HTTP 200 OK
Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET,OPTIONS,HEAD
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Allow: GET, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Link:
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?format=api>; rel="first",
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cj0xJnA9MjAyMS0wMy0yNC0xMzQy&format=api>; rel="prev",
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cD0yMDIxLTAxLTI3LTFkOWVkMWE0LTQ3MTYtMTFlYy05NmNlLTMyODFkYjNjODE1ZA%3D%3D&format=api>; rel="next"
Vary: Accept
[
{
"title": "Journalist hit with police baton, lens damaged while covering Echo Park Lake protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-police-baton-lens-damaged-while-covering-echo-park-lake-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-07T14:42:14.209096Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:55:01.325647Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:55:01.213526Z",
"date": "2021-03-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rmcu6\">Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved by a police officer while reporting on a protest near Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles, California on March 24, 2021, Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"r5vi3\">Protesters gathered near Echo Park Lake to demonstrate against the city’s plan to clear a homeless encampment, blocking Los Angeles Police Department officers from the park, <a href=\"https://laist.com/2021/03/24/echo_park_lake_homeless_community_on_park_closure.php\">LAist</a> reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"c7dlc\">In the evening protesters were trying to block police from putting up a barrier around the park, Berg told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"mnesa\">Berg, who reports for Status Coup, which describes itself as a progressive, independent news outlet, said she was one of about a half dozen journalists between a line of police officers and protesters. She said she asked if she could move through to the other side of the police line, but an officer refused, telling her, “you’ve made your choice.”</p><p data-block-key=\"zgkyo\">Berg, who was filming using a video camera with a light attachment, said that police were objecting to journalists’ use of camera lights, saying that they were trying to blind the officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"oaniz\">In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxgKOCb5jgU\">video</a> published by Status Coup on YouTube, officers multiple times ask people, including Berg, to turn off their camera lights. Berg can be heard refusing, at times confrontationally.</p><p data-block-key=\"fukzx\">In one clip multiple people with cameras can be seen near an officer, who says, “Turn off that light please.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4p4b4\">“I’m not turning off my light, dude, it is necessary for my job,” Berg can be heard saying.</p><p data-block-key=\"v89f5\">In another clip, an officer can be heard saying “Leave the area, ma’am.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e5h9c\">The video then shows the top of another officer’s helmet, abruptly shakes, and Berg can be heard saying “no!”</p><p data-block-key=\"ybhma\">Berg told the Tracker that’s when an officer hit her camera lens with a baton, then jabbed her in the abdomen with the baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"w2u87\">Berg told the Tracker she was wearing a Kevlar vest and was not hurt by the baton. The blow to her camera lens cracked the outer casing of the lens, she said. The interior of the lens was not damaged and it is still usable, she said, though she has not gotten the casing repaired.</p><p data-block-key=\"orqpj\">Berg said she was wearing multiple press credentials on a lanyard around her neck, including one issued by the Los Angeles Press Club and another that identified her as a journalist for Status Coup.</p><p data-block-key=\"dwkpd\">LAPD spokesperson Raul Jovel said the department opened an investigation into the incident after the Tracker reached out to the department for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"iy3wo\">At a protest in Echo Lake Park the following day, March 25, at least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-03-24&date_upper=2021-03-25&city=Los+Angeles&endpage=3\">here</a>.</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": "law enforcement",
"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": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera lens"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"encampment",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Tina-Desiree Berg (Status Coup)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "The Daily Mail blocked from media center, trial exhibits in Chauvin trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/the-daily-mail-blocked-from-media-center-trial-exhibits-in-chauvin-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-14T18:50:35.472467Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:24:55.043265Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:24:54.963210Z",
"date": "2021-03-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sy638\">A Minnesota judge on March 24, 2021, denied media credentials to the British newspaper the Daily Mail to cover the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.</p><p data-block-key=\"15tfz\">Hennepin County Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette issued <a href=\"https://mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/media/High-Profile-Cases/27-CR-20-12646/Order03242021.pdf\">the order</a> five days before the beginning of the trial, in which Chauvin is facing murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"aoxor\">The order denied journalists from the Daily Mail access to a media center set up in a building across the street from the courthouse for members of the press covering the trial, <a href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-denies-daily-mail-credential-officers-trial-76664156;%20\">The Associated Press</a> reported. Media outlets are sharing two pool seats in the courtroom, according to the AP.</p><p data-block-key=\"8d4kz\">Barnette’s order also barred the publication from directly accessing trial exhibits and “all media updates related to the trial.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wh7fb\">The judge wrote that his decision was based on the Daily Mail’s publication on Aug. 3 of footage from body cameras worn by two other Minneapolis police officers who were present at the time of Floyd’s arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"aceej\">The footage was introduced in court in July 2020 as part of pre-trial litigation. Due to the massive amount of public attention on the case and the need “to minimize the effects of judicial pretrial publicity,” a judge had limited the distribution of the footage, Barnette wrote. Under rules set for the body camera footage, members of the media and the public could view it by appointment at a Hennepin County government building, but could not record it or republish it.</p><p data-block-key=\"pskfa\">Barnette wrote in his order that an investigation determined the video footage was stolen around the time the public could view it. He said that though it was not clear that the Daily Mail stole the footage, it was the first outlet to publish it.</p><p data-block-key=\"toh5f\">Though the media plays an important role in the criminal justice system, Barnette wrote, “in situations where a Court Order has been violated and a media outlet knowingly exploits the violation by publishing stolen records of court exhibits, the Court is required to pursue an equitable consequence.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pcdxh\">Barnette noted in the order that the Daily Mail could still access exhibits from other media outlets. He said he assumed that the publication paid for the body camera footage and that he was “confident” it would be able to pay for other material that came out during the trial.</p><p data-block-key=\"cajwk\">“This is not a hardship for the Daily Mail, it is merely an inconvenience,” Barnette wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"j4fzi\">The Daily Mail did not respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"mlyhy\">The Daily Mail appealed the order to the Minnesota Court of Appeals on March 26, arguing that the denial of credentials was a violation of the First Amendment, the<a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/daily-mail-seeks-to-reverse-order-denying-trial-credentials/600039171/?refresh=true\"> AP reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ju574\">Mark Anfinson, local counsel for the Daily Mail, wrote in the petition that the video was “almost certainly not ‘stolen’” and that the newspaper had no role in copying the video, according to the AP. The Daily Mail said it was “leaked a copy of the video from a third party source not associated with the court.”