://www.sanjoseinside.com/2017/12/06/court-watchdog-arrested-just-weeks-after-violent-encounter-with-sheriff-deputy-over-video/\">later told San Jose Inside</a>, a local politics news site, that she only learned of the charges against her on Dec. 4, when she was stopped and arrested while attempting to enter the courthouse.<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"fi07s\">On Jan. 3, 2018, Bassi was arraigned on three counts — two counts of willful disobedience of a court order (for recording inside the courthouse on Aug. 31 and Nov. 14, 2017) and one count of resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer — and entered a not guilty plea. On March 19, 2018, she was caught recording inside the courthouse once again, which led to a third count of willful disobedience of a court order.<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"nzd9e\">A jury trial on all four counts is scheduled to begin on March 4.<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"ko55f\">On Nov. 29, 2018, Bassi filed a federal lawsuit against Santa Clara County, alleging that her civil rights were violated. That suit has been stayed pending the outcome of Bassi’s criminal trial.<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"thwap\">Rules regarding taking pictures in courtrooms vary significantly from court to court. Bassi’s attorney, Dmitry Stadlin, believes that the local court order is not only vague and overly broad, but also might not be legal.<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"ekzdi\">“This local rule does not provide definite guidelines for the police in order to prevent arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement,” Stadlin wrote in a demurrer. “The local court rule which bans all photography and recordings is a prior restraint on free speech, and thus subjects to close judicial scrutiny and permissible in only the most extraordinary circumstances.”</p><p data-block-key=\"k35wd\"><i>Editor's Note: This article was updated to insert hyperlinks.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"case_number": "3:18-cv-07239",
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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{
"quantity": 1,
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}
],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-09-24 15:42:00+00:00) Independent journalist drops lawsuit against California county"
],
"case_statuses": [
"withdrawn"
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"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Susan Bassi (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore threatens to sue the Washington Post",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/republican-senate-candidate-roy-moore-threatens-sue-washington-post/",
"first_published_at": "2017-11-14T03:38:59.785209Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T20:13:14.866229Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T20:13:14.786440Z",
"date": "2017-11-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Huntsville",
"longitude": -86.58594,
"latitude": 34.7304,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vsuvz\">Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in Alabama’s special election for Senate, said on Nov. 12, 2017, that he would sue The Washington Post, after the paper <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/woman-says-roy-moore-initiated-sexual-encounter-when-she-was-14-he-was-32/2017/11/09/1f495878-c293-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0_story.html\">reported</a> on his alleged sexual misconduct with minors.</p><p data-block-key=\"9c3o1\">“The Washington Post published another attack on my character and reputation because they are desperate to stop my political campaign,” Moore <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/13/politics/roy-moore-washington-post-lawsuit/index.html\">said</a> during a campaign rally in Huntsville, Alabama. “These attacks said I was with a minor child and are false and untrue — and for which they will be sued.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6j0x1\">On Nov. 9, Moore’s campaign said in a <a href=\"https://www.al.com/news/2017/11/roy_moores_full_statement_of_t.html\">statement</a> that the Washington Post report— which was based on interviews with more than 30 people and quoted multiple women by name — was “the very definition of fake news and intentional defamation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q0940\">Moore has not said when he intends to file a lawsuit against the Post.</p><p data-block-key=\"al5ky\">Moore is not the first Republican politician to threaten a news organization with a frivolous defamation suit. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to sue news organizations, including both the Post and The New York Times, in response to negative coverage.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"udayf\">Roy Moore speaks as he participates in the Mid-Alabama Republican Club's Veterans Day Program in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on November 11, 2017.<br/></p>",
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{
"title": "RT America compelled to register as 'foreign agent' by Department of Justice",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rt-america-compelled-register-foreign-agent-department-justice/",
"first_published_at": "2017-11-30T20:35:40.717214Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-01T15:56:02.322397Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"erxkt\">RT America, an American cable channel that is part of a global television network funded by the Russian government, was compelled by the U.S. Department of Justice to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.</p><p data-block-key=\"03sjb\">In September 2017, the Justice Department formally <a href=\"https://www.rt.com/news/409349-rt-foreign-agent-doj/\">requested</a> that T&R Productions LLC, the entity responsible for broadcasting RT America, register as a foreign agent under FARA. T&R Productions is owned by Mikhail Solodovnikov, who is also the news director of RT America.</p><p data-block-key=\"trabf\">Both he and T&R Productions <a href=\"https://www.fara.gov/docs/6485-Exhibit-AB-20171110-2.pdf\">registered</a> <a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/kremlin-funded-rt-reluctantly-registers-as-a-foreign-agent\">as foreign agents</a> on Nov. 10, 2017, out of concern that a refusal to comply with the Justice Department’s request could lead to the arrest of Solodovnikov and the freezing of the company’s assets.</p><p data-block-key=\"oqclv\">RT America editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has said that RT intends to mount a legal challenge to the Justice Department’s decision to classify T&R Productions as a foreign agent.</p><p data-block-key=\"zfaz3\">“We believe that the demand does not only go against the law, and we will prove it in court — the demand is discriminative, it contradicts both the democracy and freedom of speech principles,” she said in a statement. “It deprives us of fair competition with other international channels, which are not registered as foreign agents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kkit8\">Registration as a foreign agent under FARA will require RT America to include a disclaimer about its connections to the Russian government, as well as file regular reports with the Justice Department detailing its funding sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"rqc7d\">The Justice Department’s request that RT America register as a foreign agent follows the release of an declassified U.S. intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The report alleged that RT was part of “Russia’s state-run propaganda machine” that functioned “as a platform for Kremlin messaging.