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{
"title": "Border Report correspondent detained photographing outside Texas Air Force base",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/border-report-correspondent-detained-photographing-outside-texas-air-force-base/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-01T17:06:02.077702Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T20:23:34.039004Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T20:23:33.936966Z",
"date": "2021-09-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Del Rio",
"longitude": -100.89676,
"latitude": 29.36273,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"iix4r\">Border Report correspondent Sandra Sanchez was detained for 45 minutes and threatened with arrest by Laughlin Air Force Base military police in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 19, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"u01xv\">Sanchez was photographing Laughlin Air Force Base signs outside the base’s gates while reporting on the Del Rio encampment, where more than 12,000 Haitian migrants seeking asylum had settled along the banks of the Rio Grande while waiting to cross into the United States from Mexico.</p><p data-block-key=\"jdylh\">The day before, Department of Homeland Security officials had announced during a press conference that deportation flights carrying Haitian migrants would be departing from the <a href=\"https://www.borderreport.com/hot-topics/immigration/biden-admin-speeds-up-plan-to-fly-thousands-of-haitians-out-of-texas-border-city/\">Laughlin base’s airfields</a>, which is located just east of the Del Rio border.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">So I almost got arrested today by military police covering this story in Del Rio, Texas. I was detained for nearly an hour. Details in my <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BorderReport?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BorderReport</a> blog. <a href=\"https://t.co/muGgvD4C8O\">https://t.co/muGgvD4C8O</a></p>— Sandra Sanchez (@SandraESanchez) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SandraESanchez/status/1439711408569176069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 19, 2021</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=\"ks0rw\">When asked for comment, Sanchez referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to a Border Report <a href=\"https://www.borderreport.com/hot-topics/immigration/live-blog-fallout-as-del-rio-international-bridge-closes-amid-migrant-influx-on-texas-border-town/\">blog</a> detailing the incident. According to the post, Sanchez was not on the base when she took still photos and a short video of the military base sign when military police detained her, claiming she had illegally entered federal property.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfcf2\">Border Report stated there were no signs indicating where public property ended and the military base began. According to the blog, military police claimed base property extends north of the gates she was photographing.</p><p data-block-key=\"0eqem\">A Val Verde County deputy sheriff was called to the base while Sanchez was being held but military police refused to release her. The deputy sheriff did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcmwe\">Before releasing her without charges, military police required that they witness her delete the photos and video of the base, the blog said.</p><p data-block-key=\"srvcy\">Laughlin Air Force Base Public Affairs office did not respond to requests for comment by the Tracker.</p></div>",
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"arresting_authority": "Laughlin Air Force Base military police",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "work product"
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"military"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
"Equipment Damage"
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{
"title": "Independent journalist harassed, equipment damaged at LA anti-vaccine rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-harassed-equipment-damaged-at-la-anti-vaccine-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T15:15:08.719614Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T14:16:47.288534Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T14:16:47.187201Z",
"date": "2021-09-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kb0yu\">Independent videographer and photographer Emily Molli was assaulted while gathering footage of an anti-vaccine rally outside Los Angeles City Hall in California on Sept. 18, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"cbdaj\">Molli told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was doused with an oily substance and her camera equipment was damaged while covering what organizers called a “fight for medical freedom” rally.</p><p data-block-key=\"p2i7y\">She told the Tracker she had not initially planned on covering the rally because of recent violent eruptions that have <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?categories=10&city=Los%20Angeles&date_lower=2021-08-14&date_upper=2021-08-14&state=8\">occurred at these events</a> but changed her mind and began photographing the speakers several feet away from the crowd. Molli estimated there were close to 50 people at the rally in addition to about two dozen others who were watching from the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"rzzfs\">Molli said she had not taken her cellphone or her usual press credentials and helmet labeled “PRESS” because her last-minute decision to photograph the event had not given her enough time to prepare.</p><p data-block-key=\"xq4nr\">However, after covering these rallies in the past, Molli said she believed other reporters covering the event would recognize her and at the very least her professional camera would identify her as a reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"zv1cp\">According to Molli, she was gathering footage of the protest for approximately five minutes when an individual walked up behind her and started hovering over her shoulder.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This was the only shot I got at the park before I was accused of doxxing. Delusional. <a href=\"https://t.co/76oKO7hlDT\">pic.twitter.com/76oKO7hlDT</a></p>— Emily Molli (@emilymolli) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/emilymolli/status/1439342607117651968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 18, 2021</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=\"tbz3m\">“I decided at that point I should probably just leave and I started walking away, when more people caught up with me,” Molli said.</p><p data-block-key=\"3uqkr\">The group continued to follow her, accusing her of “doxxing” people in the crowd and being part of the far-left-wing movement antifa.</p><p data-block-key=\"6wiwc\">“In the past, people would sometimes recognize me as a reporter and leave me alone but I knew there was no getting through to these people,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1i0zn\">Molli said she tried to calm the group by telling them she supported freedom of expression and the right to peacefully assemble but by then a man had tried to take her camera out of her hands.</p><p data-block-key=\"ylxte\">“I was filming just in case something happened — most of the time it does,” Molli said. “As I’m waiting to cross the street someone pumps up a super soaker full of glitter, some kind of oil, and water and shoots me in the back, the back of the head, and my camera.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a0ji0\">Molli managed to get away from the group and walked over to a police officer in a patrol car that had just arrived at the event. She reported the assault and equipment damage to the officer but was directed to file a police report online.</p><p data-block-key=\"jmtwr\">Knowing she wasn’t going to get a name or description of the masked individual who had doused her for the report, Molli said she walked away, but a woman continued to follow her, shoving a sign in front of her camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"3s3d9\">Molli told the Tracker she approached a man across the street from the rally and asked to borrow his cellphone to call her colleague. Molli, who distributes her work through wire services or directly to clients, said she essentially lost a full day of work after her camera was soaked. The substance got onto the camera lens and into the air vents but she will not know the full extent of the damage until she tries to use it again.</p><p data-block-key=\"rre9e\">Molli said she did not intend to file a police report about the incident.</p></div>",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"links": [],
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"coronavirus",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Emily Molli (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Student journalist harassed, forced to delete photos while documenting protesters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-harassed-forced-to-delete-photos-while-documenting-protesters/",
"first_published_at": "2022-03-15T14:48:33.292273Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T15:51:49.504784Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T15:51:49.412997Z",
"date": "2021-09-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Long Beach",
"longitude": -118.18923,
"latitude": 33.76696,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mmtss\">Student journalist Abel Reyes was confronted and harassed by a group of individuals who demanded that he delete all the photos he had taken while documenting protesters in Long Beach, California, on Sept. 14, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"cf4ei\">Reyes told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker a counterprotest was organized in opposition to a rally with President Joe Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom at Long Beach City College. He said he was leaving an area with a lot of people he identified as supporters of former President Donald Trump when the harassment began.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ck6t\">“It started with a lady who noticed my camera and the press badge around my neck, and she started asking me a bunch of questions, whether I was part of the ‘fake news,’ where I was from,” Reyes said.</p><p data-block-key=\"57of9\">The student journalist said he tried to walk away, but the woman followed him and continued yelling at him, telling him to take off his “China mask,” in reference to the face mask he was wearing as a coronavirus safety measure.</p><p data-block-key=\"89g2j\">Suddenly, Reyes said, a group of men surrounded him. One of the men demanded that Reyes show him the photos he had taken. Reyes said he explained that he had taken close to 400 photos and that he couldn’t show the man all of them. The man then told Reyes to delete all of his images.</p><p data-block-key=\"3iluq\">“I didn’t argue, I didn’t want to argue, I didn’t say anything. At that point I just wanted to leave because it was not a good situation,” Reyes said, adding that he felt they wouldn’t let him leave until he complied with their demands.</p><p data-block-key=\"8m8nc\">According to Reyes’ <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CTybjLvpRHF/\">Instagram post</a> that night, once the group was convinced he had deleted all of the images one of them told him, “You’re lucky we’re nice.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1ermr\">Reyes left the protest shortly after without attempting to take any additional photos, and told the Tracker that he has avoided any demonstrations with counterprotesters since the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"5gltq\">As a young journalist himself, he is particularly upset by the impact of harassment on student journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"e690b\">“I worry about what ripple effects this is having on journalism as a whole,” Reyes said. “How do you expect someone to go into journalism if they can’t even get through student journalism without something like this happening?”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Reyes.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"egc4v\">Abel Reyes, center with camera, documents an August demonstration in Fullerton, California. Reyes was harassed by a group of people who insisted he delete photos off his camera.</p>",
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"actor": "private individual",
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
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"protest",
"student journalism"
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"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
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{
"title": "Reporter, public removed from Illinois city council meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-public-removed-from-illinois-city-council-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-22T17:52:09.363927Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T21:03:42.032758Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T21:03:41.931347Z",
"date": "2021-09-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Country Club Hills",
"longitude": -87.72033,
