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[
{
"title": "Pennsylvania judge denies energy company’s subpoena of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-judge-denies-energy-companys-subpoena-of-pittsburgh-post-gazette-staff/",
"first_published_at": "2019-06-06T14:55:26.942635Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-04-21T16:14:22.245205Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-04-21T16:14:22.121937Z",
"date": "2019-02-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Pittsburgh",
"longitude": -79.99589,
"latitude": 40.44062,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9kh0o\">Staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette were subpoenaed in February 2019 by Range Resources while reporting around a confidential settlement between the gas-drilling company and Pennsylvania residents. On May 3, a Washington County judge <a href=\"https://www.post-gazette.com/news/2019/05/07/Range-Resources-Haney-settlement-shield-law-Washington-County/stories/201905070115\">quashed the requests</a> for testimony, sources, notes and documents from former Post-Gazette reporter Don Hopey and two other journalists. </p><p data-block-key=\"78a8t\">Beginning in January, the Post-Gazette sought to unseal an August 2018 <a href=\"https://www.post-gazette.com/news/environment/2019/02/07/Post-Gazette-asks-court-to-unseal-Haney-shale-gas-case-settlement/stories/201902070186\">settlement</a> between Range and families who alleged they had experienced serious health problems due to exposure to leaks, spills and air pollution emanating from a nearby company well. Range fought the outlet’s petition, claiming the request was not timely. </p><p data-block-key=\"dum7l\">Range lawyers subpoenaed Hopey, reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-quashes-energy-companys-subpoena-of-post-gazette-reporter-staff/\">David Templeton</a> and former Managing Editor <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-quashes-energy-companys-subpoena-of-former-post-gazette-managing-editor/\">Sally Stapleton</a> on Feb. 25 to uncover the reporters’ sources and obtain their notes and documents related to the case, the Post-Gazette <a href=\"https://www.post-gazette.com/news/2019/05/07/Range-Resources-Haney-settlement-shield-law-Washington-County/stories/201905070115\">reported</a>. The outlet entered its objection to all three subpoenas on March 11, according to the court docket.</p><p data-block-key=\"444k4\">In her May ruling quashing the subpoenas, Washington County Common Pleas Court President Judge Katherine Emery cited Pennsylvania’s shield law and its protection of news sources. </p><p data-block-key=\"2a0lg\">“The Shield Law must be liberally construed in favor of the news media,” Emery wrote in her order and opinion. “Under this law, the employees of the newspaper cannot be required to disclose any information that could lead to the disclosure of their sources.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bsqa\">The Post-Gazette also asked Emery to order Range to cover the newspaper’s legal fees, calling the subpoenas “a brazen and legally abusive attempt to harass and intimidate the Post-Gazette.” Emery denied that request.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbsq6\">In a related incident, the same judge barred Pittsburgh-based reporter Reid Frazier <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-journalist-barred-publishing-document-mistakenly-made-public-order-vacated/\">from directly or indirectly publishing</a> contents of the settlement terms on May 30, which the reporter had inadvertently obtained from a glitch in the court’s software. On June 4, Range told Emery it would publicly release the settlement terms, <a href=\"https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2019/06/04/court-document-reveals-range-resources-other-defendants-agreed-to-3-million-settlement-in-washington-county-contamination-suit/\">Frazier reported</a>, effectively ending the Post-Gazette’s court action to unseal it and the publishing injunction. Read more on the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-journalist-barred-publishing-document-mistakenly-made-public-order-vacated/\">prior restraint here</a>. </p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2019-06-06_at_10.48.5.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mooo6\">A notice of deposition to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Don Hopey, one of three people in the newsroom to ordered to turn over work product, stemming from the paper's request to unseal a private settlement.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"environmentalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Don Hopey (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"quashed"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "CBS San Francisco photographer robbed at gunpoint, security guard shot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-san-francisco-photographer-robbed-at-gunpoint-security-guard-shot/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-22T17:53:00.617276Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-09T21:12:56.367633Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-09T21:12:56.250267Z",
"date": "2019-02-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Oakland",
"longitude": -122.2708,
"latitude": 37.80437,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bcgjp\">John Anglin, a photographer for San Francisco-based local CBS KPIX 5 news, was robbed at gunpoint early in the evening on Feb. 24, 2019, while covering the Oakland teachers’ strike.</p><p data-block-key=\"eho60\">Having just finished gathering interviews around 5 p.m., Anglin was standing outside his news van when two men pulled up in a car, KPIX <a href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/02/25/armed-robbery-attack-kpix-news-crew-oakland/\">reported</a>. The men got out and one held a gun to Anglin’s head, demanding their camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"yah4k\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joenewsman/status/1099875256465010690\">video</a> posted online, Anglin states, “He came out of the car with a gun in hand, basically saying, ‘Give up the camera, I want the camera.’ I just walked away and said, ‘Take it, it’s yours.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"lgb2v\">Anglin surrendered the equipment, according to a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joenewsman/status/1099875256465010690\">tweet</a> from KPIX 5 reporter Joe Vazquez, and took cover in the news van.</p><p data-block-key=\"uc4pu\">Matt Meredith, a retired Berkeley police officer, was accompanying the news crew as a private security guard. Meredith exchanged fire with the suspect and was shot in the upper leg before the suspects fled.</p><p data-block-key=\"m21bc\">Meredith was transported to Highland Hospital where he was treated. He has since been released and is expected to recover, Oakland Police spokesperson Johnna Watson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"1oxdu\">This is not the first time that a news crew has been targeted for theft in the San Francisco area. Violent robberies targeting news crews became a consistent problem beginning in 2011 during the Occupy Wall Street movement, KPIX <a href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/02/25/armed-robbery-attack-kpix-news-crew-oakland/\">reported</a>, which has motivated many Bay area television stations to hire private security to accompany their teams in the field.</p><p data-block-key=\"9t6y6\">In July 2015, NBC Bay Area <a href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/NBC-Bay-Area-News-Crew-Mugged-Pistol-Whipped-at-San-Francisco-Pier-311452221.html\">reported</a> that two of their journalists and a reporter from KTVU were attacked and robbed in the early morning while preparing to go on air at Pier 14, a popular tourist designation, in San Francisco. A KPIX photojournalist was also <a href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/11/08/cbs-5-cameraman-beaten-robbed-after-oakland-live-shot/\">attacked and robbed</a> by a group of young men after broadcasting live in front of a school in Oakland in November 2012.</p><p data-block-key=\"q723r\">Watson confirmed that multiple suspects have been arrested in connection with the Feb. 24 robbery, but neither the names of the suspects nor charges will be released until the District Attorney’s Office formally files charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"16q1b\">Watson told the Tracker that at 5:15 p.m. on that day a suspect walked into a nearby hospital seeking treatment for several gunshot wounds and was arrested in connection with the robbery and shooting. Later that evening Oakland police also pursued another suspect driving a car connected with the robbery and detained the driver.</p><p data-block-key=\"v3aah\">As a result of the arrests, the stolen camera was recovered, and the investigation is ongoing.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2019-02-25_12.55.07.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"5ivml\">This screenshot from California-based KPIX 5 reporter, Joe Vazquez, shows the news team's security guard being transported after receiving a gunshot wound to the leg. He is expected to recover.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-10-18 00:00:00+00:00) Two convicted in attempted robbery of San Francisco news crew"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"John Anglin (KPIX-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "CBS San Francisco news reporter robbed at gunpoint, security guard shot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-san-francisco-news-crew-robbed-gunpoint-its-security-guard-shot/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-28T20:13:08.480713Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-02-21T15:20:14.276975Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-02-21T15:20:14.135287Z",
"date": "2019-02-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Oakland",
"longitude": -122.2708,
"latitude": 37.80437,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xovns\">Joe Vazquez, a reporter for San Francisco-based local CBS KPIX 5 News was robbed at gunpoint early in the evening on Feb. 24, 2019, while covering the Oakland teachers’ strike.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ae6r\">Having just finished gathering interviews around 5 p.m., Vazquez was standing outside his news van with photographer John Anglin when two men pulled up in a car, KPIX <a href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/02/25/armed-robbery-attack-kpix-news-crew-oakland/\">reported</a>. The men got out and one held a gun to Anglin’s head, demanding their camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"hr2gg\">According to a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joenewsman/status/1099875256465010690\">tweet</a> from Vazquez the men took cover in the news van with Vazquez, telling him to get down.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you, friends, for your well wishes. Our guard was shot today in Oakland while we were on assignment covering the Oakland teachers strike. We believe his wounds are not life threatening, thank God. Photographer John Anglin was robbed at gunpoint. 1/3 <a href=\"https://t.co/TP225CUJNQ\">pic.twitter.com/TP225CUJNQ</a></p>— Joe Vazquez (@joenewsman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joenewsman/status/1099871095723765760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 25, 2019</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=\"j6q6m\">In July 2015, NBC Bay Area <a href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/NBC-Bay-Area-News-Crew-Mugged-Pistol-Whipped-at-San-Francisco-Pier-311452221.html\">reported</a> that two of their journalists and a reporter from KTVU were attacked and robbed in the early morning while preparing to go on air at Pier 14, a popular tourist designation, in San Francisco. A KPIX photojournalist was also <a href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/11/08/cbs-5-cameraman-beaten-robbed-after-oakland-live-shot/\">attacked and robbed</a> by a group of young men after broadcasting live in front of a school in Oakland in November 2012.</p><p data-block-key=\"y2kx5\">Watson confirmed that multiple suspects have been arrested in connection with the Feb. 24 robbery, but neither the names of the suspects nor charges will be released until the District Attorney’s Office formally files charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"i2j6c\">Watson told the Tracker that at 5:15 p.m. on that day a suspect walked into a nearby hospital seeking treatment for several gunshot wounds and was arrested in connection with the robbery and shooting. Later that evening Oakland police pursued another suspect driving a car connected with the robbery and detained the driver.</p><p data-block-key=\"rx31g\">As a result of the arrests, the stolen camera was recovered, and the investigation is ongoing.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Update: The Oakland Police Department can confirm at least 2 arrests have been made in conn. with the armed robbery of a Bay Area news crew and the shooting of the crew’s security guard (2/24/19). Film camera recovered. Guard treated for gunshot wound & released from hospital. <a href=\"https://t.co/Ptpr0c7Sr0\">pic.twitter.com/Ptpr0c7Sr0</a></p>— Oakland Police Dept. (@oaklandpoliceca) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/oaklandpoliceca/status/1100078096131141632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 25, 2019</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=\"i2xpa\">“We heard a flurry of loud gunshots. Very close! More shots, I saw a guy drag the camera away and saw our guard Matt was hit,” Vazquez wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"yr4ft\">Matt Meredith, a retired Berkeley police officer, was accompanying the news crew as a private security guard. Meredith exchanged fire with the suspect and was shot in the upper leg before the suspects fled.