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{
"title": "Judge quashes subpoena of AP reporter in Idaho criminal case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-quashes-subpoena-of-ap-reporter-in-idaho-criminal-case/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-08T16:40:24.484285Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-06T15:02:01.735049Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-06T15:02:01.673501Z",
"date": "2021-03-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Boise",
"longitude": -116.20345,
"latitude": 43.6135,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ockki\">Associated Press reporter Keith Ridler was subpoenaed on March 10, 2021, by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy, who was seeking Ridler’s reporting materials and testimony in a criminal case against Bundy in Idaho, the<a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trials-coronavirus-pandemic-ammon-bundy-arrests-covid-19-pandemic-63916b8a4ee046aa84cdcf5f38976ede\"> AP reported</a>. An Idaho judge quashed the subpoena on March 15.</p><p data-block-key=\"u7c7w\">Bundy sought the information in a criminal case against him stemming from protests he led against COVID-19 measures at the Idaho Statehouse<a href=\"https://eu.theledger.com/story/news/2020/08/26/bundy-arrested-idaho-statehouse-second-time-2-days/5636205002/\"> in August</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"kgu8j\">Ridler reported on and photographed Bundy’s arrests, according to the AP. The journalist was one of several people Bundy subpoenaed who were at the Statehouse at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"iv3yc\">The AP filed a motion to quash Bundy’s subpoena on March 11. According to the AP’s report, the news organization argued that the subpoena would be a violation of “Idaho Reporter’s Privilege,” which protects journalists from being compelled to share certain information or testify.</p><p data-block-key=\"a53hg\">“Subpoenas to members of the media are particularly onerous because they threaten to intrude into the newsgathering process,” AP’s attorneys wrote in the motion. “Being forced to testify or produce evidence in a court case also threatens the independence of a free press and potentially puts journalists at personal risk.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0n9bu\">Bundy, who is representing himself in the case, did not respond to the AP’s motion, the news organization reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"cqkc2\">On March 15, Ada County Magistrate Judge David Manweiler said that Bundy did not demonstrate that his subpoena would have met the criteria to proceed, according to the AP’s story.</p><p data-block-key=\"9l4jv\">Bundy’s trial was set to begin that day, but the defendant was not in attendance because he refused to wear a mask in compliance with court rules, the AP reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"svb8r\">Bundy subsequently filed a second subpoena seeking reporting materials and testimony from Ridler on May 27, according to an AP spokesperson. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-reporter-subpoenaed-for-second-time-in-idaho-criminal-case/\">That subpoena was also quashed</a>. Find all subpoenas, which are documented separately on the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/subpoena/\">here</a>.A spokesperson for the AP declined to comment on the subpoena. The Tracker was not able to reach Bundy, <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/07/ammon-bundy-convicted-in-idaho-trespassing-trial.html\">who was found guilty</a> on July 1 of trespassing and obstructing or resisting officers, for comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Idaho",
"abbreviation": "ID"
},
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"tags": [
"coronavirus"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Keith Ridler (The Associated Press)"
],
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"quashed"
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},
{
"title": "Justice Department secretly obtained Project Veritas journalist’s email information",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-email-information/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-12T21:10:49.735242Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-12T21:10:49.735242Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-12T21:10:49.648769Z",
"date": "2021-03-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lto6r\">The U.S. Justice Department issued a secret order to Microsoft on March 9, 2021, to obtain email information from a Project Veritas journalist as part of its investigation of a diary stolen from President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden.</p><p data-block-key=\"7utbs\">The name of the employee whose emails were targeted was redacted in <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">the order</a>, but in a later <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">court filing</a>, attorneys for Project Veritas identified the person as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"bqj2b\">The order was one of five issued to the technology company for communications of eight journalists from Project Veritas, which is known for hidden-camera sting operations of liberal politicians and nonprofits. As a result, the government collected nearly 200,000 emails and other files, attorneys for Project Veritas said in a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filing</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ires\">In the other secret warrants, federal agents sought emails and contacts from Project Veritas founder <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-founder/\">James O’Keefe</a>, Project Veritas journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-emails/\">Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads,</a> and four <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-three-project-veritas-journalists/\">additional</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-journalist/\">unidentified</a> Project Veritas journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"9oep8\">Project Veritas, which identifies itself as a nonprofit investigative outlet, purchased the Biden diary in September 2020 from <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/politics/ashley-biden-diary-project-veritas-guilty.html\">two people who later pleaded guilty</a> to conspiring to transport stolen materials, a felony. Project Veritas never published the diary and gave it to police on Nov. 8, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"b1sop\">The Department of Justice, however, opened an investigation into the outlet and its journalists concerning alleged conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, conspiracy to possess stolen goods, interstate transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen goods.</p><p data-block-key=\"uh9h\">The secret <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">order sought the journalist’s email header information,</a> including timestamps, names, usernames or IP addresses of senders or recipients of communications from Sept. 1, 2020, until Dec. 1, 2020. A U.S. District Court ordered that the March 9 order be sealed for one year.</p><p data-block-key=\"7gv7c\">After the warrants and order became public, Project Veritas lawyers <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">filed a request for preliminary relief from U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres</a>. It does not appear from court records that the court ruled on this request.</p><p data-block-key=\"6dhac\">Separately, search warrants were carried out at the homes of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/project-veritas-founder-detained-phones-seized-amid-fbi-raid-of-his-home/\">O’Keefe,</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-staffer-detained-devices-seized/\">Cochran</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-journalist-detained-devices-seized/\">Meads</a> in November 2021, alarming <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24253862-143-letter-brief-of-amici-curiae-aclu-fpf-fire-in-re-search-warrant-dated-november-5-2021-no-21-mc-00813\">free speech advocates</a>, including Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project. A special master was appointed to determine what seized information could be shared with prosecutors.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/March-9-order.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pvt7n\">A portion of a March 9, 2021, Justice Department court order issued to Microsoft seeking email information from a Project Veritas journalist.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name_of_business": "Microsoft",
"third_party_business": "tech company",
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Unidentified journalist 16 (Project Veritas)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent videographer struck with batons while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-struck-with-batons-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-19T19:18:45.277045Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:54:30.389406Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:54:30.309130Z",
"date": "2021-03-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pyoxl\">Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles, said police officers struck him more than two dozen times with batons while he was covering a protest in the city on March 8, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"rq3lo\">Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest, organized by the <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CoalitionForCommunityControlOverPolice/\">Coalition for Community Control Over the Police</a>, had ended in downtown LA by the time officers descended on the crowd. The protest was one in a surge of demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that have been held since May 2020. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"s8pxq\">“Protesters had started to disperse when LAPD popped up out of nowhere and just started blocking off the street, so tensions started rising between activists and police,” Singh said. “All of a sudden [the police] got very aggressive very fast.”</p><p data-block-key=\"n4hnb\">Singh said he was standing next to the mother of a man shot and killed by police when officers started getting into their “pushing position” ahead of rushing the crowd. Officers then brought out their batons and began shoving the crowd back and hitting the demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"xbq5z\">“I didn’t really move because I had what I thought was a pretty important angle of a double frame: on the left side you see the police and on the right side you see the protesters being hit with batons,” Singh said. “In the process of that filming I was batoned in the stomach and chest area about 30 or more times. I was hit so consistently and so hard that one journalist pointed out to me that my press badge had actually been beaten off of me.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Today, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LAPDHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LAPDHQ</a> officers decided to baton me over 24 times while I was filming their brutality against a civil rights protest. While I was recovering from the assault, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ACatWithNews</a> pointed out that my press credentials were gone.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/LAPDHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LAPDHQ</a> literally beat the press pass off me. <a href=\"https://t.co/t62lYpKeWM\">pic.twitter.com/t62lYpKeWM</a></p>— Vishal P Singh (@VPS_Reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1369148329246912512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 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=\"gkcsd\">Singh said that while he was wearing a press badge, he wasn’t wearing his ballistic vest labeled with “PRESS” because he had thought the protest would be low-risk. He had extra copies of his press badge, Singh said, and was able to put a new one on his lanyard.</p><p data-block-key=\"9swy9\">“My stomach, ribs, and wrist are bruised and coughing now hurts my stomach,” Singh told the Tracker via email a few hours after the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"gtwpj\">The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
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"name": "California",
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{
"title": "Justice Department secretly obtained emails from three Project Veritas journalists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-three-project-veritas-journalists/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-08T20:47:02.895638Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-13T21:00:15.683087Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-13T21:00:15.539665Z",
