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[
{
"title": "State Department classifies five Chinese state-run outlets as ‘foreign missions’",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-department-classifies-five-chinese-state-run-outlets-as-foreign-missions/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-28T20:20:00.400052Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-11T17:12:19.314586Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-11T17:12:19.205317Z",
"date": "2020-02-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zozgf\">The State Department announced on Feb. 18, 2020, it was classifying five Chinese state-run media outlets as foreign missions, a move that makes them subject to the same rules as foreign embassies and consulates located inside the U.S under the 1982 <a href=\"https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/17842.pdf\">Foreign Missions Act</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"z6ew6\">The media organizations named were the U.S.-based outlets of Xinhua News Agency (the official state-run press agency of the People’s Republic of China), China Global Television Network (the international division of state broadcaster CCTV), China Radio International (the state-run radio broadcaster), the China Daily newspaper (the Communist Party of China’s English-language daily paper), and Hai Tian Development USA (distributor for The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China’s newspaper).</p><p data-block-key=\"nfu0g\">Under the new classification, these outlets will have to obtain approval from the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions to lease or buy real estate, and must report a list of all their employees, including their addresses and ages, on an ongoing basis to the office.</p><p data-block-key=\"r62f6\">At a background <a href=\"https://www.state.gov/senior-state-department-officials-on-the-office-of-foreign-missions-designation-of-chinese-media-entities-as-foreign-missions/\">briefing</a> on the change, a senior state department official said these media organizations are under “very clear state control” and so the change was made because “each one of these entities meets the definition of foreign mission under our Foreign Mission Act, which is to say they are either substantially owned or effectively controlled by a foreign government.”</p><p data-block-key=\"yfrre\">That official cautioned that these new rules would not impact the outlets abilities to report in the United States. “We’re not in any way, shape, or form constraining any of the journalistic activities these entities engage in. We’re just saying we’re going to treat them as a foreign mission,” the official said.</p><p data-block-key=\"zteiu\">Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang disagreed with that sentiment in his <a href=\"http://fm.china-embassy.org/eng/fyrth/t1746893.htm\">daily briefing</a> on Feb. 19. “We deplore and reject the wrong decision of the US,” he said. “The US touts its press freedom. However, it is wantonly restricting and thwarting Chinese media outlets' normal operation there. This is totally unjustified and unacceptable. We urge the US to discard its ideological prejudice and Cold War zero-sum game mentality, and stop ill-advised measures that undermine bilateral trust and cooperation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"p1ufm\">Later in that same briefing, Shuang announced that China <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/business/media/china-wall-street-journal.html\">was expelling</a> three Wall Street Journal reporters over anger at a headline in the outlet’s Opinion section.</p><p data-block-key=\"be9c0\">In September 2018, the Department of Justice ordered CGTN and Xinhua to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. CGTN compiled with the request in February 2019, but Xinhua has yet to register. China Daily and the Hai Tian Development have been registered under FARA since 1983 and 1996, respectively.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX1UET0.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"63gi9\">China Radio International headquarters in Beijing. CRI is one of five media organizations from the country whose U.S.-based outlets are being classified as foreign missions by the U.S. State Department.</p>",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-09-06 16:46:00+00:00) Chinese government limits visas for journalists for US media outlets",
"(2020-03-17 14:20:00+00:00) Chinese government announces expulsion of journalists from three outlets, will require financial disclosures from two others",
"(2020-06-22 21:28:00+00:00) State Department announces four additional Chinese state-run media outlets in the U.S. will be treated as ‘foreign missions’",
"(2020-05-11 15:33:00+00:00) U.S. restricts length of work visas for Chinese journalists in the county",
"(2020-07-01 16:24:00+00:00) Chinese government demands four U.S. news outlets disclose financial, staffing details",
"(2020-03-02 10:57:00+00:00) Four of the five Chinese state-run media outlets in the U.S. ordered to reduce staff",
"(2020-10-21 15:51:00+00:00) State Department labels six additional Chinese media outlets as ‘foreign missions’, bringing total to 15"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Beijing Review",
"China Central Television",
"China Daily",
"China Global Television Network",
"China News Service",
"China Radio International",
"Economic Daily",
"Global Times",
"Hai Tian Development USA",
"Jiefang Daily",
"People’s Daily",
"Social Sciences in China Press",
"Xinhua News Agency",
"Xinmin Evening News",
"Yicai Global"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Fresno Bee reporters barred from event with cabinet secretary, house representative",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fresno-bee-reporters-barred-event-cabinet-secretary-house-representative/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-27T16:50:35.363402Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:40:49.310177Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:40:49.197050Z",
"date": "2020-02-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Tulare",
"longitude": -119.34734,
"latitude": 36.20773,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"w59dd\">California newspaper The Fresno Bee says it was barred from attending an event with Rep. Devin Nunes and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s top official in Tulare County, California, on Feb. 18, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"8wxd1\">In an article about its exclusion, The Bee <a href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article240285026.html\">reported</a> that it had registered and received tickets through an Eventbrite website to attend a water forum moderated by the Friant Water Authority, a public agency, and featuring David Bernhardt, secretary of the Interior Department, and Nunes. The Bee noted that the event was not a private fundraiser.</p><p data-block-key=\"tfu3u\">At 10 a.m. the day of the event, the outlet said a Nunes staffer contacted The Bee to make clear its reporters would not be allowed to cover the forum.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8k41\">“I saw you registered for the event today,” Nunes’ staffer Crystal Ervin said in a voicemail to The Bee, “but I want to make it clear that it’s invited press only, and you’re not on the list and your ticket will not scan at the door.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b1g1f\">Journalists from other news outlets were allowed to cover the event, including local Fox affiliate KMPH and ABC30 News.</p><p data-block-key=\"shttu\">An Interior Department spokesperson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the agency was not responsible for press credentialing the event. The Friant Water Authority did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ggle\">Spokespeople for Nunes did not respond to the Tracker’s questions about The Bee’s exclusion and whether the decision was connected to his pending lawsuit against the outlet’s parent company, Sacramento-based McClatchy Company.</p><p data-block-key=\"0fixl\">Nunes <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-congressman-devin-nunes-files-defamation-suit-against-newspaper-its-coverage/\">filed the $150 million defamation lawsuit</a> in April 2019, arguing that a 2018 Bee article on the congressman constituted “character assassination.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wydlx\">In <a href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/article240433786.html\">an editorial</a> about the outlet’s exclusion, The Bee wrote, “Nunes’ decision to bar the region’s biggest newspaper from attending represents a new strategy in his war against the free press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"zsven\">“In barring The Bee from the water forum, Nunes unveiled a new tactic: excluding media outlets from public events as punishment for doing their jobs. He appears to be once again copying the behavior of Trump, who in the past has banned news outlets like Bloomberg News, Buzzfeed news and Politico from covering his events,” the editorial reads.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1l6ae\">California newspaper The Fresno Bee was denied entrance to a water forum with its representative, Devin Nunes, here on Capitol Hill, and others. Nunes is also suing The Bee's parent company over the outlet's articles on the congressman.</p>",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"The Fresno Bee"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
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"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Chicago CBS affiliate ordered to turn over unedited interview footage",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-cbs-affiliate-ordered-turn-over-unedited-interview-footage/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-13T21:35:26.629890Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:42:27.467883Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:42:27.390134Z",
"date": "2020-02-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qkn04\">A federal judge ruled on Aug. 3, 2020, that WMMB-TV CBS2 President and General Manager Derek Dalton must comply with a subpoena for communications and unedited audio and video recordings of interviews with a woman who alleged Chicago, Illinois, police officers illegally raided her home.</p><p data-block-key=\"9pfkr\">In 2018, investigative reporter Dave Savini created <a href=\"https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/11/08/chicago-police-raids-wrong-homes-cbs-2-investigators/\">a series of stories</a> for the CBS affiliate, highlighting allegations that the Chicago Police Department conducted illegal searches of residents’ homes. In one segment, Savini interviewed South Side resident Ebony Tate, who filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago and a group of police officers after a mistaken 2018 search on her home. <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-chicago-police-raid-wrong-house-20181109-story.html\">According to the Chicago Tribune</a>, body camera footage captures officers openly questioning if they had the right place.</p><p data-block-key=\"4dqo3\">CBS2 received <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.358361/gov.uscourts.ilnd.358361.158.1.pdf\">two subpoenas</a> — one for Dalton and the <a href=\"/all-incidents/chicago-cbs2-reporter-subpoenaed-for-aired-and-unpublished-footage/\">other for Savini</a> — from lawyers for the officers on Feb. 12, 2020, seeking any and all notes, documents and communications related to interviews with Tate and five other interview subjects. The subpoena also demanded “outtake” footage, or recordings that were not released to the public, from the interviews.</p><p data-block-key=\"5coro\">CBS2 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.358361/gov.uscourts.ilnd.358361.158.0.pdf\">objected to the subpoena</a> on Feb. 26, and on Aug. 3, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the Northern District of Illinois <a href=\"https://casetext.com/case/tate-v-city-of-chi-1\">denied the outlet’s bid</a> to block it.</p><p data-block-key=\"cnl2\">In Gilbert’s ruling, he disagreed with CBS that producing the requested materials placed an “undue burden” on the station, finding that the unedited footage and other statements by Tate are “at the very heart of this litigation” and “clearly relevant” to the claims in Tate’s civil rights lawsuit. The recordings were made with the expectation that they might be shown to the public, Gilbert said, without expectation of anonymity.</p><p data-block-key=\"clqs6\">The judge did quash the portion requesting off-camera and unpublished communications between CBS2, Savini and the interviewees.</p><p data-block-key=\"6me3b\">CBS2 declined to comment on the ruling or whether the station would file an appeal. Al Hofield Jr., who represented Tate in her federal suit, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that federal law tends to have fewer protections for journalists’ sources than state shield laws, and he felt the judge followed the law.</p><p data-block-key=\"55o2t\">Lawyers for the officers named in Tate’s lawsuit, who issued the subpoenas, did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/CBS2_-_Tate_subpoena.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"h9nwq\">A portion of the subpoena issued to CBS2 President and General Manager Derek Dalton on Feb. 12, 2020, seeking unedited audio and video recordings of his interviews with a woman suing the city of Chicago and multiple police officers.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
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"categories": [
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],
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"Derek Dalton (WBBM-TV)"
],
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"quashed",
"upheld"
],
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},
{
"title": "Chicago CBS2 reporter subpoenaed for aired and unpublished footage",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-cbs2-reporter-subpoenaed-for-aired-and-unpublished-footage/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-20T19:51:06.232360Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:38:41.225243Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:38:41.149243Z",