</p><p data-block-key=\"8tj7z\">“The security guard says he turned to run to retreat, there were no words exchanged, the gunman came straight up and shot him,” Vazquez told KPIX.</p><p data-block-key=\"fzajs\">Meredith was transported to Highland Hospital where he was treated. He has since been released and is expected to recover, Oakland Police spokesperson Johnna Watson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"9hwp0\">This is not the first time that a news crew has been targeted for theft in the San Francisco area. Violent robberies targeting news crews became a consistent problem beginning in 2011 during the Occupy Wall Street movement, KPIX <a href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/02/25/armed-robbery-attack-kpix-news-crew-oakland/\">reported</a>, which has motivated many Bay area television stations to hire private security to accompany their teams in the field.</p><p data-block-key=\"1v3fl\">As a result of the arrests, the stolen camera was recovered, and the investigation is ongoing.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2019-02-25_12.55.07.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4ea47\">This screenshot from California-based KPIX 5 reporter, Joe Vazquez, shows the news team's security guard being transported after receiving a gunshot wound to the leg. He is expected to recover.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-10-18 00:00:00+00:00) Two convicted in attempted robbery of San Francisco news crew"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joe Vazquez (KPIX-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Second subpoena issued for content of Illinois watchdog’s Dropbox account",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/second-subpoena-issued-for-content-of-illinois-watchdogs-dropbox-account/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-25T21:23:39.708099Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-13T14:23:32.158870Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-13T14:23:32.066610Z",
"date": "2019-02-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Algonquin Township",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vq5vm\">A lawyer representing Algonquin Township, Illinois, filed a second subpoena to compel the file-hosting service Dropbox to produce information on an account belonging to the Edgar County Watchdogs, an Illinois-based government watchdog blog.</p><p data-block-key=\"zzc5z\">The <a href=\"https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.197/7b1.61b.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/19.02.22.Subpoena-for-Production-of-Business-Records.Dropbox.pdf\">subpoena</a>, issued on Feb. 22, 2019, requested much of the same information as the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-contents-illinois-government-watchdogs-dropbox-account/\">first subpoena</a> filed in January — the content, IP and email addresses of all users, users’ access histories, payment information and comments of the account.</p><p data-block-key=\"ovk3e\">The outlet is currently suing Algonquin Township for failing to provide records in response to 16 different public records requests, and the subpoena was issued in the context of that lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"lluhq\">Edgar County Watchdogs <a href=\"https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2019/03/algonquin-township-attacks-media-a-second-time-subpoenas-for-our-dropbox-account-again/\">reported</a> it filed a motion to quash the subpoena, which was heard in March.</p><p data-block-key=\"0ma6m\">“Illinois law protects media and reporters from things like this, but the Township Board has decided to keep piling on and incurring more legal bills,” blog co-founder John Kraft wrote. “Not just their own legal bills, but the township will also pay our legal bills when they lose this FOIA lawsuit.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sgf8f\">In March, a McHenry County Court judge granted a stay in the production of the requested materials until a ruling could be made on the motion to quash, Edgar County Watchdogs <a href=\"https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2019/03/mchenry-county-judge-ordered-stay-of-production-in-algonquin-townships-subpoena-to-watchdogs-dropbox/\">reported</a>. The judge also confirmed that the first subpoena was quashed.</p><p data-block-key=\"dezak\">Edgar County Watchdogs shared court documents with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that show the motion to quash was denied on April 16, but the outlet filed a motion for the judge to reconsider.</p><p data-block-key=\"k6h96\">Kraft told the Tracker that the subpoenas would have a serious impact on the outlet if it weren’t for the support of other organizations, like the Press Freedom Defense Fund.</p><p data-block-key=\"zqpvj\">“We do not have the money to hire an attorney and do the paperwork to fight these subpoenas. Without these grants we wouldn’t be able to do it,” Kraft said. “We’d have to roll over and give them what they ask for.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/ECW_Dropbox2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"fifid\">A portion of a subpoena for the Edgar County Watchdog's Dropbox account information</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": "Dropbox",
"third_party_business": "tech company",
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [
"(2019-07-10 16:08:00+00:00) Judge quashes subpoena for third-party work product, citing the state's reporter's privilege"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Edgar County Watchdogs"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"quashed"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "New Yorker staff writer subpoenaed for 'all documents' around 2014 article",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-yorker-staff-writer-subpoenaed-all-documents-around-2014-article/",
"first_published_at": "2019-11-08T18:03:06.675628Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-05T19:03:54.367789Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-05T19:03:54.250367Z",
"date": "2019-02-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"v59tn\">In February, attorneys representing the city of Chicago subpoenaed The New Yorker staff writer Nicholas Schmidle to produce documents in relation to an article published in the magazine in 2014.</p><p data-block-key=\"zl5e3\">A set of separate <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-yorker-staff-writer-subpoenaed-testimony-civil-rights-lawsuit/\">subpoenas for the reporter’s testimony</a> was served in June and quashed in October.</p><p data-block-key=\"d8x17\">In 2014, Schmidle wrote a <a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/crime-fiction\">feature story for the New Yorker about Tyrone Hood</a>, who had been convicted of murder in 1996 and sentenced to 75 years in prison. Schmidle’s article included evidence strongly suggesting that Hood was innocent.</p><p data-block-key=\"f540u\">In January 2015, outgoing Illinois governor Pat Quinn <a href=\"https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/01/13/quinn-commutes-sentence-of-man-convicted-of-lying-in-murder-case/\">commuted the prison sentences</a> of a number of prisoners, including Hood, on his last day in office. Because Hood received a commutation, not a pardon, he was let out of jail early but the murder conviction stayed on his record.</p><p data-block-key=\"lupo9\">At the time, a spokeswoman for Cook County State Attorney Anita Alvarez told CBS 2 Chicago that Alvarez was “deeply disappointed” with the governor’s decision to commute Hood’s sentence.</p><p data-block-key=\"zcxdt\">Just a month later, though, Alvarez’s office announced that its Conviction Integrity Unit had completed a two-year investigation into Hood’s case, which concluded that Hood’s conviction should be vacated. Alvarez then <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-tyrone-hood-conviction-dismissed-met-0210-20150209-story.html\">asked a court to vacate Hood’s conviction</a>, which the court did. Hood was now out of prison and cleared of the murder conviction.</p><p data-block-key=\"183az\">In 2016, Hood filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago and a number of Chicago police officers, accusing them of pressuring witnesses into falsely accusing him of murder.</p><p data-block-key=\"uzar6\">On Feb. 22, 2019, the defendants’ attorneys mailed the reporter Schmidle a document subpoena. The <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15957074/1/4/hood-v-city-of-chicago/\">extremely broad subpoena</a> ordered him to turn over, among other things, “All Documents Nicholas Schmidle received from any person or entity in connection with researching, investigating, preparing or publishing any of the Articles” about Hood. Schmidle’s attorneys <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15957074/1/5/hood-v-city-of-chicago/\">objected to the subpoena</a> on March 13, and the defendants seemed to drop it.</p><p data-block-key=\"uqy29\">In June 2019, Schmidle was served with <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15957074/1/6/hood-v-city-of-chicago/\">a subpoena to testify in the case</a> and a <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15957074/1/7/hood-v-city-of-chicago/\">second, more complete copy</a> of the same subpoena a week later.</p><p data-block-key=\"zoh0b\">Attorneys for both Hood and Schmidle have opposed the subpoenas for the reporter, arguing that a journalist’s documents and testimony are not relevant to a case that concerns the alleged behavior of Chicago police officers in the early 1990s.</p><p data-block-key=\"rmzst\">Attorneys for the city of Chicago’s attorneys and the other defendants in Hood’s civil rights have argued that Schmidle’s testimony is essential, using a theory that puts Schmidle at the center of the action.</p><p data-block-key=\"8nmo7\">The defendants’ attorneys have argued that Hood’s civil rights were not violated because he actually is guilty of murder and his murder conviction should not have been vacated. They argue that journalists like Schmidle were tricked into writing a false narrative, which in turn prompted Governor Quinn to commute Hood’s sentence and pressure the state attorney’s office to get Hood’s conviction thrown out.</p><p data-block-key=\"lbfxd\">The current status of the Feb. 22 document subpoena is somewhat unclear. After Schmidle’s attorneys objected to the subpoena in March, the defendants never moved to compel Schmidle to turn over the documents. In effect, they dropped the subpoena. But on July 10, Schmidle received another copy of the document subpoena by email. Once again, Schmidle refused to turn over the documents and the defendants didn’t bother to press the matter.</p><p data-block-key=\"71nyx\">Schmidle’s attorneys did not ask the judge to quash the document subpoena, but only because it seemed like the defendants had already given up on that one.</p><p data-block-key=\"fw0oo\">“Defendants have not moved to compel responses to the Document Subpoena, and therefore it is not at issue in this motion,” they wrote in the July 23 motion to quash the deposition subpoenas. That motion to quash was granted<a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15957074/12/hood-v-city-of-chicago/\"> in October</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"iiqbd\">Through a New Yorker spokeswoman, Schmidle declined to comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"r1cik\">A portion of the subpoena outlining broad requests for reporter Nicholas Schmidle's work product</p>",
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{
"title": "Trump uses Twitter to endorse Covington student’s lawsuit against The Washington Post",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-uses-twitter-endorse-covington-students-lawsuit-against-washington-post/",
"first_published_at": "2019-03-04T19:00:53.209658Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-22T16:54:31.692174Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-22T16:54:31.622277Z",