</p><p data-block-key=\"91xcs\">On April 5, the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota <a href=\"https://www.aclu-mn.org/en/press-releases/aclu-mn-pushes-press-freedom-chauvin-trial\">filed a letter</a> in support of the Daily Mail’s appeal. The ACLU argued that there is no evidence that the newspaper played a role in copying the video footage, and asserted that the decision in the case will have implications for others who cover court trials in Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"1jcwo\">In an <a href=\"https://macsnc.courts.state.mn.us/ctrack/view/publicCaseMaintenance.do?csNameID=97685&csInstanceID=112457\">order</a> issued April 6, the appeals court rejected the Daily Mail’s request to throw out Barnette’s order.</p><p data-block-key=\"oglfn\">The court ruled that a writ of prohibition was not appropriate because the Daily Mail had not pursued all other options. The judges also wrote that the newspaper did not demonstrate injury, given that live video and audio of the proceedings are available online and trial materials are widely available.</p><p data-block-key=\"kzrcw\">Anfinson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker on April 9 that the newspaper had not yet decided whether to take further steps.</p><p data-block-key=\"exi3h\">He rejected the judges’ assertion that the Daily Mail did not pursue other avenues to resolve the issue before asking the appeals court to overturn Barnette’s order.</p><p data-block-key=\"fn9bv\">“It's ludicrous to suggest that we had other options here,” Anfinson said. “We didn't. He issued a formal court order, restricting public access to documents that are public to one news organization. It's a clear cut violation of the First Amendment.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Chauvin_trial_032020.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"afm5q\">Hennepin County Government Center is the trial site of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is facing murder charges in the 2020 death of George Floyd.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Daily Mail"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Judiciary: District Court"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Press credential or media list",
"Other"
]
},
{
"title": "Arson attack forces California TV station KGET TV 17 to take the news off-air",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/arson-attack-forces-california-tv-station-kget-tv-17-to-take-the-news-off-air/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-04T15:15:36.850163Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-05T18:29:19.355733Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-05T18:29:19.300817Z",
"date": "2021-03-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bakersfield",
"longitude": -119.01871,
"latitude": 35.37329,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"voer0\">An arson attack forced the KGET TV 17 news team in Bakersfield, California, to take its 11 p.m. newscast off the air and evacuate the building, on March 21, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"eh55i\">A KGET journalist reported on the attack as it happened saying there was “a scary and bizarre scene, right beneath our studio.” There was “a car bursting into flames as wooden crosses lined our back parking lot,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"rsihw\">The fire was close to the TV station and a car was found on fire outside the parking lot gates of the KGET building on L Street. The sounds of explosions were reported to the police department, which sent its bomb squad.</p><p data-block-key=\"2947h\">A <a href=\"https://www.kget.com/news/local-news/car-fire-outside-kget-studios-forces-evacuation/\">KGET website report</a> said there was “an intense fire, with flames shooting as high as 20 feet into the air.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q7oqc\">Thirteen<a href=\"https://www.kget.com/news/local-news/car-fire-outside-kget-studios-forces-evacuation/\"> wooden crosses</a> about 5 to 7 ft tall had been left outside the gates, close to the fire. Two of them were draped with what appeared to be wedding dresses, a third with a man’s suit jacket, KGET reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"mb5k0\">Michael Trihey, news director at KGET, the NBC affiliate in Bakersfield and Kern County, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: “It happened during the 11 o'clock newscast on a weekend. We have a roof camera that we use for city views and things of that nature. And we can see on that roof camera, a fire adjacent to the building, which perhaps threatens the building.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rkp8p\">Trihey said the police advised KGET staff to evacuate the building, forcing them to cut the newscast short by 15 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"v68lj\">“Responding officers heard several loud explosions when arriving, which was later determined to be associated with the combustion of normal vehicle equipment (no explosive or incendiary device) was located,” said Bakersfield Police Department spokesman Sgt. Robert Pair. “There was no damage to the studio building. I can confirm the existence of white crosses, a wedding dress and suit jacket.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xoomh\">A woman was arrested for charges associated with arson after she turned herself in at the Kern County Jail, according to the police. She pleaded not guilty to two charges in connection with the fire, possession of material or device used for arson and burning of combustible material in an unsafe manner when she appeared in a Bakersfield court in April, <a href=\"https://www.kget.com/news/crime-watch/woman-pleads-not-guilty-to-setting-fire-outside-kget-studios/amp/\">KGET reported</a>.</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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"KGET-TV"
],
"tags": [
"arson"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Dakota Pipeline operator subpoenas Unicorn Riot reporter over coverage of demonstrations",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dakota-pipeline-operator-subpoenas-unicorn-riot-reporter-over-coverage-of-demonstrations/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-10T15:55:43.847628Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-13T16:11:23.798788Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-13T16:11:23.686520Z",
"date": "2021-03-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bsrl1\">Unicorn Riot and its reporter Niko Georgiades were subpoenaed on March 17, 2021, by Energy Transfer LP, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, for all documents and communications relating to the nonprofit media organization’s coverage of the pipeline project.</p><p data-block-key=\"o8ij0\">The subpoenas are part of the pipeline company’s legal effort against several environmental groups, including Greenpeace, and activists that protested against the pipeline in 2016 and 2017, according to <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2021/04/03/unicorn-riot-dakota-pipeline-energy-transfer-subpoena/\">The Intercept</a> and other outlets.</p><p data-block-key=\"dklrt\"><a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20521079-subpoena_energytransfer_unicornriot_redacted\">Energy Transfer demanded all documents</a> including video and audio recordings concerning both actual and planned demonstrations relating to DAPL or Energy Transfer on several specific dates in August through November of 2016, in addition to information about the organization's structure and employees. Unicorn Riot’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dakota-pipeline-operator-subpoenas-unicorn-riot-over-coverage-of-demonstrations/\">subpoena is documented here</a>. Georgiades, a Unicorn Riot reporter who covered events at Standing Rock, was separately served a<a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20521080-subpoena_energytransfer_ng_redacted\"> subpoena</a> for similar materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"j9liz\">Greenpeace labeled the company’s legal effort a SLAPP suit, which stands for a strategic lawsuit against public participation, designed to silence critics, The Intercept reported. <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2021/04/cpj-calls-on-energy-transfer-to-drop-subpoenas-to-unicorn-riot-journalist-niko-georgiades/\">The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on</a> Energy Transfer to withdraw the subpoenas. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"spqa2\">Energy Transfer didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment from the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"g2thv\">Freddy Martinez, a member of the Unicorn Riot collective, told the Tracker that its media attorney responded to both subpoenas with a letter invoking their shield privilege, saying “the records that may or may not exist are covered by the law and that we [Unicorn Riot] are not a party to their litigation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0brp8\">“Our counsel met with their counsel and Energy Transfer expressed continued interest in furthering their subpoena,” Martinez added. “However, as far as we know, they haven’t filed anything in court and may be running out of time to do so.”</p><p data-block-key=\"h6hcp\">On March 24, 2021, Unicorn Riot launched a legal defense fund to help cover its legal bills, saying it takes seriously its obligation to protect its sources and not yield to demands for its footage and records from companies or the government.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX2UCWI_-_Reuters_-_Stephanie_Ke.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3uxjk\">A protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline near Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota in November 2016. The pipeline operator subpoenaed reporter Niko Georgiades in March 2021 for materials gathered during his coverage of the protests.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-12-16 13:38:00+00:00) Judge quashes subpoena for Unicorn Riot reporter’s documents related to 2016-2017 DAPL protests",