"date": "2020-02-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cbpxa\">A federal judge ruled on Aug. 3, 2020, that WMMB-TV CBS2 investigative reporter Dave Savini must comply with a subpoena for communications and unedited audio and video recordings of interviews with a woman who alleged Chicago, Illinois, police officers illegally raided her home.</p><p data-block-key=\"bbmlv\">In 2018, Savini created <a href=\"https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/11/08/chicago-police-raids-wrong-homes-cbs-2-investigators/\">a series of stories</a> for the CBS affiliate, highlighting allegations that the Chicago Police Department conducted illegal searches of residents’ homes. In one segment, Savini interviewed South Side resident Ebony Tate, who filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago and a group of police officers after a mistaken 2018 search on her home. <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-chicago-police-raid-wrong-house-20181109-story.html\">According to the Chicago Tribune</a>, body camera footage captures officers openly questioning if they had the right place.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gcsp\">CBS2 received <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.358361/gov.uscourts.ilnd.358361.158.1.pdf\">two subpoenas</a> — one for <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-cbs-affiliate-ordered-turn-over-unedited-interview-footage/\">Derek Dalton</a>, in his role as president and general manager of CBS2, and the other for Savini — from lawyers for the officers on Feb. 12, 2020, seeking any and all notes, documents and communications related to interviews with Tate and five other interview subjects. The subpoena also demanded “outtake” footage, or recordings that were not released to the public, from the interviews.</p><p data-block-key=\"cnakg\">CBS2 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.358361/gov.uscourts.ilnd.358361.158.0.pdf\">objected to the subpoena</a> on Feb. 26, and on Aug. 3, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the Northern District of Illinois <a href=\"https://casetext.com/case/tate-v-city-of-chi-1\">denied the outlet’s bid</a> to block it.</p><p data-block-key=\"3t9pq\">In Gilbert’s ruling, he disagreed with CBS that producing the requested materials placed an “undue burden” on the station, finding that the unedited footage and other statements by Tate are “at the very heart of this litigation” and “clearly relevant” to the claims in Tate’s civil rights lawsuit. The recordings were made with the expectation that they might be shown to the public, Gilbert said, without expectation of anonymity.</p><p data-block-key=\"7o8m9\">The judge did quash the portion requesting off-camera and unpublished communications between CBS2, Savini and the interviewees.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt73p\">CBS2 declined to comment on the ruling or whether the station would file an appeal. Al Hofield Jr., who represented Tate in her federal suit, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that federal law tends to have fewer protections for journalists’ sources than state shield laws, and he felt the judge followed the law.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7c7r\">Lawyers for the officers named in Tate’s lawsuit, who issued the subpoenas, did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"i41bk\">A portion of the subpoena issued to CBS2 investigative reporter Dave Savini on Feb. 12, 2020, seeking unedited audio and video recordings of his interviews with a woman suing the city of Chicago and multiple police officers.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
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},
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"Dave Savini (WBBM-TV)"
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},
{
"title": "FBI arrests man following threatening calls to investigative reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-arrests-man-following-threatening-calls-investigative-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2020-03-10T18:33:49.887425Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-11-18T19:59:54.045986Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-11-18T19:59:53.984411Z",
"date": "2020-02-12",
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"city": "Buffalo",
"longitude": -78.87837,
"latitude": 42.88645,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>FBI agents arrested a seminary professor in Buffalo, New York, on Feb. 12, 2020, in connection with death threats made against WKBW chief investigative reporter Charlie Specht.</p><p>Specht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had been receiving harassing and threatening voicemails from an unknown caller for nearly six months.</p><p>“Then it was kind of a menacing voice and they were leaving messages that were very personal but also they were criticizing my reporting and saying that there were going to be consequences,” Specht said.</p><p>WKBW, the local ABC affiliate, <a href=\"https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/fbi-arrests-man-accused-of-making-death-threat-to-investigative-reporter-charlie-specht\">reported</a> that the calls began in August 2019, as Specht and the station’s investigative team reported on alleged abuse and corruption scandals at Christ the King Seminary. The voicemails told Specht to end the investigations into the diocese, threatened to end his career and referenced members of his family.</p><p>“You’re still a bad Catholic and a horrible reporter,” one voicemail warned, according to the complaint filed against the caller. “I hope to God I don’t see you walking around [town].”</p><p>In another, the caller said, “You destroyed the Diocese of Buffalo and Bishop Malone. Oh, you must be so proud. You’re a piece of shit, you really are a piece of shit. You’re not a journalist … and you don’t know how to be a journalist.”</p><p>WKBW reached out to law enforcement when the calls began, the outlet reported, but prosecutors needed more information about the caller and the specific nature of the threats.</p><p>Specht told the Tracker that the calls kept escalating until Feb. 4 when — moments after Specht gave a live report on the diocese’s announcement that the seminary would be closing — the caller threatened to kill him.</p><p>“You must be so happy the seminary’s closing. You’re a bad person. I know where you live,” the caller said. “I’m gonna find you. I’m gonna kill you.”</p><p>WKBW decided to cancel Specht’s 6 p.m. live broadcast as a precaution, he told the Tracker.</p><p>Specht said that he and his family were shocked and scared by the calls. WKBW hired private security for them and had the family stay in a hotel for a week as prosecutors opened an investigation and assigned an FBI field officer to investigate.</p><p>“It was clear that this wasn’t someone who got upset with a news broadcast and did a spur of the moment thing. This was persistent and it seemed like this guy really had it out for me. That’s what really worried us,” Specht said.</p><p>The caller, eventually identified as adjunct seminary professor Paul Lubienecki, was arrested and charged with cyberstalking on Feb. 12, accused of making 11 “harassing” phone calls to Specht between August 2019 and February 2020, according to a complaint filed against Lubienecki. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.</p><p>Specht told WKBW that he was grateful the FBI made the investigation a priority.</p><p>“Criticism of news reporting is acceptable and even welcomed. But making personal threats against a reporter for simply doing his job goes against the entire American belief in a free press,” he said.</p><p>Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, whom the Pope appointed as interim administrator for the diocese, condemned the threats against Specht in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BuffaloDiocese/status/1227947700777357312\">series</a> of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BuffaloDiocese/status/1227947703260372993\">tweets</a>.</p><p>“There is no place — nor should there be any tolerance — for threats or harassment towards members of the news media or any one else. This is against who we are as Christians, but also against our nation’s founding principles that guarantee freedom to the press and freedom of speech,” Scharfenberger wrote.</p><p>Lubienecki was released on a $2,500 bond to await trial. The judge in the case <a href=\"https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/defense-considers-options-for-man-accused-in-death-threat-of-i-team-reporter\">granted</a> a 60-day adjournment for Lubienecki and his attorney to consider possible defenses, and he is scheduled back in court on April 24.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Specht.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p>A portion of the criminal complaint against a Buffalo, New York, man for allegedly cyberstalking a reporter</p>",
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"arrest_status": null,
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"detention_date": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-08-03 09:03:00+00:00) Former seminary professor pleads guilty to sending death threats to reporter",
"(2021-11-09 00:00:00+00:00) Former seminary professor sentenced to 12 months in prison for sending death threats to reporter"
],
"case_statuses": null,
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Charlie Specht (WKBW-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Utah State Legislature suspends editor’s media credential",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/utah-state-legislature-suspends-editors-media-credential/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-06T18:26:54.543599Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T18:26:54.543599Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T18:26:54.463555Z",
"date": "2020-02-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Salt Lake City",
"longitude": -111.89105,
"latitude": 40.76078,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pqix6\">Bob Bernick, a contributing editor at UtahPolicy.com, had his media credential suspended for a week by the Utah State Legislature in Salt Lake City on Feb. 11, 2020, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"9nu78\">UtahPolicy.com <a href=\"https://utahpolicy.com/archive/22949-utahpolicy-com-reporter-bob-bernick-suspended-by-utah-legislature\">said</a> it was told that the suspension was issued after Bernick entered a hallway and caucus room that had been made off-limits while then-U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was visiting the Legislature on Feb. 5.</p><p data-block-key=\"ak9ie\">According to the outlet, Bernick entered a hallway outside the House chamber in an attempt to question Romney. Jon Ammons, the House deputy chief of staff, told Bernick to leave the hallway because it was being closed for “security reasons.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4viu9\">Bernick told Ammons that he had a right to be in the hallway, which was typically open to the press prior to House floor time. Bernick continued into the House majority caucus room to question Romney there.</p><p data-block-key=\"9g39t\">A member of the Utah Highway Patrol then told Bernick he was not allowed to be in the area, and Bernick left.</p><p data-block-key=\"8hvr2\">In a Feb. 11 statement to UtahPolicy.com, Utah Senate Director of Communications Aundrea Peterson said Bernick’s credential was suspended for “entering a secure area of the Capitol without permission,” adding that the decision was “based upon a report from Utah Highway Patrol, eyewitness and video.”</p><p data-block-key=\"78qkv\">The outlet <a href=\"https://utahpolicy.com/archive/23028-bernick-is-out-of-the-doghouse-and-back-in-full-fellowship\">reported</a> that the decision was made “without any discussion or warning,” and that Bernick was not given a chance to review the complaint against him by the Highway Patrol officer. Bernick denied accessing a restricted area, UtahPolicy.com said.</p><p data-block-key=\"a66gd\">UtahPolicy.com Publisher LaVarr Webb, who called Bernick “the dean” of Utah political reporters after having covered the Legislature for more than 40 years, said, “He was doing what reporters do — going after a story.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Utah_State_Legislature.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"l9g7p\">The Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City in November 2015. The state legislature suspended UtahPolicy.com contributing editor Bob Bernick’s media credential for one week on Feb. 11, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Utah",
"abbreviation": "UT"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"State government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Bob Bernick (UtahPolicy.com)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": [
"Press credential or media list"
]
},
{
"title": "NYPD arrests photojournalist, charges him with disorderly conduct",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nypd-arrests-photojournalist-charges-him-disorderly-conduct/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-14T21:28:47.367239Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-14T14:20:23.490717Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-14T14:20:23.178935Z",
"date": "2020-02-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6587m\">Photojournalist Amr Alfiky was arrested while documenting an arrest in New York City, New York, on Feb. 11, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"0zxmb\">Alfiky, who is a photo editor at ABC News and a contributor to Reuters and The New York Times, was taking video of a man being arrested at about 7 p.m. in New York’s Lower East Side neighborhood when police took him into custody, Alfiky’s friend Mostafa Bassim <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2020/02/journalist-amr-alfiky-arrested-charged-with-disord.php\">told</a> the Committee to Protect Journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ltvm\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TarekHussein22/status/1227394483890925568\">video</a> captured by Bassim, Alfiky can be heard repeatedly telling officers that he is a journalist as the officers push him toward the back of an SUV. As additional officers approach him, Alfiky can be heard offering to show them his press credentials and stating, “I did not refuse. I did not refuse.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">According to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mostafabassim1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mostafabassim1</a> our friend <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alfiky_amr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@alfiky_amr</a>, an Egyptian photojournalist w/<a href=\"https://twitter.com/Reuters?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Reuters</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/abcnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@abcnews</a>, was arretsed by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NYPDnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NYPDnews</a> while taking pictures of police officers arresting someone on the street!<br><br> <a href=\"https://t.co/Jc2AST50Gx\">pic.twitter.com/Jc2AST50Gx</a></p>— Tarek Hussein (@TarekHussein22) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TarekHussein22/status/1227394483890925568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 12, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7fgf3\">An NYPD spokesman alleged that Alfiky “refused to comply with repeated requests to step back,” and didn’t identify himself as a journalist until he was in police custody, the New York Daily News <a href=\"https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-photojournalist-arrested-manhattan-20200212-7xm4kebwe5ed7gukrlsfjdpq4e-story.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ahu4\">A police spokesman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Alfiky was taken to Manhattan’s 7th precinct and held for several hours before being released. The spokesman also confirmed that Alfiky’s press credential, issued by the NYPD, was confiscated.</p><p data-block-key=\"bke13\">That evening on Twitter, Alfiky <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alfiky_amr/status/1227428654403260416\">wrote</a>, “I’m out and safe. Thank you all for your invaluable support!”</p><p data-block-key=\"50aip\">Alfiky declined to comment and instead directed the Tracker to his attorney, Mickey Osterreicher.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs9lq\">Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that Alfiky was charged with disorderly conduct and issued a summons for March 31.</p><p data-block-key=\"sijnk\">“I’m hoping to have [the charges] disposed of before then, either to have the summons voided or to have the charges dismissed,” Osterreicher said.</p><p data-block-key=\"hbz2r\">If convicted, Alfiky could face a fine of up to $250 and up to 15 days in prison under <a href=\"https://statelaws.findlaw.com/new-york-law/new-york-disorderly-conduct-laws.html\">state law</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2zchj\">Osterreicher told the Tracker that Alfiky’s press credential was returned to him on Feb. 14.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS3KCKL_-_Reuters_-_Mike_Segar.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xdzjw\">The New York City Police Department’s 7th Precinct in Manhattan. Journalist Amr Alfiky was arrested and detained there and had his NYPD press credential confiscated while he was documenting an arrest on Feb. 11, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:21-cv-06610",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "press identification"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-09-08 00:00:00+00:00) Judge voids First Amendment settlement with NYPD",