"date": "2021-03-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"54z4g\">The U.S. Justice Department issued a secret warrant to Microsoft on March 5, 2021, to obtain emails and contacts of three Project Veritas journalists as part of its investigation of a diary stolen from President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsr8j\">The names of the employees whose emails were targeted were redacted in <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">the warrant</a>, but in a later <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">court filing</a>, attorneys for Project Veritas identified them as journalists. </p><p data-block-key=\"d30ob\">The warrant was one of five issued to the technology company for communications of eight journalists from Project Veritas, which is known for hidden-camera sting operations of liberal politicians and nonprofits. As a result of the warrants, the government collected nearly 200,000 emails and other files, attorneys for Project Veritas said in a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filing</a>. </p><p data-block-key=\"dm2o0\">A U.S. District Court ordered that the March 5 warrant be sealed for one year.</p><p data-block-key=\"8tvqf\">In the other secret warrants, federal agents sought emails and contacts from Project Veritas founder <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-founder/\">James O’Keefe</a>, Project Veritas journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-emails/\">Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads,</a> and two <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-journalist/\">additional</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-email-information/\">unidentified</a> Project Veritas journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkhql\">Project Veritas, which identifies itself as a nonprofit investigative outlet, purchased the Biden diary in September 2020 from <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/politics/ashley-biden-diary-project-veritas-guilty.html\">two people who later pleaded guilty</a> to conspiring to transport stolen materials, a felony. Project Veritas never published the diary and gave it to police on Nov. 8, 2020. </p><p data-block-key=\"9f2d5\">The Department of Justice, however, opened an investigation into the outlet and its journalists concerning alleged conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, conspiracy to possess stolen goods, interstate transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen goods.</p><p data-block-key=\"8i0sc\">The secret <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">warrant sought the journalists’ emails</a>, contacts and Microsoft subscriber information from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1, 2020. Prosecutors said in the warrant that they were looking for information mentioning Ashley Biden, her associates or her father; anything regarding her stolen property and where it was located; their alleged co-conspirators; plans to sell the stolen items and the value of them; surveillance of Ashley Biden; and any other evidence of a conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"8lsfh\">After the warrants became public, Project Veritas’ <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">lawyers requested preliminary relief from U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres</a>. It does not appear from court records that the court ruled on this request.</p><p data-block-key=\"3fepg\">The various orders and subpoenas also sought emails and contacts from a human resources manager.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bd09\">Separately, search warrants were carried out at the homes of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/project-veritas-founder-detained-phones-seized-amid-fbi-raid-of-his-home/\">O’Keefe, </a><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-staffer-detained-devices-seized/\">Cochran</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-journalist-detained-devices-seized/\">Meads</a> in November 2021, alarming <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24253862-143-letter-brief-of-amici-curiae-aclu-fpf-fire-in-re-search-warrant-dated-november-5-2021-no-21-mc-00813\">free speech advocates</a>, including Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project. A special master was appointed to determine what seized information could be shared with prosecutors.</p><p data-block-key=\"o43a\"><i>Editor’s Note: This report has been corrected to reflect that the March 5 warrant was sealed for one year, not two as previously reported. </i></p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"as4b9\">A portion of a March 5, 2021, Justice Department warrant issued to Microsoft seeking emails and contacts from three Project Veritas journalists.</p>",
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified journalist 13 (Project Veritas)",
"Unidentified journalist 14 (Project Veritas)",
"Unidentified journalist 15 (Project Veritas)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "San Francisco TV reporter robbed at gunpoint while recording interview",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-francisco-tv-reporter-robbed-at-gunpoint-while-recording-interview/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-26T17:39:01.845816Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T14:42:06.241585Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T14:42:06.122425Z",
"date": "2021-03-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mun8b\">Don Ford, a reporter with California TV station KPIX 5, was robbed at gunpoint while reporting on a story about car break-ins around San Francisco landmark Twin Peaks on March 3, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"m5l5k\">Ford had been talking to a local resident when a white luxury sedan with four men inside drove up, <a href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/TV-reporter-robbed-of-camera-equipment-near-15998829.php\">according to KPIX</a>. “Three guys jumped out, one had a gun, put it up to my face and said, ‘We’re taking the camera,’” Ford <a href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/5360230-kpix-5-reporter-robbed-at-gunpoint-while-looking-into-auto-thefts-at-san-francisco-twin-peaks/\">told the station in a later interview</a>. “My whole thought at the moment was: ‘Let’s be calm. Let’s not get this guy excited. He’s got the gun. I don’t.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"ufpz0\">KPIX reported that Ford was not injured in the robbery.</p><p data-block-key=\"nitb7\">Responding to a Tweet posted later that evening, the journalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonKPIX/status/1367337428827078656\">wrote</a>: “When someone points a Glock into your face you definitely let the camera go.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">When someone points a Glock into your face you definitely let the camera go</p>— Don Ford (@DonKPIX) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonKPIX/status/1367337428827078656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 4, 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=\"07p2g\">Ford told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the station had offered reporters a security guard to accompany them, but on this occasion he didn’t take one: “I was in an upscale neighborhood in the middle of the day. I felt safe. I was wrong,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"kr050\">The San Francisco Police Department Park Station, which covers the Twin Peaks area, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SFPDPark/status/1367290428790251520\">tweeted about the incident</a> the following day, writing: “The camera was recovered. This incident remains an active and ongoing investigation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q2630\">When reached for comment by the Tracker in May, SFPD spokesperson Adam Lobsinger said that one person had been arrested in March in connection with the incident and that “investigators are still searching for additional suspects for this armed robbery.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1y9vx\">“We do not have information to suggest that the victims [of recent attacks] were targeted because of their status as journalists. The information suggests that the victims were targeted because of the high-dollar value of their electronic equipment,” Lobsinger added, referencing a series of incidents targeting TV crews in the city, including one in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/armed-robbers-steal-san-francisco-tv-crew-video-camera/\">February</a> and one in April.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "private individual",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Don Ford (KPIX-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Videojournalist hit by bike police while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalist-hit-by-bike-police-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-27T15:51:54.306465Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-31T18:33:20.895559Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-31T18:33:20.809037Z",
"date": "2021-02-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nu8xg\">Independent videojournalist Mason Lake was assaulted by Portland police while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Feb. 27, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"hsnk2\">According to <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/vandals-smash-windows-in-portlands-pearl-district-during-a-planned-protest/283-3061f782-d068-4b9e-8329-d89e0876bdec\">KGW8</a>, a Portland-based NBC affiliate, an estimated 150 people gathered in The Fields Park in Portland’s Pearl District to protest the treatment of undocumented people held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, Willamette Week <a href=\"https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/02/28/marchers-smash-pearl-district-windows-in-saturday-night-ice-protest/\">reported</a>. At the ICE field office, protesters spray-painted the boarded-up office with slogans such as “No Kids in Cages,” as well as the names of Black people killed by police in recent months.</p><p data-block-key=\"s79u5\">In a <a href=\"https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=291551\">statement</a> released shortly after midnight on Feb. 28, the Portland Police Bureau called the protest “destructive,” noted damage to buildings and warned that perpetrators would be subject to detention, arrest or targeted with crowd-control devices such as tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"cfbv5\">Around 10:30 p.m. on the 27th, Lake said he was recording Portland police on bicycles as they pedaled quickly toward a crowd. One officer on a bike slammed into Lake, who was on foot with his camera, as seen at 0:08 in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1365941960381321218?s=20\">video</a> tweeted at 12:28 a.m. on Feb. 28 by independent journalist Melissa Lewis. Lake is hit by the officer, then surrounded by several officers on bikes, one of whom yells “Get off the street” at someone off camera. A voice can be heard yelling that Lake is press.</p><p data-block-key=\"uwx2k\">“You’ve just assaulted press. He was trying to get out of your fucking way,” the voice says.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ozgw\">In the video, Lake can be seen yelling at police as they close in around him. He continues arguing with them after he moves to the sidewalk, where he can be seen holding his camera and wearing large letters that say “PRESS” across his chest.</p><p data-block-key=\"tclwr\">In an email interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Lake said the officer who slammed into him with a bike injured him. “His helmet slammed into my head, breaking skin.”</p><p data-block-key=\"uccc3\">“He and other officers proceeded to hit my camera and shove me as I was encircled,” Lake told the Tracker. “I gestured at him and he hit my camera a second time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"p3s79\">In a compilation <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08i9ze6my2Q\">video</a> shared to YouTube, which included Lake’s own footage, he describes the incident in more detail. At around 0:37, he is audibly angry, yelling at the officers, “Keep hitting me, keep hitting me,” and in response to them telling him to move, he adds, “How am I gonna do it? You surrounded me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"u5iyn\">“Their justification for running me over was that I was ‘in the street,’” Lake told the Tracker. At 0:27 in the video, he yells at the officer, “You’ve been after me all night.” He later told the Tracker that he believes it was a targeted assault. He said that in addition to the PRESS marking on his chest, he had press credentials from the National Press Photographers Association, the nonprofit media cooperative Halospace Media and Boop Troop Eugene LLC, a live media outlet that covers protests and local events.</p><p data-block-key=\"0dtin\">The PPB directed the Tracker to contact the City Attorney’s Office, which did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"v46ef\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX8NUH3_-_Reuters_-_Lindsey_Wass.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sox3k\">A discarded shield calling for abolishing the Portland Police Bureau at a rally outside of a federal facility in Portland, Oregon, in January 2021. Journalist Mason Lake was assaulted by police while documenting another protest there a month later.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "3:23-cv-01870",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"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": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-05-22 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist’s claims dismissed over assault by Portland, Oregon, police",