"(2023-09-27 00:00:00+00:00) Dakota Pipeline operator appeals decision quashing subpoena for reporter’s documents",
"(2024-05-06 00:00:00+00:00) Appeals court confirms that pipeline operator cannot subpoena reporter’s documents"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"environmentalism",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Niko Georgiades (Unicorn Riot)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"quashed"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Dakota Pipeline operator subpoenas Unicorn Riot over coverage of demonstrations",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dakota-pipeline-operator-subpoenas-unicorn-riot-over-coverage-of-demonstrations/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-10T15:49:47.619480Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-13T16:14:45.602885Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-13T16:14:45.488937Z",
"date": "2021-03-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"84n8t\">Unicorn Riot and its reporter Niko Georgiades were subpoenaed on March 17, 2021, by Energy Transfer LP, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, for all documents and communications relating to the nonprofit media organization’s coverage of the pipeline project.</p><p data-block-key=\"aozbd\">The subpoenas are part of the pipeline company’s legal effort against several environmental groups, including Greenpeace, and activists that protested against the pipeline in 2016 and 2017, according to <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2021/04/03/unicorn-riot-dakota-pipeline-energy-transfer-subpoena/\">The Intercept</a> and other outlets.</p><p data-block-key=\"lstcl\"><a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20521079-subpoena_energytransfer_unicornriot_redacted\">Energy Transfer demanded all documents</a> including video and audio recordings concerning both actual and planned demonstrations relating to DAPL or Energy Transfer on several specific dates in August through November of 2016, in addition to information about the organization's structure and employees. Georgiades, a Unicorn Riot reporter who covered events at Standing Rock, was separately served a <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20521080-subpoena_energytransfer_ng_redacted\">subpoena</a> for similar materials. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dakota-pipeline-operator-subpoenas-unicorn-riot-reporter-over-coverage-of-demonstrations/\">His subpoena is documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"v0b3l\">Greenpeace labeled the company’s legal effort a SLAPP suit, which stands for a strategic lawsuit against public participation, designed to silence critics, The Intercept reported. <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2021/04/cpj-calls-on-energy-transfer-to-drop-subpoenas-to-unicorn-riot-journalist-niko-georgiades/\">The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on</a> Energy Transfer to withdraw the subpoenas. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"h20dd\">Energy Transfer didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment from the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"hb92i\">Freddy Martinez, a member of the Unicorn Riot collective, told the Tracker that its media attorney responded to both subpoenas with a letter invoking their shield privilege, saying “the records that may or may not exist are covered by the law and that we [Unicorn Riot] are not a party to their litigation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6dnio\">“Our counsel met with their counsel and Energy Transfer expressed continued interest in furthering their subpoena,” Martinez added. “However, as far as we know, they haven’t filed anything in court and may be running out of time to do so.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pr63a\">On March 24, 2021, Unicorn Riot launched a legal defense fund to help cover its legal bills, saying it takes seriously its obligation to protect its sources and not yield to demands for its footage and records from companies or the government.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSRZWU_-_Reuters_-_Terray_Sylves.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"g29fe\">A protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in Saint Anthony, North Dakota, in October 2016. Pipeline operator Energy Transfer subpoenaed Unicorn Riot and its reporter in March 2021 for materials gathered during its coverage of the 2016 protests.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-12-16 14:00:00+00:00) Judge quashes subpoena for Unicorn Riot documents related to 2016-2017 DAPL protests",
"(2023-09-27 00:00:00+00:00) Dakota Pipeline operator appeals decision quashing subpoena for Unicorn Riot documents",
"(2024-05-06 00:00:00+00:00) Appeals court agrees that pipeline operator cannot subpoena nonprofit’s documents"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Unicorn Riot"
],
"tags": [
"environmentalism",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"quashed"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Independent journalist shoved by police during LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-shoved-by-police-during-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-19T19:32:10.663169Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:53:23.309851Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:53:23.221772Z",
"date": "2021-03-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p676b\">Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved by a police officer while documenting protests in Los Angeles, California, on March 13, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0dbg\">Protesters<a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-13/los-angeles-police-and-protesters-clash-in-hollywood\"> had gathered in Hollywood</a> to mark the first anniversary of the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, in Louisville, Kentucky. 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></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Antifa march through Hollywood for <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BreonnaTaylor?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BreonnaTaylor</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/kVVZtPKM6R\">pic.twitter.com/kVVZtPKM6R</a></p>— Notorious Lefty-Desiree McLefty Face (@TinaDesireeBerg) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TinaDesireeBerg/status/1370959478317666304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 14, 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=\"3kitf\">Los Angeles Police Department officers and protesters engaged in a tense standoff at the intersection of Vine Street and Lexington Avenue at approximately 9:30 p.m., the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-13/los-angeles-police-and-protesters-clash-in-hollywood\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jkgbh\">Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she had caught up to the crowd as individuals began throwing water bottles and other objects toward police and the officers were pushing the crowd back in response.</p><p data-block-key=\"2xhhx\">“As I was filming this, one of the officers came up to me and started pushing and shoving me down,” Berg said. “One of the activists — I don’t know her name — said to the LAPD officer, ‘Stop pushing her, she’s press, she’s not one of us, she’s press.’ Next thing I know they’ve jumped on this protester and pinned her to the ground and they arrested her for this.