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bthy5\">More than 400 companies and organizations are currently registered as foreign agents under FARA, according to the department’s website. Among them are a handful of foreign media organizations, including Japanese TV news channel NHK, the Korean Broadcasting Service, and the Chinese newspapers China Daily, People’s Daily, and Xin Min Evening News.</p><p data-block-key=\"rptse\">After T&R Productions LLC registered as a foreign agent under FARA, the executive committee of the Congressional Radio and Television Correspondents’ Galleries — a group of journalists who are empowered by the House of Representatives to manage press access to Congressional press areas — <a href=\"https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/29/media/rt-capitol-credentials-revoked/index.html\">voted unanimously</a> to <a href=\"https://www.rt.com/usa/411361-rt-congress-credentials-withdrawal/\">revoke</a> RT America’s press credentials.</p><p data-block-key=\"gihpw\">In a Nov. 29 letter to Solodovnikov, the executive committee said that RT America was ineligible to hold Congressional press credentials because the rules of the Galleries prohibit journalists employed “by any foreign government or representative thereof” from holding press credentials.</p><p data-block-key=\"lt911\">The Justice Department’s request that RT America register as a foreign agent prompted the Russian government to <a href=\"https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2017/11/28/after-foreign-agent-law-Russia-creates-legal-framework-ban-foreign-newspapers-a59716\">retaliate</a> by expanding its own foreign agent law to include foreign media organizations.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ce29\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to correct the name of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.</i></p></div>",
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{
"title": "San Diego County subpoenas journalist Kelly Davis",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-diego-county-subpoenas-journalist-kelly-davis-who-wrote-about-high-number-deaths-county-jails/",
"first_published_at": "2018-02-14T09:25:05.528166Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T00:41:29.290243Z",
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"date": "2017-11-09",
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"city": "San Diego",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"olrex\">Freelance reporter Kelly Davis was subpoenaed by attorneys representing San Diego County, California, on Nov. 9, 2017. She was ordered to testify at a deposition and turn over materials related to her reporting on the high number of deaths in San Diego County jails. On Feb. 2, 2018, a federal magistrate ruled in favor of Davis, defeating the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"jeepw\">Davis has been writing about deaths in San Diego jails for years. In 2013, while working at San Diego City Beat, she and colleague Dave Maass reported that San Diego County had the highest inmate mortality rate out of California’s largest jail systems. Since then, her reporting has been cited in a number of wrongful death lawsuits and complaints filed against San Diego County. </p><p data-block-key=\"91hkw\">The widow of Kris Nesmith, an inmate who died while in prison, <a href=\"http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/sdut-lawsuit-jail-should-have-prevented-suicide-2015apr13-htmlstory.html\">sued</a> the county of San Diego in 2015. At the time, Davis wrote an article about the lawsuit for the San Diego Union-Tribune.</p><p data-block-key=\"9u982\">In November 2017, attorneys for San Diego County <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/investigations/County-Lawyers-Demand-Research-Notes-From-Local-Journalist-473242543.html\">subpoenaed</a> Davis, seeking her testimony as well as her unpublished research related to her reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fvhx\">The subpoena orders Davis to appear at a deposition on December 11 and to produce “any and all documents, notes, and recordings, including in electronic format, that you relied on when reporting and/or publishing that the San Diego County’s incarceration mortality rate ‘leads in California’s largest jails.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"fhcnq\">“They wanted everything, written or electronic,” Davis told the Freedom of the Press Foundation. “It was a huge fishing investigation to try to get every nook and cranny of information that I had.”</p><p data-block-key=\"iu4e8\">Maass, who co-wrote the 2013 San Diego City Beat story with Davis, was not subpoenaed in the case. He never wrote specifically about the Kris Nesmith case, and he no longer lives in San Diego or writes about the county’s jails. He criticized San Diego County for attempting to subpoena Davis.</p><p data-block-key=\"ijq2w\">“This subpoena is of course frightening when it comes to press freedom, but as someone who worked on these stories, it’s concerning that this is how they address safety issues in their jails,” he said. “Rather than address them and stop killing people, the county comes after the messengers who did this research.” </p><p data-block-key=\"x9ojq\">After Davis’ attorneys objected to the subpoena, San Diego County filed a <a href=\"https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4372071/Motion-to-Compel-Davis.pdf\">motion to compel</a> Davis’ testimony. In the motion to compel, attorneys for San Diego County argued that, since Davis’ reporting would be cited during the trial, they should be allowed to question her like an expert witness.</p><p data-block-key=\"5hikd\">“They wanted to cut undercut my reporting and to challenge the methodology that my colleague and I initially used,” Davis said. </p><p data-block-key=\"qrqj7\">On Feb. 2, federal magistrate judge Andrew Schopler ruled in favor of Davis, defeating the subpoena. Davis will not have to testify or hand over her unpublished reporting materials. </p><p data-block-key=\"dkng0\">San Diego County did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Reporters’ access restricted on Capitol Hill",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-access-restricted-capitol-hill/",
"first_published_at": "2017-11-01T19:57:19.969056Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-20T20:49:04.419913Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-20T20:49:04.334314Z",
"date": "2017-10-31",
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"city": "Washington",