"latitude": 41.56809,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ns8v9\">Erica Chiang, editor-in-chief for The Southland Journal, was told to stop filming and ordered to leave a city council meeting in Country Club Hills, Illinois, on Sept. 13, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"k6rb3\">Chiang told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she covered the city council meeting without incident until the public comments portion of the meeting. In <a href=\"https://thesouthlandjournal.com/ford-violates-open-meetings-act-empties-room-of-all-citizens-and-press/\">an account</a> for the Journal, Chiang wrote that when an alderman attempted to respond to an attendee’s comment, Mayor James Ford interrupted.</p><p data-block-key=\"6m6tk\">“That caused the crowd to get a little upset, and maybe two or three people were like, ‘Let him speak, let him speak,’” Chiang said. “So that prompted the mayor to try to shut down the meeting to the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ifruf\">Ford ordered the room to be emptied, but Chiang said she remained seated and continued filming; when the mayor noticed her, he said she needed his permission to record and ordered that she be removed as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"aw0f3\">“I’m a member of the press,” Chiang can be heard saying in her <a href=\"https://youtu.be/zo3YzRzysmQ\">recording</a> of the incident. “This is a public meeting, I have every right to record a public meeting. I don’t need permission; it is a public meeting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"uuon3\">According to the Illinois <a href=\"https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=84&ChapterID=2\">Open Meetings Act</a>, “Any person may record the proceedings at meetings required to be open by this Act by tape, film or other means. The authority holding the meeting shall prescribe reasonable rules to govern the right to make such recordings.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vqw83\">“It was a surprise that he would say I couldn’t record without his permission, considering the Open Meetings Act clearly spells out what I can and cannot do,” Chiang told the Tracker. “I was not obstructing, I was seated and I was just recording with my phone out as I had been.”</p><p data-block-key=\"26ngr\">Chiang said she has been in contact with an attorney about the incident and is considering next steps.</p><p data-block-key=\"47qdc\">Ford did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Filmmaker arrested at ‘Cop City’ protest, sues Atlanta and police",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-arrested-at-cop-city-protest-sues-atlanta-and-police/",
"first_published_at": "2023-12-15T14:10:51.714808Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-10T21:48:28.858069Z",
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"date": "2021-09-08",
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"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"atxu2\">Journalist Lev Omelchenko, arrested on Sept. 8, 2021, while filming a protest in Atlanta, has since filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.gand.320146/gov.uscourts.gand.320146.1.0.pdf\">lawsuit</a> against the city and two police officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"2pv7\">The lawsuit, filed in September 2023, states that Omelchenko, an independent <a href=\"https://levomel.com/about\">documentary filmmaker</a>, was arrested while recording a protest outside the Atlanta home of then-City Councilmember Natalyn Archibong as she took part in a virtual council meeting. Four protesters also arrested have filed similar lawsuits.</p><p data-block-key=\"4r3n8\">The Atlanta City Council, at its meeting, <a href=\"https://saportareport.com/public-safety-training-center-wins-city-council-approval-opponents-suggest-fight-to-continue/sections/reports/johnruch/\">approved</a> the lease for a controversial public safety training center for the Atlanta Police Department. Opponents of the center, who dubbed it “Cop City,” <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-cop-city-police-training-center-protest-988fc2fa9c0bb76292bfcd3072b9c3c7\">allege</a> that the 85-acre, $90 million facility will harm the environment and contribute to the militarization of the police in the Atlanta area.</p><p data-block-key=\"bgl1s\">According to Omelchenko’s lawsuit, around 12 people were holding cardboard signs and chanting in front of Archibong’s home. Omelchenko was “present at the site of this protest but did not participate in the protest itself,” the suit states, adding that he was “not chanting but was present in his role as a filmmaker to film the protest.” The suit notes that the protesters and Omelchenko were “standing or striding as near as practicable to an outside edge of the roadway” on a street without sidewalks or shoulder.</p><p data-block-key=\"9t536\">About 20 minutes after police arrived, officers told the protesters that they were in violation of the noise ordinance, the suit says. Soon after, officers told the protesters that they were obstructing traffic and ordered them to leave. After a few minutes of walking back and forth, the protesters decided to leave. At that time, one of the officers ordered the arrest of the protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"aaj9g\">Olemchenko was also arrested, the lawsuit says, despite the fact that he “was not participating in the protest, was not chanting, but was instead filming the entire time” and “clearly informed the officers of same.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5g8fu\">Omelchenko was charged with “pedestrian walking in roadway,” a misdemeanor, and released on his own recognizance on Sept. 9, 2021, according to his arrest report and court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He pleaded not guilty on Oct. 27, 2021, and the case was transferred from Atlanta Municipal Court to Fulton State Court.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmmfh\">According to the lawsuit, “The Fulton County Solicitor’s Office never filed an accusation in Plaintiff’s case and therefore no criminal prosecution against this Plaintiff is currently pending.” It went on to state that “based on this information and belief – and although the case was never formally dismissed – Plaintiff believes that Fulton County Solicitor’s Office has decided not to prosecute his case.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4h0gb\">The solicitor’s office, when asked for an update on the case, told the Tracker that the case was handled in the Municipal Court of Atlanta. Fulton County, in response to an open records request, said, “We have no record of this case as of yet.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ffkq6\">Drago Cepar Jr., an attorney representing Omelchenko in the lawsuit, had no further comment when reached by phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"5me8p\">The lawsuit alleges that Omelchenko was falsely arrested in violation of his First and Fourth Amendment rights, and that the detention was retaliation for exercising his right to film the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"7k8m5\">It further asserts that the filmmaker was arrested “because officers believed that he shared the views of the protesters” and accuses the city of failing to properly train police officers and of routinely arresting protesters “under the pretext of violating pedestrian in the roadway laws.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9t9le\">The suit seeks damages and the recovery of attorneys fees and other expenses.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSFDYZ4.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"w8xpy\">A protester is detained during demonstrations in Atlanta over a planned police training center on Jan. 21, 2023. Filmmaker Lev Omelchenko sued the City of Atlanta and police after his arrest while covering a 2021 protest against the center.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Atlanta Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2021-09-09",
"detention_date": "2021-09-08",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:23-cv-04041",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
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"ongoing"
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"tags": [
"environmentalism",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Lev Omelchenko (Independent)"
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist chased, assaulted by mob during protest in Oregon",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-chased-assaulted-by-mob-during-protest-in-oregon/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-21T19:57:17.925419Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-10-26T20:09:53.651129Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-10-26T20:09:53.569935Z",
"date": "2021-09-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Olympia",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1pziv\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar tweeted that she was chased and assaulted by a mob of Proud Boys wearing helmets and carrying shields as she covered a protest in Olympia, Oregon, on Sept. 4, 2021.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is the moment I was attacked. You can’t see actually it happen but you can hear me screaming for them to get off of me as they celebrate my assault and encourage more. evac’d & out safely. I don’t wanna recap at the moment so I’ll update later. <a href=\"https://t.co/0c6bWzcm0J\">https://t.co/0c6bWzcm0J</a></p>— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1434316536945299459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 5, 2021</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=\"z0g12\">Business Insider <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/washington-proud-boys-leader-shot-in-antifa-clash-at-covid-19-protest-2021-9\">reported</a> that the protest was organized near the state capitol as an anti-COVID-19 demonstration.</p><p data-block-key=\"vns4h\">Video posted on Twitter shows the gang suddenly change direction and head towards Azar, shouting her name, surrounding her and pulling her to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"qp1jp\">She said on Twitter she had been walking with a group but had separated from them to walk a short distance when she was suddenly targeted by a group of about 50 Proud Boys.</p><p data-block-key=\"w91ww\">In another <a href=\"https://twitter.com/chadloder/status/1434617753290174465?s=20\">video</a>, members of the mob can be heard shouting “get her” and “whip her ass,” and then are seen leaving the scene laughing. Many of them are masked and wearing helmets and body armour.</p><p data-block-key=\"963c5\">Azar, who did not respond to a request by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for a comment, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1434278767644405760?s=20\">tweeted right after the attack</a> that people in a nearby bar in Olympia helped her get away. “I ran as fast as I could. They caught me and pulled my hair and shoved me to the ground then bear maced me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2vdtn\">In a separate tweet she added: “Not OK and shaking, but safe now and have protection.”</p><p data-block-key=\"54br2\">The Olympia Police Department did not respond to a U.S. Press Freedom Tracker request for a comment.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"coronavirus",
"protest",
"white nationalism"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Alissa Azar (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "New policy removes freelance journalists from MS health department media lists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-policy-removes-freelance-journalists-from-ms-health-department-media-lists/",
"first_published_at": "2022-07-11T21:19:36.885917Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T21:09:53.498212Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T21:09:53.417103Z",
"date": "2021-09-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Jackson",
"longitude": -90.18481,
"latitude": 32.29876,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xsagb\"><b></b>The Mississippi State Department of Health removed freelance journalists from its media distribution lists in 2021, restricting their ability to attend press conferences and receive other announcements.</p><p data-block-key=\"79c7q\">Kamesha Laurry, a legal fellow for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the group, which provides pro bono representation and other legal resources for journalists, became aware of the change in policy after a freelance journalist called the RCFP legal hotline in September 2021. According to Laurry, the journalist said the policy was limiting her access to the health department’s press conferences. RCFP is a member of the Tracker’s advisory board.</p><p data-block-key=\"4o1jp\"><a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/miss-health-dept-media-policy/\">According to RCFP,</a> the policy change bans freelance journalists from live press conferences, including about the ongoing pandemic, and other timely announcements. RCFP attorneys sent the State Department of Health <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22070751-2022-06-24-rcfp-letter-to-mississippi-state-department-of-health\">a letter</a> on June 24, 2022, objecting to the policy, saying it was revised without explanation and in violation of the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"4c3no\">“No public justification was given for the change,” RCFP wrote. “Instead, members of the MSDH communications team told freelance journalists that they could, instead, stream press conference recordings via MSDH’s website hours after the live event occurs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dobet\">The RCFP letter also argues that the policy is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides equal protection and due process.</p><p data-block-key=\"8i13g\">“Indeed, freelance journalists are members of the press just like their ‘affiliated media’ peers and should not be placed at a disadvantage simply because they are not working full-time for a single media outlet or newsroom,” RCFP wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6vo7\">The Mississippi State Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Mississippi",
"abbreviation": "MS"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"State government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Change in policy or practice",
"Press credential or media list"
]
},
{