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sg9sr\">Berg continued to try to film the arrest near the northeast corner of the intersection, according to footage she <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_a_dxNbzAI\">published</a> with the online outlet Status Coup, which describes itself as a progressive media company. A second officer approached her and other members of the press. In the footage, the officer can be heard saying, “You are interfering with our ability to see what is going on. Can you please back up a few feet.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hpl05\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1371030853132808195\">a clip</a> captured by independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, a different LAPD officer can be seen shoving someone — identified by Beckner-Carmitchel as Berg — backward.</p><p data-block-key=\"put3w\">Immediately after, an individual can be heard asking the officer, “What’s your problem?” The officer responds, “Don’t put the light in my face!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Another instance of shoving. It appears as though an officer shoved <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TinaDesireeBerg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TinaDesireeBerg</a> over her camera light:<br><br>Also: I don’t have a great angle of this but this was after a police officer kicked an air conditioner into the crowd of journos.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/uspresstracker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@uspresstracker</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/iBW11F1BFS\">pic.twitter.com/iBW11F1BFS</a></p>— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1371030853132808195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 14, 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=\"oub9b\">Berg confirmed to the Tracker that the officer had pushed her, adding she has footage of the officer’s hand coming at her camera lens. She added that she often has found officers to be more hostile to the press when the journalists are filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"8dk6c\">At a protest <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-police-baton-lens-damaged-while-covering-echo-park-lake-protest/\">10 days later</a>, another LAPD officer confronted Berg about the light on her camera and then struck her camera lens and then jabbed her in the abdomen with a baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"did30\">Berg said she was wearing press credentials on a lanyard around her neck, including one issued by the Los Angeles Press Club and another that identified her as a journalist for Status Coup.</p><p data-block-key=\"cumv2\">The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.</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": "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": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"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": [
"Tina-Desiree Berg (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Law enforcement agencies photograph journalists and their IDs as they cover protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/law-enforcement-agencies-photograph-journalists-and-their-ids-as-they-cover-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-14T12:41:42.112840Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-09T20:53:43.337062Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-09T20:53:43.216232Z",
"date": "2021-03-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"95w4t\">During the spring of 2021, at least 31 journalists covering protests in two cities had their faces, IDs or press credentials photographed by law enforcement agencies, according to accounts from the media and the journalists involved. Those photographed were covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon. Law enforcement agencies in both cities did not disclose why they documented the identities of the journalists or what was done with the images they captured.</p><p data-block-key=\"g8rr0\"><b>Portland</b></p><p data-block-key=\"a8hjh\">On March 12, the Portland Police Bureau detained more than 100 protesters and at least six journalists by surrounding them using a “kettle” maneuver in the city’s downtown Pearl District. After initially detaining the crowd, police ordered members of the press to leave the kettle, despite a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/10/journalists-legal-observers-remain-exempt-from-federal-dispersal-orders-while-feds-appeal-injunction-appeals-court-rules.html?utm_campaign=oregonian_sf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social\">court order</a> prohibiting Portland officers from dispersing media and legal observers who are monitoring protests. Six journalists who were ordered to leave the kettle said that officers required them to show a government-issued ID and be photographed before their release. Some specified that police took photos of them without masks and with strips of duct tape across their chests on which police had written the journalists’ names and dates of birth.</p><p data-block-key=\"v1pg7\">Photojournalist <b>Maranie Rae Staab</b>, who has freelanced for The Washington Post and The New York Times, posted footage of her forced removal from the kettle.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was just forcibly removed from the scene by several <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PortlandPolice</a> ofcrs. <br><br>I am a credentialed member of the press & made clear I wantd to stay & report. <br><br>I was dragged out, labeled w/tape & photographed.<br><br>This was a deliberate action to prevent accountability. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#portland</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/zfF32oW0vY\">pic.twitter.com/zfF32oW0vY</a></p>— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaranieRae/status/1370645525691703296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 13, 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=\"gllxf\">“I’m a member of the press,” Staab is heard explaining as three PPB officers tell her they’ve asked the press to leave. “It’s my job. I am a member of the press. I want to report, I do not want to leave.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dre74\">Officers then proceed to escort her out despite her protestations, and an officer can be heard saying, “You have to leave.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j89nv\">Independent journalist <b>Adam Costello</b>, who was covering the same Portland protest, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AdamnCostelloTV/status/1370691809031069697\">wrote on Twitter</a> that officers pulled him out of the kettle and ordered him to identify himself and tell them his date of birth.</p><p data-block-key=\"k793b\">“They wrote it on a piece of duct tape and took a picture of me,” wrote Costello, who publishes to social media and the online publishing platform <a href=\"https://medium.com/@AdamnCostello/mutual-aid-is-shaping-a-new-future-for-portland-143ac4d6444\">Medium</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"0zni9\">Freelance journalist <b>Laura Jedeed</b>, whose work has been published by Salon and Willamette Week, among others, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LauraJedeed/status/1370649465648947203\">reported</a> a similar experience of being photographed before officers ejected her.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Update: I have been escorted out of the kettle<br><br>They put my name and DOB on a piece of duct tape and took a picture of me without my mask on<br><br>Then they escorted me out past the police line</p>— Laura Jedeed, Non-Fungible (@LauraJedeed) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LauraJedeed/status/1370649465648947203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 13, 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=\"07mej\">“The cop told me if I committed criminal activity I would be arrested and I laughed,” Jedeed wrote in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LauraJedeed/status/1370649466949173252\">subsequent tweet</a>. “He asked me why I didn’t leave with the rest of the press and I said I wanted to document. Then he let me go.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mt3qk\">Similar experiences were reported by freelance journalists <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1370605786922020868\"><b>Alissa Azar</b></a>, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1370605669678604290\"><b>Garrison Davis</b></a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/suzettesmith/status/1370628730473775106\"><b>Suzette Smith</b></a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvk46\">Oregon Public Broadcasting <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2021/03/13/portland-police-protests-kettle-protesters\">reported</a> that the journalists removed from the kettle were escorted more than a block away, where they could no longer see what was happening inside the kettle. According to OPB’s story, bureau spokesperson Sgt. Kevin Allen said that journalists were not forced to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"fizdn\">“PPB did not ‘remove’ the press,” Allen said. “Legal observers, press, and medically fragile individuals were all offered a chance to leave if they wished as they were not being detained. Those that stayed were escorted out one by one.