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"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"be83x\">Reporters’ access to Capitol Hill was restricted on Oct. 31, 2017 after a protester allegedly posed as a reporter at the Senate Building the week before, according to a report by the <a href=\"http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/reporter-access-curtailed-at-capitol-after-protest-during-trump-visit/article/2639126\">Washington Examiner</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4g80d\">Reporters were prevented from accessing most of the second floor of the Senate Building, where Vice President Mike Pence was attending a Senate Republicans’ weekly policy lunch. The presence of Capitol Hill Police was amplified, and officials checked the identification of all reporters walking through the hallways.</p><p data-block-key=\"9wgfc\">These security restrictions are unusual, and reporters typically have uninhibited access to Capitol Hill to speak with lawmakers.</p><p data-block-key=\"r749i\">According to <a href=\"http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/reporter-access-curtailed-at-capitol-after-protest-during-trump-visit/article/2639126\">Washington Examiner</a>, communications director for Capitol Hill Police, Eva Malecki, said in a statement that, “The United States Capitol Police have not introduced any changes to the access that the media have within the U.S. Capitol. We are simply enforcing the current rules and protocols already in place to ensure the safety and security of elected officials, Members of Congress, staff, visitors, and members of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fjibb\">The week before on October 24, 2017, protester Ryan Clayton reportedly posed as a reporter to gain access to the Senate Building and threw Russian flags at President Donald Trump and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.</p><p data-block-key=\"p14yq\">Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said during a press conference on Oct. 31, that “reporters are some of the last people who should face unwarranted restrictions,” and that both his office and the Rules Committee would review the security restrictions and identify a remedy to the barred access.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "KIMA Action News journalist Trisha McCauley threatened with knife, had camera damaged",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kima-action-news-journalist-trisha-mccauley-threatened-knife-had-camera-damaged/",
"first_published_at": "2017-11-14T04:30:10.827131Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-31T20:12:05.874633Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-31T20:12:05.742523Z",
"date": "2017-10-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Yakima",
"longitude": -120.5059,
"latitude": 46.60207,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lm8w0\">Trisha McCauley, a reporter for local TV station KIMA, was chased and threatened by a knife-wielding man in Yakima, Washington, on Oct. 30, 2017. The man also broke McCauley's camera equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"9cfib\">McCauley and another local TV reporter — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kapp-kvew-reporter-maria-leal-threatened-knife-had-camera-damaged/\">Maria Leal</a> of KAPP and KVEW — were preparing for an interview with Jason White, a local city council candidate, when they noticed a man screaming at them from across the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"p51g4\">“He was yelling, ‘Get the fuck out of here,’ and waving his arms, so I picked my camera up and moved closer to Maria,” McCauley said. “I felt safer in a group.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j8wwj\">McCauley said that when White drove up for the interview, the man approached him, but then suddenly left as they began the interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"enmok\">“We mic'd [White] up, and he was spelling his name for a mic check when I heard a bottle break,” McCauley said.</p><p data-block-key=\"d6dgo\">“We looked over, and the man had thrown a glass bottle that shattered on the sidewalk near us,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1h9li\">According to McCauley, the man continued demanding that she and Leal leave, so the reporters decided to pack up and continue the interview with White somewhere else.</p><p data-block-key=\"60msm\">McCauley said that she saw the man lift up his shirt and pull out a knife.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fjc5\">“We just took off running down the street,” she said, adding that the man chased her, Leal, and White for about half a block. The man then returned to the spot where McCauley and Leal had set up for the interview and began breaking their equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"t1sx6\">“I turned around and saw him chuck my camera to the ground and break it, and there was a lot of cracking," McCauley said.</p><p data-block-key=\"uo6tv\">McCauley said that Leal called the police while the man hid in a nearby house. Police eventually took the man into custody after a police stand-off that lasted for several hours.</p><p data-block-key=\"ikuqv\">McCauley said that her TV station has sent her camera away to be checked for internal damage. In the meantime, she is sharing a camera with another reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"gkono\"></p></div>",
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{
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"name": "Washington",
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"(2019-01-14 16:10:00+00:00) Man sentenced after attack on Washington state reporters"
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{
"title": "KAPP-KVEW reporter Maria Leal threatened with knife, had camera damaged",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kapp-kvew-reporter-maria-leal-threatened-knife-had-camera-damaged/",
"first_published_at": "2017-11-08T22:50:19.553500Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T20:23:03.802640Z",
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"date": "2017-10-30",
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"city": "Yakima",
"longitude": -120.5059,
"latitude": 46.60207,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pc4l4\">Maria Leal, a reporter for local TV station KAPP-KVEW, was chased and threatened by a knife-wielding man in Yakima, Washington, on Oct. 30, 2017. The man also broke Leal’s camera equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"oikao\">At the time of <a href=\"https://kimatv.com/news/local/knife-wielding-man-chases-two-tv-reporters-councilman-in-yakima\">the attack</a>, Leal and another local TV reporter — Trisha McCauley, of KIMA Action News — were shooting B-roll footage in preparation for an interview with Jason White, a local city council candidate. While filming the footage, the two journalists noticed a man screaming at them from across the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"wjjux\">“He crossed the street and got in our face, and he told us, ‘Get the fuck out of here, stop filming here,’” Leal said.</p><p data-block-key=\"wurgf\">The man left after Leal and McCauley began interviewing White, but later returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"ibkjc\">“The man began yelling again, and he threw a beer bottle at us, which landed near us and broke,” Leal said. “He kept demanding that we leave, and he threatened to kill us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qxzi7\">She said the man drew a knife from his pocket, lifted it, and then ran towards the reporters and White.</p><p data-block-key=\"66rjp\">Leal said that the man chased them for half a block and then returned to the interview site, where he threw their video equipment to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"jxduw\">He then barricaded himself in a house, leading to a police stand-off that was resolved a few hours later when SWAT officers took him into custody, arresting him for second-degree assault.</p><p data-block-key=\"nvmlw\">Leal stayed on the scene to report live from the police stand-off.</p><p data-block-key=\"ek0oj\">Leal said that her camera was damaged when the man threw it on the ground and that she will have to film stories with her phone until the camera is fixed.</p><p data-block-key=\"duc7n\">She still does not know why the man attacked her and McCauley. She said that the man may have mistakenly believed that the two reporters were filming him, but her cameras were nowhere near where he was standing.</p><p data-block-key=\"5tfbs\">“I’ve had other people approach me in that way, but they’ve never threatened me or attacked me like that,” she said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Washington",