"(2022-06-27 00:00:00+00:00) Oregon video journalist files suit over Portland police assaults"
],
"case_statuses": [
"dismissed"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mason Lake (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist assaulted while covering Andrew Yang mayoral campaign",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-assaulted-while-covering-andrew-yang-mayoral-campaign/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-27T19:02:25.388247Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-09T20:13:11.236922Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-09T20:13:11.170965Z",
"date": "2021-02-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nnoz8\">According to news reports, Getty photojournalist Spencer Platt was assaulted by a man while covering New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang’s campaign on Feb. 26, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"kngaz\">The <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2021/02/26/andrew-yang-rushes-to-help-photographer-during-assault-on-si-ferry/\">New York Post</a> reported that the alleged assault occurred as Yang and company traveled by ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island. Platt was reportedly on the ferry’s upper deck and talking to a friend over the phone when a man approached him. “I said something like, ‘What’s up?’” Platt told the Post. “He immediately shoves me, I kind of tumble down. I get back up, and he raises a steel bar — a broomstick handle — over his head…. He looks like he’s ready to strike me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ulima\">Platt did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"pqrcc\">Yang reportedly noticed the commotion and ran to help the photojournalist. The <a href=\"https://www.silive.com/nycmayor/2021/02/andrew-yang-comes-to-aid-of-photographer-attacked-on-staten-island-ferry.html\">Staten Island Advance</a> reported that “the [assailant] recognized Yang, who engaged and calmed him, speaking with him briefly and allowing the photographer to get away from the tense situation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gjtld\">“I’m really grateful that he became less aggressive upon seeing me,” Yang told t<a href=\"https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/2/26/22303636/andrew-yang-saves-photographer-staten-island-ferry-mayor\">he City</a>. “I had no certainty that he would know who I was, I just thought of myself as a bystander trying to defuse the situation”</p><p data-block-key=\"ley6p\">According to the City, Platt reported the incident to New York Police Department officers on the ferry, who escorted the attacker away.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqnq2\">The photojournalist thanked Yang for the intervention, telling the City: “I’m not trying to plug the Yang campaign, but he did run up and confront the guy and led the charge. And when the guy turned around, I just bolted.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Spencer Platt (Getty Images)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Photographer assaulted while documenting anti-police protest in Manhattan",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-assaulted-while-documenting-anti-police-protest-in-manhattan/",
"first_published_at": "2022-08-16T19:34:24.722595Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-16T19:34:24.722595Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-16T19:34:24.640493Z",
"date": "2021-02-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dca0r\">New York Daily News photojournalist Sam Costanza was assaulted by a crowd of individuals while documenting protests in New York City on Feb. 12, 2021, according to multiple news sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"4j9uv\">Costanza was covering a “Defund the Police” protest in Manhattan’s Times Square at Sixth Avenue and West 54th Street in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. <a href=\"https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-protesters-arrested-assault-daily-news-photographer-20210213-jqs3keuj5bg2dikastjv7sxboe-story.html\">According to the Daily News</a>, at around 9 p.m. a demonstrator was arrested and a “melee” ensued, resulting in two officers being injured and the arrests of multiple more individuals.</p><p data-block-key=\"6jq95\">Costanza told the outlet he was surrounded by 10 or 15 individuals who began beating him. The New York Post <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2021/02/13/blm-protest-in-nyc-leaves-nypd-cops-injured-and-11-arrested/\">reported</a> that the individuals mistakenly believed that Costanza was a police officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu2hp\">According to the Daily News, Costanza believed he suffered a broken nose in the attack. Costanza could not be reached for comment, and the Daily News did not respond to emailed requests.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sam Costanza (New York Daily News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Florida county commission passes resolution sarcastically ‘honoring’ journalist who wrote critically of it",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-county-commission-passes-resolution-sarcastically-honoring-journalist-who-wrote-critically-of-it/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-29T16:36:34.980534Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-05T19:03:16.398844Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-05T19:03:16.309614Z",
"date": "2021-02-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Brevard County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8tlqa\">On Feb. 9, 2021, the Brevard County Commission in Florida passed a resolution sarcastically “honoring” journalist Isadora Rangel, who had written critically of the commission.</p><p data-block-key=\"r09ll\">Rangel had <a href=\"https://www.floridatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/02/03/im-leaving-florida-today-and-5-lessons-learned-brevard/4354201001/\">recently announced</a> that she would be leaving her post as the opinion and engagement editor of Florida Today, the major daily covering Brevard County, for a job at the Miami Herald.</p><p data-block-key=\"njwku\">In a video of the commission’s Feb. 9 meeting posted by the <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2021/02/14/florida-county-immigrant-resolution/\">Washington Post</a>, Commissioner John Tobia can be seen reading the resolution aloud.</p><p data-block-key=\"3udax\">Among the statements he cited: “Whereas because of her eloquent prose the circulation of Florida Today dropped only 16 percent during her tenure” and “Whereas her dedication to Brevard is exemplified by accepting a position with the Miami Herald a mere three years after coming here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qao8p\">Rangel had been a frequent critic of the commission. In March 2019, she <a href=\"https://www.cantondailyledger.com/story/opinion/2019/03/08/lobers-spar-critics-new-ugly-politics/3102514002/\">criticized</a> Commissioner Bryan Lober’s handling of an online squabble with a detractor, and in an <a href=\"https://www.floridatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/01/31/political-farce-behind-brevard-commissions-vote-uphold-constitution/4599549002/\">op-ed</a> published in January 2020, she called a ceremonial vote to uphold the Constitution “a farce.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1t8p8\">Following the resolution’s initial passage, Commissioner Lober proposed the addition of two amendments. The first, which the commission agreed to add, stated: “Whereas throughout her employment with Florida Today, Ms. Rangel never once let the fact she’s forbidden from voting in this county deter her from commenting on our politics and criticizing numerous Republican elected officials.” And the second, which Lober termed the “less palatable” of the two and which the commission would decline to add: “Whereas despite her recurring and highly partisan criticisms of the manner in which this county, state and country are governed, Ms. Rangel deserves recognition for selflessly remaining in this country, notwithstanding our roughly tenfold higher per capita GDP and approximately one-sixth the murder rate of the country from which she hails.”</p><p data-block-key=\"htuzt\">Rangel, a permanent U.S. resident who moved from Brazil in 2006, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IsadoraRangel2/status/1359911357215309824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1359911357215309824%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fmedia%2F538845-florida-county-officials-pass-resolution-mocking-columnist\">tweeted</a> her reaction on Feb. 11, writing, “When the Brevard County Commission passes a resolution ‘honoring’ you, taking up the public’s times and a commissioner makes a bunch of xenophobic comments because you got under their skin. #winning #BeijinhoNoOmbro.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9d0py\">When reached for comment, Rangel said she wouldn’t be commenting on the issue any further and referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to statements she’d given to the Post and Herald.</p><p data-block-key=\"mu2hg\">Rangel told the Post: “They feel entitled to use that time devoted to county issues for personal issues. Is that really what government is about? Is it the job of an elected official to use his official position to go on personal tirades and issue attacks against people?”</p><p data-block-key=\"vhgls\">She told the <a href=\"https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article249294640.html\">Herald</a> she felt the resolution was motivated by anti-immigrant sentiment. “It should be horrifying not because it was directed to me.... It should be horrifying that in a country built by immigrants, we’re still using this rhetoric,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"p265f\">Neither Tobia nor Lober responded to the Tracker’s request for comment. Tobia <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2021/02/14/florida-county-immigrant-resolution/\">told the Post</a> that the resolution “pretty much speaks for itself,” adding, “We wish her well, but we certainly took a couple of jabs, as she often did in the newspaper.”</p><p data-block-key=\"i9osr\">And Lober defended the resolution in an email to the paper, writing, “If she can dish it, she should be able to take it.” Addressing the comments about Brazil, he said he wanted to “illustrate how well we have it here, not how undesirable the situation may be in Rangel’s home country.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hzhe3\">A week after the passage of the resolution, <a href=\"https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2021/02/16/shooting-threat-brevard-commissioners-office-warned-civil-war/6767975002/\">Florida Today</a> reported that the commissioner’s office had temporarily closed after threats had been received from an unidentified caller.</p><p data-block-key=\"kjioe\">“As a result of the inaccurate and misleading reporting, shooting threats were called into multiple commission offices yesterday forcing their evacuation and costing taxpayers in law enforcement response,” Lober told the Herald.</p><p data-block-key=\"7npeg\">When asked by the Herald to establish a connection between the threats and the media attention surrounding the resolution, the paper reported that the commissioner did not respond.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Armed robbers steal San Francisco TV crew video camera",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/armed-robbers-steal-san-francisco-tv-crew-video-camera/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-26T17:08:12.927686Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-04T22:23:28.264316Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-04T22:23:27.905832Z",