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9ouar\">Allen did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment about the law enforcement actions to identify and photograph journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"r45q7\"><b>Brooklyn Center</b></p><p data-block-key=\"8vjiy\">At least 25 journalists covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, reported having their faces, press credentials and government-issued IDs photographed by local and state law enforcement during a period of several days of public demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"41t7v\">The demonstrations began after the fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on April 11, which occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. The events rekindled a nationwide wave of racial justice protests that began almost a year earlier after Floyd’s death. In Brooklyn Center, protests <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/11/us/brooklyn-center-minnesota-police-shooting.html\">began outside the police department</a> the day Wright was killed and continued daily through mid-April.</p><p data-block-key=\"8xl31\">One of the first journalists to report law enforcement actions to record reporters’ identities was <b>Sloane Martin</b>, a reporter for Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO. On April 14, Martin<a href=\"https://twitter.com/SloaneMartin/status/1382559823368232962\"> posted on Twitter</a> that law enforcement officers took photographs of her press credential and her identification while she was covering demonstrations that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3gbf\">Martin wrote that she was in a gas station trying to return to her car, and she shouted “Press!” to a line of officers from a distance to identify herself. An officer whom she believes was a Minnesota State Patrol trooper shouted at her to get on her knees, but another officer directed her to come over and show her ID, she wrote. Martin didn’t respond to requests for comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was not asked to the ground but they did the same thing: took pictures of my credential and ID. I was in a brightly-lit gas station, otherwise I would have been nervous to approach the line of law enforcement trying to get back to my car. I shouted “press” from a distance <a href=\"https://t.co/TVZneIXL1D\">https://t.co/TVZneIXL1D</a></p>— Sloane Martin (@SloaneMartin) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SloaneMartin/status/1382559823368232962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2021</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"okdgp\">Martin’s tweet was in response to a clip posted by Fox News reporter Lauren Blanchard, who, on the same night of April 14, was ordered to the ground and detained by police alongside her news crew. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/arrest-criminal-charge/?categories=4&city=Brooklyn%20Center&date_lower=2021-04-14&date_upper=2021-04-14\">At least six journalists</a> who were detained or arrested while covering demonstrations that night had their faces and identification photographed before they were released:</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"756ys\"><b>Lauren Blanchard</b>, Fox News national correspondent</li><li data-block-key=\"fvd0u\"><b>Les Baker</b>, Fox News national photojournalist</li><li data-block-key=\"ohkwn\"><b>Naasir Akailvi</b>, The Neighborhood Reporter journalist</li><li data-block-key=\"aqcn1\"><b>Nick Rojas</b>, Fox News national producer</li><li data-block-key=\"oynfn\"><b>Niko Georgiades</b>, Unicorn Riot journalist</li><li data-block-key=\"evqtz\"><b>Tracy Gunapalan</b>, The Neighborhood Reporter journalist</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"amlit\">Two days later on April 16, Minnesota District Judge Wilhelmina Wright granted a motion for a <a href=\"https://www.aclu-mn.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/goyette_tro_granted.pdf\">temporary restraining order</a> barring all local law enforcement agencies from arresting, threatening to arrest, using physical force against or seizing the equipment of journalists documenting the demonstrations. That same day, law enforcement surrounded a crowd that included members of the press in a “kettle” and established a “media checkpoint” where journalists had their faces, press passes and IDs photographed before they were permitted to leave the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"7gz3w\">ACLU of Minnesota’s Legal Director Teresa Nelson <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20618245-letter-to-judge-wright-journalists-covering-minnesota-protests\">sent a letter</a> to Wright on April 17, condemning the actions of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner and the Minnesota State Patrol, which are defendants in a suit brought by the organization. The letter reads, in part: “Last night, hours after the TRO [temporary restraining order] took effect, the State Defendants escalated the level of assault and harassment of journalists to an intolerable degree.”</p><p data-block-key=\"n6mve\">According to the letter, freelance photojournalists <b>Chris Juhn</b> and <b>Chris Tuite</b>, who were covering protests the day the court order was issued, both were ordered to go to the checkpoint. Tuite said he was also roughly grabbed by officers with enough force to rip his shirt, which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-threatened-assaulted-by-minnesota-state-patrol-while-covering-brooklyn-center-protest/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"227al\">“To get out of their kettle, we had to take off our gas masks and helmets and hand them our media passes and IDs. They took photos of our faces up close and then of our IDs and media passes,” Tuite said. “They told us nothing of what they were going to do with the photos, and they essentially brushed it off as, ‘We just want to make sure you guys are legit.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"5xual\">Minneapolis Star Tribune reporters <b>Susan Du</b> and <b>Liz Sawyer</b> were also directed to the April 16 checkpoint which was set up at a nearby Pump n’ Munch gas station, according to footage Sawyer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bylizsawyer/status/1383260779084861444?lang=en\">posted to Twitter</a> that night.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here’s a photo of me filming members of State Patrol process my colleagues, including <a href=\"https://twitter.com/shijundu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@shijundu</a>. Our credentials are huge.<br>📸 by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/benjovland?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@benjovland</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/HBwWfbkcyA\">pic.twitter.com/HBwWfbkcyA</a></p>— Liz Sawyer (@ByLizSawyer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ByLizSawyer/status/1383448556011286529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 17, 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=\"tqj28\">A student journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Tracker she was separated from a group of other student journalists reporting at the protest and found herself in the kettle.</p><p data-block-key=\"strul\">“As people either escaped or were arrested around me, I ended up alone on the completely cleared-out block on Humboldt,” she said. “I approached some state troopers holding out my press pass who yelled at me to join a group of reporters who had already been detained in front of a gas station.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ypmlv\">Both Du and Sawyer were among the journalists in the group the student was directed to join, and she, too, had her face and forms of identification photographed.</p><p data-block-key=\"fubmw\">“I have no idea what they are using those photos for, we were not told, but I obviously found that disturbing and a violation of our rights as reporters,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"n63t6\">Three AFP journalists — photographer <b>Chandan Khanna</b>, videographer <b>Eléonore Sens</b> and reporter <b>Robin Legrand</b> — were <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EleonoreSens/status/1383293566265348101\">pepper sprayed</a> by Minnesota State Patrol troopers and then ordered to pass through the media checkpoint as well, according to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EleonoreSens/status/1383308927069167620\">footage</a> Sens posted to Twitter.