"title": "NBC News correspondent harassed while reporting live on Hurricane Ida in Mississippi",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nbc-news-correspondent-harassed-while-reporting-live-on-hurricane-ida-in-mississippi/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-15T22:13:00.501439Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-22T13:49:52.513033Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-22T13:49:52.455682Z",
"date": "2021-08-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Gulfport",
"longitude": -89.09282,
"latitude": 30.36742,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f17ru\">NBC News correspondent Shaquille Brewster was interrupted and confronted by a man while reporting live on the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Gulfport, Mississippi, on Aug. 30, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"xnf31\">In the news segment, as Brewster begins reporting on the scene, a white pickup truck pulls up and a man in a white shirt runs toward the news crew. Brewster then moves slightly toward his left so that the camera pivots away from the man, but as he continues to speak, the man’s shouting can be heard off camera. As Brewster tosses it back to MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin, the man enters the frame and yells in Brewster’s face, seemingly reaching for him or his microphone, before the segment cuts away.</p><p data-block-key=\"r9ofq\">“Brewster used his forearm to shield himself as the man walked back up to him and incoherently rambled ‘report accurately!’ before the producer and the photographer were able to separate the men,” according to an <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-confronts-nbc-news-correspondent-shaquille-brewster-live-tv-during-n1278053\">NBC News article</a> on the incident. “The heckler then left.” Brewster confirmed these details with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ifpe\">After the incident, Melvin provided an update on air. “You probably saw or heard a few moments ago, one of our correspondents was disrupted by some wacky guy during his live shot there in Mississippi. Pleased to report that Shaquille Brewster is just fine. Shaq is okay.”</p><p data-block-key=\"g3pr3\">“Appreciate the concern guys,” Brewster<a href=\"https://twitter.com/shaqbrewster/status/1432367373835702275?s=20\"> wrote</a> on Twitter after the incident. “The team and I are all good!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Appreciate the concern guys. The team and I are all good!</p>— Shaquille Brewster (@shaqbrewster) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/shaqbrewster/status/1432367373835702275?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 30, 2021</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=\"dosni\">In a tweeted<a href=\"https://twitter.com/GulfportPolice/status/1432455733967208454?s=20\"> news release</a> from Aug. 30, the Gulfport Police Department requested the “public's assistance in identifying a suspect that was causing a disturbance during a live news feed” and within the hour, the department reported that the individual has been identified.</p><p data-block-key=\"11rgs\">According to a 3:14 p.m.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/GulfportPolice/status/1432799073212452864\"> tweet</a> the following day, Gulfport police stated that “arrest warrants were issued... charging [the man] with two counts of Simple Assault, one count of Disturbance of the Peace, and one count of Violation of Emergency Curfew.” The man was booked into the Montgomery County jail, according to <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ohio-man-arrested-days-after-confronting-nbc-news-shaquille-brewster-n1278399\">NBC News</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8xpym\">The Gulfport Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"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,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Mississippi",
"abbreviation": "MS"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"environmentalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Shaquille Brewster (NBC News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter shoved, punched during anti-mask demonstration in Traverse City, Michigan",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shoved-punched-during-anti-mask-demonstration-in-traverse-city-michigan/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-02T19:46:04.634175Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-08T19:05:40.087528Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-08T19:05:39.999280Z",
"date": "2021-08-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Traverse City",
"longitude": -85.62063,
"latitude": 44.76306,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ykydm\">Traverse City Record-Eagle reporter Brendan Quealy was shoved to the ground and punched in the face while covering an anti-mask demonstration near Traverse City, Michigan, on Aug. 26, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7wsr\">Quealy <a href=\"https://www.record-eagle.com/news/sheriff-investigating-attack-on-r-e-reporter/article_343b2098-0792-11ec-8def-eb760c876c87.html?utm_source=record-eagle.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Flists%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1630150221&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline\">told the Record-Eagle</a> that he arrived at the Silver Lake Recreation Area at 6:15 p.m. to cover an event organized by a group called Citizens Liberating Michigan. When the event began, one of the organizers announced to the crowd of 80 to 100 that filming would not be permitted, and specifically addressed Quealy.</p><p data-block-key=\"2zrn8\">“There’s no reporting, Brendan,” the organizer said, according to the Record-Eagle. “We don’t authorize that. So, you guys feel like standing in front of him? Because we’re on private property here because we have that rented. That would be great.”</p><p data-block-key=\"h70zz\">Two men approached him, Quealy told the outlet, telling him to leave and pushing him. One of the men then shoved him into a wooden fence and punched him in the face with both fists before others in the group intervened to stop the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"a74ud\">The Record-Eagle reported that the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"3e1cv\">“We are interviewing witnesses and a report will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office probably Monday or Tuesday,” Sheriff Tom Bensley told the newspaper. “I know the concern you have.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gg9y\">“There are some people out there that are not happy with the news outlets. We’ve had two incidents in a short period of time,” Bensley said, referencing the June 7 <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_institutions=534\">assault of a television crew</a> at an event with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.</p><p data-block-key=\"o1000\">The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to an emailed request for further information.</p><p data-block-key=\"p2jxl\">Quealy declined to comment when reached via email, citing the sheriff’s ongoing investigation. He <a href=\"https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/08/28/traverse-city-reporter-punched-anti-mask/5635955001/\">told the Detroit Free Press</a>: “My job is to chase the news, to accurately report it and that's what I was doing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"oq11j\">Record-Eagle Executive Editor Nathan Payne denounced the assault and the rise in aggression toward journalists doing their jobs in a statement to the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"xxr0a\">“Our journalists have an important job rooted in public service,” he said. “They should be able to go to work without fear of being attacked for doing nothing more than asking questions, gathering facts and telling truths.”</p></div>",
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"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": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Michigan",
"abbreviation": "MI"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-09-10 12:01:00+00:00) Two men charged with assaulting reporter during anti-mask demonstration in Michigan",
"(2022-08-01 15:04:00+00:00) One man sentenced in assault of reporter at Michigan anti-mask demonstration; charges against another dropped"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"coronavirus"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Brendan Quealy (Traverse City Record-Eagle)"
],
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{
"title": "Independent journalist ordered to turn over phone, laptop in defamation case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-ordered-to-turn-over-phone-laptop-in-defamation-case/",
"first_published_at": "2024-01-16T18:50:18.922987Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-16T18:50:18.922987Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-16T18:50:04.980109Z",
"date": "2021-08-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Hartford",
"longitude": -72.68509,
"latitude": 41.76371,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f9e15\">Independent journalist and blogger Kevin Brookman was ordered on Aug. 26, 2021, to surrender his phone and laptop for forensic examination in connection with defamation claims made by a police officer in Hartford, Connecticut.</p><p data-block-key=\"4uvqe\">Brookman writes and publishes <a href=\"https://wethepeoplehartford.blogspot.com/\">We the People — Hartford</a>, an investigative news blog focused on local government and public safety. According to <a href=\"https://appellateinquiry.jud.ct.gov/DocumentDisplayer.aspx?AppId=2&DocId=JKqcPIP0GCx66zHDXovXjA%3d%3d\">court filings</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a series of anonymous comments were posted to the site between August and October 2019 that then-Lieutenant Vincent Benvenuto of the Hartford Police Department alleged had defamed him.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mj0f\">Benvenuto, who has since been promoted to captain, filed a discovery petition against Brookman in November 2019, requesting that the court order the journalist to turn over identifying information about the anonymous commenters so Benvenuto could pursue defamation cases against them.</p><p data-block-key=\"v0m1\">Benvenuto also asserted that the commenters were fellow police officers who made the posts in violation of the department’s social media guidelines.</p><p data-block-key=\"bvnto\">Brookman maintains that not only does he not have access to the requested information but that he should be protected from such an order by the state’s <a href=\"https://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/ACT/PA/2006PA-00140-R00HB-05212-PA.htm\">reporter shield law</a>. His court filings cite news outlets ranging from the Hartford Courant and The Hartford News to local broadcast stations WFSB and WVIT that have credited Brookman in their stories for breaking news on his blog.</p><p data-block-key=\"7jenc\">Superior Court Judge Cesar Noble ruled, however, that he does not qualify as a journalist as blogs are not explicitly mentioned in the statute’s definition of news media.</p><p data-block-key=\"2tl9i\">Connecticut state law defines the news media as:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-blockquote\">\n\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\" >\n\t<div class=\"rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"l4lnx\">“Any newspaper, magazine or other periodical, book publisher, news agency, wire service, radio or television station or network, cable or satellite or other transmission system or carrier, or channel or programming service for such station, network, system or carrier, or audio or audiovisual production company that disseminates information to the public, whether by print, broadcast, photographic, mechanical, electronic or any other means or medium.”</p></div>\n\t\n</blockquote>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tafod\">Brookman told the Tracker that while he doesn’t consider himself a journalist in the same way as someone who reports for a living, he believes his work is journalistic in nature.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bb3e\">“By the definition, I am a journalist because I'm providing news content,” Brookman said. “It’s not something I ever intended to be, but by doing what I do I think it has become that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"enoj\">As part of the August order, Brookman was required to turn over his equipment to Benvenuto’s digital forensics expert, who said that only the data stored on the devices, as well as the journalist’s communications, will aid in identifying the commenters.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1qlk\">“While a forensic analysis of the defendant’s data is unlikely to yield an IP address it might contain identifiers in emails and texts that may be used to identify identical key words relative to the comments,” Noble wrote in his decision.</p><p data-block-key=\"9abaa\">Mario Cerame, an attorney representing Brookman, told the Tracker that the forensic analysis could not only jeopardize the anonymity of the commenters but potentially expose the journalist’s confidential sources and personal communications.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffa83\">“It’s super sweeping, because you’re going through all of his email and communications,” Cerame said. “On the face of it, it seems crazy town to force a reporter or journalist to give over his laptop and cellphone for forensic review on the orders of a police lieutenant.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6462e\">Brookman filed a motion asking Noble to reconsider his decision, and when Noble denied that motion the journalist filed an appeal with the state appellate court. The case was transferred to the Connecticut Supreme Court in April 2022, which heard arguments on Oct. 19, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"51maa\">Cerame told the Tracker that what is at stake in the case is not only a potential narrowing of the shield law to the exclusion of modern digital journalists but also an exposure of anonymous speakers that could chill future whistleblowers.</p><p data-block-key=\"frkun\">“If they are able to uncover the identities of these cops, I think fewer people will be willing to come forward to journalists or to write criticisms of public figure plaintiffs like this,” Cerame said. “All [Benvenuto and his attorneys] really want is to scare people from talking.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"f7cb1\">A portion of an Aug. 26, 2023, court decision ordering independent journalist and blogger Kevin Brookman to submit his cellphone and computer to forensic examination in order to identify anonymous commenters on his blog, We the People — Hartford.</p>",