"abbreviation": "WA"
},
"updates": [
"(2019-01-14 16:03:00+00:00) Man sentenced after attack on Washington state reporters"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
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"Maria Leal (KAPP-KVEW)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Jon Ziegler attacked by white nationalist protesters in Tennessee",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/jon-ziegler-attacked-white-nationalist-protesters-tennessee/",
"first_published_at": "2018-01-16T11:06:32.536551Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-21T19:41:27.573817Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-21T19:41:27.510064Z",
"date": "2017-10-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Shelbyville",
"longitude": -86.46027,
"latitude": 35.48341,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jgkrq\">Independent journalist Jon Ziegler, who livestreams under the handle RebZ.tv, was reporting on a white nationalist rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on Oct. 28, 2017, when one of the white nationalist protesters struck him with a shield.</p><p data-block-key=\"kxq18\">Ziegler told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that the demonstration was divided into two sections — a white nationalist section and an anti-fascist section — which were each penned in by police barricades. Ziegler said that he interviewed protesters in both sections and was walking through the white nationalist area when he was suddenly confronted by a prominent leader in the National Socialist Movement, a white nationalist group.</p><p data-block-key=\"l56fg\">The NSM leader told Ziegler that he was standing too close to the NSM's P.A. system and demanded that he leave. Ziegler said that a group of NSM members then surrounded him, threatened him and began pushing him around. He said that the NSM members were armed with shields — police had allowed them to carry shields because they were not considered offensive weapons — and one NSM member struck him with his shield.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-video\">\n\n<figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n <div style=\"padding-bottom: 56.25%;\" class=\"responsive-object\">\n <iframe width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/MbJPmkmi3mY?start=225&feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen></iframe>\n</div>\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n \n <p data-block-key=\"aulu4\">The RebZ.tv livestream shows NSM members pushing Ziegler</p>\n \n \n <p>RebZ.tv</p>\n \n </figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hquje\">A screencap of the RebZ.tv livestream shows a white nationalist protester with a shield about to strike Jon Ziegler.</p>",
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"arrest_status": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"anti-fascism",
"protest",
"white nationalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jon Ziegler (Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Shareblue Media reporter Mike Stark arrested while covering Republican candidate for Virginia governor",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shareblue-media-reporter-mike-stark-arrested-while-covering-republican-candidate-virginia-governor/",
"first_published_at": "2017-11-23T07:09:57.379942Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-16T18:25:40.122105Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-16T18:25:39.961803Z",
"date": "2017-10-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Annandale",
"longitude": -77.19637,
"latitude": 38.83039,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vdgy9\">Mike Stark, a reporter for the liberal news site Shareblue Media, was arrested in Fairfax County, Virginia on Oct. 28, 2017 while covering the campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.</p><p data-block-key=\"7cw2r\">According to a report on Shareblue, Stark was filming Gillespie’s campaign vehicle at the Annandale Parade when a police officer approached him and ordered him to move out of the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"35r1w\">Stark told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he told the officer that he was a reporter and complied with the order to move onto the sidewalk. Stark said that the officer then told him to stay away from the Gillespie campaign bus, which he refused to do since he was covering Gillespie.</p><p data-block-key=\"coi7p\">“I was standing in the street on the far side of the driveway filming the Gillespie RV in anticipation of him disembarking,” Stark said in a statement. “That’s when I heard the policeman tell me to get out of the road. I complied, and then he told me to leave the Gillespie vehicle and everyone inside it alone. At that point I told the policeman he'd probably have to arrest me to keep me away from Gillespie. He responded that he would arrest me and approached me aggressively. The ‘conversation’ escalated from there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gi28q\">A video of the arrest shows Stark complying with Rogers’ order to step backward, while continuing to argue with him, as a woman in a red jacket and an additional police officer involve themselves in the exchange. (Stark said that he believes that the woman in the red jacket was associated with the campaign.)</p><p data-block-key=\"3r30l\">After Stark says “Fuck this,” the arresting officer — whom Stark later identified as Mason District Police Captain T.J. Rogers — places his hand on Stark’s right shoulder and turns him against a nearby fence. While Stark has both of his hands behind his back, the officer lifts Stark’s right ankle off the ground, <a href=\"https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/reporter-says-he-was-violently-arrested-for-trying-to-ask-questions/65-488080490\">sending the reporter face-first into the sidewalk</a>. </p><p data-block-key=\"ys73z\">As additional officers rush to the scene, Stark says, “Stop, I will give you my arm. I can’t. You have your weight on top of me. I cannot give you my hand. My hand is beneath me.” Five officers eventually pin Stark to the ground with their knees on the back of his head and his body. They continue demanding his arm as he screams that he cannot comply and begs them to stop.