</p><p data-block-key=\"amldi\">Khanna, who is an Indian citizen, told the Tracker that when he showed his ID to law enforcement at the checkpoint, the officer asked to see his passport. Khanna said he didn’t have his passport with him, but the officer pressed him for it. When Khanna pulled up a photo of his passport from an online folder, the officer photographed it and asked to see Khanna’s visa, photographing it as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"citsc\">Khanna said he is worried about what will happen with the photographs and wonders what the officer will do with the information.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kf68\">“It's my privacy, my information. Why will I share my information with anybody?” Khanna said.</p><p data-block-key=\"hkead\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/arrest-criminal-charge/?categories=4&city=Brooklyn%20Center&date_lower=2021-04-16&date_upper=2021-04-16\">At least 10 journalists</a> were ordered to get on the ground or kettled prior to having their credentials and IDs photographed on April 16, which the Tracker classifies as detainments. These journalists include:</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"fcgvt\"><b>Aaron Nesheim</b>, freelance photojournalist on assignment for The New York Times</li><li data-block-key=\"kpesd\"><b>Alex Kent</b>, independent photojournalist</li><li data-block-key=\"awfxn\"><b>Babs Santos</b>, Fox 9 News correspondent</li><li data-block-key=\"5qfqo\"><b>J.D. Duggan</b>, freelance journalist</li><li data-block-key=\"cns2a\"><b>Jasper Colt</b>, USA Today photojournalist</li><li data-block-key=\"5x627\"><b>Joshua Rashaad McFadden</b>, freelance photojournalist on assignment for The New York Times</li><li data-block-key=\"6fz6p\"><b>Leah Millis</b>, Reuters photojournalist</li><li data-block-key=\"1j5rw\"><b>Liz Flores</b>, Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist</li><li data-block-key=\"srvp2\"><b>Reg Chapman</b>, WCCO reporter</li><li data-block-key=\"7umhl\"><b>Renee Jones Schneider</b>, Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"jma1k\">According to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, troopers photographed journalists and their credentials “in order to expedite the identification process,” and the journalists were allowed to continue reporting after being identified. While some of the journalists confirmed to the Tracker that they were able to resume covering the protests, some left the area immediately. Those that remained said they were directed to a media staging area more than a block away from the kettle, which made it impossible to document police activities.</p><p data-block-key=\"9aqly\">The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, signed a letter to Gov. Tim Walz and the heads of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Minnesota State Patrol and Minnesota Department of Corrections detailing what it said were violations of the TRO, as well as the concerns of more than a dozen press freedom and media organizations. Among the concerns was that the images might be entered into a facial recognition service such as Clearview AI, which has been used by both the Minneapolis Police Department and the <a href=\"https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/bca-divisions/investigations/Pages/mnfc.aspx?utm_campaign=04_25_2021&utm_medium=email&utm_source=tpfp_newsletter&utm_content=minnesota_fusion_center_about_page\">Minnesota Fusion Center</a> to monitor and target individuals, including protesters, <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/tech-press-freedom-april-25-2021/\">according to RCFP</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"g54se\">“Whatever the intent behind this ‘cataloging’ of journalists, it was deeply disturbing for those involved, and it has caused much fear regarding what use might be made of these photographs and accompanying identifying information in the future, including full names, dates of birth and home addresses,” the letter reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"cfc9t\">“We hope that any photos that were improperly taken will be expunged rather than stashed away in a law enforcement database,” RCFP <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/tech-press-freedom-april-25-2021/\">said</a> in a post about the violations.</p><p data-block-key=\"1qo6r\">On April 17, Walz <a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/gov-tim-walz-calls-assault-detention-of-journalists-covering-protests-unacceptable/600047293/?utm_campaign=04_25_2021&utm_medium=email&utm_source=tpfp_newsletter&utm_content=star_tribune_article\">told the Minneapolis Star Tribune</a> that law enforcement officers would no longer photograph journalists’ faces and credentials, noting it “created a pretty Orwellian picture.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9eg2b\">Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell also noted that the photographs were “a misstep on our part,” the Star Tribune reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"rress\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?tags=111\">here</a>. To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\">pressfreedomtracker.us</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/smith_chilling_2021.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cjfwm\">“Here’s a photo of the officer taking my photo,” journalist Suzette Smith tweeted. While covering a Portland protest, Smith became one of at least 30 journalists photographed by law enforcement at protests.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": null,
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Local journalist hit with pepper balls while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/local-journalist-hit-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-21T18:00:58.679486Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-03-10T20:12:27.581247Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-03-10T20:12:27.521926Z",
"date": "2021-03-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"egvaf\">James Croxton, managing editor of Oregon-based <a href=\"https://doublesidedmedia.com/revealing-the-work-behind-the-story/blog/\">DoubledSided541</a>, which describes itself as an independent media collective, said he was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jwcroxton/status/1370262384250548226\">hit when federal officers fired crowd-control munitions</a> at a small group of journalists covering a March 11, 2021, protest near the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"hsy08\"><a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/03/13-arrested-after-police-kettle-over-100-protesters-in-portlands-pearl-district.html\">The protest was one of many</a> during March in the city’s Pearl District, a popular downtown area where former warehouses are converted to restaurants. The protests have resulted in streets being closed, fires, damage to city property and shop windows smashed, according to The Oregonian. Protests have been taking place in Portland regularly <a href=\"https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/22/us/portland-riot-protesters-charged/index.html\">starting in spring 2020</a>, partly linked to Black Lives Matter but also around issues such as defunding police, environmental actions and other <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/03/police-conduct-mass-arrests-during-pearl-district-protest.html\">social justice issues</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"72uej\">Croxton, who also works for neighborhood news site Village Portland, said he was on 4th Ave., close to the Salmon St. intersection, when the small group of reporters came across what looked to be a canister of HC gas, <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2020/10/10/portland-tear-gas-chemical-grenades-protests/\">a toxic smoke bomb used by the military</a>, burning in the street. Local news outlet Oregon Live has covered incidents of HC gas reportedly being used by the Portland police to disperse protesters “two dozen times.” The gas contains <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/03/police-conduct-mass-arrests-during-pearl-district-protest.html\">hexaclorotethane and is toxic</a>, Oregon Live reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"czqy1\">Croxton said that he had been looking for evidence that police were using chemicals against protesters and the media; he said he has been documenting that in conjunction with the Portland-based research and activist group <a href=\"https://www.chemicalweaponsresearch.com/\">Chemical Weapons Research Consortium</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"fcdxd\">“Just a couple of seconds after I had walked up to the canister to document, the Federal Protective Service [part of Homeland Security] turned their pepper balls towards us and shot at our feet and ankles,” Croxton told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He said some of the munitions also hit higher on his body, leaving “powder from impacts on my jacket.”