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"name": "Connecticut",
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{
"title": "Reporters excluded from Maine CDC media briefings after being labeled ‘advocacy journalists’",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-excluded-from-maine-cdc-media-briefings-after-being-labeled-advocacy-journalists/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-19T21:06:26.788778Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-28T19:48:08.330370Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-28T19:48:08.202880Z",
"date": "2021-08-25",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -70.2589,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hfblx\">Reporters Katherine Revello of The Maine Wire and Evan Popp of the Beacon were barred from Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly livestreams after the agency changed its media policy on Aug. 25, 2021, to exclude those it deemed to be “advocacy journalists.”</p><p data-block-key=\"x74a2\">The agency <a href=\"https://bangordailynews.com/2021/10/06/politics/maine-cdc-bars-advocacy-journalists-from-briefings-kicking-off-debate/\">reversed the policy</a> on Oct. 6. Earlier that day, the Maine Policy Institute, a policy and lobbying organization and parent company to The Maine Wire, had publicized the initial policy change in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MainePolicy/status/1445787026599600128\">series of tweets</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">1/4 <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MEPublicHealth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MEPublicHealth</a> is not allowing our journalist at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TheMaineWire</a> to participate in Maine CDC press briefings because the agency "can no longer accommodate 'advocacy journalists'".<br>First off, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/polisciwrites?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@polisciwrites</a> is not an advocacy journalist. Second, how does a govt agency determine</p>— Maine Policy Institute (@MainePolicy) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MainePolicy/status/1445787026599600128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 6, 2021</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=\"sqjyj\">Lauren McCauley, editor of the Maine People’s Alliance-affiliated Beacon, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Popp was notified by email on Aug. 25 that he could no longer attend the weekly news briefings.</p><p data-block-key=\"mvzlf\">In that email, CDC Communications Director Robert Long wrote that the agency could “no longer accommodate advocacy journalists,” and asked that any questions be directed to him.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rff3\">Long did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"fmy4v\">McCauley told the Tracker that Long later explained the change in policy during a phone call, saying it was done because the briefings had gotten too long and the agency needed to “preserve the CDC director’s time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"w2ssl\">According to McCauley, Beacon reporters had regularly attended the briefing without issues throughout the spring and summer.</p><p data-block-key=\"zd26y\">McCauley told Maine’s <a href=\"https://bangordailynews.com/2021/10/06/politics/maine-cdc-bars-advocacy-journalists-from-briefings-kicking-off-debate/\">Bangor Daily News</a> that the decision to exclude Beacon reporters, “harms the public interest and is especially damaging for folks who too often are left out of the conversation already.”</p><p data-block-key=\"daopr\">Jacob Posik, the editor of The Maine Wire, said Revello was hired in late May as a news reporter to cover the regular briefings and had attended one held on July 28 after requesting a link from the Maine CDC to attend.</p><p data-block-key=\"y4f47\">The once-daily briefings were halted by the agency during the summer as cases decreased, but weekly briefings began in early September as the Delta variant spread throughout the state, Posik told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"lk0xn\">But, according to Posik, The Maine Wire had stopped receiving media advisories about the briefings in early September.</p><p data-block-key=\"09r67\">Posik said the outlet has been highly critical of the state’s CDC data in their reporting of the pandemic and believes that the policy changed only after the outlet asked to attend the news briefings.</p><p data-block-key=\"f4bri\">“Once we hired a full time news reporter to hold the administration accountable, they kicked us out and called us advocacy journalists,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2r95h\">Posik said that he contacted CDC communications director Long in September after not receiving an invitation to attend two consecutive briefings. After almost three weeks of messaging and calling state officials, Posik said he got an answer to his original inquiry from Long on Oct. 6 that stated “We are no longer able to accommodate advocacy journalists during the media briefings.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1oll2\">“I responded to him by saying ‘Respectfully, that’s not how the First Amendment works — please show me a copy of the policy that you’re using to bar the attendance of my journalist to these briefings,’” Posik said.</p><p data-block-key=\"di8vq\">Posik has filed Freedom Of Access Act requests for a copy of the state CDC’s media policy and for the agency’s internal emails and messages that could explain the policy change but said he has not yet received any documents.</p><p data-block-key=\"ae6ks\">During the Oct. 6 briefing, a reporter attending the livestream asked Maine’s Health asked Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah how the CDC determines which outlets are allowed to ask questions during the briefings and how the policy agrees with the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"il3gj\">Both Lambrew and Shah defended <a href=\"https://youtu.be/UOlM8gUXzTo?t=3332\">the agency’s policy</a> to restrict the briefings by saying they were reserved for officials to “answer questions in the space of an hour from a set of credentialed reporters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j9i2v\">McCauley and Posik confirmed to the Tracker that following the Oct. 6 briefing the agency sent an email to the outlets reinviting them to attend future briefings.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Maine",
"abbreviation": "ME"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
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"tags": [
"coronavirus"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"State government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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"Evan Popp (Maine Beacon)"
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{
"title": "Independent journalist assaulted, equipment damaged during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-assaulted-equipment-damaged-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-15T20:26:13.380629Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:13:33.321168Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:13:33.189093Z",
"date": "2021-08-22",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n6i3k\">Independent journalist Maranie Staab was assaulted multiple times and several pieces of her equipment were damaged while she was covering clashing demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"h2blk\">Far-right demonstrators had planned for the “summer of love” protest in support of the “political prisoners” of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection to take place downtown, The Intercept <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2021/08/23/portland-police-proud-boys-protest\">reported</a>, but had moved the location that morning to an abandoned Kmart parking lot in east Portland following the announcement of several counterprotests.</p><p data-block-key=\"1qe41\">The Portland Police Bureau announced ahead of the dueling demonstrations that officers would not intervene in any resulting clashes.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0npn\">“You should not expect to see police officers standing in the middle of the crowd trying to keep people apart,” Chief Chuck Lovell <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/portland-59abd74450bd0a0a166cd8d2b1f76c0e\">said in a statement</a>. “People should keep themselves apart and avoid physical confrontation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"08uis\">Staab told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was covering the planned demonstration for the Russian video news agency Ruptly and had arrived at the demonstration before its 2:30 p.m. start. Staab said that approximately 200 demonstrators had gathered, and the general mood was calm as the crowd listened to speeches from a platform.</p><p data-block-key=\"few89\">At around 4 p.m., Staab said, tensions rose when left-wing counterprotesters in black bloc arrived; far-right demonstrators began firing airsoft guns and antifascists responded with fireworks and clouds of mace.</p><p data-block-key=\"0qwki\">Staab told the Tracker that when both sides fell back, many of the journalists present found themselves in the middle of a no-man’s land between the two groups.</p><p data-block-key=\"gqxjl\">“I was first sprayed with something from behind — I didn’t see the person so I only saw it in a video — with what I thought was WD-40,” Staab said, referring to a rust-prevention spray. “It definitely wasn’t mace. Someone else said it was hornet spray or wasp spray or something.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3yaba\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1430278909048889345\">Footage of the incident</a> shows an individual quickly running past her and deliberately targeting her with the spray.</p><p data-block-key=\"ye55v\">Not long after the initial attack, Staab said, an antifa protester approached her and began belittling her personally, accusing her of endangering the community with her recent trip to Colombia and calling her a “slut.”</p><p data-block-key=\"57pg0\">“That group has never liked being documented. There’s been 10 to 15 that have been on the ground pretty consistently for the past year,” Staab said. “There are people that take particular issue with me.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Antifascists threatened to "smash cameras" of journalists, and targeted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaranieRae?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MaranieRae</a> personally.<br><br>She approached to speak to their group, and they shot paint and mace at her and threw her on the ground.<br><br>As she recovered, one shot more paint at both her and press helping her. <a href=\"https://t.co/XKgDxvFc5D\">pic.twitter.com/XKgDxvFc5D</a></p>— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1429660955034624005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 23, 2021</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=\"eucqm\">Staab said the demonstrator told her to stop filming the group, but she refused.</p><p data-block-key=\"j9fky\">“Pretty immediately someone grabbed my cellphone out of my hand — it was on a little, small gimbal — threw it on the ground and smashed it,” Staab said. “Then someone pulled me down by my camera strap, which was on my right arm.”</p><p data-block-key=\"w7bee\">Staab said when she tried to get up, individuals also threw a paint-filled balloon at her and maced her. Several other journalists then led Staab away from the counterprotesters and aided her in rinsing her eyes.</p><p data-block-key=\"ulhs7\">“It is only because of my colleagues that I got out of there OK,” Staab said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Journalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaranieRae?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MaranieRae</a> has been injured, receiving treatment from medics now during street clashes between Proud Boys and Antifa in Portland. <a href=\"https://t.co/RjBK5rP4YX\">pic.twitter.com/RjBK5rP4YX</a></p>— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDXzane/status/1429583652090880002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 22, 2021</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=\"u6fmq\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1429660955034624005\">Footage captured</a> by News2Share co-founder Ford Fischer shows that while the journalists were helping Staab, another individual approached the group of journalists and sprayed them with purple paint. Some of the paint obscured Fischer’s lens, hindering his ability to continue covering events that day. The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalists-camera-sprayed-with-paint-during-clashing-portland-demonstrations/\">his equipment damage here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"o2wta\">In Fischer’s footage, Staab’s press credential can be seen on a lanyard around her neck. Staab told the Tracker she sat on a curb for at least an hour to an hour and a half recovering from the mace before she was able to safely leave the area and return home.</p><p data-block-key=\"swyg9\">In addition to the deliberate damage to her cellphone, Staab said the gimbal it was on is gone, her fall caused a crack in her camera lens and her Canon DSLR body was damaged by the paint balloon.</p><p data-block-key=\"7vkpx\">“This rounded out a year for me and others where we’ve been assaulted by the police, by persons on the right and now this,” Staab said. “To me this is really just an underscore of how dangerous this job has become.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qplme\">Staab told the Tracker she doesn’t intend to file a police report about the incidents.</p></div>",