</p><p data-block-key=\"65ngh\">Stark told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that officers punched him repeatedly in the legs during the physical takedown and said that his attorney told him that this is a common “softening” technique used against non-cooperative subjects.</p><p data-block-key=\"catqs\">The takedown left Stark with an abrasion to his head and a few bruises. He refused treatment at the time of the arrest. </p><p data-block-key=\"yqg5p\">“I’ve got a nice bruise on my hip and an ugly scrape on my elbow,” he said. “But as I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t consider this arrest to have been brutal. Violent? Yes. Brutal? No.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ohj5\">Stark also said that his phone was broken during the incident, and he suspects that the officers may have deliberately thrown it against the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"264ly\">“My brand new phone, a OnePlus 5 that came with Gorilla Glass, was broken during the arrest,” he said. “I don’t think it was an accident. When I was on the ground, I heard what sounded like a cellphone striking the pavement immediately after it had been retrieved from my hand attached to the arm stuck beneath my body.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wdefe\">Stark was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and held in custody for nearly five hours, before being released on a $3,000 bond.</p><p data-block-key=\"n8zg5\">After Shareblue published video of the arrest on October 31, Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler held a press conference, during which he <a href=\"https://fcpdnews.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/chief-roessler-defends-officers-after-parade-arrest/\">defended</a> the arrest and said that it was appropriate for the officers to use a physical takedown technique on Stark because the reporter was passively resisting arrest. (Stark said that he did not resist the officers, but was only trying to put his phone away when the officers took him down.)</p><p data-block-key=\"wrnne\">Roessler told the press that the officer who arrested Stark might have feared for his safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ado4\">“You must understand that, from the officer’s perspective, he does not know who this gentleman is,” Roessler said. “The gentleman is wearing a hooded sweatshirt. He does not know if this gentleman has a concealed weapon. He does not know what intent this gentleman has, whether it’s to create harm or something else.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wri9p\">Stark said that he explicitly identified himself as a journalist to the officers who arrested him.</p><p data-block-key=\"ywnn4\">Roessler told the press that the officer who arrested Stark may not have believed Stark when he said that he was a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"8y5lu\">“He doesn’t know him personally or who he is, and anybody can say anything,” Roessler said. </p><p data-block-key=\"ndeqm\">Stark, who has written critically about Gillespie’s campaign, said that the campaign has previously had him removed from events held on private property and has “disinvited” him from the press pool. He believes that the campaign may have asked the police to remove him from the area near the Gillespie campaign bus.</p><p data-block-key=\"gpw73\">During the press conference, police chief Roessler said that he did not know whether the Gillespie campaign had any conversations with the police concerning Stark.</p><p data-block-key=\"gm3tf\">“I have no knowledge of that right now,” Roeller said. “We are investigating this. And if there are any witnesses I would ask that they contact the Fairfax County Police Department. Our Internal Affairs Bureau is actively going out seeking witnesses and networking the community to understand the full picture here, and as I mentioned earlier, our police auditor will also review our completed investigation and report our findings to the community.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ckty2\">A police spokesperson referred the Freedom of the Press Foundation to Roessler’s press conference and declined to comment further.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mu9z6\"><i>CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Stark was not wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Stark told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7ef31\">Mike Stark</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Fairfax County Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
"updates": [
"(2018-02-13 12:00:00+00:00) Judge fines Stark"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mike Stark (Shareblue Media)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist stopped second time by CBP in less than a year",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-stopped-second-time-cbp-less-year/",
"first_published_at": "2019-11-12T19:18:05.306954Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-06T17:51:02.300107Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-06T17:51:02.213633Z",
"date": "2017-10-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Boston",
"longitude": -71.05977,
"latitude": 42.35843,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cr9vx\">Freelance photojournalist David Degner was flagged for secondary screening multiple times while flying between Cairo, Egypt, and the United States.</p><p data-block-key=\"9jy4m\">Degner, a U.S. citizen who was working out of Cairo, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was pulled aside after disembarking in Boston, Massachusetts, on Oct. 25, 2017. He said he sent out a Facebook notification saying that he was being stopped and interviewed and then signed out of all of his social media profiles.</p><p data-block-key=\"byqud\">Degner <a href=\"https://cpj.org/reports/2018/10/nothing-to-declare-us-border-search-phone-press-freedom-cbp.php\">told CPJ</a> that he acted to prevent another search of his phone and social media profiles like had occurred during a December 2016 screening. At that stop, Customs and Border Protection had pulled Degner aside for secondary screening at preclearance in Toronto, Canada on a trip from Cairo to the United States.</p><p data-block-key=\"wlr0i\">Degner said that during the December stop, he waited for half an hour before he was shown to an interview room where an officer was already seated. The officer asked him to unlock and hand over his phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"4fltl\">At first, Degner refused, asking if the officer had the right to search his phone. Degner said that the officer handed him a pre-printed sheet saying that they have the right to examine anything that is coming into the United States. He asked what would happen if he refused and the officer told him that they would hold onto the phone until CBP could unlock it themselves, implying that it would be confiscated for weeks or months.</p><p data-block-key=\"2iimh\">“I’m used to these types of security procedures from Egypt,” Degner told CPJ. He requested that the officer remain in the room while searching the phone—which he did—which took 10-15 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"xhvr3\">Degner said that when he asked why his phone was being searched anyway, the officer responded, “Just be glad I’m not asking to search your laptop and everything else, too.”</p><p data-block-key=\"u3vb2\">When he was flagged a second time less than a year later in Boston, Degner sent the Facebook notification and signed out of his profiles. Officers did not ask him to unlock his phone during the second stop, however.</p><p data-block-key=\"ehgjp\">Degner told CPJ that on both occasions he asked the officers why he had been selected for secondary screening, and on both occasions they said they couldn’t tell him why.</p><p data-block-key=\"otqls\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker includes incidents only from 2017 forward.</p></div>",