"date": "2021-02-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wpdtn\">A San Francisco TV crew was robbed of its video camera while reporting on a story near the city’s I-80 Bay Bridge ramp, the San Francisco Police Department confirmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"vq58t\">The attack happened around 6:50 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2021, when the news crew was filming in the South of Market neighborhood, according to a report from San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX. KPIX said the journalists were from <a href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/02/09/suspects-in-tv-news-crew-robbery-in-san-francisco-soma-arrested-on-treasure-island/\">a local NBC station</a>, NBC Bay Area. The report said the journalists were stopped by two men who jumped out of a four-door Lexus; the men claimed to be carrying firearms under their clothing and demanded the journalists hand over their camera equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"y0t7y\">“The victims surrendered the news camera, and the suspects fled the scene in the Lexus, traveling eastbound on I-80. The Lexus was driven by another suspect that remained in the car. The victims were not injured,” a spokesman for San Francisco police said.</p><p data-block-key=\"qv9gt\">Moments later the journalists flagged down <a href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/S-F-police-arrest-suspects-accused-of-stealing-15937320.php\">San Francisco police officers passing on their motorbikes</a>, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper said the journalists gave police a license plate number and descriptions of the robbers.</p><p data-block-key=\"75bzc\">San Francisco police confirmed details of the robbery to the Tracker and said they have arrested two men who were found in possession of the camera. Police said they returned the camera, a Panasonic AJ-PX, to the news crew.</p><p data-block-key=\"05aqt\">NBC Bay Area did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8fhvr\">There have been two other recent attacks on TV news crews in San Francisco, with attempts to steal camera equipment, one in March and the other in April.</p><p data-block-key=\"0t1or\">San Francisco police said in a statement that there was nothing to show this attack was connected to an <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-francisco-reporter-pepper-sprayed-during-attempted-robbery-the-second-in-as-many-months/\">attack on another TV news crew</a> in San Francisco in Golden Gate Park on April 7 : “We do not have information to suggest that the victims were targeted because of their status as journalists. The information suggests that the victims were targeted because of the high-dollar value of their electronic equipment.”</p></div>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-06-01 00:00:00+00:00) Cases resolved in theft of KNTV news crew’s camera"
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},
{
"title": "Reporter for The Advocate, The Times-Picayune sued by Louisiana attorney general over public records request",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-for-the-advocate-the-times-picayune-sued-by-louisiana-attorney-general-over-public-records-request/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-08T19:32:09.323832Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-13T22:30:03.980831Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-13T22:30:03.884814Z",
"date": "2021-02-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Baton Rouge",
"longitude": -91.18747,
"latitude": 30.44332,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tyork\">Andrea Gallo, a Louisiana-based reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune newspaper, was sued by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on Feb. 5, 2021, in an effort to block a public records request made by Gallo.</p><p data-block-key=\"e52ef\">Landry’s<a href=\"https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/theadvocate.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/3/6e/36e986e4-6982-11eb-8d85-b3762bda7b4d/60204c47057a2.pdf.pdf\"> lawsuit</a> asked a judge to back up the attorney general’s denial of a request that Gallo had filed Dec. 14, 2020, asking to see a sexual harassment complaint against a high-ranking official in Landry’s office.</p><p data-block-key=\"934q4\">Gallo was initially told that the records would be available after an investigation of the complaint was complete, according to <a href=\"https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/courts/article_2bde1d4a-6811-11eb-8c89-3ff7de428e57.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share\">The Advocate</a>. On Jan. 22, 2021, after the official under investigation had returned to the office from a period of administrative leave, the attorney general’s office told Gallo that the records would be made available the following week. Then, on Jan. 28, the office declined to release the complaint, saying the document contained private information that was protected by internal confidentiality policies, as well as constitutional disclosure protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ciym\">Gallo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that typically after a records request is denied, she would go to the newspaper’s lawyer and the newspaper might eventually file a lawsuit. According to The Advocate, the newspaper had warned Landry that the publication was prepared to sue for the records.</p><p data-block-key=\"6603y\">Then on Feb. 5, Gallo said she received an email notifying her that Landry had filed suit against her. Gallo told the Tracker she was shocked.</p><p data-block-key=\"fk2us\">In the suit, Landry’s office argued that releasing the records would lead to a chilling effect on employees reporting sexual harassment, for fear that personal details would be made public. The lawsuit also asked the court to seal the records of the proceedings related to the records request, and to order Gallo to cover court costs.</p><p data-block-key=\"g46i0\">Gallo told the Tracker she feared the attorney general’s action could dissuade people from seeking public records.</p><p data-block-key=\"dop0d\">“I think that it sends a very clear message to reporters, and to the public of Louisiana, that if you request documents from the attorney general's office you better watch out, because you might be subjected to a lawsuit,” Gallo said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ie7ha\">The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Tracker partner, criticized Landry’s lawsuit in <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/louisiana-ag-sues-reporter/\">a statement</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"x4oxd\">RCFP legal fellow Gunita Singh told the Tracker that when public officials sue people who request records, it has a chilling effect.</p><p data-block-key=\"vetvw\">“Public records laws exist to maximize our right to know and to illuminate the actions of government officials and institutions. These laws serve as a vehicle for us to learn about the conduct—or misconduct—of state actors,” Singh said. “So when a records requester gets hit with a lawsuit that has the effect of deterring her from using these crucial laws to the benefit of the public, it’s deeply concerning.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4urfr\">Singh said in many states, public records laws presume records are subject to public disclosure.</p><p data-block-key=\"ndej7\">“When lawsuits are aimed at stifling the free flow of information by targeting records requesters, they subvert that presumption of disclosure, to the detriment of not just the individual requester but society as a whole,” Singh said.</p><p data-block-key=\"xjoa3\">Landry’s office did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"wbtjz\">After a Zoom court hearing on March 4, a judge ruled in favor of Gallo, ordering Landry’s office to release the sexual harassment complaint and to pay the newspaper’s attorneys fees of $5,625, <a href=\"https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_8929eaac-7d14-11eb-b84b-a3ff205810e7.html\">The Advocate reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"tvaxn\">“I'm hopeful that based on the outcome of this lawsuit Jeff Landry's office and all, like, public agencies in the state have learned that this isn't the right way to go about handling a request for documents,” Gallo said.</p><p data-block-key=\"n8jrf\">After the attorney general’s office released a heavily redacted version of an investigation into the sexual harassment complaint, the newspaper counter-sued, seeking more complete access, according to <a href=\"https://www.nola.com/news/courts/article_51d56002-a9f8-11eb-a89f-473aefa8cbf4.html\">The Advocate</a>. A judge ruled in favor of Landry, saying the redactions were within his office’s authority. However, the judge ordered Landry’s office to again pay the newspaper’s court costs, saying that Landry’s office had been slow to process the records.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Louisiana",
"abbreviation": "LA"
},
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"tags": [
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Justice Department issued secret subpoena for Guardian reporter’s phone account",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-issued-secret-subpoena-for-guardian-reporters-phone-account/",
"first_published_at": "2022-05-17T14:50:12.905191Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T20:24:42.930715Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T20:24:42.829626Z",
"date": "2021-02-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0atml\">A Freedom of Information Act request by a reporter revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice secretly issued a subpoena in February 2021 to gain information on Guardian reporter Stephanie Kirchgaessner’s phone records as part of a leak investigation initiated during the Trump administration.</p><p data-block-key=\"8e4hd\"><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/12/us-government-subpoena-guardian-reporter-phone-records\">According to the Guardian</a>, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General secretly issued the subpoena without notifying Kirchgaessner or the Guardian. News of the subpoena came following the release of a <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21996102-leopold-doj-oig-foia-zero-tolerance-policy-leak-investigation\">redacted report</a> obtained by investigative reporter Jason Leopold detailing the investigations undertaken to identify the DOJ OIG employee responsible for leaking information about the Trump administration’s child separation policy.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7h7j5\">Kirchgaessner told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that news of the subpoena caught her off-guard, and it was particularly concerning that the move came from the OIG, the internal watchdog ensuring ethical practices and whistleblower protections across the department.</p><p data-block-key=\"evq2b\">“This is a tool that is only supposed to be used in extraordinary circumstances,” Kirchgaessner said. “And in this case they were not investigating a breach of classified information or anything involving national security. But they were investigating a leak that led to some career-damaging stories about senior DOJ officials. And I find that highly worrisome.”</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 a story by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Edpilkington?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Edpilkington</a>. The subpoena that was used here was an administrative subpoena. That means the DOJ went to the telecoms company on its own. No judicial oversight. For an investigation that did not involve national security or classified info. <a href=\"https://t.co/wuT8Ahti4b\">https://t.co/wuT8Ahti4b</a></p>— Stephanie Kirchgaessner (@skirchy) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/skirchy/status/1525446210915602432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 14, 2022</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=\"0atml\">The DOJ investigation took place during the time Kirchgaessner, the outlet’s investigations correspondent in Washington, D.C., was reporting on the “zero-tolerance” immigration policy in <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/23/child-separation-migrants-prosecutors-rod-rosenstein\">July 2020</a> and <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/02/trump-judge-nominee-iris-lan-family-separations\">September 2020</a>. In her reporting, Kirchgaessner revealed that a Justice Department official had advised that migrant parents crossing the southern border in the U.S. with children regardless of their age, be prosecuted, effectively separating them. She also reported on private memos and emails that revealed how a federal judge nominee participated in removing a Texas prosecutor after he objected to the separation of migrant children from their families.</p><p data-block-key=\"1v73r\">DOJ OIG spokesperson Stephanie Logan confirmed to the Tracker that the subpoena was issued in February 2021, a few weeks after President Joe Biden took office. According to the <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21996102-leopold-doj-oig-foia-zero-tolerance-policy-leak-investigation\">redacted report</a>, officials identified more than 250 phone calls between the suspected leaker and two phone numbers used by Kirchgaessner.</p><p data-block-key=\"1r3bp\">“DOJ OIG issued this subpoena in February 2021 to a telecommunications company to confirm that one specific telephone number already known to investigators from their prior review of the DOJ OIG employee’s phone records in fact belonged to a specific media outlet,” Logan said in a statement. “The subpoena therefore requested, and investigators received, only the information necessary to this purpose, specifically the account holder’s name and address, and the dates of service associated with the number.”</p><p data-block-key=\"44fk7\">Neither Logan nor the redacted report identified the telecommunications company subpoenaed.</p><p data-block-key=\"aigj4\">The Guardian’s Editor-in-Chief Katharine Viner condemned the subpoena in a statement to the outlet, calling it “an egregious example of infringement on press freedom and public interest journalism.”</p><p data-block-key=\"148se\">“We will be asking the DoJ urgently for an explanation for why and how this could have occurred, and for an apology,” Viner said. “We will also be seeking assurances that our reporter’s details will be erased from DoJ systems and will not be used for any further infringements of press freedom.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eqd1v\">In the wake of disclosures of multiple secretive subpoenas under Trump’s DOJ, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on July 19, 2021, that he was <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/doj-formally-adopts-new-policy-restricting-use-compulsory-process-obtain-reporter-information\">changing the department’s policies</a> to prevent such seizures of journalists’ records during leak investigations.</p><p data-block-key=\"8eskm\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Investigator General.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6cwrz\">This diagram from a redacted government report shows the U.S. Department of Justice’s effort to identify the source of media leaks in mid-2020, which led it to obtain a subpoena seeking phone records of a Guardian reporter.</p>",