"(2024-02-07 00:00:00+00:00) Judge accepts journalists’ settlement with NYPD",
"(2025-04-09 00:00:00+00:00) Appeals court affirms photographers’ settlement with NYPD",
"(2021-08-05 16:39:00+00:00) Photojournalist sues NYPD for unlawful arrest",
"(2023-09-05 17:04:00+00:00) Journalists reach ‘historic’ settlement with NYPD in First Amendment suit",
"(2020-05-17 21:47:00+00:00) Charges dropped against photojournalist arrested in NYC"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
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"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Amr Alfiky (ABC News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Comstock’s former editor accused of deleting the magazine’s YouTube account",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-digital-editor-accused-of-deleting-magazines-youtube-account/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-08T15:20:37.521488Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-11T20:31:28.372430Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-11T20:31:28.280581Z",
"date": "2020-02-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Sacramento",
"longitude": -121.4944,
"latitude": 38.58157,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ffwgv\">A former employee of <a href=\"https://www.comstocksmag.com/\">Comstock’s Magazine</a> has been accused of deleting the publication’s YouTube channel on Feb. 10, 2020, less than a month after quitting his job at the magazine.</p><p data-block-key=\"5cvib\">Federal prosecutors allege that Matthew Keys deleted the YouTube channel while on federal probation for a previous hacking offense. In 2015, Keys was <a href=\"https://www.eff.org/cases/united-states-v-matthew-keys\">convicted</a> of three counts of conspiracy and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after he, prosecutors said, gave a member of Anonymous login credentials to access the backend of the Los Angeles Times’ site in 2010. (The Los Angeles Times was then owned by the Tribune Company, and Keys was a former employee of a Tribune-owned television station, Sacramento’s KTXL FOX 40. Keys denied the allegations at the time.)</p><p data-block-key=\"08its\">Keys was <a href=\"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/03/matthew-keys-now-freed-from-prison-is-ready-to-get-back-to-journalism/\">released</a> from federal prison in March 2018 and placed on two years supervised release that was slated to end in April 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"44ecz\">Keys joined Comstock’s Magazine, a Sacramento-based business periodical, as digital editor in May 2019, according to his LinkedIn page. He quit his job “abruptly” on Jan. 23, 2020, according to a federal court filing by Keys' probation officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"vrmuc\">On Feb. 14, an editor at Comstock’s discovered that the magazine’s YouTube account had been deleted, along with its videos. Tom Couzens, the magazine’s executive editor, suspected Keys’ involvement in the deletion, and called the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to the filing.</p><p data-block-key=\"thipr\">As a condition of his probation, Keys’ computer and other electronic devices could be searched with reasonable suspicion, without obtaining a warrant.</p><p data-block-key=\"vxihz\">In March, probation officers conducted a search of Keys’ home, seizing 18 electronic devices, including Keys’ iPhone X and Mac laptop, according to the filing.</p><p data-block-key=\"wl2cx\">A digital forensic analysis found that in the early morning of Feb. 10, someone using Keys’ devices performed a Google search for “how to delete YouTube channel.” Then, “approximately 20 seconds later, the user was once again signed into [Comstock’s] YouTube account, accessed the, ‘Manage your YouTube content.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"s6s9i\">Analyzing the forensic evidence, the probation officer concluded “it appears Matthew Keys has exhibited similar conduct to that of the underlying offense by deleting Comstock's Magazine YouTube content,” the filing states.</p><p data-block-key=\"7q6fq\">Keys was asked, in the presence of his attorney, about these allegations on April 23, and denied them, according to the filing. “Mr. Keys indicated he believes Couzens’ accusations stem from a complaint he filed against Comstock’s Magazine with the California Employment Development Department for a hostile work environment,” the filing reads. An email sent to Keys’ attorney for comment was not returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"qrlf1\">Couzens, reached via email, declined to comment, citing a legal matter.</p><p data-block-key=\"znql4\">In the court filing dated April 27, the probation officer asked that due to the coronavirus pandemic, Keys remain out of custody pending a hearing. The judge agreed and set a hearing for June 8.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sx44u\">A portion of the filing requesting a summons for Matthew Keys</p>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "social media account"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-07-19 11:15:00+00:00) Former Comstock’s editor sentenced to prison for violating terms of his supervised release in deleting magazine’s YouTube account",
"(2021-04-19 10:33:00+00:00) Former digital editor found responsible for deleting magazine’s YouTube account"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Comstock’s Magazine"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
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},
{
"title": "Subpoena issued for watchdog blog’s documents, communications",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-for-watchdog-blogs-documents-communications/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-26T18:41:35.766135Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-16T15:43:45.948300Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-16T15:43:45.724850Z",
"date": "2020-02-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Stark County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4iccw\">Illinois-based government watchdog blog Edgar County Watchdogs was subpoenaed on Feb. 7, 2020, for documents and communications relating to coverage of the Stark County board and sheriff.</p><p data-block-key=\"ol6mh\">Former Stark County Board Vice Chairman Fulvio Zerla brought a lawsuit against the county and Sheriff Steve Sloan, accusing Sloan of violating his civil rights. The county is part of the larger Peoria metropolitan area.</p><p data-block-key=\"u03h2\">Zerla’s complaint, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, also alleges that Sloan paid Edgar County Watchdogs to attend a board meeting in June 2017 to “disrupt” the proceedings.</p><p data-block-key=\"piwzp\">Edgar County Watchdogs co-founder John Kraft flatly denied Zerla’s accusations and that they had been paid at any time.</p><p data-block-key=\"ed3ns\">“All we did was attend the meeting and we bring our video camera with us everywhere we go,” Kraft told the Tracker. “We attended the meeting and we told the board that they didn’t comply with the Illinois county code requirement to post about the meeting in the newspaper, and the sheriff came and shut the meeting down.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0ui26\">The subpoena orders Edgar County Watchdogs to produce documents, notes, photographs and communications relating to three board meetings in mid-2017, the Sheriff Department’s budget, plaintiff Zerla, former board Chairwoman Coleen Magnussen and defendant Sloan.</p><p data-block-key=\"07e9x\">Zerla’s attorney did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ty3oh\">Kraft told the Tracker that their attorney is filing for an extension on the Feb. 27 deadline for producing the documents, and they intend to fight the production of any documents.</p><p data-block-key=\"6k08e\">The Tracker has documented multiple other subpoenas involving Edgar County Watchdogs, including a<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-contents-illinois-government-watchdogs-dropbox-account/\"> subpoena for their communications and documents</a> relating to the College of DuPage and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-contents-illinois-government-watchdogs-dropbox-account/\">two</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/second-subpoena-issued-for-content-of-illinois-watchdogs-dropbox-account/\">subpoenas</a> for the group’s Dropbox contents.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qvjfi\">A portion of the Feb. 7, 2020, subpoena requesting communication from the Illinois watchdog group Edgar County Watchdogs.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-04-11 11:32:00+00:00) Watchdog blog sends objections, ignores subpoena"
],
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"Edgar County Watchdogs"
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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},
{
"title": "Journalist barred from recording, removed from New Mexico Senate proceeding",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-barred-recording-removed-new-mexico-senate-proceeding/",
"first_published_at": "2020-03-06T16:52:19.258072Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:42:11.591305Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:42:11.469931Z",
"date": "2020-02-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Santa Fe",
"longitude": -105.9378,
"latitude": 35.68698,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yby6g\">Rachel Knapp, a reporter for dual CBS/Fox-affiliate KRQE, was barred from recording and removed from a state Senate committee meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Feb. 6, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"u4kmk\">Knapp wrote <a href=\"https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/krqe-news-13-reporter-kicked-out-of-public-senate-committee/\">an account of the incident</a> for the outlet, describing the lawmakers’ behavior as “bizarre.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gdye5\">According to Knapp, Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, vice chair of the Senate Conservation Committee, interrupted the chair to note that Knapp was filming and ask if she had received permission or would like to request it. While committee meetings are streamed through a webcast, Senate rules at the time barred anyone from photographing or recording audio or video without permission from the committee chair. KRQE reported that it never saw the rule enforced, and that a sign posted outside the room to notify the public of the policy noted that the news media was exempt.</p><p data-block-key=\"1uv5b\">“I figured, it was a public meeting,” Knapp said, identifying herself as a member of the press. A second senator then expressed opposition to her filming, according to KRQE.</p><p data-block-key=\"gsvz2\">“I just prefer this not to be spliced and edited to be used against someone and have someone not be totally truthful in their comments in a bill because they’re worried how something might be splashed and cut in a newscast,” Sen. Pat Woods said.</p><p data-block-key=\"y1oth\">Seconds later, Sedillo Lopez said, “OK, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gv2ip\">KRQE reported that the sign noting media exemption was removed after its broadcast about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"dirfc\">Bill Anderson, general manager of KRQE, <a href=\"https://www.abqjournal.com/1419708/booting-reporter-from-senate-hearing-was-the-wrong-call.html\">told the Albuquerque Journal</a> that the incident was unacceptable, adding that he assumed it was an “error in judgement.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dm4u7\">“Nothing good happens in government when these people close the door and want to talk when no one’s listening,” Anderson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"g47w0\">Sen. Jeff Steinborn told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Sedillo Lopez had overstepped the bounds of the policy by asking Knapp to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"i0zvh\">“The rule doesn’t allow for that at all,” Steinborn said. “That incident was rightfully embarrassing to the institution: It shined a light on the problem and made it an imperative to fix it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rx5wc\">In late January, Steinborn had proposed a resolution to change the rule and allow for both the public and media to record and photograph meetings. The resolution <a href=\"https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=S&legType=R&legNo=2&year=20\">passed without opposition</a> on Feb. 12, after the incident with Knapp.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Roundhouse is one step closer to full transparency for the public. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jeff4nm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jeff4nm</a> Resolution 2 was passed in Senate Rules this morning- it will allow the public to record video and take photos during a Senate committee meeting WITHOUT asking for permission first <a href=\"https://twitter.com/krqe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@krqe</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/JA4203WePD\">pic.twitter.com/JA4203WePD</a></p>— Rachel Knapp (@RachelKnappNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RachelKnappNews/status/1227673078034907136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 12, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ooah9\">Steinborn told the Tracker that seeing a crowd of people pull out their phones to take pictures a few days after the resolution passed was heartening.</p><p data-block-key=\"n7fe1\">“It was the best endorsement that we could have that, of course, we had done the right thing,” Steinborn said. “It was a good thing for democracy and a good thing for the citizens of the state.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/NewMexicoStateCapitol_denial.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"iy1y0\">The capitol building in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is referred to informally as the 'Roundhouse.'</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New Mexico",
"abbreviation": "NM"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"State government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
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"Rachel Knapp (KRQE)"
],
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},
{
"title": "CNN anchors excluded from lunch with president ahead of State of the Union",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-anchors-excluded-lunch-president-ahead-state-union/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-04T20:14:34.189448Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:47:04.935944Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:47:04.851758Z",