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"border_point": "Boston Logan International Airport",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. citizen",
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": true,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "no",
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"state": {
"name": "Massachusetts",
"abbreviation": "MA"
},
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"target_nationality": [
"United States"
],
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"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop"
],
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],
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},
{
"title": "Montana GOP official says she 'would have shot' Guardian reporter who was assaulted by Rep. Gianforte",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/montana-gop-official-says-she-would-have-shot-guardian-reporter-who-was-assaulted-rep-gianforte/",
"first_published_at": "2017-10-26T00:15:15.538129Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-16T18:27:56.521843Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-16T18:27:56.423130Z",
"date": "2017-10-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bozeman",
"longitude": -111.03856,
"latitude": 45.67965,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6albz\">Montana Republican official Karen Marshall said in a radio program on Oct. 19, 2017 that should she “would have shot” Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs if he had addressed her as he did Rep. Greg Gianforte. Marshall resigned from her position four days later. </p><p data-block-key=\"d13ln\">On May 24, Republican Greg Gianforte <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/gop-congressional-candidate-assaults-guardian-us-reporter/\">physically assaulted</a> reporter Ben Jacobs after he tried to interview the Congressional candidate. Gianforte body-slammed Jacobs to the ground, punched him, and broke his glasses.</p><p data-block-key=\"udvj0\">Gianforte was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives the next day. He pled guilty to misdemeanor assault, has publicly apologized, and as part of a civil settlement, agreed to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"8u1o8\">Marshall, who serves as the vice-president of programs for Gallatin County Republican Women, <a href=\"https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/356627-montana-gop-official-i-would-have-shot-reporter-assaulted-by/\">made her remarks</a> during a Voices of Montana radio segment with attorney and Democratic Congressional candidate John Heenan.</p><p data-block-key=\"j4u3c\">In audio of the radio segment <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/HeenanForCongress/videos/1857613814267061/\">posted</a> to John Heenan for Congress Facebook page, Marshall called herself a friend of Gianforte’s. “If that kid had done to me what he did to Greg, I would have shot him,” Marshall said about Jacobs.</p><p data-block-key=\"u9qnj\">A spokesman for Rep. Gianforte, Travis Hall, denounced Marshall’s comments. Heenan’s campaign <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/21/montana-gianforte-ben-jacobs-karen-marshall-would-have-shot\">released a statement</a> on Oct. 20. “The fact members of [Gianforte’s] party are sort of doubling down and wishing worse harm on Ben Jacobs really bothers me,” Heenan said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2cto0\">On Oct. 23, Karen Marshall resigned from her position, according to the Gallatin County Republican Women’s <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GallatinCountyRepublicanWomen/posts/930685020418249\">Facebook page</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ng37k\">The mission statement of the Gallatin County Republican Women’s website notes that it “stands by the principles of freedom, equality, and justice on which the government of this country is founded.” The Gallatin County Republican Women did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "Montana official Karen Marshall resigned on Wednesday in response to uproar over her comment.",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/gianfortegreg_052317getty_lead.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"actor": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Montana",
"abbreviation": "MT"
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{
"title": "Journalist Jamie Kalven subpoenaed to testify in Laquan McDonald murder case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-jamie-kalven-subpoenaed-testify-laquan-mcdonald-murder-case/",
"first_published_at": "2017-12-06T15:31:36.008483Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:43:11.998118Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:43:11.880007Z",
"date": "2017-10-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dcuzp\">Jamie Kalven, a reporter who was the first to report the details of the shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald by Chicago police in 2014 — received a subpoena on Oct. 16, 2017 to testify and reveal details about his sources at a pre-trial hearing in the murder case of former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke.</p><p data-block-key=\"edc89\">Kalven is an independent journalist based in Chicago and the founder of Invisible Institute, a journalistic production company focused on government accountability. He won a George Polk award for his coverage of the McDonald case.</p><p data-block-key=\"zaeu4\">In February 2015, he published an article in Slate titled “Sixteen Shots,” which reported on evidence, including an autopsy report and statements from witnesses, that contradicted the Chicago police department’s public account of McDonald’s shooting. Kalven also reported on the existence of an unreleased police dash-cam video, which had captured the shooting. After public pressure and a court decision forced the city of Chicago to release the dash-cam video to the public, officer Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder.</p><p data-block-key=\"v6r3u\">As part of his defense strategy, Van Dyke’s lawyer is <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/26/us/chicago-police-shooting-journalist-laquan-mcdonald.html\">trying to force</a> Kalven to testify about his sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"gpckr\">Kalven told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he received a subpoena at his office on Oct. 16, 2017, ordering him to appear in court at 9 a.m. on the following day. Kalven said that he did not attend the Oct. 17 hearing and that his attorney informed Van Dyke’s attorney that he could not attend the hearing on such short notice.