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"name_of_business": "Unknown",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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"carried out"
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},
{
"title": "New York federal court quashes subpoena of legal news site Above the Law",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/federal-court-quashes-subpoena-of-legal-news-site-above-the-law/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-09T18:49:41.186427Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-12T22:50:49.059211Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-12T22:50:48.931863Z",
"date": "2021-02-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2cbth\">Legal news site Above the Law's publisher, Breaking Media Inc., was subpoenaed on Feb. 1, 2021, amid a trade-secrets dispute between a legal recruiting firm and a former employee, but a New York federal court quashed the subpoena, saying it would be unduly burdensome to the media company.</p><p data-block-key=\"fu4my\">The suit was brought by legal recruiting firm MWK Recruiting Inc. against former Breaking Media employee Evan Jowers. MWK alleged Jowers "misappropriated trade secrets and breached the non-compete and non-solicitation provisions of his employment agreement," according to the <a href=\"https://www.medialaw.org/images/medialawdaily/04.08.21abovethelaw.pdf\">U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hesf\">Jowers asserted that articles in Above the Law were "improperly critical of him and his counsel" and alleged that this coverage was "orchestrated" by MWK's principal. This prompted the subpoena by MWK demanding that Above the Law produce numerous documents and provide comment regarding the four articles it published.</p><p data-block-key=\"rlhj9\">The opinion and order from the federal court says the Second Circuit "has long recognized the existence of a qualified privilege for journalistic information," protecting both confidential and nonconfidential information.</p><p data-block-key=\"v1iau\">In the order, Judge Katherine Polk Failla said Jowers failed to adequately establish why the qualified privilege may be overcome and that the sought-after information was not of "likely relevance to a significant issue in the case."</p><p data-block-key=\"wfcik\">Breaking Media declined to comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"Breaking Media Inc."
],
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],
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},
{
"title": "Videographer assaulted, coughed on by individual at anti-vaccination protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-assaulted-coughed-on-by-individual-at-anti-vaccination-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-07T14:39:11.851496Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-13T19:59:03.639585Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-13T19:59:03.547479Z",
"date": "2021-01-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o9xp1\">Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel said he was confronted and assaulted by an unidentified man while he was reporting in Los Angeles at the site of a planned anti-vaccination demonstration on Jan. 31, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"zbyqg\">Beckner-Carmitchel<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1355983193568997376\"> tweeted</a> that when he arrived at the scene in West Hollywood in the early afternoon, only about three people had shown up to protest against lockdown rules and COVID-19 vaccinations, while about 15 counterprotesters were there. He shared a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1355986258284056578\"> video</a> of a verbal confrontation between several anti-lockdown protesters and counterprotesters, but noted that no violence had occurred.</p><p data-block-key=\"xqhgz\">"One man, who arrived after the verbal confrontation earlier, took issue with being filmed," Beckner-Carmitchel<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1356022049160880128\"> tweeted</a> alongside a video he posted at 3:30 p.m. "He put himself near me, coughed in my face and threw my equipment down then attempted further assault."</p><p data-block-key=\"fijtd\">In the video, the man repeatedly asks why Beckner-Carmitchel is following him. Beckner-Carmitchel responds that he has the right to film in a public space and asks the man to step back. The video shows the man continues to come closer and loudly coughs at Beckner-Carmitchel, who continues filming as the man walks away. The man is then seen turning back toward the videographer; he says "Keep it up" then reaches forward and slams the camera to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"w6fj7\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he wore National Press Photographers Association credentials around his neck and sustained injuries to his hand as well as "some intense bruising to the right forearm."</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"coronavirus",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Tennessee photographer ejected, threatened with arrest during town hall with Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-photographer-ejected-threatened-with-arrest-during-town-hall-with-rep-majorie-taylor-greene/",
"first_published_at": "2021-11-17T18:26:55.369855Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T21:28:24.887995Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T21:28:24.798232Z",
"date": "2021-01-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Whitfield County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yy7qi\">Two Tennessee-based reporters, including a photographer from Chattanooga’s WRCBtv who asked not to be identified, were told to leave and threatened with arrest after one of them tried to ask a question at a town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Jan. 27, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"zv60p\">The WRCB photographer, who was reporting with <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-tv-crew-told-to-leave-threatened-with-arrest-at-a-town-hall-meeting-with-rep-majorie-taylor-greene/\">WRCB reporter Meredith Aldis,</a> was among journalists invited to Greene’s town hall in Whitfield County, Georgia, about 30 miles southeast of Chattanooga. Upon arrival at the event, journalists were told they could not ask questions or speak to anyone in attendance, WRCB News Director Callie Starnes told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"3myeb\">“If WRCB knew that ahead of time, we would have opted not to cover the event,” Starnes said. “WRCB did not agree to those terms.”</p><p data-block-key=\"x9apf\">The photographer was ejected after Aldis attempted to ask Greene, a Georgia Republican, about criticism of social media posts she had made before her election to Congress, including <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/26/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-democrats-violence/index.html\">Facebook posts</a> in which she advocated conspiracy theories and appeared to support execution of some Democratic political leaders. In other screenshots, posted by <a href=\"https://www.mediamatters.org/false-flag-conspiracy-theory/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-facebook-2018-parkland-school-shooting-was\">Media Matters for America</a>, Greene agreed with a Facebook comment that the 2018 school killings in Parkland, Florida, were a “false flag,” or a staged event.</p><p data-block-key=\"v7hyc\">After she was sworn in to Congress in early 2021, the revelations prompted calls from other members to expel Greene; on Feb. 4 the House voted to <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/house-gop-votes-greene-d00c46241478d39db3996a36f5cbf91e\">strip Greene of her congressional committee</a> assignments.</p><p data-block-key=\"ojl9x\">In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkzIAX0RiRo\">video clip</a> of the Jan. 27 town hall, WRCB reporter Aldis can be heard attempting to ask the representative a question, when Greene replies “I am talking to my constituents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0afdl\">The station <a href=\"https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43245677/channel-3-crew-threatened-with-arrest-after-asking-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-a-question-during-town-hall-meeting\">reported</a> that a member of Greene’s staff then approached Aldis and told her to leave the town hall. The staffer waved over a member of the Whitfield County (GA) Deputy Sheriff’s office, who threatened to arrest the journalists, according to the station’s report. Both the photographer and Aldis were escorted out of the town hall meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"5yfvd\">The station said that following the incident, a representative from Greene’s staff reached out to WRCB and said the town hall <a href=\"https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43245677/channel-3-crew-threatened-with-arrest-after-asking-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-a-question-during-town-hall-meeting\">"was not a press conference"</a> and the question had caused a “disruption.”</p><p data-block-key=\"nedq9\">In an <a href=\"https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43255605/whitfield-county-sheriff-defends-deput\">interview</a> with the television station, Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood defended the actions of his deputies who had threatened the reporters with arrest. He said Greene's staff had instructed his deputies to remove any member of the media who attempted to talk to anyone or ask a question.</p><p data-block-key=\"8gm4z\">Greene’s office had not responded to a Tracker request for comment as of press time.</p></div>",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
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},
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"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
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"Anonymous photojournalist 3 (WRCB)"
],
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"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Tennessee reporter told to leave, threatened with arrest at a town hall meeting with Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-tv-crew-told-to-leave-threatened-with-arrest-at-a-town-hall-meeting-with-rep-majorie-taylor-greene/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-24T19:39:27.055969Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T21:27:57.056222Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T21:27:56.964182Z",
"date": "2021-01-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Whitfield County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6au9o\">A Tennessee-based journalist from Chattanooga’s WRCBtv was told to leave and threatened with arrest after trying to ask a question at a town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Jan. 27, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"rzonr\">WRCB reporter Meredith Aldis was among a group of journalists invited to Greene’s town hall in Whitfield County, Georgia, about 30 miles southeast of Chattanooga. Upon arrival at the event, journalists were told they could not ask questions or speak to anyone in attendance, WRCB News Director Callie Starnes told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"lyoc4\">“If WRCB knew that ahead of time, we would have opted not to cover the event,” Starnes said. “WRCB did not agree to those terms.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xuuby\">Aldis and a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-photographer-ejected-threatened-with-arrest-during-town-hall-with-rep-majorie-taylor-greene/\">WRCB photographer were</a> ejected from the meeting after Aldis attempted to ask Greene, a Georgia Republican, about criticism of social media posts she had made before her election to Congress, including <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/26/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-democrats-violence/index.html\">Facebook posts</a> in which she advocated conspiracy theories and appeared to support execution of some Democratic political leaders. In other screenshots, posted by <a href=\"https://www.mediamatters.org/false-flag-conspiracy-theory/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-facebook-2018-parkland-school-shooting-was\">Media Matters for America</a>, Greene agreed with a Facebook comment that the 2018 school killings in Parkland, Florida, were a “false flag,” or a staged event. A WRCB photographer, who was accompanying Aldis and asked not to be identified, was also asked to leave the meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"qpeyf\">After she was sworn in to Congress in early 2021, the revelations prompted calls from other members to expel Greene; on Feb. 4 the House voted to <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/house-gop-votes-greene-d00c46241478d39db3996a36f5cbf91e\">strip Greene of her congressional committee</a> assignments.