"date": "2020-02-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qldj6\">CNN reported that the outlet was excluded from participating in the annual presidential lunch with broadcast and cable anchors ahead of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Feb. 4, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"hjqfu\">CNN Business’ Brian Stelter <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/03/media/donald-trump-state-of-the-union-lunch-cnn/index.html\">reported</a> that the event — hosted by Trump like presidents before him — is an off-the-record opportunity for anchors to gain insight into the topics the president will cover during the evening’s speech as well as his state of mind.</p><p data-block-key=\"jsr1i\">According to CNN, “This is the first time in recent memory that a president has singled out one network and opted to not invite any anchors from there.” Stelter noted anchor Wolf Blitzer has attended the lunch for more than 20 years.</p><p data-block-key=\"akdmu\">When <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrianKarem/status/1224758744136941569\">asked to confirm</a> whether CNN was banned from the luncheon, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said he could not.</p><p data-block-key=\"oh54p\">“I can tell you that anybody who has a private lunch that’s off the record can invite whomever they see fit,” Gidley said.</p><p data-block-key=\"rob7x\">When pressed whether it was right for CNN to be excluded, Gidley responded that the president wants to have a conversation with news outlets about what he plans to discuss and his accomplishments. “And if that has a place for opinion journalism than it does, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Gidley said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hpur\">He didn’t answer further questions on referring to the major news network as “opinion journalism.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8chaj\">Ahead of last year’s luncheon, Politico <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/05/trump-news-anchors-state-of-the-union-1146559\">reported</a> that despite Trump’s persistent attacks on the media in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-fondly-recalls-how-congressman-greg-gianforte-assaulted-journalist/\">rallies</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/back-campaign-trail-president-trump-increases-his-anti-press-tweet-offensive/\">tweets</a>, he has typically continued such traditions.</p><p data-block-key=\"8j50h\">Trump has directed his ire at CNN more than 100 times during his tenure as president, denigrating or insulting the outlet or its reporters in 140 tweets and declining all interview requests. His administration also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-suspends-cnn-reporter-jim-acostas-press-credentials-and-falsely-accuses-him-manhandling-intern/\">suspended the press credentials</a> of chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta in November 2018 until a federal court ruled in CNN’s favor.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX6LFWM.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xftlt\">On Capitol Hill, a television is tuned to CNN for the 2019 State of the Union address by President Donald Trump. This year, anchors from the news outlet were excluded from a traditional pre-event luncheon.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"CNN"
],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist has phone knocked to ground by police while recording NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-has-phone-knocked-to-ground-by-police-while-recording-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2023-12-07T16:44:32.294355Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-07T16:44:32.294355Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-07T16:44:32.054867Z",
"date": "2020-01-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9st5b\">Independent journalist Ashoka Jegroo had his phone knocked from his hand multiple times by a police officer while documenting protests in New York City on Jan. 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"6elij\">Protesters gathered at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to demonstrate against high police presence on the city’s subways and to call for free public transit, WABC-TV <a href=\"https://abc7ny.com/subway-protest-mta-vandalism-new-york-city/5897179/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ob7i\">Jegroo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in 2023 that a New York Police Department officer slapped his phone out of his hand twice while he was reporting on the protest.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">An NYPD cop just slapped my phone out of my hand TWICE just now at the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/FTP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FTP</a> march. <a href=\"https://t.co/kmDTAUyZr5\">pic.twitter.com/kmDTAUyZr5</a></p>— Ash J (@AshAgony) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AshAgony/status/1223377358700400640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9st5b\">“It seemed like he just really didn’t like the fact that anyone would aim a camera at him,” Jegroo said. “I remember him complaining about me recording him both times he slapped my phone. The second time he slapped it so hard that it flew over a barricade.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fo8mq\">Jegroo said that his phone didn’t sustain any damage, and he elected not to file a complaint with the Civilian Complaint Review Board, citing his skepticism in its willingness and ability to hold police accountable.</p><p data-block-key=\"6iba\">The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS30C2M.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4570k\">Independent journalist Ashoka Jegroo was documenting a Jan. 31, 2020, protest outside New York City’s Grand Central Terminal against the subway system’s increased fares and police presence when an NYPD officer twice slapped the phone from his hands.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ashoka Jegroo (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed for communications in ongoing defamation suit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-communications-ongoing-defamation-suit/",
"first_published_at": "2020-03-03T20:30:36.786565Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-04T13:08:28.052464Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-04T13:08:27.936634Z",
"date": "2020-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Sherman",
"longitude": -96.60888,
"latitude": 33.63566,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s0mqo\">As part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit between NPR and Texas businessman Ed Butowsky, the public media company subpoenaed The Gateway Pundit reporter Cassandra Fairbanks on Jan. 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"uvm6l\">In June 2018, Butowsky filed a lawsuit against NPR, its reporter David Folkenflik and several editorial staff members. The $57 million defamation suit stems from the outlet’s reporting on a lawsuit filed against Butowsky by a former Fox News contributor and Butowsky’s involvement in propelling a conspiracy involving Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, who was murdered in July 2016.</p><p data-block-key=\"vr4xe\">Isabel Lara, executive director of media relations for NPR, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Butowsky listed Fairbanks as a witness during the course of discovery.</p><p data-block-key=\"ni2st\">“We therefore have to ask for information to see whether his claims about her involvement are true,” Lara said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5h3qg\">The subpoena requests all documents related to and communications with a number of individuals, including journalists Oliver Darcy, Seymour “Sy” Hersh, Adam Housley, Lara Logan, Kerry Picket, Ellen Ratner and Malia Zimmerman; America First Media and its founder Matt Couch; WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange; and “Fox News or any of its owners, representatives, employees, or agents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"w0epn\">Fairbanks tweeted that she had never heard of, let alone communicated with, some of the individuals listed.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NPR, a news organization funded by taxpayers, subpoenaed me for my conversations with Julian Assange and a whole host of other people, including journalists. Some of whom I’ve never even heard of.</p>— Cassandra Fairbanks 🕊⏳ (@CassandraRules) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CassandraRules/status/1223799010940669959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r8p6r\">The subpoena also requests that Fairbanks turn over all documents or communications concerning the investigation in the murder of Rich, the 2016 leak of DNC emails or any of the lawsuits connected to the conspiracy surrounding the DNC staffer’s death. In one of these lawsuits, Seth Rich’s brother, Aaron Rich, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/twitter-subpoenaed-information-journalists-media-outlets/\">subpoenaed Twitter</a> for account information for Fairbanks and numerous others.</p><p data-block-key=\"p82gh\">Fairbanks told the Tracker that she was shocked when she received the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"mecrh\">“I thought, ‘Wow, they’re trying to get my source material, that’s crazy,’” Fairbanks said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1me57\">In an emailed response to the subpoena shared with the Tracker, Fairbanks’s attorney Ronald Coleman wrote that the subpoena requested work product protected under the District of Columbia’s reporter shield law.</p><p data-block-key=\"n40rs\">“For this reason no documents or other things will be produced pursuant to the subpoena,” Coleman wrote. Fairbanks told the Tracker that to her knowledge NPR’s attorneys have not responded.</p><p data-block-key=\"ur15w\">Lara, NPR’s media relations director, said the outlet’s lawyers are discussing with Coleman whether there is non-privileged information that could be disclosed.</p><p data-block-key=\"by3tl\">“We do not intend to seek information that is in fact protected by a journalistic privilege or other privilege,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5jy28\">Fairbanks told the Tracker that the subpoena has shaken the confidence of her sources. “I’ve had people who’ve given me things for stories before reaching out and saying, ‘I think I would fall under this subpoena because we’ve talked about WikiLeaks. Please don’t give it to them,’” Fairbanks said.</p><p data-block-key=\"l1ldy\">“They’ve been panicking. So, obviously they’re not giving me anything now, nobody is,” she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"06z0v\">In February 2020, NPR filed a motion to bring sanctions against Butowsky and his lawyers and to dismiss the case, alleging that they had knowingly been misleading or lied in court filings that contributed to the court’s initial decision against dismissing.</p><p data-block-key=\"wjy9v\">“Butowksy brought this lawsuit against NPR in response to truthful but unwanted press about a lawsuit that had been filed against him,“ the motion reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"i5mal\">The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in mid-2021.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Fairbanks_PMGWwRT.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qifrz\">A portion of the subpoena requesting documents, communications from reporter Cassandra Fairbanks.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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"Cassandra Fairbanks (The Gateway Pundit)"
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"pending"
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},
{
"title": "Tennessee lawmaker introduces bill to declare CNN, Washington Post ‘fake news’",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-lawmaker-introduces-bill-to-declare-cnn-washington-post-fake-news/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-31T17:41:00.594493Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T00:42:29.178228Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T00:42:29.094772Z",
"date": "2020-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Nashville",
"longitude": -86.78444,
"latitude": 36.16589,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o651w\">A Republican State Representative in Tennessee filed a joint resolution declaring CNN and The Washington Post “fake news” for introduction on Jan. 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5mnt\">The <a href=\"http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/HJR0779.pdf\">resolution</a> was introduced by Tennessee State Rep. Micah Van Huss, and co-sponsored by Reps. Dennis Powers, Bruce Griffey and Mike Sparks. A <a href=\"http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HJR0779&ga=111\">brief description</a> of the statement of intent or position on the official assembly website reads, “Recognizes CNN and the Washington Post as fake news and condemns them for denigrating our citizens.”</p><p data-block-key=\"my1fl\">Van Huss <a href=\"https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/local-lawmaker-introduces-resolution-recognizing-cnn-washington-post-as-fake-news/\">told</a> News Channel 11 he had a list of articles and outlets that were “very hypocritical,” but limited the scope of the bill to the Post and CNN. The bill specifically cites the two outlets’ reviews of the same book, “The Cult of Trump,” by Steven Hassan.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qk5i\">Announcing the bill on Twitter, Van Huss wrote, “The State of Tennessee recognizes CNN and The Washington Post as fake news and part of the media wing of the Democrat Party. I’ve filed HJR 779 on behalf of a constituency that’s tired of fake news and Republicans who don’t fight.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The State of Tennessee recognizes CNN and The Washington Post as fake news and part of the media wing of the Democrat Party.<br><br>I've filed HJR 779 on behalf of a constituency that's tired of fake news and Republicans who don't fight.<br><br>Follow it's progress: <a href=\"https://t.co/7qp6E7q9LT\">https://t.co/7qp6E7q9LT</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/XyqQETtLKy\">pic.twitter.com/XyqQETtLKy</a></p>— Micah Van Huss (@MicahVanHuss) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MicahVanHuss/status/1222656020259966977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 29, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"i8fxi\">The language used in Van Huss’ tweet closely mirrors that used in President Donald Trump’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/back-campaign-trail-president-trump-increases-his-anti-press-tweet-offensive/\">negative tweets about the media</a>. Trump has used the epithet “fake news” in 630 tweets as president, and has targeted CNN and the Post or their reporters in 228 and 116 tweets, respectively.</p><p data-block-key=\"uy4he\">Brad Batt, who plans to challenge Van Huss for his House seat, told News Channel 11 the bill is “a waste of time and taxpayer money.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ydp5a\">“We should be focused on addressing real problems,” Batt said in his statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"ajha0\">Once the bill is introduced it must be passed by both the Tennessee House and Senate before going before the governor.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS24ITL.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xlmjn\">A man wears a 'CNN is fake news' T-shirt at a 2018 California rally for President Trump. A Tennessee state representative has introduced a resolution to recognize CNN and The Washington Post as ‘fake news’ outlets.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"CNN",
"The Washington Post"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
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},
{
"title": "Court denies motion to quash subpoena against journalist working on book about 1993 NY murder",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/court-denies-motion-to-quash-subpoena-against-journalist-working-on-book-about-1993-ny-murder/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-09T17:41:50.583074Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-14T18:18:46.608589Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-14T18:18:46.448710Z",