</p><p data-block-key=\"u5l58\">Croxton said the pepper balls caused him sharp, but temporary, pain as he walked back from the canister. “Fortunately, pepper ball pains go away relatively quickly,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ipvu\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jwcroxton/status/1370262384250548226?s=20\">video footage of the incident</a>, a small group of people with video cameras, some of whom are clearly wearing “PRESS” on their clothing, or wearing “PRESS” badges, are seen taking footage and don’t appear to be close to protesters. The sound of what appears to be munitions being fired can be heard.</p><p data-block-key=\"20vni\">Croxton said he believed he was deliberately targeted by law enforcement. “It is unmistakable that the FPS shot at the press. I am, at the very least, very identifiable and have clearly visible 'PRESS' markings.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ihre0\">“I intentionally try my best to stand-out from the rest of the crowd. My press credentials are also light-colored and are made to be seen from a distance,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"c7y3t\">Croxton told the Tracker: “It's extremely disheartening to be targeted and, essentially, assaulted by the very people who are supposed to ‘protect us.’ I think I can speak for many more than just myself in saying that instances like this during the last year have radicalized our views towards law enforcement.”</p><p data-block-key=\"s0qmo\">The Oregonian reported that <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/03/portland-protesters-marched-cleaned-windows-and-left-the-pearl-district-this-time-with-no-clashes.html\">federal officers drove demonstrators</a> away from the courthouse in downtown Portland that night after fires were started and the building was damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"0pvfc\">Officers were deploying impact munitions, tear gas, flash-bang grenades and smoke bombs, the paper reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"adp2s\">Since July, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-camera-damaged-during-arrest-in-portland/\">court rulings</a> from the U.S. District Court in Oregon have barred law enforcement officers from the <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">Portland Police Bureau</a> and <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">federal agencies</a> from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests, as the Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-camera-damaged-during-arrest-in-portland/\">has previously reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jygq0\">The DHS Office of Public Affairs has not responded to a Tracker request for a comment.</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": "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": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"James Croxton (Double Sided Media)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Researcher documenting Portland protests hit by pepper ball",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/researcher-documenting-portland-protests-hit-by-pepper-ball/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-21T17:56:19.994245Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:54:07.050995Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:54:06.962519Z",
"date": "2021-03-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h13gg\">Independent researcher and scientist Juniper Simonis said they were targeted and hit by a pepper ball fired by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on March 11, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gcuo\">Simonis said they have been publishing information for several months about law enforcement’s use of chemical irritants at protests on Twitter, for a research and activist group called the <a href=\"https://www.chemicalweaponsresearch.com/\">Chemical Weapons Research Consortium</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.weouthere.net/2021/03/pay-no-attention-to-the-gross-negligence-behind-the-smoke/\">with other outlets</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"xfswk\">According to local NBC-affiliate<a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/crowd-becomes-destructive-outside-federal-courthouse-in-downtown-portland-officers-deploy-tear-gas/283-7338ea54-532a-496d-a3b2-8195d9e9a698\"> KGW8</a>, a crowd gathered outside the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland to protest against police violence shortly after the courthouse's surrounding fence had been taken down. The article says that around 9 p.m., photographs of smashed windows, burning flags and graffiti-sprayed walls surfaced online. Federal officers responded with tear gas, arrests and chemical munitions, according to CBS-affiliate<a href=\"https://www.koin.com/news/protests/portland-protesters-protect-the-land-end-america/\"> KOIN6</a>. Protests have been taking place in Portland regularly <a href=\"https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/22/us/portland-riot-protesters-charged/index.html\">starting in spring 2020</a>, partly linked to Black Lives Matter but also around issues such as defunding police, environmental actions and other <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/03/police-conduct-mass-arrests-during-pearl-district-protest.html\">social justice issues</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"sykfc\">Around 11:30 p.m., Simonis said they were near the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and South Salmon Street where federal officers had deployed what they identified as an "HC grenade," which stands for hexachloroethane. This common ingredient in smoke devices has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a likely carcinogen, and could be potentially deadly, according to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/01/portland-researcher-finds-federal-agents-used-toxic-smoke-grenades-during-summer-protests.html\"> The Oregonian</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"1xqg1\">"I was shot in the right boob as I was picking it up and putting it in a container," Simonis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. "The pepper ball left significant bruising over the next week."</p><p data-block-key=\"ktlnp\">Simonis documents and collects the physical items to add to a munitions library collection that the Chemical Weapons Research Consortium is developing into a research archive. Closer to midnight, Simonis found another HC grenade a block over near South Salmon Street and Southwest Fifth Avenue.</p><p data-block-key=\"8a1yh\">Simonis said they had a press badge, a card they made that had their photograph with the publications they write for listed and the word “PRESS” in large letters, visibly displayed. "They [officers] call me doctor and professor," they added. "They know who I am. I'm also a 6 feet 2 inches visibly trans person...they definitely targeted me."</p><p data-block-key=\"hdxvs\">Simonis also said they experienced negative symptoms in the days following this incident with the HT smoke. "That's why I'm researching it," Simonis said. "For me, that translated to diarrhea, massive lethargy for two days — very common with heavy metal poisoning — and I also had Costochondritis. That is basically inflammation of the cartilage around your sternum."</p><p data-block-key=\"knfsv\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t 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>",
"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": "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": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Juniper Simonis (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist hit multiple times with projectiles while covering Portland protest around a proposed oil pipeline",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-multiple-times-with-projectiles-while-covering-portland-protest-round-a-proposed-oil-pipeline/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-10T13:59:47.095938Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:53:43.280837Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:53:43.187950Z",