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ggc2\">In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkzIAX0RiRo\">video clip</a> of the Jan. 27 town hall, one of three that Greene hosted in her Georgia congressional district, WRCB reporter Aldis can be heard attempting to ask the representative a question, when Greene replies “I am talking to my constituents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kgb86\">The station <a href=\"https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43245677/channel-3-crew-threatened-with-arrest-after-asking-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-a-question-during-town-hall-meeting\">reported</a> that a member of Greene’s staff then approached Aldis and told her to leave the town hall. The staffer waved over a member of the Whitfield County (GA) Deputy Sheriff’s office, who threatened to arrest the journalists, according to the station’s report.</p><p data-block-key=\"8uwd5\">The station said that following the incident, a representative from Greene’s staff reached out to WRCB and said Aldis was told to leave because the town hall <a href=\"https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43245677/channel-3-crew-threatened-with-arrest-after-asking-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-a-question-during-town-hall-meeting\">"was not a press conference"</a> and her question had caused a “disruption.”</p><p data-block-key=\"86pfd\">In an <a href=\"https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43255605/whitfield-county-sheriff-defends-deput\">interview</a> with the television station, Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood defended the actions of his deputies who had threatened Aldis with arrest. He said Greene's staff had instructed his deputies to remove any member of the media who attempted to talk to anyone or ask a question.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2muo\">Greene’s office had not responded to a Tracker request for comment as of press time.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
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},
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"Federal government: Legislature"
],
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"categories": [
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],
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"Meredith Aldis (WRCB)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Justice Department secretly obtained emails from Project Veritas journalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-08T20:24:42.952838Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-13T20:59:21.043178Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-13T20:59:20.960645Z",
"date": "2021-01-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lihl0\">The U.S. Justice Department issued a secret warrant to Microsoft on Jan. 26, 2021, to obtain emails and contacts of a Project Veritas journalist as part of its investigation of a diary stolen from President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden. </p><p data-block-key=\"54skp\">The name of the employee whose emails were targeted was redacted in <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">the warrant</a>, but in a later <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">court filing</a>, attorneys for Project Veritas identified the person as a journalist. </p><p data-block-key=\"6j2hn\">The warrant was one of five issued to the technology company for communications of eight journalists from Project Veritas, which is known for hidden-camera sting operations of liberal politicians and nonprofits. As a result of the warrants, the government collected nearly 200,000 emails and other files, attorneys for Project Veritas said in a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filing</a>. </p><p data-block-key=\"b9nls\">In the other secret warrants, federal agents sought emails and contacts from Project Veritas founder <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-founder/\">James O’Keefe</a>, Project Veritas journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-emails/\">Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads,</a> and four <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-three-project-veritas-journalists/\">additional</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-email-information\">unidentified</a> Project Veritas journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"50hhr\">A U.S. District Court ordered that the Jan. 26 warrant be sealed for two years, but Microsoft threatened to sue to make it public, along with that for Cochran and Meads. The Justice Department then lifted the gag order early and Microsoft alerted Project Veritas of the warrants on March 11, 2022, according to <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/22/us/politics/project-veritas-emails.html\">The New York Times</a> and <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filings</a>. </p><p data-block-key=\"bakp\">Project Veritas, which identifies itself as a nonprofit investigative outlet, purchased the Biden diary in September 2020 from <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/politics/ashley-biden-diary-project-veritas-guilty.html\">two people who later pleaded guilty</a> to conspiring to transport stolen materials, a felony. Project Veritas never published the diary and gave it to police on Nov. 8, 2020. </p><p data-block-key=\"efeuo\">The Department of Justice, however, opened an investigation into the outlet and its journalists concerning alleged conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, conspiracy to possess stolen goods, interstate transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen goods.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct6bp\">The secret <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">warrant sought the journalist’s emails</a>, contacts and Microsoft subscriber information. Prosecutors said in the warrant that they were looking for information mentioning Ashley Biden, her associates or her father; anything regarding her stolen property and where it was located; their alleged co-conspirators; plans to sell the stolen items and the value of them; surveillance of Ashley Biden; and any other evidence of a conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"27ve8\">The warrant for the unidentified journalist, along with Cochran and Meads, sought information going back to January 2020, although Project Veritas had only received the diary that September. </p><p data-block-key=\"1nerh\">“The fact that the government secretly obtained emails from three different Project Veritas journalists dating from eight months prior to the newsgathering conduct that the government is scrutinizing shocks the conscience,” Project Veritas <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">lawyers wrote in a request for preliminary relief from U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres</a>. It does not appear from court records that the court ruled on this request.</p><p data-block-key=\"evmpv\">The various orders and subpoenas also sought emails and contacts from a human resources manager.</p><p data-block-key=\"1k56p\">Separately, search warrants were carried out at the homes of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/project-veritas-founder-detained-phones-seized-amid-fbi-raid-of-his-home/\">O’Keefe, </a><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-staffer-detained-devices-seized/\">Cochran</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-journalist-detained-devices-seized/\">Meads</a> in November 2021, alarming <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24253862-143-letter-brief-of-amici-curiae-aclu-fpf-fire-in-re-search-warrant-dated-november-5-2021-no-21-mc-00813\">free speech advocates</a>, including Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project. A special master was appointed to determine what seized information could be shared with prosecutors. </p><p data-block-key=\"9gq8c\"><i>Editor’s Note: This report has been corrected to reflect that the warrant was ordered sealed for two years, as was the warrant for Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads. Three other warrants targeting Project Veritas journalists were ordered sealed for just one year.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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{
"title": "Independent journalist struck in the head with crowd-control munitions during anti-ICE protest in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-struck-in-the-head-with-crowd-control-munitions-during-anti-ice-protest-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-25T16:29:05.565869Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-21T22:09:23.512394Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-21T22:09:23.421656Z",
"date": "2021-01-20",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ew6zm\">Independent journalist Jarrid Huber said he was struck in the head with a type of tear gas canister fired by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"q4m0p\">According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\"> news reports</a>, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. to protest the detention of migrant children in cages. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"0b9h7\">In Huber’s <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Jarridhubtv/videos/826210608221948\">footage from that evening</a>, federal officers can be seen leaving the ICE facility and lining up across the railroad tracks along the east side of the building. The line begins to advance toward the crowd — which appears to be retreating up South Moody Avenue — when the officers appear to open fire with crowd-control munitions without warning. As Huber turns and jogs away at around 37 minutes into the footage, he can be heard saying, “I got hit in the head.”</p><p data-block-key=\"io45k\">Huber told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was struck in the head with one of the three canisters of a <a href=\"https://www.defense-technology.com/product/triple-chaser-separating-canister-cs/\">Triple-Chaser</a>, a type of tear gas canister that breaks apart to disperse tear gas across a wider area, when it ricocheted off the ground. Huber said that he was also struck multiple times in the chest with pepper balls and at least one baton round — a type of crowd-control munition that includes rubber bullets but also foam and wooden baton rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"0jeu1\">Huber said he was wearing a body armor vest labeled with “PRESS” on the front and back, as well as a neck gaiter branded with the logo of <a href=\"https://booptroopeugene.com/\">Boop Troop Eugene</a> and a press pass issued by the digital outlet. On its website, Boop Troop describes its coverage as focusing on “socio-economic issues, protests and educational awareness.”</p><p data-block-key=\"nt1xk\">According to Huber’s footage, he was able to continue filming for approximately two hours, saying on multiple occasions, “I feel fine.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3rb7k\">The following day, Huber posted on Facebook <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=205755547917726&id=100288651797750&__cft__[0]=AZUmMgztYOgIa6HXBtXB6eVQZgNd1gmytfZCNGUp65xLbiVYryVDQqYKM3-27U9vfHy21f-N1k0R-VtyByJACrW8rnWLfcndsX4ucVoRlgJ21kSiHPhV3nC_vx5k3uGl0-nyLfV0zCo_xCInqvKJ64Jv&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">photos of abrasions</a> on his temple and <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=206079534551994&id=100288651797750&__cft__[0]=AZWzwrNP8pvWyUOTA8VYtoT00MbJKw3fp75MjZSqMr3pYaWbpbesx1o7GJFeQc2aKrJmb3u-ibvZxNnVtG97-diR4dC1VmPu_eaf80pRVD4GV4fQs-sUj9nbnwg31Ks1KbjIbkBl82eflrxp4ncIcKF4&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">an update</a> detailing the injuries he sustained.</p><p data-block-key=\"rsefa\">“I have a mild concussion and trauma to the neck from my head being shot but they don’t believe there is any internal bleeding and my eye socket and temple seem to be okay other than small swelling and bruising,” Huber wrote. “They want me keeping a close eye on if symptoms get worse and I’m going to miss a few days of work.”</p><p data-block-key=\"l3idl\">Huber told the Tracker he ultimately was unable to resume his protest coverage for two weeks.</p><p data-block-key=\"6nie6\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence during the protest, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rcem\">The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Huber.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ymf4u\">Independent journalist Jarrid Huber suffered a concussion and neck trauma after being struck in the head, chest with crowd-control munitions while covering a demonstration outside an ICE facility in Portland on Jan. 20, 2021.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