"date": "2020-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Lockport",
"longitude": -78.69031,
"latitude": 43.17061,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ucoqp\">Journalist Samantha Christmann was subpoenaed on Jan. 29, 2020, to testify about her interviews with the defendant in an ongoing murder trial in Lockport, New York. Christmann’s motion to quash the subpoena was dismissed by the Niagara County Court on Jan. 21, 2021, according to her lawyer.<br/><br/> The trial involves the 1993 murder of Mandy Steingasser, who was strangled to death when she was 17. In 2018, police charged Joseph H. Belstadt with the murder after newly tested DNA evidence allegedly connected him to the crime. Belstadt had long been a suspect in the crime but was only charged when the new testing was done on DNA recovered from his car in 1993, according to <a href=\"https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/attorneys-seek-to-prevent-writers-testimony-in-nt-murder-trial/article_545437c4-2a7b-11eb-b465-435972a3fef8.html\">The Buffalo News</a>.<br/><br/>Christmann is a business reporter for The Buffalo News but will not cover the trial for the outlet, The News said. Michael Higgins, Christmann’s lawyer, said she is working on a book about the murder case and was subpoenaed as an independent journalist. According to the paper, she went to school with both Steingasser and Belstadt, and in interviews she did with Belstadt he gave a different account of his whereabouts when the murder happened than what he had told police.</p><p data-block-key=\"eauow\">Higgins filed a motion to quash the subpoena in June 2020 and told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he argued Christmann was protected by New York state journalist shield laws. After the court refused to quash the subpoena, Higgins told the Tracker that Christmann did not plan to appeal the ruling. He said it is unclear when the court might call Christmann to testify; the trial has <a href=\"https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/local_news/belstadt-trial-faces-new-delay/article_3009cd98-0438-5dd2-bf11-b8028eefc8c8.html\">faced delays</a> due to the state’s COVID-19 restrictions on jury trials.</p></div>",
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"subpoena_type": "testimony about confidential source",
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "State",
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-11-16 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist not forced to testify about interview with man on trial for murder"
],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Samantha Christmann (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"upheld"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "State Department removes NPR reporter from official trip",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-department-removes-npr-reporter-official-trip/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-29T15:18:07.794241Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:43:20.450702Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:43:20.358908Z",
"date": "2020-01-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5klxo\">In apparent retaliation for an NPR reporter’s interview with Mike Pompeo, the State Department removed a different NPR reporter from accompanying the secretary on an official trip abroad.</p><p data-block-key=\"0fsax\">During an <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/798579754/transcript-nprs-full-interview-with-secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo\">interview on Jan. 24</a>, Mary Louise Kelly, co-host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” and a former national security correspondent, asked Pompeo about U.S. policy and Iran and his role in the Ukrainian affair, particularly the dismissal of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.</p><p data-block-key=\"uw0ur\">NPR <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/25/799562818/after-contentious-interview-pompeo-publicly-accuses-npr-journalist-of-lying-to-h\">reported</a> that an aide cut off the interview immediately following Kelly’s questions on Ukraine. Pompeo then leaned in, glared silently at Kelly and left the room. A few moments later, the same aid asked Kelly to follow her into Pompeo’s private living room at the State Department without a recorder, not specifying that the conversation would be off the record.</p><p data-block-key=\"qk9pc\">“He shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the [9-minute] interview itself had lasted,” Kelly <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799244678/pompeo-wont-say-whether-he-owes-yovanovitch-an-apology-i-ve-done-what-s-right\">told</a> her “All Things Considered” co-host Ari Shapiro. “He was not happy to have been questioned about Ukraine. He asked, ‘Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?’ He used the f-word in that sentence and many others.”</p><p data-block-key=\"majb0\">“He asked if I could find Ukraine on a map. I said yes. He called out for his aides to bring him a map of the world with no writing, no countries marked. I pointed to Ukraine, he put the map away. He said, ‘People will hear about this.’ And then he turned and said he had things to do,” Kelly said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7k6c7\">The following day, Pompeo issued <a href=\"https://www.state.gov/statement-by-secretary-michael-r-pompeo/\">a rare official statement</a> — a medium typically used for condemnations of human rights violations or announcing sanctions — denouncing Kelly and the media as a whole.</p><p data-block-key=\"9blzq\">In the statement, Pompeo accuses Kelly of lying to him twice: both in setting up the interview and when agreeing to have their post-interview conversation off the record.</p><p data-block-key=\"gnh0h\">“It is shameful that this reporter chose to violate the basic rules of journalism and decency,” the statement reads. “This is another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this Administration. It is no wonder that the American people distrust many in the media when they so consistently demonstrate their agenda and their absence of integrity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0r6cc\">NPR Senior Vice President for News Nancy Barnes and President and CEO John Lansing came to <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/25/799584780/npr-responds-to-sec-pompeo-interview\">Kelly’s</a> <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799244678/pompeo-wont-say-whether-he-owes-yovanovitch-an-apology-i-ve-done-what-s-right\">defense</a>, citing her integrity and professionalism, and stood behind NPR’s reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"jecw1\">In an <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/25/799584780/npr-responds-to-sec-pompeo-interview\">interview</a> with “All Things Considered,” Lansing acknowledged that tensions can and do arise when journalists press officials on hard questions. “But this goes well beyond tension — this goes toward intimidation,” Lansing said. “And let me just say this: We will not be intimidated. Mary Louise Kelly won’t be intimidated, and NPR won’t be intimidated.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cqjyv\">Kelly also wrote about the incident in an <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/opinion/mike-pompeo-kelly-interview.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">opinion article</a> for The New York Times, in which she recounted the interview and said, “Journalists don’t sit down with senior government officials in the service of scoring political points. We do it in the service of asking tough questions, on behalf of our fellow citizens.”</p><p data-block-key=\"y1fzo\">Five Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — ranking member Bob Menendez (NJ), Cory Booker (NJ), Ed Markey (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR) and Tim Kaine (VA) — wrote a letter castigating Pompeo’s statement, The Hill <a href=\"https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/479927-senate-dems-to-pompeo-comments-about-npr-reporter-insulting-and-contemptuous\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"zloa6\">“At a time when journalists around the world are being jailed for their reporting — and as in the case of Jamal Khashoggi, killed — your insulting and contemptuous comments are beneath the office of the Secretary of State,” the letter reads.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At a time when journalists around the world are being jailed for their reporting, Sec Pompeo’s insulting and contemptuous comments to NPR’s <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NPRKelly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NPRKelly</a> are beneath the office of the Secretary of State. <br><br>Read our letter 👇 <a href=\"https://t.co/x3qaRrUXTM\">pic.twitter.com/x3qaRrUXTM</a></p>— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SenatorMenendez/status/1221182757302345729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 25, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pztnu\">Pompeo was echoing language often used by President Donald Trump, who has previously <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1160160760179372032\">referred to the press as “unhinged,”</a> and blamed an absence of “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1193562107666673664\">journalistic standards</a>, for waning public trust in the media. Trump has also affirmed <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1221436736594681856\">critiques</a> of NPR and <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-benjamin-netanyahu-to-reveal-their-mideast-peace-plan\">praised Pompeo’s actions</a> in regards to Kelly.</p><p data-block-key=\"todnu\">On Jan. 27, the State Department Correspondents’ Association released a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jmhansler/status/1221993136056041474\">statement</a> in response to the department’s decision to remove NPR correspondent Michele Kelemen from Pompeo’s plane, asserting that the move was “retaliation” against the outlet and urging it to reconsider the decision.</p><p data-block-key=\"ymwi1\">“The removal of Michele, who was in rotation as the radio pool reporter, comes days after Secretary Pompeo harshly criticized the work of an NPR host. We can only conclude that the State Department is retaliating against National Public Radio as a result of this exchange,” said Shaun Tandon, the association’s president.</p><p data-block-key=\"xwhy7\">“The State Department press corps has a long tradition of accompanying secretaries of state on their travels and we find it unacceptable to punish an individual member of our association.”</p><p data-block-key=\"guu7n\">NPR’s Lansing and Barnes <a href=\"https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=6705246-NPR-Letter-to-State-Department\">wrote to the State Department</a> on Jan. 28 asking for confirmation of Kelemen’s removal from Pompeo’s official trip and clarification around NPR access. The letter also asked for copies of policy and procedures regarding pool reporters, as well as correspondence regarding the Kelemen decision.</p><p data-block-key=\"k3bn4\">The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS2ZZ30.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8zp9v\">Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departs early on Jan. 29, 2020, from Maryland for an official trip to Europe. The State Department removed an NPR reporter from this trip in apparent retaliation to Pompeo’s dispute with another NPR reporter.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"border_point": null,
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"National Public Radio"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access",
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "State agency sends cease and desist letter to NBC journalists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-agency-sends-cease-and-desist-letter-nbc-journalists/",
"first_published_at": "2020-03-04T21:06:59.528043Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-11T16:41:44.188820Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-11T16:41:44.081261Z",
"date": "2020-01-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Madison",
"longitude": -89.40123,
"latitude": 43.07305,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mhxei\">The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families sent a cease and desist letter to an NBC reporter and producer on Jan. 24, 2020, in an effort to block the outlet from publishing information the agency believed was confidential.</p><p data-block-key=\"z40tc\">NBC investigative reporter Mike Hixenbaugh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he received the letter a few days after he had emailed the child welfare agency requesting an interview. The letter, shared with the Tracker, advised Hixenbaugh and NBC Nightly News producer Janelle Richards that the disclosure of a confidential file is a criminal offense punishable by up to 6 months imprisonment and up to a $1,000 fine, under <a href=\"https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/48/XX/981/7\">state law</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"gwjwc\">“Please cease and desist immediately from any further illegal use and disclosure of the documents in the child abuse investigation file illegally disclosed to you, and any information obtained in that file,” wrote the agency’s chief legal counsel Therese Durkin. “Failure to comply will lead to further legal action.”</p><p data-block-key=\"74ggu\">Hixenbaugh told the Tracker that in all of his reporting on child protective services across the country, never before had a state agency reached out to block his reporting or threaten him.</p><p data-block-key=\"kwche\">“It was unusual and surprising to receive a letter that suggested that I could be imprisoned for doing journalism,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"t0you\">NBC attorney Alexander Ziccardi emailed a response to the letter, noting that the agency had falsely assumed the information used in the outlet’s reporting could only have been obtained from a confidential report.</p><p data-block-key=\"e95co\">“[V]irtually all of that information is available from alternative sources that are entirely independent of the CPS investigation file,” he wrote. Ziccardi added that even if NBC did source information from a CPS report it would “unquestionably” be protected under the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"hxf27\">Sarah Matthews, a staff attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, <a href=\"https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/04/gov-tony-evers-administration-threatened-prosecution-journalist/2855362001/\">confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a> that media outlets cannot be held liable when publishing information that a third-party illegally obtained or disclosed. Matthews is also on the Tracker’s advisory board.</p><p data-block-key=\"pp05a\">Hixenbaugh told the Tracker that his reporting ultimately cited only court records and other legally obtained files, such as hospital records and criminal complaints, making no references to a CPS investigative file.</p><p data-block-key=\"o43h9\">Thomas McCarthy, communications director for the agency, told the Tracker that the letter was meant not as a threat but as a warning, as the department cannot itself pursue criminal charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"cui24\">“We are concerned with how he received the information, but understand and respect his role as a journalist to report,” McCarthy said.</p><p data-block-key=\"srvct\">Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers spoke in support of the department’s actions after the letter was publicized by media and First Amendment organizations.</p><p data-block-key=\"uafjz\">“I believe it’s appropriate that DCF protects the kid in this case. Somebody’s got to stick up for that young kid who was deemed to be abused,” Evers said, <a href=\"https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/04/tony-evers-stands-warning-journalist-prosecution-over-reporting/4659301002/\">according to the Journal Sentinel</a>. “Somebody’s got to stand up for the kind, and we did and I did support that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7y59i\">Hixenbaugh emphasized to the Tracker that the privacy of the allegedly abused child was never threatened, as journalistic ethics prevent such disclosures.</p><p data-block-key=\"alilu\">“Although through many different means we are aware of her name and identifying information, we did not name her and would never have named her in this situation,” Hixenbaugh said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"wo1wv\">NBC News investigative reporter Mike Hixenbaugh was sent a cease and desist letter by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