"date": "2019-02-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2rq86\">A Kentucky teen and his family have <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-washington-post-sued-by-family-of-covington-catholic-teenager/2019/02/19/aa252be4-349c-11e9-854a-7a14d7fec96a_story.html?utm_term=.61794dadd169\">sued The Washington Post</a>, seeking $250 million in damages for its coverage of his involvement in an encounter with a Native American advocate at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in January 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"jv4bf\">Filed on Feb. 19, the <a href=\"https://www.dropbox.com/s/rnio82555v8eiqk/2019-02-19%20Sandmann%20%20vs.%20Washington%20Post%20-%20Complaint.pdf?dl=0\">complaint</a> alleges that the Post “targeted and bullied” 16-year-old Nicholas Sandmann because he was white, Catholic and wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap in order to advance the paper’s biased agenda against President Donald Trump.</p><p data-block-key=\"ho7hv\">“In a span of three days in January of this year commencing on January 19, the Post engaged in a modern-day form of McCarthyism by competing with CNN and NBC, among others, to claim leadership of a mainstream and social media mob of bullies with attacked, vilified, and threatened Nicholas Sandmann, an innocent secondary school child,” states the complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"ieikw\">The complaint cites seven articles published by the Post between Jan. 19 and 21, as well as the tweets posted to promote the articles. On March 1, the Post released an editor's note about its coverage around Sandmann and his Covington Catholic High School schoolmates, saying additional reporting, statements and video allowed for <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/01/editors-note-related-lincoln-memorial-incident/?utm_term=.999194ae047c\">“a more complete assessment of what occurred</a>.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fj8ic\">The day after the suit was filed, President Trump tweeted out his support for the lawsuit and repeating his refrain that the Post is “fake news.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">“The Washington Post ignored basic journalistic standards because it wanted to advance its well-known and easily documented biased agenda against President Donald J. Trump.” Covington student suing WAPO. Go get them Nick. Fake News!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1098201685518893056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 20, 2019</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=\"2p06v\">Trump has had a combative relationship with the Post since at least December 2015, referring to it as a “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/673885376742825984\">scam</a>,” “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/742456254837215232\">phony</a>” and “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/880049704620494848\">fake news</a>.” The president has also repeatedly maligned the news outlet indirectly by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/880049704620494848\">referring</a> to it as the “#AmazonWashingtonPost” and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/673881733415178240\">targeting</a> the newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos.</p><p data-block-key=\"pmuhh\">The family is seeking $250 million in damages because, the complaint states, that is the amount Bezos paid for the newspaper when he purchased it in 2013.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"u0mdo\">A school marker for Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky, where one of its students and his family is suing The Washington Post, a move endorsed by President Trump on social media.<br/></p>",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
"updates": [
"(2019-07-26 13:31:00+00:00) Judge dismisses libel suit against The Washington Post",
"(2019-10-28 15:07:00+00:00) A previously dismissed libel suit against the Washington Post is reinstated with narrowed scope",
"(2020-07-24 16:34:00+00:00) Washington Post settles defamation suit"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"The Washington Post"
],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
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},
{
"title": "Subpoena issued for Illinois-based government watchdog’s communications",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-illinois-based-government-watchdogs-communications/",
"first_published_at": "2019-04-12T17:00:16.940403Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-06T19:49:32.463835Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-06T19:49:32.254789Z",
"date": "2019-02-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Glen Ellyn",
"longitude": -88.06701,
"latitude": 41.87753,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mtcvd\">Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs has been subpoenaed for communications and documents relating to articles involving College of DuPage, a community college in Illinois.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjoiw\">As part of a civil lawsuit brought by former College of DuPage president Robert Breuder against the college, the Feb. 19, 2019, subpoena ordered Edgar County Watchdogs to produce communications between co-founders of the group, Kirk Allen and John Kraft, and numerous other entities including news organizations the Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune. It also orders the group to turn over copies of relevant Freedom of Information Act requests and records received.</p><p data-block-key=\"kfygx\">“We wrote a lot of articles on the College DuPage and the former president and contractors, as well as change orders that were made without proper board approval and crazy expenses by the college president,” Kraft told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “[Breuder] is suing the board members of the college for various civil rights violations, like his age and alleging lack of due process. They are working through discovery, and they’re trying to get communications between us, the board of the college, and various media outlets.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aiq4p\">Kraft noted that the FOIA requests and responsive records — which comprise thousands of pages — are already public records, so it isn’t necessary to order the group to produce them. “They can get them from the college,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4dyza\">The subpoena ordered the documents produced by April 1, but Kraft said that with the help of the group’s attorney, government transparency and media lawyer Matt Topic, they had secured an extension on compliance.</p><p data-block-key=\"utbst\">Topic confirmed that the group was granted an extension until May 1 to respond to the subpoena, and that that they will be opposing the order.</p><p data-block-key=\"lx71e\">“[The subpoena] makes us spend time, money, and effort fighting this, instead of writing like we should be doing,” Kraft said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fwvjw\">Attorneys for Breuder did not immediately respond to request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"rslr8\">In an unrelated case, Edgar County Watchdogs <a href=\"/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-contents-illinois-government-watchdogs-dropbox-account/\">received a subpoena</a> on Jan. 23 for information relating to the group’s Dropbox. The motion to quash that subpoena was granted on Feb. 11.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8n9th\">A portion of the subpoena for communications from Edgar County Watchdogs.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-05-31 00:00:00+00:00) Illinois watchdog blog partly complies with subpoena"
],
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"Edgar County Watchdogs"
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},
{
"title": "Town marshal stops young journalist in Arizona, threatens to arrest her",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/town-marshal-stops-young-journalist-arizona-threatens-arrest-her/",
"first_published_at": "2019-03-05T18:56:04.620543Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-11T17:56:45.413071Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-11T17:56:45.321504Z",
"date": "2019-02-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Patagonia",
"longitude": -110.7562,
"latitude": 31.53954,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"i1ho4\">Hilde Kate Lysiak, a 12-year-old reporter and publisher of Orange Street News, was stopped and threatened by an Arizona town marshal while she was reporting a story on Feb. 18, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"aa7kc\">At around 1:30 p.m., Lysiak was chasing down a lead on her bicycle when Joseph Patterson, the town marshal in Patagonia, Arizona, stopped her and asked for her identification. Lysiak told Patterson her name and phone number, and mentioned that she is a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"jcauj\">Lysiak <a href=\"https://orangestreetnews.com/2019/02/18/patagonia-marshal-theatens-to-arrest-osn-publisher-see-the-video/\">reported</a> in OSN that Patterson told her, “I don’t want to hear about any of that freedom-of-the-press stuff.” He added that he would arrest her and send her to juvenile detention. Later, Lysiak ran into Patterson again, but this time she was recording.</p><p data-block-key=\"krbnv\">In the video, which Lysiak published to YouTube and OSN, she can be heard saying, “You stopped me earlier and you said that I can be thrown in juvie. What exactly am I doing that’s illegal?”</p><p data-block-key=\"pfkkv\">Patterson began to respond, but interrupted himself to ask if she was recording the encounter. “You can tape me, OK,” he is heard saying, “but what I’m going to tell you is if you put my face on the internet, it’s against the law in Arizona.”</p><p data-block-key=\"k3gha\">There is no such law and recording a law enforcement officer in a public place is protected under the First Amendment, a fact noted by Lysiak in her article about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"4o0b4\">Patterson told her that he had noticed her trailing him as he responded to urgent calls around town, and accused her of disobeying his commands and lying about heading to a friend’s house (which she disputed). He also said that his concern was that she would be harmed by the mountain lion that had been seen wandering through that area of town. Finally, he told her, “I’ll be getting a hold of your parents,” and drove off.</p><p data-block-key=\"qveku\">Lysiak, whose father is also a journalist, knew her rights and published the video anyway.</p><p data-block-key=\"kfdye\">The Nogales International <a href=\"https://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/town-says-it-s-taken-action-after-marshal-s-encounter/article_c1192514-3585-11e9-87f1-7ba359bd40fc.html\">reported</a> that the town of Patagonia posted a statement to its website on Feb. 24, after receiving “many comments” regarding the interaction between Lysiak and Patterson. “The matter has been carefully reviewed and we have taken action we believe to be appropriate for the situation,” it said. The statement also noted that the town does not disclose personnel actions, including disciplinary actions, and would provide no further comment on the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"waz3m\">On Feb. 27, the town issued an apology during a Town Council meeting. In a <a href=\"https://orangestreetnews.com/2019/02/28/town-of-patagonia-apologizes-to-osn-will-not-tolerate-any-further-restrictions-on-freedom-of-speech-see-the-video/\">video of the meeting</a> published by Lysiak, Patagonia Mayor Andrea Wood said, “The governing body of the town of Patagonia would like to apologize for the First Amendment rights violation inflicted upon Hilde Lysiak, a young reporter who is in our community. We are sorry Hilde, we encourage and respect your continued aspirations as a successful reporter.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vykp5\">Lysiak made a name for herself in 2016, when she was the first to report on a grisly murder in her hometown of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Her continued reporting on local crime has garnered her many supporters, but also resulted in some threats. In January, Lysiak received threatening messages following her <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0ykAqEXooU\">reporting</a> on text message exchanges between an alleged drug dealer and his alleged accomplice in a car theft.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Journalist stopped at the border for the third time, questioned about his work and FOIA request",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-stopped-border-third-time-questioned-about-his-work-and-foia-request/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-20T21:30:08.930706Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-29T17:04:07.419794Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-29T17:04:07.305624Z",
"date": "2019-02-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ru7zc\">Manuel Rapalo, a freelance journalist, was stopped and pulled aside for additional screening measures while entering the United States on Feb. 16, 2019. During the screening, Rapalo was questioned about his work, and specifically his reporting along the U.S.-Mexico border. It was the third time in 2019 he was stopped by border patrol while on a reporting trip.</p><p data-block-key=\"w1j3i\">Rapalo, an American citizen, <a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/hundreds-honduran-migrants-journey-190116155026749.html\">covered the migrant caravan</a> from Tijuana, Mexico for Al-Jazeera. Every time he has re-entered the U.S. since the beginning of 2019, he says, he has been pulled aside for a secondary screening. Rapalo believes that a flag or marker has been placed on his travel documents because border officials have consistently stopped him only after scanning his passport.</p><p data-block-key=\"9kazl\">He said he was pulled aside in February when re-entering the U.S. in Miami from Haiti. He was previously stopped for secondary screening measures when returning from Mexico on <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-stopped-us-mexico-border-questioned-about-immigration-reporting/\">Jan. 5, when his notebooks were searched</a>, and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-stopped-border-second-time-camera-searched/\">Jan. 26, when his notebooks and photos on his camera were searched</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jat8t\">“When coming into Miami, an officer scanned my passport and immediately said, ‘Hmm, I guess we have to pull you aside, Mr. Rapalo,’” he said of the Feb. 16 stop.</p><p data-block-key=\"2kmey\">Although Rapalo was returning from Haiti, he was questioned about his work and reporting on the migrant caravan along the Mexican border. Then his notebooks were searched.</p><p data-block-key=\"neodu\">One of his reporter notebooks included notes and information about the process of filing a Freedom of Information Act request, which he intended to do for his work.</p><p data-block-key=\"jpwdp\">“The officer took exception to this, and asked me why I was interested in filing FOIAs,” Rapalo said. “I told him, because I’m a journalist, and it’s one of the tools we have.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8scs3\">Rapalo said during this border stop in Miami, an official who seemed to “like him” indicated that these stops would be an ongoing problem. “He said I could try Global Entry to make this go faster next time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tngxi\">Global Entry is a government program for expediting international travel.</p><p data-block-key=\"jt1qa\">Like the previous incidents, Rapalo said the secondary screenings began with about 30 minutes of questioning, then he was held for 1-2 hours while his luggage was searched. During this search, however, Rapalo said a large amount of attention focused on the paper receipts in his bag and wallet.</p><p data-block-key=\"0hk9x\">Rapalo said that he has changed his behavior due to concerns about protecting his sources and reporting materials. He now brings new memory cards with him each time he travels for work.</p><p data-block-key=\"7xin3\">CBP did not immediately respond to request for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1wymu\">A journalist captures the movement of migrant children around the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 31, 2018.</p>",