"title": "Journalist struck on face with projectile at Portland anti-ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-on-face-with-projectile-at-portland-anti-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-14T15:50:44.763100Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-21T22:09:10.250051Z",
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"date": "2021-01-20",
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"city": "Portland",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"du33z\">Freelance journalist Michael Elliott said he was struck in the face with a pepper ball fired by federal officers while he covered a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"et1kx\">According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\"> news reports</a>, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and caging of migrant children. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"mm0xo\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/fieldnotesmedia/media\">Elliott</a>, who says his work has been published by VICE, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Willamette Week, among others, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing a protester from approximately 10 to 15 feet away shortly after 11 p.m. as they attempted to extinguish a tear gas canister using a Super Soaker water gun.</p><p data-block-key=\"u38so\">“Federal Officers began firing on the protester with the Super Soaker repeatedly hitting him with pepper balls,” Elliott said. Both he and the protester were ultimately pinned down, he said, as additional officers began firing rounds of tear gas, pepper balls and <a href=\"https://www.defense-technology.com/product/skat-shell-40-mm-multiple-projectile-round-cs/\">Skat Shells</a> — a type of munition that produces fire and disperses chemical irritants — toward them. Elliott said one of the pepper ball rounds struck him during this volley.</p><p data-block-key=\"vd23x\">Immediately, Elliott said, his eyes swelled shut and felt like they were on fire.</p><p data-block-key=\"149iv\">“Medics responded after witnessing the impact and noted a substantial cake of white dust on each of my eyelids,” Elliot told the Tracker</p><p data-block-key=\"sun0r\">Elliott said that while he typically wears a gas mask, he had forgotten it that day as he left to document the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"73yja\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"tkdf7\">The ICE protest was one of many social-justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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{
"title": "Videojournalist targeted with projectiles at Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalist-targeted-with-projectiles-at-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-05T16:25:46.398565Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-21T22:07:51.636634Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-21T22:07:51.518619Z",
"date": "2021-01-20",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"85nau\">Independent videojournalist Mason Lake said he was targeted by various crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"x69fc\">According to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\">The Oregonian</a>, protesters gathered in South Portland’s Elizabeth Caruthers Park to push for more rapid policy changes than they believed President Joe Biden had promised during his inauguration that day. Later in the night, many marched a few blocks south toward the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building to oppose the detention of migrant children in cage-like quarters, the Oregonian reported. Demonstrators chanted “Abolish ICE” and spray-painted “Reunite families now” onto the building. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1352138074042429440?s=20\">video and tweet</a> released shortly after 10 p.m. on Jan. 20, the Portland Police Bureau said it had declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and stated that its officers used crowd-control munitions to get people to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vsq4\">Between 10 and 11 p.m., Lake said he was filming at the ICE building and standing next to other members of the press when Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers, whom he identified by their uniforms and badges, threw an explosive device at his foot.</p><p data-block-key=\"o4q2t\">“When the officer throws it, they do it right when I pan my camera to the left away from them,” Lake said in an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “They don’t know it, but my camera is actually a wide angle. As soon as I pan, he throws it in an underhand chuck.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cg4cn\">He identified the device as an instantaneous blast munition, which rattled him because he didn’t have hearing protection, but did not otherwise injure him. In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ5_mq4dF8Y\">video</a> shared to YouTube, Lake uses another reporter’s footage, which shows a canister being thrown directly at his feet at 0:33. Lake said officers also used <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA1mSFXESj8\">numerous other munitions</a>, including <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1352162675736805377?s=20\">riot control CS gas</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"05hy0\">Lake said he had press credentials from the National Press Photographers Association, nonprofit media cooperative Halospace Media and Boop Troop Eugene LLC, a live media outlet that covers protests and local events, in addition to visible press markings on his clothes and helmet.</p><p data-block-key=\"ff307\">DHS, which coordinated the ICE presence in Portland, did not respond to an emailed request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "White House deputy press secretary resigns after threatening Politico reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-deputy-press-secretary-resigns-after-threatening-politico-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-22T21:12:21.891845Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-04-22T21:12:21.891845Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-04-22T21:12:21.842531Z",
"date": "2021-01-20",
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"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>According to <a href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/02/i-will-destroy-you-biden-aide-threatened-a-politico-reporter-pursuing-a-story-on-his-relationship\">Vanity Fair</a>, deputy White House press secretary TJ Ducklo threatened and verbally harassed Politico reporter Tara Palmeri on Jan. 20, 2021, in an attempt to quash a story about his relationship with political reporter Alexi McCammond, then of Axios.</p><p>Palmeri, Politico and the White House did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</p><p>On Jan. 21, <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/01/21/democrats-caught-flat-footed-by-total-control-of-washington-491476\">Playbook</a>, Politico’s daily newsletter, of which Palmeri is a co-author, included an item headlined “BIDEN SETS STANDARD FOR PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR” and a quote from the just-inaugurated president: “I’m not joking when I say this: If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot. No ifs, ands or buts.” The item closed by posing the following: “Serious question on our minds this morning: Does this standard apply to how mid-level press aides treat reporters?”</p><p>A little over three weeks later, on Feb. 12, a piece by Vanity Fair seemingly explained why that question may have been percolating for Politico, reporting that on Inauguration Day, Palmeri had contacted McCammond for comment on a story about her relationship with the incoming deputy press secretary. Vanity Fair reported that Ducklo reached out to a Politico editor to object to the story, and then contacted Palmeri directly, allegedly saying, “I will destroy you”; threatening to ruin her reputation; and making other “derogatory and misogynistic comments.”</p><p>Following the publication of the article, press secretary Jen Psaki <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1360284952982650883\">issued</a> a statement saying, “TJ Ducklo has apologized to the reporter, with whom he had a heated conversation about his personal life. He is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out by the President. In addition to his initial apology, he has sent the reporter a personal note expressing his profound regret.” She also announced that Ducklo had been suspended for one week without pay.</p><p>In a <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2021/02/12/tj-ducklo-white-house-suspended-psaki-sot-vpx.cnn\">press conference</a> the same day, Psaki addressed a question from a female reporter about retaining Ducklo in his role after the revelations about the phone call and his comments. Psaki responded that Ducklo’s behavior was “completely unacceptable” and that while she did not excuse it, the story was about his personal life and not about an issue concerning the White House.</p><p>Ducklo resigned a day after his suspension was announced, on Feb. 13. Psaki confirmed Ducklo’s resignation in a statement, stating: “We accepted the resignation of TJ Ducklo after a discussion with him this evening.” She added that the decision had been approved by White House chief of staff Ron Klain.</p><p>Ducklo expressed regret over his actions in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TDucklo/status/1360741646627913728\">a statement</a> posted on Twitter account about his resignation, writing, in part, “No words can express my regret, my embarrassment, and my disgust for my behavior. I used language that no woman should ever have to hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she was just trying to do her job.”</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Reporter hit with crowd-control munitions in Portland, treated for concussion",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-hit-with-crowd-control-munitions-in-portland-treated-for-concussion/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-05T15:16:05.186022Z",
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"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"w5huq\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"hlctv\">According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\"> news reports</a>, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and caging of migrant children. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"ubfcp\">Azar, who was live-tweeting during the protest, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was standing on the sidewalk across the street from the facility with a row of journalists when federal officers suddenly rushed outside from the ICE building. She said they deployed crowd-control munitions including pepper balls and tear gas for "almost 20 minutes straight" to push the crowd back.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Teargas currently flooding the neighborhood. Almost 20 minutes straight of teargas and munitions. <a href=\"https://t.co/yQItLq5Gar\">pic.twitter.com/yQItLq5Gar</a></p>— Alissa Azar (@AlissaAzar) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1352136678438158337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 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=\"ndas2\">Azar said she left the ICE facility with a reporter with Full Revolution Media, John, who declined to provide his last name due to safety concerns. She heard of a different gathering happening two blocks away, but she said that when they arrived, there were no protesters, only a line of federal officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"ax25i\">Those officers pushed Azar and the other reporter “back to the ICE building even though [officers at the ICE building were] asking people to leave," Azar told the Tracker. When she got back with the other members of the press, the officers "were just fumigating [us] directly in the face.” Azar said she did not know what the officers were spraying at the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"mspba\">“What’s scary about that machine is that you can’t look at the spent munitions to see what they’re deploying,” John added. The officers used what John described as a pesticide gun, similar in shape to a leaf blower, to release an unknown gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"vp6v1\">In a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1352160676173684739?s=20\"> tweet</a> posted at 11:46 p.m., Azar wrote that she "lost count of pushes" and her chest hurt, making it hard to breath. She told the Tracker she was wearing visible press markings on her clothes and helmet, as well as a National Press Photographers Association credential. John said he wore a helmet with press markings across the front and back.</p><p data-block-key=\"kj5g9\">"I had a flash bang thrown right at my ear," Azar told the Tracker. "I ended up passing out because I was trapped in the tear gas and it went through my gas mask." She said her friends then took her to Providence Portland Medical Center’s emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a concussion and torn muscle.</p><p data-block-key=\"cfe3l\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"4eloz\">The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Alissa Azar (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent videographer struck with tear gas canister while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-struck-with-tear-gas-canister-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-24T18:35:50.754928Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T19:52:06.061671Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T19:52:05.956469Z",