</p><p data-block-key=\"0ipto\">During the hearing, Van Dyke’s defense attorney argued that Kalven needed to be <a href=\"https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2017-10-17/judge-wants-activist-journalist-to-testify-about-documents\">called in to testify</a>, according to an audio recording of the hearing taped by a journalist in attendance. Van Dyke’s legal team hopes to show that Kalven received leaked documents from the police oversight agency investigating the shooting and that he could have influenced potential witnesses in the case by interviewing them about the murder while reporting the Slate piece.</p><p data-block-key=\"u7wq9\">Chicago judge Vincent Gaughan seemed receptive to the defense team’s argument, though he did acknowledge that Illinois’ “press shield law” prevents journalists from being compelled to name their sources in some circumstances.</p><p data-block-key=\"6s1gz\">“The reporter’s privilege concerning the source will have to be litigated,” he said. </p><p data-block-key=\"0xcpi\">On Nov. 3, Kalven’s attorney filed a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/documents/3/Kalven_MTQ_Filed.pdf\">motion to quash</a> the subpoena, citing the <a href=\"https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=073500050HArt%2E+VIII+Pt%2E+9&ActID=2017&ChapterID=56&SeqStart=57600000&SeqEnd=58600000\">Illinois Reporter’s Privilege Act</a>. </p><p data-block-key=\"nen5a\">The state law requires a person seeking to compel a reporter to testify about their confidential sources to file a detailed application with the court, which must include "the name of the reporter and of the news medium with which he or she was connected at the time the information sought was obtained; the specific information sought and its relevancy to the proceedings; and [a] specific public interest which would be adversely affected if the factual information sought were not disclosed."</p><p data-block-key=\"or13g\">The law also sets a high bar for a court to approve such an application; the court must find "that all other available sources of information have been exhausted and [that] disclosure of the information sought is essential to the protection of the public interest involved."</p><p data-block-key=\"jhlg2\">Kalven’s motion to quash the subpoena stated that Van Dyke’s legal team had not filed an application to overcome his reporter’s privilege and therefore had not met their burden on the Reporter’s Privilege Act. Van Dyke’s attorney later filed an opposition to Kalven’s motion to quash the subpoena. This opposition was filed under seal, so it is not clear what legal argument it makes.</p><p data-block-key=\"w0dae\">On Dec. 5, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker) led a group of 18 journalism and press freedom publications in filing an <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/sites/default/files/Motion%20for%20Leave%20to%20File%20An%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf\">amicus brief</a> in support of Kalven’s motion to quash the subpoena. In the amicus brief, RCFP wrote that “the public interest in protecting confidential sources is particularly compelling in this case” and argued that that the Reporter’s Privilege Act should protect Kalven from being forced to testify about his sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"sdg0y\">On Dec. 6, the court will hear arguments for and against the motion to quash the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"phnmb\">Kalven said that even if the motion to quash is denied, he will only answer questions to the extent that his sources are not jeopardized.</p><p data-block-key=\"ws0xh\">“I can imagine no situation in which I would reveal my source,” he said. </p><p data-block-key=\"o9oi8\">Kalven is not new to requests to surrender the details of his work. In 2005, the city of Chicago subpoenaed Kalven, seeking his notes, tapes, and other records gathered during reporting on abuse of police power. When he refused to comply, the court moved to hold him in contempt, but the threat dissipated when the case was resolved. </p><p data-block-key=\"357p9\">“I don’t want to say that I’m completely unconcerned about this,” he said. “But I have no internal conflict or anguish about what I should do.”</p></div>",
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"name": "Illinois",
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"(2018-02-07 12:00:00+00:00) Intercept piece",
"(2017-12-13 13:03:00+00:00) Subpoena quashed"
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter"
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{
"title": "Pentagon spokesman says he doesn't consider Intercept contributor a 'legitimate journalist'",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pentagon-spokesman-says-he-doesnt-intercept-contributor-legitimate-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2018-05-03T17:22:36.250978Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T20:50:08.115303Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T20:50:08.015671Z",
"date": "2017-10-15",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f70op\">A spokesman for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) told independent journalist Nick Turse that he did not consider him to be a “legitimate journalist” and refused to answer his calls or emails for months starting in late 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"n67dw\">Turse has written numerous articles, many for The Intercept, critical of the U.S. military’s activities in Africa.</p><p data-block-key=\"wxfsn\">On July 20, 2017, he wrote <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2017/07/20/cameroonian-troops-tortured-and-killed-prisoners-at-base-used-for-u-s-drone-surveillance/\">an article for The Intercept</a> revealing that Cameroonian troops tortured detainees at a military base that the United States also used for drone surveillance.</p><p data-block-key=\"ijk64\">In a <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2018/01/13/we-dont-consider-you-a-legitimate-journalist-how-i-got-blacklisted-by-the-pentagons-africa-command/\">January 2018 piece for The Intercept</a>, Turse wrote about how AFRICOM’s Public Affairs Branch repeatedly refused to engage with him after that article was published:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-blockquote\">\n\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\" cite=\"https://theintercept.com/2018/01/13/we-dont-consider-you-a-legitimate-journalist-how-i-got-blacklisted-by-the-pentagons-africa-command/\">\n\t<div class=\"rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"seimq\">“Nick, we’re not going to respond to any of your questions” Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Falvo, the head of U.S. Africa Command’s Public Affairs Branch, told me by phone last October. “We just don’t feel that we need to.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ry8t\">I asked if Falvo believed AFRICOM didn’t need to address questions from the press in general, or just me in particular.</p><p data-block-key=\"9986u\">“No, just you,” he replied. “We don’t consider you a legitimate journalist, really.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bazjf\">Then he hung up on me.