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{
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},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera equipment"
},
{
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{
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],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
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"targeted_journalists": [
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],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
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},
{
"title": "Videojournalist’s camera sprayed with paint during clashing Portland demonstrations",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalists-camera-sprayed-with-paint-during-clashing-portland-demonstrations/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-15T20:37:51.654036Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:18:07.338441Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:18:07.140743Z",
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"longitude": -122.67621,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8kjfd\">A demonstrator sprayed the camera of Ford Fischer, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, with paint while he was documenting demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"aqb4h\">Far-right demonstrators had planned for the “summer of love” protest in support of the “political prisoners” of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection to take place downtown, The Intercept <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2021/08/23/portland-police-proud-boys-protest\">reported</a>, but had moved the location that morning to an abandoned Kmart parking lot in east Portland following the announcement of several counterprotests.</p><p data-block-key=\"qjseq\">The Portland Police Bureau announced ahead of the dueling demonstrations that officers would not intervene in any resulting clashes.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0212\">“You should not expect to see police officers standing in the middle of the crowd trying to keep people apart,” Chief Chuck Lovell <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/portland-59abd74450bd0a0a166cd8d2b1f76c0e\">said in a statement</a>. “People should keep themselves apart and avoid physical confrontation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"lsdtl\">Fischer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that far-right demonstrators had gathered and started drinking beer in the parking lot, with speeches beginning at approximately 2:30 p.m. After an hour and a half, Fischer said, tensions rose and conflicts began breaking out when some counterprotesters in black bloc arrived at the Kmart.</p><p data-block-key=\"sjk4f\">“Very suddenly everything changed tone,” Fischer said. “You had Proud Boys who were beginning to shoot paintballs and so forth at these antifascists, who were shooting mace and fireworks.”</p><p data-block-key=\"y7i2p\">At approximately 4:10 p.m., according to <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrOvJwRM_ew\">Fischer’s livestream</a>, one of the counterprotesters approached independent journalist Maranie Rae Staab and began shouting at her. When Staab attempted to speak with the counterprotester, another protester grabbed and destroyed her phone while others threw her to the ground, maced and struck her with a paint balloon.</p><p data-block-key=\"hxpdv\">“We, the rest of the media, sort of pulled her away from them,” Fischer said. “As she was recovering, one person in black bloc approached and sprayed all of the press with paint again.”</p><p data-block-key=\"plyb5\">Fischer said it appeared that the individual was using a fire extinguisher filled with paint, adapting what he said was a common leftist tactic of using paint balloons to mark “combatants” or damage electronic devices.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Antifascists threatened to "smash cameras" of journalists, and targeted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaranieRae?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MaranieRae</a> personally.<br><br>She approached to speak to their group, and they shot paint and mace at her and threw her on the ground.<br><br>As she recovered, one shot more paint at both her and press helping her. <a href=\"https://t.co/XKgDxvFc5D\">pic.twitter.com/XKgDxvFc5D</a></p>— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1429660955034624005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 23, 2021</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=\"8trei\">Fischer told the Tracker that his 4K video camera was caught in the paint spray, covering the lens with drops of paint that hindered the auto-focus and disrupted his coverage of the clashes.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dfmu\">“The end result is that a lot of the footage that came since then was blurry and obscured by paint,” Fischer said. “It was not long after that assault that the Proud Boys piled on this individual who appeared to be a leftist in a vehicle transporting water bottles.</p><p data-block-key=\"tq8rt\">“While there was a lot of incredible photography of that incident, I think that my video is probably still the best recording of that and frankly it’s quite impeded, it’s probably not as decisive or clear as to who did what as it would have been if that hadn’t happened.”</p><p data-block-key=\"m8iyl\">Fischer said that while he was able to clean most of the paint off the lens, there is still paint in the mechanisms on the side of the camera and he will need to have it professionally cleaned.</p><p data-block-key=\"hkhji\">Fischer told the Tracker he has not filed a police report about the incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"nobwq\">While documenting opposing demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, a demonstrator sprayed the camera of Ford Fisher, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, disrupting his ability to cover the clashes.</p>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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},
{
"title": "Freelance journalist struck with projectiles amid Portland demonstrations",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-struck-with-projectiles-amid-portland-demonstrations/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-15T20:14:56.166931Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:28:54.818412Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:28:54.717685Z",
"date": "2021-08-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"caafk\">Freelance journalist Shane Burley was shot with an airsoft gun projectile while on assignment for digital outlet Truthout documenting clashes between right- and left-wing protesters in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"5q3gj\">Far-right demonstrators had planned for the “summer of love” protest in support of the “political prisoners” of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection to take place downtown, The Intercept <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2021/08/23/portland-police-proud-boys-protest\">reported</a>, but had moved the location that morning to an abandoned Kmart parking lot in east Portland following the announcement of several counterprotests.</p><p data-block-key=\"ouxd6\">The Portland Police Bureau announced ahead of the dueling demonstrations that officers would not intervene in any resulting clashes.</p><p data-block-key=\"kujz7\">“You should not expect to see police officers standing in the middle of the crowd trying to keep people apart,” Chief Chuck Lovell <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/portland-59abd74450bd0a0a166cd8d2b1f76c0e\">said in a statement</a>. “People should keep themselves apart and avoid physical confrontation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sn4xr\">Burley told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he started the day covering the antifa counterprotest in downtown Portland, where approximately 200 young people in black bloc had gathered. When some in the crowd began talking about making their way to the far-right demonstration in the neighborhood of Parkrose, Burley said he drove over as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"9q63c\">“I pull up into the parking lot on the south side and can see that [the Proud Boys] are mostly in front of the Kmart on the north side,” Burley said. “So I stop, I see KGW — which is an NBC affiliate — and I stop and I say, ‘Hey, I’m a reporter on assignment. What’s the safe way to go in here?’ And they’re like, ‘There is no safe way. They just flipped a van over there.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"s9irj\">Burley said he parked at a Wendy’s across the street and then ran over to begin documenting the demonstration.</p><p data-block-key=\"o5f7s\">“Within a few minutes of being there, a couple of activist people came up behind me and they were shouting or something and then people started shooting what I think is paintballs,” Burley said. “I’m holding a bulletproof helmet, so I just put that in front of my face but I get hit five or six times.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aag6i\">Shortly after 5 p.m. Burley <a href=\"https://twitter.com/shane_burley1/status/1429595322792103939\">posted a clip</a> to Twitter of the incident, which begins with him swearing as he is struck.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I got hit with a paintball. They are shooting paintballs and pepper spray at press and demonstrators. <a href=\"https://t.co/CgFYB5otcO\">pic.twitter.com/CgFYB5otcO</a></p>— Shane Burley (@shane_burley1) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/shane_burley1/status/1429595322792103939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 23, 2021</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=\"yp6dn\">In another <a href=\"https://twitter.com/shane_burley1/status/1430279263798759429\">tweet</a>, Burley clarified that he was not sure what type of projectile had struck him, but may have been a rubber ball fired from a paintball gun. He <a href=\"https://twitter.com/shane_burley1/status/1429656761342971904\">retweeted a video</a> posted by Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling showing someone in fatigues firing a paintball gun at people off-screen.</p><p data-block-key=\"h8rpi\">“I was hit by this, they were aiming them at protesters and next at press. I clearly had a press badge on, as did all the press shot,” Burley wrote. The Tracker was not able to confirm whether other journalists were struck during the demonstration.</p><p data-block-key=\"tnt3x\">Burley told the Tracker he felt deliberately targeted because in addition to his press badge, the helmet he held in front of his face was labeled “PRESS” and he shouted out that he was press before and while he was being shot.</p><p data-block-key=\"jfx4y\">“There’s no way that he didn’t think that I was press, plus it was a press group that they opened fire on,” Burley said. “None of this was justifiable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"oagy7\">Burley said he has not filed a police report about the incident.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Shane Burley (Truthout)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter subpoenaed to give evidence at Missouri murder trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-subpoenaed-to-give-evidence-at-missouri-murder-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-15T19:30:33.057676Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-09-15T19:30:33.057676Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-09-15T19:30:33.019763Z",
"date": "2021-08-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Columbia",
"longitude": -92.33407,
"latitude": 38.95171,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>A judge in Missouri has allowed a reporter to be subpoenaed to give evidence at a murder trial.</p><p>The prosecutors have subpoenaed Gladys Bautista, a former reporter for CBS affiliate KRCG 13 in Columbia, Missouri. Bautista, now a reporter for WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky, will be asked to return to Columbia to attend the trial, according to a <a href=\"https://krcgtv.com/news/local/prosecutors-want-former-krcg-reporter-to-testify-in-joseph-elledge-murder-trial\">report by KRCG</a>.</p><p>The Boone County prosecutor’s office confirmed that the court had signed an order for the subpoena on Aug. 20, 2021.</p><p>Prosecutors charged Joseph Elledge with first-degree murder in the 2019 death of his wife, Mengqi Ji.</p><p>Prosecutors said exclusive interview footage with Bautista showed Elledge was lying when he said he didn’t know his wife’s whereabouts after reporting her missing.</p><p>The murder trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 1, the report said.</p><p>Bautista and KRCG did not reply to requests from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for a comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