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{
"title": "Media figures, politicians among alleged targets of Coast Guard officer indicted for firearm and drug possession",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/media-figures-politicians-among-alleged-targets-coast-guard-officer-indicted-firearm-and-drug-possession/",
"first_published_at": "2019-03-06T14:37:22.879277Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-11T17:59:08.876435Z",
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"date": "2019-02-15",
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"city": "Silver Spring",
"longitude": -77.02609,
"latitude": 38.99067,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ozah9\">A Coast Guard officer was indicted by a grand jury on Feb. 27, 2019, following a search of his apartment that uncovered a cache of weapons and a hit list of “traitors” that he intended to attack, including prominent politicians and media figures.</p><p data-block-key=\"07ayl\">Federal authorities said that Christopher Paul Hasson, a Coast Guard lieutenant who has served for more than two decades, was taken into custody at work on Feb. 15. A computer program used to identify insider threats flagged suspicious activity on his work computer last fall, Lieutenant Commander Scott McBride, a service spokesman, <a href=\"https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-coast-guard-maryland-attack-0222-story.html\">told the Baltimore Sun</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"k3vo0\">McBride said that Hasson was arrested once Federal Bureau of Investigation and Coast Guard investigators were “confident in the strength of the evidence supporting the criminal complaint and warrant,” The Sun reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"cuz85\">Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on his basement apartment in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland, and seized 15 firearms, two silencers, over 100 pills of the opioid painkiller tramadol, and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Officers also found a spreadsheet listing potential targets, including MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough and CNN’s Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo and Van Jones.</p><p data-block-key=\"s9iij\">Prosecutors say Hasson used his government computer to plot an assault, researching potential locations to target politicians and studying the writings of domestic terrorists including the Unabomber and the Virginia Tech shooter, The Washington Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/ex-coast-guard-lieutenant-ordered-held-for-14-days-while-government-weighs-terrorism-related-charges-in-his-planning-of-widespread-terrorist-attack/2019/02/21/57918f12-3573-11e9-854a-7a14d7fec96a_story.html?utm_term=.4d03949a4fb4\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"wwfk2\">In documents recovered from Hasson’s computer, he described himself as a “long time White Nationalist.” The Post reported that according to court documents, Hasson called for “focused violence” to “establish a white homeland.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q19km\">“The sheer number and force of the weapons recovered from Mr. Hasson’s residence in this case, coupled with the disturbing nature of his writing, appear to reflect a very significant threat to the safety of our community,” Robert Hur, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, told The Sun, “particularly given the position of trust that Mr. Hasson held with the United States government.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gcdv7\">A grand jury indicted Hasson on Feb. 27 on charges of illegal possession of firearm silencers, possession of firearms by a drug addict and unlawful user, and possession of a controlled substance. His court hearing has not yet been scheduled, but Hasson has been detained since his arrest on Feb. 15.</p><p data-block-key=\"3q7xc\">Prosecutors told The Post that Hasson could face up to 31 years in prison if convicted: 10 years for each of the weapons charges and one year for the possession of tramadol.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zw4zi\">A cache of guns and ammunition was uncovered in February by U.S. federal investigators in the home of U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant Christopher Paul Hasson in Silver Spring, Maryland.</p>",
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"name": "Maryland",
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"(2020-01-31 11:40:00+00:00) Former Coast Guard officer sentenced to 13 years in jail for planned attack that included media"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Chris Hayes (MSNBC)",
"Joe Scarborough (MSNBC)",
"Don Lemon (CNN)",
"Chris Cuomo (CNN)",
"Van Jones (CNN)"
],
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{
"title": "NBC reporter shoved by officers while trying to interview senators at U.S. Capitol",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nbc-reporter-shoved-by-officers-while-trying-to-interview-senators-at-us-capitol/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-22T18:00:52.649357Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-10-22T18:00:52.649357Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-10-22T18:00:52.595533Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>On Feb. 14, 2019, U.S. Capitol Police officers pushed and shoved NBC reporter Leigh Ann and other journalists while they were trying to interview U.S. senators in the basement of the Senate building.</p><p>“It was happening to everyone who tried to get close to a senator,” Paul McLeod, a BuzzFeed News reporter who witnessed the altercations, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I can tell you I witnessed [Leigh Ann] Caldwell of NBC get smashed out of the way when she was walking side-by-side with a senator. A bunch of people were yelling about getting shoved.”</p><p>McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers physically prevented reporters from interviewing senators, even though the senators were willing to talk to the press.</p><p>“I have never seen them do what they did today, which was forming a protective circle around senators to keep press away,” he said. “The senators were just walking in to a vote like normal and the police were doing it to everyone. There was no sign the senators were requesting it.”</p><p>McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers’ aggressive tactics were unprecedented.</p><p>“There were no more reporters there than there are any day of any week,” McLeod said.</p><p>The Feb. 14 altercation came in the midst of heated confrontations between members of Congress and journalists.</p><p>The day before, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez accused Henry Rodgers, a reporter from the right-wing news site The Daily Caller, of harassing him and threatened to call the police.</p><p>“I won’t answer questions to the Daily Caller, period!” Menendez said,<a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/menendez-threatens-to-call-capitol-police-after-reporter-asks-him-about-green-new-deal\"> according to Rodgers’ recording</a> of the conversation. “You’re trash … Don’t keep harassing me anymore or I’ll race to the Capitol Police!”</p><p>Menendez did not follow through on his threat to involve the Capitol Police.</p><p>McLeod said that the presence of the political tracker shouldn’t excuse the Capitol Police’s aggressive treatment of the press in the Senate basement.</p><p>“Looks like it was all an absurd over-reaction because this [political tracker] was apparently somewhere around,” he said. “But the thing is he can't get into the actual capitol and that is where this took place. We were in an area past a security checkpoint where you needed to have ID or be a guest of someone to get in. So the whole thing made no sense.”</p><p>The National Press Club also<a href=\"https://www.press.org/news-multimedia/news/national-press-club-criticizes-capitol-police-manhandling-reporters\"> released a statement</a> criticizing the Capitol Police response as an over-reaction.</p><p>“Capitol Police dramatically over-reacted on Thursday and did more harm than good when they prevented accredited reporters from doing their job and further obstructed senators from communicating with the press,” NPC President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak said in a statement.</p><p>“There was no call for the police to shove or place their hands on the reporters.”</p></div>",
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{
"title": "First Amendment YouTuber shot while live-streaming security guard",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/first-amendment-youtuber-shot-while-live-streaming-security-guard/",
"first_published_at": "2019-03-14T19:24:54.143989Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-08T19:18:07.175910Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-08T19:18:07.095369Z",
"date": "2019-02-14",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lfutn\">Civil liberties and First Amendment YouTuber Zhoie Perez was shot on Feb. 14, 2019, while live-streaming outside of a synagogue and high school in Los Angeles.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vaql\">Perez, who goes by “Furry Potato” on YouTube, was <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcDCdF7H1mo\">filming a security guard</a> and his gun outside of the Etz Jacob Congregation and Ohel Chana High School in the Fairfax neighborhood of Los Angeles while the guard repeatedly asked her why she was recording.</p><p data-block-key=\"rqo1w\">Perez did not answer, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcDCdF7H1mo\">but said on the livestream</a> that the guard threatened to shoot her if she moved. Minutes later, after a loud bang, the camera falls to the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"h6tpy\">Police officers arrived to the scene shortly after, and Perez was brought to a hospital for <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/man-paris-metro-burned-after-serious-liquid-attack-n972011https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/guard-arrested-after-youtube-personality-shot-outside-los-angeles-synagogue-n972006?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma\">treatment of a graze wound to the leg</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"h2drj\">Perez performs “First Amendment audits,” a method of filming law enforcement without explaining why to assert one’s constitutional rights and test an officer’s response to those rights. Civil liberties advocates hope to illuminate how agencies respond to First Amendment activities by engaging in the “audits” without notice or warning to law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"w4y1t\">“It turned into an impromptu First Amendment audit because the security guard almost immediately was getting really aggressive with the filming and putting the hand on the gun,” <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/02/15/what-is-auditing-why-did-youtuber-get-shot-doing-it/?utm_term=.0bfe100b4cc5\">Perez told the Washington Post</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"mwmh3\"><a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/guard-arrested-after-youtube-personality-shot-outside-los-angeles-synagogue-n972006?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma\">According to NBC</a>, the security guard, 44-year-old Edduin Zelayagrunfeld, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ol4r\">Perez did not respond to an email request for comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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"(2019-03-13 12:56:00+00:00) No Charges Against Security Guard"
],
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],
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{
"title": "NPR reporter shoved by U.S. Capitol Police while trying to interview senators",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-trying-interview-senators-shoved-capitol-police/",