"date": "2021-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5eg89\">Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said she was struck with a tear gas canister fired by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qoop\">According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\"> news reports</a>, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and holding of migrant children in cages. At 9:30 p.m. federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, the Oregonian reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"o6rj7\">Lewis, who has sold her footage to ABC, The Daily Beast and Oregon’s Willamette Week, among others, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was filming as federal officers advanced on the crowd and one officer began using a strobe light.</p><p data-block-key=\"muiuz\">In footage she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Claudio_Report/status/1352137304781963267\">posted to Twitter</a> and labeled “Attack part 2,” a line of law enforcement officers can be seen shining lights toward the crowd. One officer turns on a strobe light and, as it flashes, Lewis appears to duck briefly behind a demonstrator’s shield. She then comes out from behind the shield and yells “You’re being sued for strobing epileptics!” Immediately after she speaks, an officer on the right-hand side of the line can be seen aiming and firing a projectile toward Lewis.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"sv\" dir=\"ltr\">Attack part 2 <a href=\"https://t.co/j0HIcol6Ey\">pic.twitter.com/j0HIcol6Ey</a></p>— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Claudio_Report/status/1352137304781963267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 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=\"1lvpd\">Lewis said she was struck in the upper thigh with what she believes was a <a href=\"https://www.defense-technology.com/product/triple-chaser-separating-canister-cs/\">Triple-Chaser</a>, a type of tear gas canister that breaks apart to disperse tear gas across a wide area. Multiple other journalists also reported being struck with crowd-control munitions while covering protests that day, which the Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Portland&date_lower=2021-01-20&date_upper=2021-01-20\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"y1u54\">Of her comment about the strobe light and epileptics, Lewis said “I reminded them [law enforcement] about something that I am actively suing them for.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9qkfg\">Lewis and independent researcher and scientist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=833\">Juniper Simonis</a> are both plaintiffs in <a href=\"https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d645da3cf8e4c000158e55a/t/5f9f8ec55578154aa894c887/1604292295905/Wolfe+v.+City+of+Portland+et+al+-+Complaint.pdf\">a November 2020 suit</a> filed by Disability Rights Oregon against the City of Portland and 100 law enforcement officers. The suit says it aims to “stop local, state, and federal law enforcement from assaulting, brutalizing, and failing to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities during assemblies and protests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4whyq\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal law enforcement presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"k05u0\">The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
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"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Justice Department secretly obtained Project Veritas journalists’ emails",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-emails/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-01T20:00:49.890990Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-13T20:57:25.486635Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-13T20:57:25.389529Z",
"date": "2021-01-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r0aiy\">The U.S. Justice Department issued a secret warrant on Jan. 14, 2021, to Microsoft to obtain emails and contacts of former Project Veritas journalists Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads as part of its investigation of a diary stolen from President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t8ei\">The warrant was one of five issued to the technology company for communications of eight journalists from Project Veritas, which is known for hidden-camera sting operations of liberal politicians and nonprofits. As a result of the warrants, the government collected nearly 200,000 emails and other files, attorneys for Project Veritas said in a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filing</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"97k2t\">Project Veritas, which identifies itself as a nonprofit investigative outlet, purchased the diary in September 2020 from <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/politics/ashley-biden-diary-project-veritas-guilty.html\">two people who later pleaded guilty</a> to conspiring to transport stolen materials, a felony. Project Veritas never published the diary and gave it to police on Nov. 8, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjhu7\">Search warrants were carried out at the homes of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/project-veritas-founder-detained-phones-seized-amid-fbi-raid-of-his-home/\">founder James O’Keefe</a> and journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-staffer-detained-devices-seized/\">Cochran</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-journalist-detained-devices-seized/\">Meads</a> in November 2021, alarming <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24253862-143-letter-brief-of-amici-curiae-aclu-fpf-fire-in-re-search-warrant-dated-november-5-2021-no-21-mc-00813\">free speech advocates</a>. A special master was appointed to determine what seized information could be shared with prosecutors.</p><p data-block-key=\"7sivh\">The <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">warrant for Cochran’s and Meads’ emails</a> indicated that officials were investigating the charges of conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, conspiracy to possess stolen goods, interstate transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen goods.</p><p data-block-key=\"a8h9n\">A judge ordered that the warrant be sealed for two years. Microsoft threatened to sue to make the warrant public; the Justice Department then lifted the gag order and Microsoft alerted Project Veritas on March 11, 2022, according to the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/22/us/politics/project-veritas-emails.html\">New York Times</a> and <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filings</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gucd\">Although Project Veritas received the diary in September 2020, the warrant seeks Cochran’s and Meads’ emails and contacts beginning in January 2020. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-founder/\">A separate warrant</a> sought emails and contacts from O’Keefe.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lj22\">“The fact that the government secretly obtained emails from three different Project Veritas journalists dating from eight months prior to the newsgathering conduct that the government is scrutinizing shocks the conscience,” Project Veritas <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">lawyers wrote in a request for preliminary relief to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres</a>. It does not appear from court records that the court ruled on this request.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdcop\">The warrant sought all emails, contacts and subscriber information. Prosecutors said in the warrant that they were looking for information mentioning Ashley Biden, her associates or her father; anything regarding her stolen property and where it was located; their alleged co-conspirators; plans to sell the stolen items and the value of them; surveillance of Ashley Biden; and any other evidence of a conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"d451q\">The various orders and subpoenas also sought emails and contacts from a human resources manager.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bt6f\">Attorneys for Cochran and Meads didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8c701\">The Justice Department also issued a subpoena to Uber on Feb. 18, 2021, to provide information from Cochran’s and Meads’ accounts, as well as Project Veritas’ accounts. Uber provided the information on March 22, 2021. The non-disclosure order was lifted a year later, and Uber notified Cochran, Meads and Project Veritas on March 15, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"5fhft\">It’s not clear what information was requested or provided, but Uber has outlined <a href=\"https://lert.uber.com/s/article/ECPA-quick-reference?language=en_US\">what information it will give to authorities</a>; in general, a subpoena is required for account information, a court order is needed for trip information and a search warrant for GPS information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/project_veritas_screenshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bj7r3\">A portion of a Jan. 14, 2021, Justice Department warrant issued to Microsoft seeking emails and contacts from three Project Veritas employees. Attorneys identified two of the targets as former Project Veritas journalists Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name_of_business": "Microsoft",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
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"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
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"categories": [
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"targeted_journalists": [
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"Spencer Meads (Project Veritas)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist shot by police with pepper balls in San Diego",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-shot-by-police-with-pepper-balls-in-san-diego/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-01T16:11:49.107355Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:14:08.567238Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:14:08.484715Z",
"date": "2021-01-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Diego",
"longitude": -117.16472,
"latitude": 32.71571,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"safqc\">Independent journalist James Stout said he was shot with pepper balls by police while covering a protest in San Diego, California, on Jan. 9, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"03hh3\">Demonstrators gathered in the city’s Pacific Beach neighborhood for a rally in support of President Donald Trump, and counterprotesters massed nearby in opposition to Trump,<a href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/jan/10/three-arrested-trump-pacific-beach-protest/\"> KPBS</a> reported. At around 2:30 p.m., after bottles, rocks and eggs were thrown at officers, the San Diego Police Department declared an unlawful assembly, according to the report.</p><p data-block-key=\"zq6w1\">Stout told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the protest for <a href=\"https://leftcoastrightwatch.org/\">Left Coast Right Watch</a>, which describes itself as a Bay Area (CA) site “dedicated to covering politics and extremism.”</p><p data-block-key=\"r9cz5\">Stout said that after a few protesters started throwing things at police, law enforcement officers suddenly surged forward and grabbed a protester.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2ire\">Stout said he was near other members of the press when police started to use pepper spray. He said he then felt one pepper ball hit him. He said he turned around and saw a SWAT officer pointing the weapon at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"vhza7\">The officer fired multiple times, Stout said; he said he was hit four or five times, mostly in the thighs and groin. He said he experienced some bruising from the projectiles, but did not seek medical assistance.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qn9u\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ3DuETDhlC/?igshid=1c7xdlfokk29h\">photo</a> shared on Instagram by the National Lawyers Guild of San Diego, Stout, who is on the left, can be seen with white chalky marks on his jeans near his groin.</p><p data-block-key=\"tgapa\">Stout told the Tracker he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist; he was wearing a vest that clearly marked him as “PRESS” and was also carrying a camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"t2sk5\">A spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department told the Tracker in an email that the department is aware of Stout’s allegation, and declined to comment.</p></div>",
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"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
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]