</p></div>\n\t\n\t\t<cite class=\"blockquote__citation\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"blockquote__link text-link\" href=\"https://theintercept.com/2018/01/13/we-dont-consider-you-a-legitimate-journalist-how-i-got-blacklisted-by-the-pentagons-africa-command/\">\n\t\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"lqelu\">How I Got Blacklisted by the Pentagon's Africa Command (The Intercept)</p>\n\t\t\t</a>\n\t\t</cite>\n\t\n</blockquote>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"stimk\">Turse also detailed many instances in which representatives of AFRICOM consistently stonewalled him as early as 2012. On one day in 2014, he wrote, he called Benjamin Benson, then the chief of media engagement for AFRICOM, multiple times from a phone line that identified him by name and never had his calls answered. When he tried calling from another number, Benson picked up right away, only to hang up after Turse identified himself.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3xt9\">Turse wrote that just before his January 2018 piece was published, an AFRICOM spokesperson began responding to some of his questions, but refused to answer any questions about the agency’s treatment of him, including “if I was now considered legitimate, why the command finally decided to respond to me, and whether AFRICOM would regularly take my calls and answer my questions in the future.”</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
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"tags": [
"military"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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},
{
"title": "Trump calls NBC ‘fake news’ and suggests FCC should challenge its broadcast license",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-calls-nbc-fake-news-and-suggests-fcc-should-challenge-its-broadcast-license/",
"first_published_at": "2017-10-11T23:49:27.030898Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-16T18:41:33.962534Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-16T18:41:33.862587Z",
"date": "2017-10-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oi81r\">On Oct. 11, 2017, President Trump called NBC News “fake news” and suggested that the FCC should challenge the network’s broadcast license.</p><p data-block-key=\"oqe34\">“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!” Trump tweeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"rbyld\">Trump also criticized an NBC News report which said that Trump wanted to increase the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Fake <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NBCNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NBCNews</a> made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/918110279367643137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 11, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\r\n\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/918112884630093825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 11, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g4osd\">Jessica Rosenworcel, one of the FCC’s five commissioners, responded to Trump on Twitter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Not how it works.<br><br>See here: <a href=\"https://t.co/1JgiJyk5wK\">https://t.co/1JgiJyk5wK</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/1aNpYsk7BG\">https://t.co/1aNpYsk7BG</a></p>— Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JRosenworcel/status/918122410620194816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 11, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kwhn0\">Rosenworcel’s tweet included a link to a <a href=\"https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/public-and-broadcasting.pdf\">document</a> on the FCC’s website titled “The Public and Broadcasting,” which outlines the agency’s regulation of broadcasts.</p><p data-block-key=\"juh8d\">“We license only individual broadcast stations,” the document states. “We do not license TV or radio networks (such as CBS, NBC, ABC or Fox) or other organizations with which stations have relationships (such as PBS or NPR), except to the extent that those entities may also be station licensees.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ifq08\">While the FCC regulates which local TV stations can broadcast over the air, it does not — and cannot — regulate which networks those stations broadcast. The agency could deny licenses to local stations directly owned by NBC, but doing so would not prevent other stations from broadcasting NBC News. If the FCC did attempt to deny broadcast licenses to NBC-owned stations in retaliation for the network’s coverage of Trump, it would likely be challenged in court and lose on First Amendment grounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"kp19d\">The Radio Television Digital News Association (which is a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker) condemned Trump’s tweet.</p><p data-block-key=\"xznf3\">“Today’s call by the President of the United States to challenge the licenses of networks is not only dangerous to the American people’s right to access responsible journalism, it represents a clear misunderstanding on his part of how much control the federal government can exercise as it relates to networks and cable channels,” RTDNA executive director Dan Shelley said.</p><p data-block-key=\"i6evi\">Trump is not the first president to try to retaliate against journalism organizations by challenging broadcast licenses. </p><p data-block-key=\"mch7x\">Newton Minow, a former FCC director, <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/2016/12/07/a-medal-after-ignoring-presidential-orders/\">writes</a> in the Chicago Tribune that John F. Kennedy once called him up to complain that NBC News was broadcasting false information about him.</p><p data-block-key=\"c4e8h\">“I was at home one evening when Kennedy called, furious because of a television news story,” Minow recalls. “Executives in the steel industry announced a price increase, which the president believed was a violation of an agreement he had negotiated to avoid a strike. He asked if I had seen NBC’s newscast in which the steel companies’ execs bitterly attacked the president. I had. The president bellowed: ‘Did you see how those guys lied about me? Outrageous! Do something about it!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"v8g7p\">Minow refused to do anything and Kennedy dropped the matter.</p><p data-block-key=\"7kfpn\">In the 1970s, Richard Nixon and his allies took more serious steps, challenging the broadcast licenses of local TV stations owned by The Washington Post. </p><p data-block-key=\"0fp34\">“In 1973, the Associated Press reported on the effort from George Champion Jr., who had been finance chairman for Nixon’s campaign in Florida, to challenge the license of a Jacksonville, Fla., TV station — WJXT-TV,” Post reporter Aaron Blake <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/11/trumps-threat-to-nbc-license-is-exactly-what-nixon-did/\">writes</a>. “The station was then owned by Newsweek and The Washington Post Co., which also owned The Washington Post. The Post was at that point well into its Pulitzer Prize-winning Watergate investigation of the president.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hf9p9\">Despite Nixon’s efforts, the FCC renewed the broadcast license for WJXT-TV and other stations owned by the Post.</p></div>",
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"(2017-10-11 20:14:00+00:00) Trump follows-up tweet about broadcast licenses",
"(2018-02-01 12:00:00+00:00) FCC letter"
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