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"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Gladys Bautista (KRCG)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"carried out"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Twitter account of Fla. governor’s press secretary suspended for ‘abusive behavior’ against an AP reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/twitter-account-of-fla-governors-press-secretary-suspended-for-abusive-behavior-against-an-ap-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-15T21:38:26.633327Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-06T14:54:21.274788Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-06T14:54:21.215855Z",
"date": "2021-08-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Tallahassee",
"longitude": -84.28073,
"latitude": 30.43826,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8dy3w\">Twitter temporarily suspended the account of Christina Pushaw, press secretary to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, on Aug. 20, 2021, for violating rules on abusive behavior after a series of her tweets incited harassment and online violence against an Associated Press reporter, <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-health-arts-and-entertainment-coronavirus-pandemic-philanthropy-ae3f2d37495c5a1d6c7eb2e18f825b26\">according to the outlet</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"rxdn5\">Florida-based AP reporter Brendan Farrington <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-4d0d18b24e0dd41de2424e19b3ed994f\">published a story</a> on Aug. 17, noting that a major funder of the DeSantis campaign invests in Regeneron, a COVID-19 treatment drug that DeSantis has promoted in Florida.</p><p data-block-key=\"m8lr6\">According to the AP and the <a href=\"https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2021/08/28/press-secretary-christina-pushaws-unneeded-meltdown-over-a-routine-news-story-editorial/\">Tampa Bay Times</a>, Pushaw retweeted Farrington’s article and wrote “Drag them” in a now-deleted post.</p><p data-block-key=\"gmocy\">AP reported that the press secretary wrote in another tweet that if Farrington didn’t change a story, she would “put you on blast.” She also retweeted a message that said “Light. Them. Up.” in reference to the AP.</p><p data-block-key=\"44v9n\">Pushaw’s Twitter account was locked for 12 hours after Farrington tweeted that he had received online threats and hate messages about the story. He said: “For your sake, I hope government doesn’t threaten your safety. I’ll be fine, I hope. Freedom. Just please don’t kill me,” according to the AP report. According to the outlet <a href=\"https://floridapolitics.com/archives/452054-twitter-suspends-account-of-ron-desantis-press-secretary-after-harassing-ap-reporter/\">Florida Politics</a>, Farrington said he received death threats.</p><p data-block-key=\"hiyy3\">Pushaw denied trying to direct the governor’s followers to target the AP reporter. She said her “drag them” comment was social media slang and was not meant as a violent threat. She said she deleted it because she didn’t want it to be misinterpreted, according to the AP.</p><p data-block-key=\"guf6b\">When asked for comment, Pushaw told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: “Criticizing unethical and misleading reporting isn’t ‘harassment’.”</p><p data-block-key=\"s3uzd\">AP’s incoming CEP, Daisy Veerasingham, <a href=\"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E9QEZ5jWUAAx7a_.jpg\">wrote to DeSantis</a> saying the actions of the press secretary were “both dangerous and in conflict with Florida’s constitutional protections for freedom of speech and of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mlhg5\">Veerasingham also wrote that this kind of harassing behavior can “cause great harm.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0ssww\">DeSantis responded with <a href=\"https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Lttr-1-crop.png\">an official letter</a> calling the AP story “a false narrative” and the blowback “deserved.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ojd9i\">Brian Carovillano, AP’s vice president and managing editor, said: “This is not pushback, it’s harassment. It’s bullying. It’s calling out the trolls at somebody who is just doing his job and it’s putting him and his family at risk.”</p><p data-block-key=\"evz25\">The Tracker approached Twitter and Farrington for comments, but received no response. AP referred the Tracker to the published story.</p><p data-block-key=\"omyrn\">Farrington’s tweets are now restricted, so the Tracker was not able to see his posts about the incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Brendan Farrington (The Associated Press)"
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{
"title": "Reporter assaulted during Miami anti-mask mandate protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-during-miami-anti-mask-mandate-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-26T13:23:17.635642Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-08-26T13:23:17.635642Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-08-26T13:23:17.609922Z",
"date": "2021-08-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>Danny Rivero, a reporter for south Florida’s NPR and PBS stations, WLRN Public Media, was assaulted after taking a photo of anti-mask demonstrators in Miami, Florida, on Aug. 18, 2021.</p><p>Rivero, who did not respond to messages requesting comment, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TooMuchMe/status/1428125337934761985\">wrote on Twitter</a> he was covering protests against coronavirus mandates outside the Miami-Dade County Public Schools headquarters. At 6:45 p.m., Rivero said he had just been assaulted by a man he identified as a member of the Proud Boys, a violent far-right group.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Was just assaulted for doing my job at an anti-mask mandate protest <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MDCPS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MDCPS</a> headquarters by this Proud Boy in the yellow, for taking this photo. (I took many photos of many people on the scene.)<br><br>Some <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MiamiPD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MiamiPD</a> officers came and pushed the Proud Boys off of me. No arrests. <a href=\"https://t.co/GIm9Zn7bUw\">pic.twitter.com/GIm9Zn7bUw</a></p>— Danny Rivero (@TooMuchMe) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TooMuchMe/status/1428125337934761985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 18, 2021</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>In Rivero’s police report about the incident, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, he said that he was approached by three suspects, one of whom grabbed him by the arm and pushed him, telling him, “I will fuck you up!"</p><p>“The police escorted me across the street, and for a minute all eyes were on me on both sides of the line. But it’s not about me, it’s about the story,” he wrote in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TooMuchMe/status/1428125931999305732\">follow-up tweet</a>. Rivero added that he was “totally fine” and was able to continue conducting interviews and photographing the demonstrations.</p><p>The Miami Police Department confirmed to the Tracker that Rivero filed a police report about the incident on Aug. 19.</p></div>",
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"name": "Florida",
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"protest"
],
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"Assault"
],
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],
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{
"title": "Video journalist attacked, sprayed with chemical irritant while covering anti-vaccine rally in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-attacked-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-while-covering-anti-vaccine-rally-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-22T18:57:56.136033Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T14:21:04.573337Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T14:21:04.476260Z",
"date": "2021-08-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ovg4r\">Jake Lee Green, an independent video journalist for News2Share, a collective that sells footage to news outlets, was <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lkMYFzWqj8\">slapped, kicked and sprayed with a chemical irritant</a> while covering an anti-vaccination rally in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 14, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"on73u\">Green told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the “stop socialism, choose freedom march against medical tyranny” rally, a demonstration outside LA’s City Hall, where demonstrators gathered to protest against mask and vaccination mandates.</p><p data-block-key=\"xqlc2\">When counterprotesters arrived, Green moved away from the gathering to record a brawl that had broken out on the outskirts of the rally. Footage of the incident shared on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JLeeQuinn/status/1426972897751404548\">Twitter</a> shows an individual slap Green, who was wearing a black ballistic helmet and flak jacket, both labeled “PRESS.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vvydk\">Video footage shows the same person then swinging a helmet at Green while a second individual kicked Green and then grabbed at his camera in an attempt to pull it away. In footage captured by Green, he is heard identifying himself as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"m337i\">Green said he backed away from the crowd to readjust his camera equipment and refocus his camera on the escalating violence when someone sprayed him with pepper gel.</p><p data-block-key=\"q7snw\">“I couldn't see anything and then I felt someone grab my camera, start pulling at it, and that’s when my mic broke off and damaged the screen on the side,” Green said.</p><p data-block-key=\"r6in3\">Green said the attack damaged his microphone but he attempted to keep recording until the pain from the irritant became unbearable.</p><p data-block-key=\"x8yc2\">Green told the Tracker he did not file a police report about the incident. At least two other <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?categories=10&city=Los%20Angeles&date_lower=2021-08-14&date_upper=2021-08-14&state=8\">journalists were assaulted by individuals</a> during the rally.</p></div>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
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{
"quantity": 1,
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"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"coronavirus",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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},
{
"title": "Journalist assaulted twice during anti-vaccine rally in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-twice-during-anti-vaccine-rally-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-26T13:57:36.810645Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-08-26T19:23:32.831156Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-08-26T19:23:32.794343Z",
"date": "2021-08-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was assaulted while covering an anti-vaccine protest outside LA’s City Hall for the online outlet Status Coup on Aug. 14, 2021.</p><p>Demonstrators had gathered for a rally advertised as a “stop socialism, choose freedom march against medical tyranny” to protest COVID-19 vaccination requirements and mask mandates, LAist <a href=\"https://laist.com/news/criminal-justice/im-fine-but-mad-after-right-wing-extremists-attacked-me-outside-city-hall\">reported</a>. Demonstrators carried signs from a cross-section of movements, including pro-Trump banners, signs calling for the recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other signs and banners. While the demonstration on the south lawn of the City Hall grounds remained peaceful, according to LAist, some fights broke out on the edges of the rally. </p><p>Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived approximately 45 minutes before the violence began and was standing across from the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters with a few other journalists. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TinaDesireeBerg/status/1426659318254891011\">footage</a> Berg posted shortly after 2:30 p.m., a group of men can be seen gathering in a line as multiple people call out “Fuck antifa!”</p><p>At 0:22 in the clip, a man can be seen running up to Berg, pulling down his mask and saying “Hey bitch” before appearing to strike out at Berg and her camera; Berg said the man punched her and struck her camera. Another demonstrator intervenes and pulls the man away as Berg makes her way back to the sidewalk. </p><p>A few moments later, as a brawl appears to break out between the anti-vaccine demonstrators and counterprotesters, a second man runs up to Berg and attempts to pull the mask off her face while shouting, “Unmask them! Unmask them all!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Anti-vaxxers in LA yell "Fuck Antifa" as one ATTACKS journalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TinaDesireeBerg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TinaDesireeBerg</a>, who was injured as a result while reporting. More footage to come from fights that broke out. <a href=\"https://t.co/hHfuesJ38L\">pic.twitter.com/hHfuesJ38L</a></p>— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1426955727642443780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2021</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>A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/chadloder/status/1426711680034037763\">photo of the incident</a> shows the man pulling down Berg’s goggles and face mask; Berg’s press credentials can be seen on a lanyard around her neck.</p><p>Berg <a href=\"https://www.democracynow.org/2021/8/20/reporter_recalls_how_anti_vaccine_anti\">told Democracy Now</a> that she will not let the increasing violence, especially incidents targeting the press, prevent her from covering protests across California.</p><p>“People need to see what’s going on and if I let [the Proud Boys] control what I do then they sort of win the conversation,” Berg said. “They don’t want the press, they don’t want people filming them, they don’t want to be exposed for their violent actions. And so the intention of what they’re doing is to try to silence me and other journalists like me from covering what they’re doing and I absolutely am not deterred from doing it. I will be much more aware, take more security precautions.”</p><p>Berg told the Tracker she has not filed a police report about the incident, but plans to speak with the special investigations unit about it and the assault she witnessed of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-struck-over-the-head-with-baton-by-man-at-la-demonstration/\">videographer Rocky Romano</a> on July 3.</p><p><i>This article has been updated to include comment from the journalist.</i></p></div>",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