"first_published_at": "2019-03-11T20:17:36.664537Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-10-22T18:00:49.350288Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-10-22T18:00:49.306397Z",
"date": "2019-02-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>On Feb. 14, 2019, U.S. Capitol Police officers pushed and shoved NPR reporter Kelsey Snell and other journalists while they were trying to interview U.S. senators in the basement of the Senate building.</p><p>“It was happening to everyone who tried to get close to a senator,” Paul McLeod, a BuzzFeed News reporter who witnessed the altercations, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. </p><p>McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers physically prevented reporters from interviewing senators, even though the senators were willing to talk to the press.</p><p>McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers’ aggressive tactics were unprecedented.</p><p>The Feb. 14 altercation came in the midst of heated confrontations between members of Congress and journalists.</p><p>The day before, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez accused Henry Rodgers, a reporter from the right-wing news site The Daily Caller, of harassing him and threatened to call the police.</p><p>“I won’t answer questions to the Daily Caller, period!” Menendez said,<a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/menendez-threatens-to-call-capitol-police-after-reporter-asks-him-about-green-new-deal\"> according to Rodgers’ recording</a> of the conversation. “You’re trash … Don’t keep harassing me anymore or I’ll race to the Capitol Police!”</p><p>Menendez did not follow through on his threat to involve the Capitol Police.</p><p>McLeod said that the presence of the political tracker shouldn’t excuse the Capitol Police’s aggressive treatment of the press in the Senate basement.</p><p>“Looks like it was all an absurd over-reaction because this [political tracker] was apparently somewhere around,” he said. “But the thing is he can't get into the actual capitol and that is where this took place. We were in an area past a security checkpoint where you needed to have ID or be a guest of someone to get in. So the whole thing made no sense.”</p><p>The National Press Club also<a href=\"https://www.press.org/news-multimedia/news/national-press-club-criticizes-capitol-police-manhandling-reporters\"> released a statement</a> criticizing the Capitol Police response as an over-reaction.</p><p>“Capitol Police dramatically over-reacted on Thursday and did more harm than good when they prevented accredited reporters from doing their job and further obstructed senators from communicating with the press,” NPC President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak said in a statement.</p><p>“There was no call for the police to shove or place their hands on the reporters.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p>A U.S. Capitol Police officer patrols the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. In February, Capitol Police were involved in an altercation with journalists in the basement of the Senate building.<br/></p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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{
"title": "Capitol Hill reporter pushed by police while attempting to interview senators",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/capitol-hill-reporter-pushed-by-police-while-attempting-to-interview-senators/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-22T18:00:55.456359Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-02-17T00:01:47.921671Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-02-17T00:01:47.841811Z",
"date": "2019-02-14",
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"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"y3pfm\">On Feb. 14, 2019, U.S. Capitol Police officers pushed and shoved Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo and other journalists while they were trying to interview U.S. senators in the basement of the Senate building.</p><p data-block-key=\"ibbo3\">“It was happening to everyone who tried to get close to a senator,” Paul McLeod, a BuzzFeed News reporter who witnessed the altercations, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"f14qq\">McLeod said that the Capitol Police officers physically prevented reporters from interviewing senators, even though the senators were willing to talk to the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"rybgg\">“I have never seen them do what they did today, which was forming a protective circle around senators to keep press away,” he said. “The senators were just walking in to a vote like normal and the police were doing it to everyone. There was no sign the senators were requesting it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ai7e7\">Laslo<a href=\"https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/capitol-police-crackdown-press-escalates-physical-altercation\"> gave a similar account</a> to the political news site Roll Call.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0j6t\">“[Sen. Dianne] Feinstein was doing an interview with one reporter, and she just stopped and her jaw just dropped,” Laslo said. “She was confused. She was just unable to keep doing an interview that she wanted to do because the officers were creating such a mess.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fxy5o\">Roll Call, which obtained a recording of the altercation, reported that a Capitol Police officer could be heard telling journalists that they were violating the law.</p><p data-block-key=\"u7zzc\">“That’s a violation,” the Capitol Police officer reportedly said to the reporters walking alongside the senators. “Surrounding them — we lock people up for that. If the public does that, they get locked up.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wofrz\">Laslo said that the Capitol Police officers’ aggressive tactics were unprecedented.</p><p data-block-key=\"856aj\">“There were no more reporters there than there are any day of any week,” McLeod said.</p><p data-block-key=\"m5966\">“This was first time any officer put their hands on me or my co-workers in front of me, so it was really disheartening,” Laslo told Roll Call.</p><p data-block-key=\"5wqfi\">The Feb. 14 altercation came in the midst of heated confrontations between members of Congress and journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"nvwj2\">The day before, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez accused Henry Rodgers, a reporter from the right-wing news site The Daily Caller, of harassing him and threatened to call the police.</p><p data-block-key=\"vlwde\">“I won’t answer questions to the Daily Caller, period!” Menendez said,<a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/menendez-threatens-to-call-capitol-police-after-reporter-asks-him-about-green-new-deal\"> according to Rodgers’ recording</a> of the conversation. “You’re trash … Don’t keep harassing me anymore or I’ll race to the Capitol Police!”</p><p data-block-key=\"avede\">Menendez did not follow through on his threat to involve the Capitol Police.</p><p data-block-key=\"l3672\">On Feb. 14, Roll Call reports, the Capitol Police were on high alert after receiving reports that a certain individual — a former journalist and political tracker with a reputation for aggressively confronting conservative politicians — had been spotted in the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"8b54k\">McLeod said that the presence of the political tracker shouldn’t excuse the Capitol Police’s aggressive treatment of the press in the Senate basement.</p><p data-block-key=\"u0y9v\">“Looks like it was all an absurd over-reaction because this [political tracker] was apparently somewhere around,” he said. “But the thing is he can't get into the actual capitol and that is where this took place. We were in an area past a security checkpoint where you needed to have ID or be a guest of someone to get in. So the whole thing made no sense.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dcq5h\">The National Press Club also<a href=\"https://www.press.org/news-multimedia/news/national-press-club-criticizes-capitol-police-manhandling-reporters\"> released a statement</a> criticizing the Capitol Police response as an over-reaction.</p><p data-block-key=\"kj7r5\">“Capitol Police dramatically over-reacted on Thursday and did more harm than good when they prevented accredited reporters from doing their job and further obstructed senators from communicating with the press,” NPC President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak said in a statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"tkb4k\">“There was no call for the police to shove or place their hands on the reporters.”</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Denver school administrators attempt to prevent student journalists from sharing work with the press",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/denver-school-administrators-attempt-prevent-student-journalists-sharing-work-press/",
"first_published_at": "2019-04-09T15:47:53.776714Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-08T21:17:57.274429Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-08T21:17:57.197384Z",
"date": "2019-02-12",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"abwxt\">School officials prohibited students at East High School in Denver, Colorado, from sharing their photographs and video of local teacher strikes with the press, in what some attorneys allege could be a violation of the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"zbwlz\">Student journalists at East High had been documenting a city-wide teachers strike since it began in February. Some shared content on social media platforms, and others shared their photographs and video with the press, including the Denver Post, which <a href=\"https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/11/denver-teacher-strike-video-classroom/\">used the students’ work in its reporting on the strike</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"auem3\">Some students, according to the Denver Post, received pushback from school officials for sharing media with the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"hf6y9\">On Feb. 12, 2019, the Denver Post had reported that the executive producer of East High’s student broadcast team, Toby Lichtenwalter, said he was told that he was only permitted to film in a personal capacity. The Post reported at that time that East High School Principal John Youngquist said students who sent information to the press were acting “as agents of that media source.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c6iuc\">The next day, the Post reported that Lichtenwalter, 17, said he was given an <a href=\"https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/13/first-amendment-rights-denver-public-schools-during-strike/\">ultimatum by the school principal</a> — that he must either refrain from filming and taking photos inside the school, or leave. He chose to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"vr3o9\">Other students at East High were also reprimanded for taking photos during the strike, including East High senior and student journalist Joe McComb, who was escorted out of a classroom for doing so.</p><p data-block-key=\"71djh\">On Feb. 14, Denver teaches <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2019/2/14/18224848/denver-teachers-strike-over-deal\">ended the strike</a> after reaching a deal that included a pay raise.</p><p data-block-key=\"ow9ik\">“The Supreme Court has long held that students in public schools do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” Gregory Szewczyk, a private attorney, <a href=\"https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/13/first-amendment-rights-denver-public-schools-during-strike/\">said in a statement published by the Denver Post</a>. In at least the Lichtenwalter case, Szewczyk said he believes that “East High School’s position violates Mr. Lichtenwalter’s First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"uehzj\">Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director, <a href=\"https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/13/first-amendment-rights-denver-public-schools-during-strike/\">said that students have the right to document</a> what is happening inside their schools.</p><p data-block-key=\"uzbfs\">“One cannot help but suspect that Denver Public Schools wants to hide from the public and the news media what’s actually going on inside the schools and inside the classrooms,” Silverstein said.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"dlvgs\">Teachers, students and members of the community march across from the Colorado State Capitol during a Denver public school teacher strike rally in February 2019.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Toby Lichtenwalter"
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},
{
"title": "Unprecedented criminal complaint filed for violations of the Georgia Open Records Act",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unprecedented-criminal-complaint-filed-violations-georgia-open-records-act/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-26T16:23:47.273002Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:03:16.166675Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:03:16.073261Z",