"date": "2021-03-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1lt01\">Independent video journalist Mason Lake said he was targeted with multiple crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on March 11, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"j70jc\">According to <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2021/03/12/protesters-vandalize-portlands-federal-courthouse-again/\">Oregon Public Broadcasting</a>, demonstrators gathered outside the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland to protest a proposed oil pipeline between Alberta, Canada, and Wisconsin that <a href=\"https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/anishinaabe-communities-fight-against-line-3-pipeline\">three Anishinaabe communities and environmental organizations</a> say would violate native treaty rights. Over the course of two hours, multiple skirmishes erupted as protesters set fires and officers deployed crowd-control munitions and arrested people, according to <a href=\"https://www.koin.com/news/protests/portland-protesters-protect-the-land-end-america/\">KOIN</a>, a Portland CBS affiliate.</p><p data-block-key=\"qdz66\">“I got shot up SO many times last night by DHS & Federal ICE & BORTAC officers,” Lake <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1370297427782111235?s=20\">tweeted</a> at 12:55 a.m. on March 12. Border Patrol Tactical Unit teams were previously deployed by the Trump administration <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2020/07/29/very-serious-conversations-underway-to-remove-federal-officers-from-portland/\">during the height of the July protests</a> in Portland, alongside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Homeland Security officers.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I got shot up SO many times last night by DHS & Federal ICE & BORTAC officers. Gassed also. As usual... So far 6 noticeable hits, see whats bruised in the morning 🤕🤕🤕 <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#portland</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/munitions?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#munitions</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/feds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#feds</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/shoot?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#shoot</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/press?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#press</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/7yv91cXLSQ\">pic.twitter.com/7yv91cXLSQ</a></p>— Mason Lake Media (@MasonLakePhoto) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1370297427782111235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 12, 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=\"ol96z\">Lake posted photos of bruises that he said came from at least six hits, even though “I was mark[ed] as press from all angles. The chest, back, thighs, foot,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"x2lmp\">During one of the incidents, Lake said a federal officer shot him in the back with several high impact marking rounds. In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGQPLGXJqLQ\">video</a> posted to Youtube, sounds of rounds being fired can be heard at 0:17, right before Lake whips his camera around and marches up to the officer who shot him. At 2:30 a.m., Lake <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1370318699056394242?s=20\">tweeted a similar video</a> of a canister releasing what he identified as “HC Smoke,” which stands for hexachloroethane, a “common ingredient in smoke devices that the Environmental Protection Agency has classified as a likely carcinogen” and could be potentially deadly, according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/01/portland-researcher-finds-federal-agents-used-toxic-smoke-grenades-during-summer-protests.html\">The Oregonian</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"qkcqq\">“These rounds are meant to mark people for detainment. I was committing no crime whatsoever, I was not disobeying any orders given,” Lake told the Tracker. “This leads one to believe that the DHS officer was purely trying to deter me from filming the canister by inflicting physical harm onto me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0800h\">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.</p><p data-block-key=\"8igwl\">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>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Lake_assault_031121.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"umsvu\">Independent videographer Mason Lake said he was hit with this crowd-control munition and others on March 11, 2021, while covering a demonstration in Portland against a proposed oil pipeline between Canada and the U.S.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "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": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"environmentalism",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mason Lake (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"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>",
"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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Idaho",
"abbreviation": "ID"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"coronavirus"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Keith Ridler (The Associated Press)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"quashed"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"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": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/March-9-order.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"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,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": "Microsoft",
"third_party_business": "tech company",
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified journalist 16 (Project Veritas)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"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>",
"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": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"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": [
"Vishal Singh (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"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>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/March-5-warrant.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"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>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": "Microsoft",
"third_party_business": "tech company",
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"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": "",
"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": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"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": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"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,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"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": "",
"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,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"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>",
"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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Isadora Rangel (Florida Today)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"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>",
"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": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-06-01 00:00:00+00:00) Cases resolved in theft of KNTV news crew’s camera"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified journalist 8 (KNTV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"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>",
"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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Louisiana",
"abbreviation": "LA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"public records"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Andrea Gallo (The Advocate and The Times-Picayune)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"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": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Kirchgaessner_subpoena.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"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>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": "Unknown",
"third_party_business": "telecom company",
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice",
"immigration"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Stephanie Kirchgaessner (The Guardian)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"carried out"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"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>",
"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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Breaking Media Inc."
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"quashed"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"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": "",
"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": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"coronavirus",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"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>",
"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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anonymous photojournalist 3 (WRCB)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
]
}
]