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"protest"
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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{
"title": "Correspondent threatened, kicked during anti-vaccine protest at LA’s City Hall",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/correspondent-threatened-kicked-during-anti-vaccine-protest-at-las-city-hall/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-23T16:16:35.256903Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-08-23T16:16:35.256903Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-08-23T16:16:35.225609Z",
"date": "2021-08-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>Frank Stoltze, a correspondent for the NPR station KPCC and LAist, was threatened, shoved and kicked while covering an anti-vaccine protest outside LA’s City Hall on Aug. 14, 2021.</p><p>Demonstrators had gathered for a rally advertised as a “stop socialism, choose freedom march against medical tyranny” to protest COVID-19 vaccination requirements and mask mandates, Stoltze wrote in an <a href=\"https://laist.com/news/criminal-justice/im-fine-but-mad-after-right-wing-extremists-attacked-me-outside-city-hall\">account for LAist</a>. Stoltze, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment, wrote that demonstrators carried pro-Trump flags, signs calling for the recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other signs and banners.</p><p>While the demonstration on the south lawn of the City Hall grounds remained peaceful, Stoltze told LAist that some fights broke out on the edges of the rally.</p><p>“Just a few steps into the park, I noticed a man with a bloody bandage on his head,” Stoltze wrote. “I asked what had happened and he said he’d gotten into a fight with ‘antifa.’”</p><p>Stoltze wrote that he identified himself as a journalist and asked the man if he’d be willing to be interviewed; the man declined. When Stoltze asked if he’d be willing to speak anonymously, the men with the injured man immediately started cursing at and threatening Stoltze.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Something happened to me today that’s never happened in 30 yrs of reporting. In LA. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LAist?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LAist</a> I was shoved, kicked and my eyeglasses were ripped off of my face by a group of guys at a protest - outside City Hall during an anti-vax Recall <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GavinNewsom</a> Pro Trump rally. <a href=\"https://t.co/6s2Jfm8Xrg\">pic.twitter.com/6s2Jfm8Xrg</a></p>— Frank Stoltze (@StoltzeFrankly) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StoltzeFrankly/status/1426701012975325191?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2021</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>“One shoved me in the chest. Another came from behind, grabbed my hat, and ripped my prescription sunglasses off my head,” Stoltze wrote. “As I turned to leave, I told them I was going to find a cop. They called me an anti-gay slur and ‘little bitch.’”</p><p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/andrewkimmel/status/1427181643547090944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1427181643547090944%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flaist.com%2Fnews%2Fcriminal-justice%2Fim-fine-but-mad-after-right-wing-extremists-attacked-me-outside-city-hall\">Footage</a> captured by journalist Andrew Kimmel shows part of the attack; as Stoltze walked away from the group of men, they followed him. Someone also ran up behind Stoltze and kicked him. According to Stoltze’s written account, the same man later knocked his phone out of his hands while Stoltze tried to film the man harassing others. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was unable to determine whether Stoltze’s phone was damaged.</p><p>“I was attacked,” Stoltze wrote. “I’m fine. But I’m mad as hell.”</p><p>The LAPD confirmed that Stoltze filed a police complaint, HuffPost <a href=\"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/proud-boys-anti-vaxx-violence-los-angeles_n_6118888de4b01da700f6785c\">reported</a>. According to LAist, no arrests have been made in connection with the assault.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Subpoena for podcast host testimony in murder case quashed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-for-podcast-host-testimony-in-murder-case-quashed/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-22T17:02:12.983853Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-07-13T18:50:15.921521Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-07-13T18:50:15.859616Z",
"date": "2021-08-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Luis Obispo County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fe7ts\">A San Luis Obispo County superior judge quashed a subpoena seeking testimony and reporting materials from freelance reporter and podcast host Chris Lambert during hearings around the 1996 disappearance and murder of a California Polytechnic State University student.</p><p data-block-key=\"8tint\">Lambert’s 2019 podcast, “Your Own Backyard,” chronicled his independent investigation of the murder of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. In the span of 10 episodes, he interviewed new witnesses whom law enforcement <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/us-news-arrests-california-san-luis-obispo-9709acd23a734638d88e65013c0705ad\">officers had cited as “valuable”</a> in their decision to arrest Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, two longtime suspects in the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"w1k2h\">On Aug. 10, 2021, during preliminary hearings in the case, Paul Flores’ defense attorneys served Lambert, who was present in the courtroom covering the hearings as a member of the press, with an order to testify. The order also demanded he turn over confidential interview recordings, emails and notes gathered in the course of producing the podcast. Flores’ attorney argued Lambert had used <a href=\"https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/judge-cites-shield-law-in-dismissing-subpoena-against-podcaster-chris-lambert/Content?oid=11504300\">“the cloak of a journalist”</a> to try to influence the proceedings.</p><p data-block-key=\"3b79d\">Lambert’s attorney, Diana Palacios, <a href=\"https://www.ksby.com/news/kristin-smart-case/chris-lambert-files-objection-to-subpoena-in-flores-preliminary-hearing\">filed a motion to quash the order</a> on Aug. 23, citing First Amendment privileges granted to the press as well as California’s reporters’ shield law, which protects journalists from testifying and disclosing confidential sources or unpublished materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"regvr\">On Sept. 8, San Luis Obispo County Superior Judge Craig van Rooyen, the judge overseeing the case, dismissed the subpoena. He recognized Lambert as a member of the press and agreed that both the First Amendment and the shield law protected him from testifying in the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"0nvxi\">Van Rooyen also recognized that the order, had it been upheld, would have been a breach of confidence.</p><p data-block-key=\"myv7w\">“It is the chilling effect that the shield law means to avoid,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"s4wwq\">Lambert had been covering the preliminary hearings for his blog, “Hallway Blog,” but decided to <a href=\"https://www.yourownbackyardpodcast.com/hallwayblog/day-6\">suspend the posts</a> until the end of the hearings.</p><p data-block-key=\"ergrh\">Lambert declined a request for comment through his publicist when reached via email.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist aimed at with realistic AR-15 style airsoft gun in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-aimed-at-with-realistic-ar-15-style-airsoft-gun-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-24T20:19:11.740579Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-04T13:36:20.906228Z",
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"date": "2021-08-08",
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"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eeudq\">A man walking around downtown Portland, Oregon, aimed an airsoft gun modeled on an AR-15 rifle at freelance photojournalist Justin Yau on Aug. 8, 2021. The man was later arrested on charges of menacing and disorderly conduct, local NBC affiliate KGW <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/man-downtown-airsoft-rifle-arrested/283-c34b422a-087a-490c-b0fc-d4e39ab3758c\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4wync\"><a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/groups-clash-downtown-portland/283-2f29569a-121b-4f7c-9d74-e3a82d7713cb\">According to KGW</a>, right- and left-wing demonstrators had clashed earlier that day at a religious gathering in Tom McCall Waterfront Park led by a Christian musician known for his opposition to COVID-19 restrictions. The groups, which had also clashed the previous night, had brawled and used various weapons, including bear spray, airsoft guns and paintball guns, The Oregonian <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/08/police-arrest-man-seen-pointing-airsoft-rifle-at-people-in-downtown-portland-after-weekend-clash.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"r7rqe\">At about 11 p.m., several journalists including Yau and freelance journalists Nathan Howard and Sergio Olmos photographed a man walking through downtown with what they described as an AR-15 rifle. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1424638472858443776\">footage</a> captured by Olmos, the individual can be seen aiming the weapon directly at Yau as he continues to photograph the encounter. Yau did not respond to messages requesting comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A far-right extremist points his rifle at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wweek?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wweek</a> journalist Justin Yau (<a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PDocumentarians</a>) during a confrontation between anti-fascists and right-wing militia in Portland, Oregon on Sunday Aug. 8, 2021. <br><br>For <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GettyImages?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GettyImages</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/IgMeGEzBra\">pic.twitter.com/IgMeGEzBra</a></p>— Nathan Howard (@SmileItsNathan) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SmileItsNathan/status/1424645955207368707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 9, 2021</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=\"au8so\">According to The Oregonian, the man, identified as Mark Lee, called 911 claiming several people were following him and was told to walk to a nearby police precinct. Lee left the station that night, but police launched an investigation into the incident that ultimately led to Lee’s arrest on Aug. 12 on three counts of menacing and one count of second-degree disorderly conduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"2uk8o\">Police confirmed that Lee’s weapon was an airsoft gun, a sports gun designed to shoot plastic projectiles. The weapon was seized, along with a military-style tactical vest, gas mask and seven knives, KGW reported.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-09-23 00:00:00+00:00) Man convicted of menacing after pointing gun at journalist"
],
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{
"title": "City of Jackson, Mississippi, ordered to pay legal fees to broadcast station for violating public records law",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/city-of-jackson-mississippi-ordered-to-pay-legal-fees-to-broadcast-station-for-violating-public-records-law/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-30T20:59:48.340005Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-22T17:03:34.958502Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-22T17:03:34.904049Z",
"date": "2021-08-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Jackson",
"longitude": -90.18481,