"date": "2019-02-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ozt8w\">The Georgia state attorney general filed the first-ever criminal complaint in connection with the Georgia Open Records Act on Feb. 11, 2019. Jenna Garland, press secretary for former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, was cited with two violations of the act and is accused of ordering a subordinate in the city’s Department of Watershed Management to delay handing over public records containing information damaging to Reed and other city officials in March 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"z4ibf\">On March 7, 2017, WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News filed a records request for “billing, payment and usage records,” according to the citation. It alleges that Garland “knowingly and willingly attempt[ed] to frustrate the access to records not subject to exemption” by instructing then-watershed spokeswoman Lillian Govus via text message to “[d]rag this out as long as possible [a]nd provide information in the most confusing format available.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2zaxc\">The second citation alleges that Garland similarly obstructed a second records request from Channel 2, filed on March 21, 2017, when Garland instructed Govus to “‘[h]old all’ documents responsive to the request until the requestor asked for an update” via text message on April 7, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhoiz\">The texts were obtained and <a href=\"https://www.ajc.com/news/local/action-needed-texts-show-kasim-reed-role-records-request/ayGINvRtGAjp1CgjlLwNoO/\">reported</a> on by Channel 2 and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in May 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0hv6\">It is exceedingly rare for a public official to face consequences for obstructing public records requests, Jonathan Peters, media law professor at the University of Georgia, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “It’s not uncommon for state records laws to have those penalties built in to them,” he said. “What is really uncommon is to see a prosecutor actually use them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pdtd2\">Peters said public records law violations aren’t often worthwhile for prosecutors to pursue given the challenge of securing a conviction under one of the criminal provisions of the law. “Good faith” is a defense built into many open records laws, including Georgia’s ORA.</p><p data-block-key=\"xukqi\">“A good faith defense is so elastic and subjective that it’s not a terribly difficult defense for a public official to make,” Peters said.</p><p data-block-key=\"xkal6\">When cases are pursued, he said, it is when the violations are so flagrant that they can’t be ignored.</p><p data-block-key=\"k9rhr\">“I think it’s the particularly bad facts of this case, where screenshots of the actual text messages are so clearly evidence of an effort to frustrate the public records law, that it is reasonably impossible to look at the behavior of Jenna Garland and see anything resembling good faith,” Peters said.</p><p data-block-key=\"87ior\">Violations of the ORA are misdemeanors, and if convicted Garland faces up to a $1,000 fine. She could also face up to a $2,500 fine for the second citation, depending on how the judge decides to hear the allegations.</p><p data-block-key=\"gh6yd\">“Openness and transparency in government are vital to upholding the public trust,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in a news release on the citations on Feb. 11, 2019. “I am confident that this action sends a clear message that the Georgia Open Records Act will be enforced.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yann0\">A portion of one of two citations issued in connection with violating Georgia's Open Records Act.<br/></p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
"updates": [
"(2019-12-19 16:00:00+00:00) Atlanta mayor’s former press secretary found guilty of violating state’s Open Records Act"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"WSB-TV"
],
"tags": [
"public records"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
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},
{
"title": "Cameraman, other reporters attacked at Trump rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-other-reporters-attacked-trump-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-22T16:52:02.978036Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-26T18:15:16.048341Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-26T18:15:15.951639Z",
"date": "2019-02-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "El Paso",
"longitude": -106.48693,
"latitude": 31.75872,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g0lpi\">A man wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat attacked a group of reporters, including BBC News cameraman Ron Skeans, during a Trump rally in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 11, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"hqc8d\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/BBCBlindGazza/status/1095219367191695361\">Video of the altercation</a> shows the man, whose identity has not been released, running onto the press risers and then pushing journalists and cameras, while shouting, “Fuck the media!” After security restrains the man and begins escorting him out of the rally, the crowd begins chanting, “Let him go!”</p><p data-block-key=\"0fe49\">Skeans<a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-us-canada-47218625\"> told BBC News</a> that the man gave him a “very hard shove” and tried to knock him and his camera over. BBC News later<a href=\"https://twitter.com/BBCBlindGazza/status/1095408107474292742\"> broadcast a report on the attack</a> narrated by Gary O’Donoghue, the network’s Washington correspondent.</p><p data-block-key=\"v4q5b\">“At first, he pushes the camera from behind into my cameraman,” O’Donoghue said in the segment. “As he passes, he shoves violently once again, before being restrained.”</p><p data-block-key=\"t10da\">O’Donoghue reported that Trump appeared to notice the commotion in the press area and asked, “Everything OK?” but did not condemn the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"j895j\">Although the man was forcibly escorted out of the rally, he was not arrested or charged with any crime.</p><p data-block-key=\"y08fh\">“We have not reviewed any material from law enforcement for charges at this time,” an El Paso district attorney spokesperson <a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-supporter-who-attacked-bbc-cameraman-at-rally-wont-be-charged-el-paso-da\">told The Daily Beast</a>. "No charges will be filed until we do."</p><p data-block-key=\"vtt3p\">After the White House Correspondents' Association called on Trump to condemn attack, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement: “President Trump condemns all acts of violence against any individual or group of people — including members of the press. We ask that anyone attending an event do so in a peaceful and respectful manner."</p><p data-block-key=\"ns3kw\"><i>Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect the correct year of the incident.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qe604\">U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 11. During the rally, one of his supporters violently shoved members of the press. No charges have been filed.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"tags": [
"political rally"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Ron Skeans (BBC News)"
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{
"title": "IRS employee charged with leaking suspicious financial transactions to prominent lawyer and the media",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/irs-employee-charged-leaking-suspicious-financial-transactions-prominent-lawyer-and-media/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-27T21:22:27.427804Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:03:39.395446Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:03:39.312334Z",
"date": "2019-02-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"96nrj\">An IRS employee, John Fry of San Francisco, <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/irs-employee-charged-unlawful-disclosure-suspicious-activity-reports\">was charged by the Department of Justice</a> with “unlawful disclosure of Suspicious Activity Reports” involving overseas financial transactions of President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen to a prominent attorney and at least one reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"cxz0w\">Fry is at least the sixth government employee charged by the Trump administration in connection with giving information to news organizations. The DOJ <a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/leak-investigations-rise-800-under-jeff-sessions\">has indicated they have dozens more</a> leak investigations active, and the Trump DOJ is on pace to prosecute more sources of journalists than any other administration before it.</p><p data-block-key=\"ae8lc\">According to the criminal complaint unsealed on Feb. 21, 2019, DOJ has accused Fry of searching for Cohen’s name and company in two government financial databases, downloading “suspicious activity reports,” or SARs, and sending information he found to attorney Michael Avenatti, who has represented adult entertainer Stormy Daniels in her accusations against President Trump, as well as an unidentified reporter at the New Yorker.</p><p data-block-key=\"g4tnr\">In May 2018, the New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow published an investigation into Cohen’s suspicious overseas financial transactions that may have related to 2016 election activities, titled “<a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/missing-files-motivated-the-leak-of-michael-cohens-financial-records\">Missing Files Motivated Leak of Michael Cohen’s Financial Records</a>.” The title and quotes from the article match those cited in the complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"viz5c\">In the article, an unidentified source is quoted by Farrow justifying why it was important that the public know about Cohen’s suspicious financial transactions: “‘I have never seen something pulled off the system. . . . That system is a safeguard for the bank. It’s a stockpile of information. When something’s not there that should be, I immediately became concerned.’ The official added, ‘That’s why I came forward.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"pzzou\">The DOJ claims it obtained WhatsApp messages between Fry and the unidentified reporter, assumed to be Farrow. It is unclear how the DOJ obtained these messages, or whether the DOJ has attempted to access communications records directly from Farrow or any other reporters potentially connected to this case.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-image\">\n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2019-02-27_at_4.16.23_PM.width-828.png\" width=\"828\" height=\"562\" alt=\"Farrow_WhatsApp_leak\">\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qio97\">Fry was charged on Feb. 4, but the criminal complaint was not unsealed until several weeks later. According <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/irs-analyst-charged-with-leaking-financial-documents-on-michael-cohen/2019/02/21/bfb3fdae-3619-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bac8674d6d50\">to the Washington Post</a>, Fry’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"uoa40\">Freedom of the Press Foundation <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/trump-administrations-coming-crackdown-leaks-and-journalism/\">has previously stated that leak investigations</a> threaten the ability of journalists to speak with sources about information in the public interest.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX6UKNC.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8780w\">The leaked financial records of Michael Cohen, former personal attorney to President Trump, were at the center of an investigation by the Department of Justice that resulted in probation for a former IRS analyst.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-01-17 11:54:00+00:00) IRS analyst sentenced to probation for leaking documents about Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [
"Ronan Farrow (The New Yorker)"
],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Leak Case"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed for reporting materials by Jason Miller, Trump’s former adviser",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-reporting-materials-jason-miller-trumps-former-adviser/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-26T15:21:46.934752Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-11T17:43:43.358279Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-11T17:43:43.251273Z",