},
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
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"Janelle Richards (NBC News)"
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},
{
"title": "NotiCentro photojournalist attacked with reporter while covering Puerto Rico protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-photojournalist-attacked-with-reporter-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-24T18:25:46.402353Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-17T20:27:24.951037Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-17T20:27:24.842466Z",
"date": "2020-01-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Juan",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sny8h\">Two journalists for NotiCentro WAPA-TV were attacked while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 23, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"yqh3q\">According to translations made available to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reporter Kefrén Velázquez and photojournalist Luis Ojeda were covering protests against Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced and her administration in Old San Juan.</p><p data-block-key=\"keev8\">Shortly after police fired a canister of tear gas towards the crowd around 11 p.m., the station’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-vehicle-vandalized-during-puerto-rico-protests/\">news vehicle was attacked</a> by protesters, <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/comunicados/editorial-noticentro_20131122468684.html\">according to an editorial</a> by NotiCentro News Director Rafael Lenín López. A photo published by the outlet shows damage to the side mirrors and windshield, as well as spray painted messages on the hood and side door.</p><p data-block-key=\"lxf4n\">Newspaper Primera Hora <a href=\"https://www.primerahora.com/entretenimiento/cine-tv/notas/kefren-velazquez-reacciona-tras-agresion-en-manifestaciones/\">reported</a> that Velázquez interceded when protesters attempted to set the car on fire. Though Velázquez was able to stop the vandals, protesters threw stones at him. The Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-attacked-news-van-vandalized-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/\">documented Velázquez’s assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ysje2\">The individuals also reportedly attacked Ojeda with a piece of wood.</p><p data-block-key=\"nt5kb\">In <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/locales/grupo-de-individuos-vandalizan-vehiculo-de-noticentro_20131122468655.html\">an interview</a> with his station the following morning, Velázquez said that police officers did not act quickly to protect them from the riot. However, eventually the Special Forces lined up in front of him and Ojeda.</p><p data-block-key=\"ke207\">“There were two completely different environments,” Velázquez said. “During the afternoon hours, I walked with the demonstrators and colleagues Sylvia Verónica Camacho, producer Erika Martínez and Luis Ojeda. We walked with them until we reached La Fortaleza and by then everyone was chanting and dancing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"z26p1\">Velázquez said that he wouldn’t describe the people who attacked him and Ojeda later that evening as demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkfag\">“I will call them ‘individuals’ because they were certainly not the people we saw before,” Velázquez said. He added that the attackers had hammers and baseball bats, not the pans or cowbells used during the march.</p><p data-block-key=\"sbnbk\">The reporter tweeted a thank you to those who reached out with their concerns, and said that Ojeda was doing well. Neither journalist responded to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">A todos los que han enviado texto, WhatsApp, llamadas, tuits etc. Gracias! Estoy bien! Todavía sorprendido como terminó la noche, pero pa' alante. Mi compañero fotoperiodista, Luis Ojeda (Ojedita) fue golpeado con un cuartón de madera, pero está bien y recuperando. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/VamoArriba?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VamoArriba</a></p>— Kefrén Velázquez (@kefvelazquez) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kefvelazquez/status/1220752182661787649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 24, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7lmsz\">López wrote in his editorial, “To attack the press is to attack the country. It undermines the right to expression.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fkegh\">“Noticentro will not let its guard down in our work or informing and watching everyone equally. On the contrary, events like these make us braver to affirm that we are with you always,” López said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "",
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"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,
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"state": {
"name": "Puerto Rico",
"abbreviation": "PR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Luis Ojeda (WAPA-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "NotiCentro vehicle vandalized during Puerto Rico protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-vehicle-vandalized-during-puerto-rico-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-13T17:08:17.680704Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-03T17:34:54.756201Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-03T17:34:54.665265Z",
"date": "2020-01-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Juan",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m4jyr\">A NotiCentro WAPA-TV news vehicle was vandalized while the news crew covered protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 23, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"hvgpn\">According to translations made available to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reporter Kefrén Velázquez and photojournalist Luis Ojeda were covering protests against Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced and her administration in Old San Juan.</p><p data-block-key=\"qurd1\">Shortly after police fired a canister of tear gas towards the crowd around 11 p.m., the station’s news vehicle was attacked by protesters, <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/comunicados/editorial-noticentro_20131122468684.html\">according to an editorial</a> by NotiCentro News Director Rafael Lenín López. A photo published by the outlet shows damage to the side mirrors and windshield, as well as spray painted messages on the hood and side door.</p><p data-block-key=\"4wq5p\">Newspaper Primera Hora <a href=\"https://www.primerahora.com/entretenimiento/cine-tv/notas/kefren-velazquez-reacciona-tras-agresion-en-manifestaciones/\">reported</a> that Velázquez interceded when protesters attempted to set the car on fire. Though Velázquez was able to stop the vandals, individuals then <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-attacked-news-van-vandalized-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/\">attacked both journalists</a>. It was not immediately clear how extensive the damage to the vehicle was.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"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,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Puerto Rico",
"abbreviation": "PR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"WAPA-TV"
],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Two journalists attacked, news van vandalized while covering Puerto Rico protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-attacked-news-van-vandalized-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-13T16:18:10.426228Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-02-16T22:56:29.471356Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-02-16T22:56:29.387922Z",
"date": "2020-01-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Juan",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6boa2\">Two journalists for NotiCentro WAPA-TV were attacked while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 23, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"k1zng\">According to translations made available to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reporter Kefrén Velázquez and photojournalist Luis Ojeda were covering protests against Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced and her administration in Old San Juan.</p><p data-block-key=\"356zp\">Shortly after police fired a canister of tear gas toward the crowd around 11 p.m., the station’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-vehicle-vandalized-during-puerto-rico-protests/\">news vehicle was attacked</a>. An <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/comunicados/editorial-noticentro_20131122468684.html\">editorial</a> by NotiCentro News Director Rafael Lenín López detailed the event, and a photo published by the outlet shows damage to the side mirrors and windshield, as well as spray painted messages on the hood and side door.</p><p data-block-key=\"ul4my\">Newspaper Primera Hora <a href=\"https://www.primerahora.com/entretenimiento/cine-tv/notas/kefren-velazquez-reacciona-tras-agresion-en-manifestaciones/\">reported</a> that Velázquez interceded when individuals attempted to set the car on fire. Though Velázquez was able to stop the vandals, others threw stones at him. The individuals also reportedly attacked Ojeda with a piece of wood. Ojeda's <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-photojournalist-attacked-with-reporter-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/\">assault is documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"s77yz\">In <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/locales/grupo-de-individuos-vandalizan-vehiculo-de-noticentro_20131122468655.html\">an interview</a> with his station the following morning, Velázquez said that police officers did not act quickly to protect them from the riot. However, eventually the Special Forces lined up in front of him and Ojeda.</p><p data-block-key=\"ao97w\">“There were two completely different environments,” Velázquez said. “During the afternoon hours, I walked with the demonstrators and colleagues Sylvia Verónica Camacho, producer Erika Martínez and Luis Ojeda. We walked with them until we reached La Fortaleza and by then everyone was chanting and dancing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"yk5oe\">Velázquez said that he wouldn’t describe the people who attacked him and Ojeda later that evening as demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"398he\">“I will call them ‘individuals’ because they were certainly not the people we saw before,” Velázquez said. He added that the attackers had hammers and baseball bats, not the pans or cowbells used during the march.</p><p data-block-key=\"511ul\">The reporter tweeted a thank you to those who reached out with their concerns, and said that Ojeda was doing well. Neither journalist responded to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">A todos los que han enviado texto, WhatsApp, llamadas, tuits etc. Gracias! Estoy bien! Todavía sorprendido como terminó la noche, pero pa' alante. Mi compañero fotoperiodista, Luis Ojeda (Ojedita) fue golpeado con un cuartón de madera, pero está bien y recuperando. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/VamoArriba?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VamoArriba</a></p>— Kefrén Velázquez (@kefvelazquez) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kefvelazquez/status/1220752182661787649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 24, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fgdq7\">López wrote in his editorial, “To attack the press is to attack the country. It undermines the right to expression.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mycj0\">“Noticentro will not let its guard down in our work or informing and watching everyone equally. On the contrary, events like these make us braver to affirm that we are with you always,” López said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS2ZM3I.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1kr10\">Protesters gather in front of the capitol building on Jan. 23, 2020, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after a warehouse full of unused Hurricane Maria relief aid was discovered.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "unknown",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Puerto Rico",
"abbreviation": "PR"
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],
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},
{
"title": "Shop owner charged with assaulting journalists, breaking Univision equipment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-27T21:17:49.849740Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-13T20:51:55.304845Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-13T20:35:19.270370Z",
"date": "2020-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "La Mesa",
"longitude": -117.02308,