"latitude": 32.29876,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"a2iv1\">The city of Jackson, Mississippi, was ordered to pay more than $170,000 in legal fees to local broadcaster WLBT’s parent company, Gray Television, on Aug. 6, 2021, after it was determined that the city violated the state’s public records law.</p><p data-block-key=\"v23aj\">WLBT <a href=\"https://www.wlbt.com/2021/08/06/city-jackson-slapped-with-largest-fine-state-history-following-wlbt-ethics-complaint/\">reported</a> that in 2019 the station’s chief investigative reporter, C.J. LeMaster, sent the Jackson Police Department seven requests for public records including emails, memos and crime statistics; the department never produced documents for five of the requests and waited nearly 600 days to produce portions of another request. Mississippi’s <a href=\"https://www.ethics.ms.gov/thepublicrecordact\">Public Records Act</a> requires public bodies to provide records within seven days of a request being filed.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ju2o\">The station filed an ethics complaint in October 2019 and when the city did not produce any additional records for 10 months, a hearing was held in November 2020. Emmy Parsons, an attorney representing WLBT, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that LeMaster testified during the hearings that communications with the city were inconsistent and there appeared to be problems with the system used to handle records requests.</p><p data-block-key=\"jx3t2\">On Aug. 6, 2021, the Mississippi Ethics Commission unanimously approved a <a href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z3V6ODM5rVsg_RnO-uN2x0BHMtReC89Z/view\">final order</a> against the city, requiring that it pay $170,397.50 to reimburse the station’s legal fees and a civil penalty of $900, $100 for each violation, in accordance with the state’s Public Records Act. The order also mandated that Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba designate public records officers for the city and its departments and undertake other measures to prevent further violations.</p><p data-block-key=\"k7hew\">“Confidence must be based upon trust which can only come from transparency. JPD and the rest of city government must be open and honest with the people it serves,” wrote Tom Hood, the ethics commission’s executive director, in the order. “The city’s officials and employees, especially those in JPD, need to learn that the Public Records Act is not a nuisance. Rather, it is a fundamental obligation of municipal government just like police protection, fire protection, water and sewer services. Without transparency in government there can be no confidence among the governed, and without the support of the community, those in government cannot succeed.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j4fg8\">Parsons told the Tracker, “WLBT station leadership and C.J. [LeMaster] were clear that this was a fight that was not only worth having but was necessary to have, and they were really committed to it throughout.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dff08\">“The hope at the end of the day with all of this is not just that WLBT receives the last remaining records that it is entitled to with regards to these seven requests, but that it serves as a wake-up call to the city that it is falling down on its job to provide records responses in compliance with the law and it needs to take that obligation seriously and prioritize that obligation,” Parsons said.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkzp1\">The city of Jackson did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Mississippi",
"abbreviation": "MS"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"WLBT"
],
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"public records"
],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
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{
"title": "Senior reporter ordered to testify in assault trial connected to BLM protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/senior-reporter-ordered-to-testify-in-assault-trial-connected-to-blm-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-20T16:37:31.021835Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-09T19:49:40.889637Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-09T19:49:40.753124Z",
"date": "2021-08-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Madison",
"longitude": -89.40123,
"latitude": 43.07305,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0b8sh\">Dylan Brogan, the senior reporter at the digital outlet Isthmus, was one of three journalists subpoenaed on Aug. 5, 2021, to testify at the upcoming trial of two women charged with assault in Madison, Wisconsin.</p><p data-block-key=\"j6wi1\">Brogan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the subpoena is connected to the assault of state Sen. Tim Carpenter at a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020. On June 23, protesters were hostile to anyone who was filming or photographing and members of the crowd directed their ire at Carpenter when he stopped to take a photo of the demonstration, Brogan <a href=\"https://isthmus.com/news/news/statues-toppled/\">wrote in an article</a> at the time. A group of approximately 10 individuals then beat the senator as he attempted to identify himself.</p><p data-block-key=\"l5r0r\">According to a court filing in opposition to the subpoenas, the Dane County district attorney’s office issued subpoenas to Brogan, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-reporter-ordered-to-testify-in-assault-trial-connected-to-blm-protest/\">WORT 89.9 reporter Chali Pittman</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-reporter-ordered-to-testify-in-assault-trial-connected-to-blm-protest/\">WKOW-TV reporter Lance Veeser</a> via mail to compel their eyewitness testimony. An attorney representing the journalists notified Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey they would not comply with the subpoenas as served, as they were issued improperly and violated the state’s shield law.</p><p data-block-key=\"5gx6m\">“The Wisconsin Legislature has enacted a reporters’ privilege law that absolutely prohibits compelling a news person to testify about confidential sources and conditionally prohibits the issuance of a subpoena compelling a news person to testify about ‘[a]ny news, information, or identity of any source of any news or information,’” the filing reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"6pb2m\">The district attorney’s office argued that it had been unable to identify other witnesses and therefore the journalists’ testimony is vital to the case against the defendants, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel <a href=\"https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2021/09/09/judge-compels-journalists-testify-trial-into-lawmakers-beating/8258733002/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"x97fp\">On Sept. 9, 2021, Judge Josann Reynolds ruled in favor of the prosecutors and granted an order compelling the three journalists to comply with the subpoenas and appear to testify starting Oct. 18, according to the Journal Sentinel.</p><p data-block-key=\"aeapv\">“The public already knows everything that I know. Putting a journalist on the stand to provide some sort of narrative to supposedly aid in a criminal prosecution compromises all the ethics of being a journalist,” Brogan said.</p><p data-block-key=\"e5g97\">District Attorney Ismael Ozanne told the Tracker via email that his office was pleased with the ruling.</p><p data-block-key=\"m4ipt\">“It is my understanding the court made a very good record of the decision in this case on this matter,” Ozanne wrote. “This is not a situation in which an informant’s identity needs to be kept confidential. I don’t believe telling the truth compromises a person’s reputation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"akqb8\">The reporters are considering appealing the ruling, Brogan told the Tracker, but the financial burden is daunting.</p><p data-block-key=\"433tx\">“We’re a small little reboot of a paper,” Brogan said of Isthmus. “The appeal process: we’re trying to figure it out, but it’s very expensive. On principle we want to fight this but I’m not sure we can afford it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vwhy5\">Brogan told the Tracker that if they are unable to move forward with an appeal or the appeal fails, he will likely comply with the subpoena.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Brogan.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0s54u\">A portion of the subpoena for senior reporter Dylan Brogan, who was covering a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest for the digital outlet Isthmus.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"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": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-10-18 13:14:00+00:00) Senior reporter compelled to testify in senator’s assault trial"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Dylan Brogan (Isthmus)"
],
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"carried out"
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},
{
"title": "Broadcast reporter ordered to testify in assault trial connected to BLM protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-reporter-ordered-to-testify-in-assault-trial-connected-to-blm-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-20T16:42:09.341180Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-09T19:49:53.774938Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-09T19:49:53.675692Z",
"date": "2021-08-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Madison",
"longitude": -89.40123,
"latitude": 43.07305,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m7rzp\">Lance Veeser, a broadcast reporter at WKOW, was one of three journalists subpoenaed on Aug. 5, 2021, to testify at the upcoming trial of two women charged with assaulting state Sen. Tim Carpenter at a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020 in Madison, Wisconsin.</p><p data-block-key=\"nbulp\">On June 23, protesters were hostile to anyone who was filming or photographing and members of the crowd directed their ire at Carpenter when he stopped to take a photo of the demonstration, Isthmus <a href=\"https://isthmus.com/news/news/statues-toppled/\">reported</a> at the time. A group of approximately 10 individuals then beat the senator as he attempted to identify himself.</p><p data-block-key=\"apfp4\">Veeser did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Veeser posted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lanceveeser/status/1275664180994080768\">an image to Twitter</a> on the night of the attack, writing, “I believe this is State Senator Tim Carpenter. Minutes earlier he told us the protesters assaulted him. Then he collapsed walking towards the Capitol. We called paramedics.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I believe this is State Senator Tim Carpenter. Minutes earlier he told us the protesters assaulted him. Then he collapsed walking towards the Capitol. We called paramedics. An ambulance is here now. <a href=\"https://t.co/uUSdKyQ1hp\">pic.twitter.com/uUSdKyQ1hp</a></p>— Lance Veeser (@lanceveeser) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lanceveeser/status/1275664180994080768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 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=\"un5ku\">According to a court filing in opposition to the subpoenas, the Dane County district attorney’s office issued subpoenas to Veeser, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-reporter-ordered-to-testify-in-assault-trial-connected-to-blm-protest/\">WORT 89.9 reporter Chali Pittman</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/senior-reporter-ordered-to-testify-in-assault-trial-connected-to-blm-protest/\">Isthmus senior reporter Dylan Brogan</a> via mail to compel their eyewitness testimony. However, neither the police report about the incident nor the prosecutor’s motion in support of the subpoenas make any mention of Veeser witnessing the actual assault.</p><p data-block-key=\"2yz9e\">An attorney representing the journalists notified Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey they would not comply with the subpoenas as served, as they were issued improperly and violated the state’s shield law.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ewnn\">“The Wisconsin Legislature has enacted a reporters’ privilege law that absolutely prohibits compelling a news person to testify about confidential sources and conditionally prohibits the issuance of a subpoena compelling a news person to testify about ‘[a]ny news, information, or identity of any source of any news or information,’” the filing reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"vwzhb\">The district attorney’s office argued that it had been unable to identify other witnesses and therefore the journalists’ testimony is vital to the case against the defendants, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel <a href=\"https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2021/09/09/judge-compels-journalists-testify-trial-into-lawmakers-beating/8258733002/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ywx9k\">On Sept. 9, 2021, Judge Josann Reynolds ruled in favor of the prosecutors and granted an order compelling the three journalists to comply with the subpoenas and appear to testify starting Oct. 18, according to the Journal Sentinel.</p><p data-block-key=\"nl15n\">District Attorney Ismael Ozanne told the Tracker via email that his office was pleased with the ruling.</p><p data-block-key=\"i26is\">“It is my understanding the court made a very good record of the decision in this case on this matter,” Ozanne wrote. “This is not a situation in which an informant’s identity needs to be kept confidential. I don’t believe telling the truth compromises a person’s reputation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"odjpo\">Brogan and Pittman told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the journalists are considering appealing the ruling, but are concerned about the financial burden.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-10-18 13:12:00+00:00) Judge quashes subpoena for broadcast reporter’s testimony in assault trial connected to BLM protest"
],
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"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
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]