"date": "2019-02-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4yb6u\">As part of a defamation lawsuit against Gizmodo Media Group, journalist J. Arthur Bloom has received a subpoena for his communications — including Facebook messages and emails — from legal counsel for a former Trump adviser, Jason Miller. Bloom is pushing back on the subpoena, claiming that reporter’s privilege protects him from disclosure of unpublished materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"atwfw\">The subpoena, dated Feb. 4, 2019, orders Bloom to produce numerous reporting materials, communications, and documents by Feb. 22.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rt2c\">The subpoena was issued as part of a <a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-trump-aide-jason-miller-hires-hulk-hogans-lawyers-to-sue-gizmodo-over-abortion-pill-story\">$100 million lawsuit filed</a> by Miller against Gizmodo Media Group and its reporter Katherine Krueger over <a href=\"https://splinternews.com/court-docs-allege-ex-trump-staffer-drugged-woman-he-got-1829233105\">an article Kruger authored</a> for Splinter News. The article cites court documents filed by A.J. Delgado, another former Trump adviser who was in a relationship with Miller, alleging that Miller had gotten another woman pregnant and drugged her. Later, Chapo Trap House podcast co-host Will Menaker was added to the lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"718li\">The subpoena orders Bloom to produce communications he may have had with Krueger or Delgado. It also demanded any of Bloom’s reporting materials on investigations into Miller’s sexual relationships, including notes, memos, or records created during his research.</p><p data-block-key=\"7mvim\">Bloom was served the subpoena at his home on the evening of Feb. 5. He responded to the subpoena with an objection letter, writing that any subpoenas requiring the disclosure of privileged or otherwise protected material should be quashed.</p><p data-block-key=\"a22i4\">“Any information I may have relating to the material requested in Exhibit A would have been developed in my capacity as a professional journalist (as defined by Section 90.5015 of the Florida Statutes) at the time, investigating a story I did not run with,” his objection reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"seqlo\">Miller’s attorney Shane B. Vogt of Bajo Cuva Cohen & Turkel PA did not respond to request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"hzj42\">In an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Bloom took particular issue with the subpoena’s demand for relevant social media posts, including tweets. He noted that Miller had blocked Bloom on Twitter, so if Miller wanted copies of his tweets, he could simply unblock him and view the posts.</p><p data-block-key=\"jly9x\">When a process server called him, Bloom said he was asked if he knew where to find reporter Yashar Ali, indicating that he would also receive a subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hide\">Ali did not immediately respond to requests for comment and questions as to whether he was also served a subpoena by Miller’s legal team.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Bloom.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mv9wq\">A portion of the subpoena issued to journalist J. Arthur Bloom for his work product and social media communications. Shared by the journalist to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker; edited in 2023 to remove identifying information.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [
"(2019-04-18 11:00:00+00:00) Defamation suit dismissed",
"(2019-08-27 14:02:00+00:00) Judge dismisses defamation lawsuit against Splinter, its managing editor and parent company"
],
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"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"J. Arthur Bloom (Independent)"
],
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"ignored"
],
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},
{
"title": "Illinois County judge orders watchdog publication not to publish school records released by lawyer",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/illinois-county-judge-orders-watchdog-publication-not-publish-school-records-released-lawyer/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-12T17:14:24.658675Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T17:43:29.259058Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T17:43:29.186025Z",
"date": "2019-02-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ozjrm\">A Cook County judge ordered the the Better Government Association, an Illinois investigative government watchdog, not to publish records released by Chicago Public School lawyers during a lawsuit brought by the BGA. BGA detailed the context of this order in an <a href=\"https://www.bettergov.org/news/cook-judge-bars-publication-of-documents-about-student-drowning-raising-free-press-concerns\">article</a> published on Feb. 7, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"uev30\">The article reported that a CPS lawyer supplied BGA with requested investigative files and internal records on Jan. 24. Four days later, the school’s lawyers asked for their return and the destruction of any copies that had been made, claiming that their release had been a mistake.</p><p data-block-key=\"hk0yn\">The lawsuit and files pertained to a 2017 BGA and Chicago Sun-Times <a href=\"https://www.bettergov.org/news/autistic-teens-death-in-cps-pool-heightens-questions-of-special-ed-care\">investigation</a> which revealed that a 14-year-old boy with autism was permitted to enter a school pool with neither direct supervision nor a life vest. They reported that the boy drowned within minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"9o5xs\">When BGA refused to return the released files, CPS attorney Mara Warman asked Circuit Court Judge Peter Flynn during a hearing on Feb. 4 to “claw back” the records. Flynn ruled in their favor, ordering that BGA delay publishing the records until at least Feb. 20. Following an emergency request from BGA to vacate that order, Flynn reaffirmed his ruling on Feb 6.</p><p data-block-key=\"4s9cc\">“Just hold your horses,” Flynn said during the second hearing, BGA reported. “There is no emergency here in any meaningful way… I don’t think it’s a prior restraint. I think it’s efficient management of a case.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6dxvs\">BGA attorney Matt Topic disagreed. “You have the press, which has a highly relevant, important document that they obtained through nothing illegal and you are restraining them from publishing that document where they have an ethical and professional obligation,” Topic said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1e24i\">Bob Secter, senior editor for BGA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Topic reached out to the deceased child’s parents to have them sign a paper authorizing the release of the materials. Based on that release, Flynn vacated his order to delay publication. Some of the documents did have the names of child witnesses to the incident redacted, as well as their social security numbers and other private information.</p><p data-block-key=\"fj9kh\">BGA published an <a href=\"https://www.bettergov.org/news/chicago-public-schools-to-pay-4m-in-special-ed-teens-drowning\">article</a> on Feb. 8 about the judge vacating the original order and what was in the documents.</p><p data-block-key=\"sy5uh\">“This started as a simple FOIA case,” Secter told the Tracker about BGA’s use of the Freedom of Information Act. “We wrote a story with the Chicago Sun-Times reconstructing that incident and how it came about and who might have been responsible and who made mistakes. As part of the reporting on that, we issued a FOIA… As the Chicago Public School does, they basically blanket deny everything, so we filed a lawsuit, and they fought us for well over a year.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5p6t0\">The child’s parents had also sued CPS for wrongful death, reaching a $4 million settlement which was approved by the Illinois Board of Education the day before the documents requested in the FOIA were released to BGA.</p><p data-block-key=\"9zyxn\">“[The prior restraint] was entirely out of the ordinary. Outside of national security cases this doesn’t happen, and, not to minimize what we did, but it was an everyday case about a tragic accident and the subsequent legal case,” Secter said.</p><p data-block-key=\"zj4v1\">U.S. Supreme Court precedent has held that prior restraint—in which government officials seek to block information from becoming public—is <a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/prior_restraint\">unconstitutional</a> in all but the most extreme circumstances.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2_Kennedy_high_school_chicago_dro.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sv78j\">Details around the Chicago public school pool drowning death of 14-year-old Rosario Israel Gomez were at the heart of documents sought by the Better Government Association and the Chicago Sun-Times.<br/></p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": "dropped",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"Better Government Association"
],
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"Prior Restraint"
],
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},
{
"title": "BuzzFeed News reporter aggressively questioned about reporting at passport checkpoint",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-news-reporter-aggressively-questioned-about-reporting-passport-checkpoint/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-06T16:13:52.349565Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-22T19:56:17.118528Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-22T19:56:17.062971Z",
"date": "2019-02-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fj8cw\">A Customs and Border Protection agent aggressively questioned Australian BuzzFeed News reporter David Mack about his work at a passport checkpoint in New York City on Feb. 3, 2019. Days later, a CBP official apologized for the “inappropriate remarks made to him.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c77h9\">Mack arrived at JFK airport from the United Kingdom, where he was renewing his U.S. work visa. <a href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/customs-border-patrol-apology-buzzfeed-reporter-trump\">According to BuzzFeed</a>, Mack said the CBP agent at passport control saw BuzzFeed listed as his employer on his visa, and began to ask him questions.</p><p data-block-key=\"2yno9\">That evening, Mack tweeted a thread about the incident:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">the immigration agent at JFK just saw that i work for buzzfeed and just grilled me for 10 minutes about the cohen story which was fun given he gets to decide whether to let me back into the country</p>— David Mack (@davidmackau) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/1092241845420208128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 4, 2019</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=\"kxevn\">The line of aggressive questioning focused mostly on BuzzFeed’s reporting on Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections with Russia, and in particular, a <a href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/trump-russia-cohen-moscow-tower-mueller-investigation\">Jan. 17 article about Attorney Michael Cohen</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"wcdwc\"><a href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/customs-border-patrol-apology-buzzfeed-reporter-trump\">BuzzFeed reported</a> that CBP Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, Andrew Meehan, apologized to Mack directly in a telephone call on Feb. 5, and stated that “The officer’s comments do not reflect CBP’s commitment to integrity and professionalism of its workforce. In response to this incident, CBP immediately reviewed the event and has initiated the appropriate personnel inquiry and action."</p><p data-block-key=\"2xzon\">Mack did not respond to request for comment, but according to BuzzFeed, Mack was <a href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/customs-border-patrol-apology-buzzfeed-reporter-trump\">grateful for the apology</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8cija\">BuzzFeed News spokesperson Matt Mittenthal said: "We appreciate the government's prompt response and apology for this unfortunate incident... Customs agents do not get to weaponize their political opinions against residents legally entering the United States."</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSGAZI.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xeoto\">BuzzFeed's company headquarters in New York (file).<br/></p>",
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"arrest_status": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": "John F. Kennedy International Airport",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. permanent resident (green card)",
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "no",
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": "yes",
"assailant": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"target_nationality": [
"Australian"
],
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"categories": [
"Border Stop"
],
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"David Mack (BuzzFeed News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "South Carolina Housing Authority arrests two reporters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/south-carolina-housing-authority-arrests-two-reporters/",
"first_published_at": "2020-03-11T16:08:56.540711Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:56:07.809716Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:56:07.726421Z",
"date": "2019-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Columbia",
"longitude": -81.03481,