"latitude": 32.76783,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"89xld\">A La Mesa, California, business owner was arrested after altercations with several news crews on Jan. 20, 2020. The man also threw a Univision reporter’s video camera to the ground, causing thousands of dollars of damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"idkjf\">Reporters and photographers had gathered outside of a men’s apparel store to speak with owner Peter Carzis concerning allegations that he had engaged in lewd and inappropriate behavior in front of his shop.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5daz\">Claudia Buccio, a multimedia journalist for Univision, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mwLThBlhF/\">posted on Instagram</a> that she was capturing footage in front of the store for her piece and did not see Carzis approach her.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0byg\">“He yanked my shoulder, pushed me and then he grabbed my camera and threw it to the sidewalk,” she wrote. “Thank God there were fellow journalists in the area who jumped out at my defense.”</p><p data-block-key=\"twdyq\">Buccio wrote in a subsequent comment that several other news crews were in the area to report on the accusations against Carzis, but were in their vehicles and did not film the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"ke3sc\">Journalists from independent San Diego station KUSI News were among those who came to Buccio’s defense.</p><p data-block-key=\"igz4p\">Reporter Dan Plante recounted the incident in <a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\">a live broadcast</a> that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"po38u\">“The first person he went after when he came out blazing was a young woman from Univision, and he pushed her up against the wall and he took her camera and he threw it in the street and broke it into a hundred pieces,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9q2e0\">Carzis then <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/\">turned on Plante and KUSI cameraman Michael Saucedo</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Media assaulted, camera broken, women groped in public and Peter Carzis is finally tracked down and arrested in downtown San Diego. After “years of abuse” the people in the Village of La Mesa are breathing easier now that police are taking action. KUSI Tonight <a href=\"https://t.co/a7ZgMqNP2d\">pic.twitter.com/a7ZgMqNP2d</a></p>— Dan Plante (@DanPlanteKUSI) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanPlanteKUSI/status/1219782262402629632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6swx8\">Other journalists, including ABC 10News reporter Mimi Elkalla and photographer Virginia Creighton, witnessed the assaults but were not targeted by Carzis.</p><p data-block-key=\"pg4xz\">Plante called 911 and Carzis retreated to his store, locking the door behind him. Carzis was gone by the time police arrived, according to a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/lamesapolicedepartment/photos/a.139743763041488/1109313549417833/?type=3&theater\">press release</a> from the La Mesa Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"xrydh\">Police said that after canvassing the area, they located Carzis in nearby San Diego and arrested him on Jan. 21 on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony vandalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"zbo3w\">“Carzis is accused of battering multiple reporters and causing irreparable damage to a video camera reported to be worth approximately $7,000.00,” the press release states.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Lewd_La_Mesa2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8u8oq\">The owner of a men’s clothing store in La Mesa, California, was arrested and charged with assault of several journalists and damage to this Univision video camera.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
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"actor": "private individual",
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"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": [
"(2021-03-10 00:00:00+00:00) California man sentenced for destruction of reporter’s equipment"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Claudia Buccio (Univision)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "California shop owner charged with assaulting journalists, breaking camera equipment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-24T16:31:45.929871Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-13T20:52:00.403488Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-13T20:37:28.750385Z",
"date": "2020-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "La Mesa",
"longitude": -117.02308,
"latitude": 32.76783,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ghtrj\">A La Mesa, California, business owner was arrested after altercations with several news crews on Jan. 20, 2020. The man also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/\">threw a reporter’s video camera to the ground</a>, causing thousands of dollars of damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"u65jk\">Reporters and photographers had gathered outside of a men’s apparel store to speak with owner Peter Carzis concerning allegations that he had engaged in lewd and inappropriate behavior in front of his shop.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qg44\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/\">Claudia Buccio</a>, a multimedia journalist for Univision, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mwLThBlhF/\">posted on Instagram</a> that she was capturing footage in front of the store for her piece and did not see Carzis approach her.</p><p data-block-key=\"i7f2p\">“He yanked my shoulder, pushed me and then he grabbed my camera and threw it to the sidewalk,” she wrote. “Thank God there were fellow journalists in the area who jumped out at my defense.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8nsb8\">Buccio wrote in a subsequent comment that several other news crews were in the area to report on the accusations against Carzis, but were in their vehicles and did not film the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"jwxk9\">A crew from KUSI News, an independent station in San Diego, was among those who came to Buccio’s defense. KUSI News Director Steve Cohen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that reporter Dan Plante stepped in to stop Carzis’ attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"el6w6\">Plante recounted the incident in <a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\">a live broadcast</a> that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2qqp\">“The first person he went after when he came out blazing was a young woman from Univision, and he pushed her up against the wall and he took her camera and he threw it in the street and broke it into a hundred pieces,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9y3ba\">Carzis then turned on Plante.</p><p data-block-key=\"sdgl2\">A<a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\"> video</a> taken by Plante on his cellphone shows Carzis attempting to hit him multiple times before rounding on <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-in-california-charged-with-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/\">KUSI cameraman Michael Saucedo</a>, pushing him into a couple parking meters and pursuing him several yards down the sidewalk.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Media assaulted, camera broken, women groped in public and Peter Carzis is finally tracked down and arrested in downtown San Diego. After “years of abuse” the people in the Village of La Mesa are breathing easier now that police are taking action. KUSI Tonight <a href=\"https://t.co/a7ZgMqNP2d\">pic.twitter.com/a7ZgMqNP2d</a></p>— Dan Plante (@DanPlanteKUSI) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanPlanteKUSI/status/1219782262402629632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"68ihk\">In the video, Plante can be heard telling Carzis that he’s “about to get arrested.” Carzis then turns again on Plante, attempting to both hit and kick him. A brief scuffle ensued as Plante attempted to keep Carzis at a distance, according to his accounting of the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"xp4p9\">“When he was throwing punches at me, I was kind of laughing a little bit because I’m not afraid of a guy like that,” Plante said. “So what was going through my mind was, ‘Block the punches, block the kicks, get it all on video tape and expose this guy for who he is.’ And I believe that’s what happened.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tcgax\">Carzis did land a blow against him, Plante said, resulting in a small cut on his nose from a piece of jewelry Carzis was wearing. Plante also dropped his phone in the altercation, but KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker it was not damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"8xu7l\">Other journalists, including ABC 10News reporter Mimi Elkalla and photographer Virginia Creighton, witnessed the assaults but were not targeted by Carzis.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just moments after a store owner attacks members of the media Peters men’s clothing store owner wanted for questioning. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LaMesaPD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LaMesaPD</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/fox5sandiego?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@fox5sandiego</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/0zZGKSmYvh\">pic.twitter.com/0zZGKSmYvh</a></p>— Jaime Chambers (@jaimechambers) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jaimechambers/status/1219390994463854592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 20, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1tnoi\">Plante called 911 and Carzis retreated to his store, locking the door behind him. Carzis was gone by the time police arrived, according to a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/lamesapolicedepartment/photos/a.139743763041488/1109313549417833/?type=3&theater\">press release</a> from the La Mesa Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ge5v\">Police said that after canvassing the area, they located Carzis in nearby San Diego and arrested him on Jan. 21 on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony vandalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"l4z1t\">“Carzis is accused of battering multiple reporters and causing irreparable damage to a video camera reported to be worth approximately $7,000.00,” the press release states.</p><p data-block-key=\"qzzfh\">KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker that the broadcaster had not needed to press charges, but they expect Plante or Saucedo will need to provide testimony as the case against Carzis moves forward.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8rs8\">“It was just an absolutely crazy thing,” Plante said of the attack.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/La_Mesa4.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pohi6\">Several news crews were on scene when a La Mesa, California, store owner broke a Univision video camera and accosted this KUSI News cameraman and other journalists.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
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"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": "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": [
"(2021-03-10 00:00:00+00:00) California man sentenced after altercation with reporter"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dan Plante (KUSI-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Shop owner in California charged with assaulting journalists, breaking camera equipment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-in-california-charged-with-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-24T17:40:21.534976Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T00:43:45.097662Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T00:43:45.015525Z",
"date": "2020-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "La Mesa",
"longitude": -117.02308,
"latitude": 32.76783,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ds40g\">A La Mesa, California, business owner was arrested after altercations with several news crews on Jan. 20, 2020. The man also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/\">threw a reporter’s video camera</a> to the ground, causing thousands of dollars of damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"tdf2h\">Reporters and photographers had gathered outside of a men’s apparel store to speak with owner Peter Carzis concerning allegations that he had engaged in lewd and inappropriate behavior in front of his shop.</p><p data-block-key=\"63kgi\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/\">Claudia Buccio</a>, a multimedia journalist for Univision, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mwLThBlhF/\">posted on Instagram</a> that she was capturing footage in front of the store and did not see Carzis approach her.</p><p data-block-key=\"3e62a\">“He yanked my shoulder, pushed me and then he grabbed my camera and threw it to the sidewalk,” she wrote. “Thank God there were fellow journalists in the area who jumped out at my defense.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0xh3k\">Buccio wrote in a subsequent comment that several other news crews were in the area to report on the accusations against Carzis, but were in their vehicles and did not film the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"wrbgk\">A crew from KUSI News, an independent station in San Diego, was among those who came to Buccio’s defense. KUSI News Director Steve Cohen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that reporter Dan Plante stepped in to stop Carzis’ attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"vo5y0\">Plante recounted the incident in <a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\">a live broadcast</a> that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"5uceo\">“The first person he went after when he came out blazing was a young woman from Univision, and he pushed her up against the wall and he took her camera and he threw it in the street and broke it into a hundred pieces,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"w8pd4\">Carzis then turned on Plante. The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/\">that assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"snjur\">A <a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\">video</a> taken by Plante on his cellphone shows Carzis attempting to hit him multiple times before rounding on KUSI cameraman Michael Saucedo, pushing him into a couple parking meters and pursuing him several yards down the sidewalk.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Media assaulted, camera broken, women groped in public and Peter Carzis is finally tracked down and arrested in downtown San Diego. After “years of abuse” the people in the Village of La Mesa are breathing easier now that police are taking action. KUSI Tonight <a href=\"https://t.co/a7ZgMqNP2d\">pic.twitter.com/a7ZgMqNP2d</a></p>— Dan Plante (@DanPlanteKUSI) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanPlanteKUSI/status/1219782262402629632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p89kt\">In the video, Plante can be heard telling Carzis that he’s “about to get arrested.” Carzis then turns again on Plante, attempting to both hit and kick him. A brief scuffle ensued as Plante attempted to keep Carzis at a distance, according to his account of the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"lpcs9\">Carzis did land a blow against him, Plante said, resulting in a small cut on his nose from a piece of jewelry Carzis was wearing. Plante also dropped his phone in the altercation, but KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker it was not damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"yqmxv\">Other journalists, including ABC 10News reporter Mimi Elkalla and photographer Virginia Creighton, witnessed the assaults but were not targeted by Carzis.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just moments after a store owner attacks members of the media Peters men’s clothing store owner wanted for questioning. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LaMesaPD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LaMesaPD</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/fox5sandiego?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@fox5sandiego</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/0zZGKSmYvh\">pic.twitter.com/0zZGKSmYvh</a></p>— Jaime Chambers (@jaimechambers) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jaimechambers/status/1219390994463854592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 20, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k0n00\">Plante called 911 and Carzis retreated to his store, locking the door behind him. Carzis was gone by the time police arrived, according to a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/lamesapolicedepartment/photos/a.139743763041488/1109313549417833/?type=3&theater\">press release</a> from the La Mesa Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"uo6i7\">Police said that after canvassing the area, they located Carzis in nearby San Diego and arrested him on Jan. 21 on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony vandalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"lvgtp\">“Carzis is accused of battering multiple reporters and causing irreparable damage to a video camera reported to be worth approximately $7,000.00,” the press release states.</p><p data-block-key=\"o2hv4\">KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker that the broadcaster had not needed to press charges, but they expect Plante or Saucedo will need to provide testimony as the case against Carzis moves forward.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"actor": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"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,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-03-10 00:00:00+00:00) California man sentenced after altercation with cameraman"