"latitude": 34.00071,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2y2t9\">Two reporters for ABC affiliate WLTX were arrested while leaving a public housing complex in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 29, 2019. Susan Ardis and Jenna Kurzyna were at the complex to gather public documents about a carbon monoxide gas leak there that killed two people earlier in the month.</p><p data-block-key=\"339kt\">WLTX reported that Ardis and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wltx-reporters-arrested-columbia-sc/\">Kurzyna</a> had knocked on the door to the office where documents released by the Columbia Housing Authority are kept. When there was no response, the two reporters returned to their car to leave the property.</p><p data-block-key=\"hl7hu\">As they left, Ardis <a href=\"https://www.wltx.com/video/news/local/raw-wltx-reporters-arrested-while-requesting-public-documents/101-0844d252-215f-4d85-b81d-5c00b33bf10e\">recorded video</a> as a pair of private security officers blocked the exit from the parking lot and approached the journalists’ vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"8tnbk\">In the video, an officer can be heard saying, “You are being charged with trespassing after you’ve been asked to leave off the premises several times.”</p><p data-block-key=\"i5lxd\">Kurzyna responded to the officer, “We were in the process of leaving, though.”</p><p data-block-key=\"x9d1z\">Both reporters stepped out of the car as directed and were handcuffed and detained, despite clearly identifying themselves as reporters, WLTX President and General Manager Rich O’Dell told <a href=\"https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article225230455.html\">The State</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"739qh\">Kurzyna and Ardis were released from custody shortly after 11 a.m. that same day.</p><p data-block-key=\"1u9c2\">O’Dell told The State that to his knowledge, neither of the journalists were charged nor given a trespass warning.</p><p data-block-key=\"v590f\">Bob Coble, Columbia Housing Authority attorney and former city of Columbia mayor, told The State, “I couldn’t imagine why a reporter was arrested if they identified as a reporter.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kq5k7\">Later that day, the CHA released a public statement, saying, “We, at the Columbia Housing Authority, apologize for the unfortunate incident that occurred earlier today with WLTX reporters, Jenna Kurzyna and Susan Ardis.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8lcpb\">The Housing Authority also stated that they would be holding a meeting with all security personnel later that day to review the incident, and that procedures were being put in place to prevent the incident from happening again.</p><p data-block-key=\"943ci\">In accepting the apology, WLTX said it was looking forward to working with the Housing Authority to review the public documents.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Private security",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
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"actor": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "South Carolina",
"abbreviation": "SC"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Susan Ardis (WLTX)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "California Attorney General threatens reporters with legal action over public record",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-attorney-general-threatens-reporters-legal-action-over-public-record/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-28T19:15:11.074648Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-08T16:40:28.951461Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-08T16:40:28.845701Z",
"date": "2019-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Berkeley",
"longitude": -122.27275,
"latitude": 37.87159,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"974j0\">California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, sent letters to two Berkeley-based reporters threatening them with legal action — including criminal charges — if they did not destroy a document obtained through a public records request.</p><p data-block-key=\"p6vh1\">Reporters Jason Paladino and Robert Lewis, both affiliated with UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program, <a href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/02/26/california-keeps-a-secret-list-of-criminal-cops-but-says-you-cant-have-it/\">received a list</a> on Jan. 8, 2019, in response to California Public Records Act requests to POST, filed December 2018. The list included 12,000 names of current and former California police officers, as well as police applicants, who were convicted of crimes.</p><p data-block-key=\"7m8yt\">On Jan. 29, Becerra’s office and POST sent Paladino and Lewis very similar letters only hours apart. The letters said the list they received was “confidential” and disclosed “inadvertently”. It also stated that the possession of the spreadsheet was a misdemeanor, and demanded that the records be destroyed.</p><p data-block-key=\"gjnvn\">“If you do not intend to comply with our request, the Department can take legal action to ensure that the spreadsheets are properly deleted and not disseminated,” <a href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/02/26/california-keeps-a-secret-list-of-criminal-cops-but-says-you-cant-have-it/\">reads the letter</a> from Becerra’s office.</p><p data-block-key=\"vcmw9\">Both Lewis and Paladino confirmed to Freedom of the Press Foundation that they have no intention of destroying the list.</p><p data-block-key=\"z5hm7\">David Snyder, an attorney at the First Amendment Coalition, noted the presence of two distinct legal threats in the letter: criminal charges for possessing the list, and a court order, such as an injunction, to prevent publication of it.</p><p data-block-key=\"jr9iv\">“As for the first, which says that it’s a misdemeanor to possess the list, the Supreme Court has made clear that if a journalist or anyone else lawfully receives information, they are protected from civil liability for publishing it,” Snyder said.</p><p data-block-key=\"hu7w6\">In a statement provided to Freedom of the Press Foundation, a spokesperson for the California Department of Justice repeated that the information Paladino and Lewis obtained is confidential and was released only inadvertently.</p><p data-block-key=\"bx9ry\">“It’s not like someone clicked ‘send’ on the wrong thing! They did that the first time!” Paladino told Freedom of the Press Foundation, noting that POST released an unrelated document to the reporters before correcting the mistake and sending the responsive record.</p><p data-block-key=\"pdg5j\">Paladino and Lewis have not published the list itself, though a report in the East Times Bay about the legal threat used several examples of California police officers convicted of crimes.</p><p data-block-key=\"wmry7\">“Part of the reason we haven’t published is to do due diligence,” Lewis said.</p><p data-block-key=\"tpe71\">Freedom of the Press Foundation followed up with the attorney general’s office to clarify whether it recognized any of the serious First Amendment concerns with the letter, and received a statement through a spokesperson from Attorney General Becerra. His response included no reference to the First Amendment:</p><p data-block-key=\"a85v6\">“We always strive to balance the public’s right to know, the need to be transparent and an individual’s right to privacy. In this case, information from a database that’s required by law to be confidential was released erroneously, jeopardizing personal data of individuals across our state. No one wants to shield criminal behavior; we’re subject to the rule of law.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"26w6o\">The office of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, shown in an August 2018 file photo, has threatened two reporters with legal action for possessing a document obtained through a public records request.</p>",
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"Jason Paladino (UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program; Investigative Studios)",
"Robert Lewis (UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program; Investigative Studios)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Federal judge orders Chicago Sun-Times not to publish information",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/federal-judge-orders-chicago-sun-times-not-publish-information/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-07T20:16:39.079622Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T18:30:06.493878Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T18:30:06.395409Z",
"date": "2019-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tfeo0\">A federal judge reportedly ordered the Chicago Sun-Times not to publish the details of a court document, which the newsroom downloaded when it was mistakenly made public. The Sun-Times used this information in a story published on Jan. 29, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"zwl97\"><a href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/michael-madigan-fbi-recording-law-firm-danny-solis-chinatown-hotel/\">The Sun-Times article</a> revealed that the FBI had secretly recorded Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan pitching the use of his own private law firm’s services to a developer, in a questionable practice of merging personal and political business. The meeting was arranged by Alderman Danny Solis, who chairs the Chicago City Council Zoning Committee.</p><p data-block-key=\"vu93i\">The story cites a federal court affidavit: “The details of the allegations against Solis are contained in a 2016 search warrant application filed by federal prosecutors seeking to search Solis’ City Hall office, campaign and ward office, homes and a North Side massage parlor where Solis allegedly received free sex acts.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kdvqh\">A week after the Sun-Times article, the business news site Chicago Business <a href=\"https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg-hinz-politics/story-behind-solis-revelations-rocked-chicago\">published a story behind the story</a>. Citing anonymous sources, Chicago Business outlines how the affidavit was filed as part of an FBI request for a search warrant on Solis, a request that should have been sealed. Instead, it was mistakenly posted on PACER, a site through which the public can access federal court records. While it was temporarily available, the Sun-Times seemingly downloaded the document after it was published on PACER.</p><p data-block-key=\"o79t5\">Chicago Business reports that Magistrate Judge Young Kim ordered the Sun-Times not to publish the details of the document, “presumably on grounds that premature publicity could undermine what appears to be an extremely wide-ranging federal probe into City Hall that has been underway for four years or longer.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tgnwk\">The Sun-Times reportedly defied this court order, and published the information contained in the document anyway. The Sun-Times declined to comment on the Chicago Business report.</p><p data-block-key=\"t7gan\">Chicago Business added that “whether [Magistrate Judge] Kim will take further action” in response to the Sun-Times publishing the details of the affidavit is not known.</p><p data-block-key=\"tfurw\">Courts have generally found cases of prior restraint — in which government officials seek to block information from becoming public — to be <a href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/prior_restraint\">unconstitutional</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qhs03\">The secret recording of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, here in a 2017 file photo, was included in an unsealed court document — the details of which the Chicago Sun-Times was ordered not to publish.</p>",
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"status_of_prior_restraint": "ignored",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Chicago Sun-Times"
],
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"Prior Restraint"
],
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},
{
"title": "Portland man arrested for stalking, harassing Oregon editor",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-man-arrested-stalking-harassing-oregon-editor/",
"first_published_at": "2019-02-05T20:58:22.490987Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-11T17:00:01.014176Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-11T17:00:00.912423Z",
"date": "2019-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eq68a\">Therese Bottomly, editor of The Oregonian/OregonLive, was stalked, harassed, and threatened by a Portland man who repeatedly stated Bottomly had published false information.</p><p data-block-key=\"dm0tm\">Kevin Michael Purfield was arrested and indicted on charges that he stalked and harassed Bottomly on Jan. 29, 2019, <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/01/man-charged-with-stalking-the-oregonianoregonlive-editor.html\">according to OregonLive</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3r35k\">Purfield reportedly sent numerous emails and phone calls to the newsroom alleging that Bottomly had published false information — including about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting.</p><p data-block-key=\"tlg50\">Purfield, who repeatedly called the newsroom to say that various mass shootings had never occurred, sent Bottomly “her home address and ‘symbols of death’” after the editor told him to stop calling, <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/01/man-charged-with-stalking-the-oregonianoregonlive-editor.html\">OregonLive reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"x3ewb\">Purfield had previously pleaded guilty in 2013 to making hoax bomb threats to the Multnomah County Probation Office and the downtown jail building. He is being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center and bail has been set at $2 million, <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/01/man-charged-with-stalking-the-oregonianoregonlive-editor.html\">according to OregonLive</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"The Oregonian"
],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
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