],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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"Michael Saucedo (KUSI-TV)"
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},
{
"title": "Media access restricted as historic impeachment trial begins",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/media-access-restricted-historic-impeachment-trial-begins/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-22T17:58:37.394891Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:44:25.292322Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:44:25.118572Z",
"date": "2020-01-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o88rg\">Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger implemented restrictions on media access in advance of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, which began on Jan. 16, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rck5\">Roll Call <a href=\"http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/impeachment-trial-security-crackdown-will-limit-capitol-press-access\">reported</a> that the planned restrictions were announced following months of discussions between the Capitol’s chief security officials, including Stenger and the Capitol Police chief, Senate Rules Chairman Roy Blunt and the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which represents the interests of credentialed congressional reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"nto5l\">The new restrictions exceed those that were in place during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1998, Roll Call <a href=\"http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/impeachment-trial-security-crackdown-will-limit-capitol-press-access\">reported</a>, in part spurred by the hundreds of protesters that flooded the Capitol during the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.</p><p data-block-key=\"p0eby\">Sarah D. Wire, a congressional reporter for the Los Angeles Times and chair of the Standing Committee of Correspondents <a href=\"https://twitter.com/sarahdwire/status/1217202438031257602?s=21\">tweeted</a> that the Committee suggested changes to the restrictions prior to them being finalized. “Our suggestions were rejected,” Wire wrote, “without an explanation of how the restrictions contribute to safety rather than simply limit coverage of the trial.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vil1t\">In a <a href=\"https://237995-729345-1-raikfcquaxqncofqfm.stackpathdns.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Standing-Committee-statement.pdf\">letter</a> to Senate majority and minority leaders sent on Jan. 14, the Committee expressed its strong opposition to the planned restrictions, which it said failed to take into account the effective policies and practices that are currently in place.</p><p data-block-key=\"aq3x7\">The Committee listed the restrictions as:</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"7kkde\">The placement of a magnetometer at the door of the chamber inside the Senate press gallery to do additional security sweeps of members of the press each time they exit or enter the chamber;</li><li data-block-key=\"9u44h\">No electronics allowed within the Senate chamber;</li><li data-block-key=\"6wij3\">Pens to hold reporters on the second floor of the building in the Ohio clock corridor prohibiting reporters from freely accessing Senators as they come to and from the chamber;</li><li data-block-key=\"bs0l1\">A single pool camera with no audio to cover the arrival of the articles of impeachment from the House;</li><li data-block-key=\"af55j\">Restrictions on reporters’ ability to walk with senators from the Senate subway to the back of six elevators.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"u8n7i\">When the formal procession to deliver of the articles of impeachment from the House to the Senate took place on Jan. 15, the restriction limiting coverage to a single pool camera <a href=\"https://www.c-span.org/video/?468182-1/house-delivers-articles-impeachment-senate\">was lifted, or at least not enforced</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"j8da1\">Wire <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/16/media/press-restrictions-impeachment/index.html?utm_source=twCNN&utm_content=2020-01-17T00%3A41%3A21&utm_term=link&utm_medium=social\">told CNN Business</a> that when impeachment proceedings officially began the following day, several measures curtailing reporter access were implemented. Both a magnetometer — a type of metal detector — and a police officer were posted at the door of the Senate press gallery.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My view of the opening of the Senate impeachment trial. <a href=\"https://t.co/nHuj60DhBb\">pic.twitter.com/nHuj60DhBb</a></p>— Dana Milbank (@Milbank) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Milbank/status/1219682971743137792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5aeel\">According to Wire and <a href=\"https://www.rollcall.com/news/lack-official-guidance-impeachment-press-restrictions-causes-confusion\">reporting</a> from Roll Call, no written guidance concerning media restrictions was provided ahead of proceedings beginning in the Senate.</p><p data-block-key=\"ce2ot\">“Reporters [are] learning about the restrictions in real time,” Wire said.</p><p data-block-key=\"oquez\">On Jan. 16, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, joined by 57 news and press freedom organizations — including 16 U.S. Press Freedom Tracker partners — <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1-16-20-Impeachment-Senate-Press-Access-Letter-FINAL.pdf\">sent a letter</a> to the Senate condemning the restrictions.</p><p data-block-key=\"ppum5\">The letter reads in part: “Absent an articulable security rationale, Senate leaders and the Sergeant at Arms have an obligation to preserve and promote the public’s right to know. Reporters must have the ability to respond quickly to rapid developments and need reasonable access to lawmakers as they deliberate. The proposed restrictions on the use of electronic devices and on the ability of reporters to question lawmakers as they move about the Capitol, as well as the additional security screening, will hinder reporting without an obvious benefit for Senate security.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pus0o\">RCFP <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/impeachment-trial-press-access/\">wrote</a> that the U.S. District Court in D.C. found that the Capitol is not a “public forum” under the First Amendment, and therefore lawmakers and Capitol security have some discretion to “reasonably” limit or restrict press access to the building. It wrote that any such restrictions, however, cannot be based on vague or arbitrary standards and must be enforced consistently.</p><p data-block-key=\"jre0s\">Tweets from correspondents instead revealed that instructions were often contradictory, and that officers told journalists that they couldn’t clarify or confirm the rules. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Emma_Dumain/status/1217866524217806849?s=20\">Several</a> <a href=\"https://www.rollcall.com/news/lack-official-guidance-impeachment-press-restrictions-causes-confusion\">reporters</a> also tweeted that their interviews with willing senators were interrupted by Capitol Police.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Getting the latest guidance on press restrictions is like a game of telephone as reporters pass along to their colleagues & competitors what they’ve heard most recently. <br><br>Capitol Police officers can't clarify/confirm what reporters heard the rules are. <a href=\"https://t.co/R8kpZdU93g\">https://t.co/R8kpZdU93g</a></p>— K Tully-McManus (@ktullymcmanus) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ktullymcmanus/status/1217893151945437185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6fjag\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/dd945e7c4c820637272a087d6b99043b\">reported</a> that senators were given cards by Capitol Police with phrases to alert police that they need assistance and fend off protesters or reporters, including “You are preventing me from doing my job” and “Please move out of my way.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">JUST IN: <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBSNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBSNews</a> /<a href=\"https://twitter.com/caitlinconant?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@caitlinconant</a> obtain a flashcard being given to U.S. Senators ahead of the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ImpeachmentTrial?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ImpeachmentTrial</a> on tips to avoid reporters. (One thing it doesn’t suggest is calling reporters a “liberal hack.”) <a href=\"https://t.co/mAZpBP9Fv7\">pic.twitter.com/mAZpBP9Fv7</a></p>— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/edokeefe/status/1217850723926450177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cqzf2\">Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) speaks to members of the press in a restricted area as President Donald Trump's impeachment trial begins in Washington, D.C.</p>",
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{
"title": "Fox News journalist subpoenaed for testimony in defamation lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-journalist-subpoenaed-testimony-defamation-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-18T18:03:42.814644Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-06-28T20:03:12.655666Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-06-28T20:03:12.541623Z",
"date": "2020-01-07",
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"city": "Washington",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cnjiv\">Fox News journalist Malia Zimmerman was subpoenaed on Jan. 7, 2020, to testify about a 2017 article and her communications with the defendant in a pending defamation suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"d4dv4\">The article, published in May 2017, reported on the conspiracy around the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, alleging that he and his brother, Aaron Rich, were embroiled in a plot to steal and share DNC emails with WikiLeaks. Fox News retracted the article a week later.</p><p data-block-key=\"y93er\">In 2018, Aaron Rich sued Edward Butowsky, Matthew Couch and America First Media, alleging that they had defamed him by publishing false statements about his purported involvement in such a plot and prior knowledge of his brother’s murder.</p><p data-block-key=\"goppf\">According to a <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6876399-AaronRich-177.html\">court order</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Aaron Rich alleges that journalist Zimmerman was in frequent contact with Butowsky both before and after her article was retracted. Butowsky also appears to rely on Zimmerman’s article as a basis for his defense in the suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"ufhaa\">Zimmerman’s Twitter account was also among those listed in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/twitter-subpoenaed-information-journalists-media-outlets/\">a 2018 subpoena</a> issued to the social media company. Zimmerman could not be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"yqft3\">The January deposition subpoena orders Zimmerman to provide testimony concerning her communications with Butowsky, any knowledge she may have as to whether he acted intentionally or recklessly and Fox News’ decision-making process behind the retraction.</p><p data-block-key=\"he55s\">On Jan. 15, Fox and Zimmerman moved for a protective order barring her deposition on the basis that her testimony is protected by newsgathering privilege under the First Amendment and New York’s reporter shield law.</p><p data-block-key=\"wvv4d\">U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied their motion on March 25, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"xh0ln\">In his April 9 order explaining that decision, Leon wrote that Zimmerman’s communications with Butowsky were not protected because he was not her source (nor had Zimmerman claimed that he was), and that in sharing information with Butowsky she “waived any newsgathering privilege.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qt2sg\">Leon also stipulated that the outlet’s decision to retract Zimmerman’s article is not privileged, and even if it were, Aaron Rich had demonstrated the centrality of her testimony to his case.</p><p data-block-key=\"by0v2\">Fox and Zimmerman filed a motion for the court to reconsider its decision on April 22. Attorneys for Fox News and Zimmerman declined to comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"4vjnz\">In the <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6876401-Zimmerman.html\">motion</a>, reviewed by the Tracker, they argue that Judge Leon took an “unduly narrow” view of what is protected by reporter’s privilege. Butowsky — even though he is not quoted in Zimmerman’s piece — should still be considered a source, they said, and the decision to retract an article is made through the same editorial process as the decision to publish.</p><p data-block-key=\"g17xw\">Fox and Zimmerman urged Leon, if he remained unmoved by those arguments, to vacate his rulings on those issues and to rest his decision to allow Zimmerman’s deposition solely on the determination that Rich had overcome her reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"eyzdp\">“Those questions concerning scope and waiver of the privilege have constitutional dimension, as well as implications for journalists beyond the confines of this dispute, and they should not be decided unless it is necessary for the Court to do so,” the motion reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"qfvy1\">As of this writing, no decision has been reached on this latest motion.</p><p data-block-key=\"p83cr\">The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Tracker partner organization, <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/seth-rich-lawsuit-implications/\">wrote</a> that the ruling could pose significant First Amendment issues if not rolled back.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lj1g\">“Far from not being part of the editorial process in newsgathering, as the district court found, the decision to retract a story is perhaps the most ‘weighty’ exercise of editorial judgment there is,” writes Gabe Rottman, director of RCFP’s Technology and Press Freedom Project.</p><p data-block-key=\"uchrk\">“To allow that holding to stand would discourage all news organizations from having these discussions, which would harm newsgathering and the free flow of true information to the public.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Zimmerman.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pymit\">A portion of the motion asking a judge to reconsider an order allowing the deposition of Fox News journalist Malia Zimmerman</p>",
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"updates": [
"(2020-09-28 11:54:00+00:00) Fox News journalist withdraws opposition to subpoena in defamation lawsuit"
],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Malia Zimmerman (Fox News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"upheld"
],
"type_of_denial": null
}
]
