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[
{
"title": "Photographer detained at Arizona Capitol while documenting protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-detained-at-arizona-capitol-while-documenting-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-29T22:19:25.309147Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:15:49.715017Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-05T19:15:49.629320Z",
"date": "2022-06-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Phoenix",
"longitude": -112.07404,
"latitude": 33.44838,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dmai7\">Photographer Jack Sorgi was detained by Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers while documenting reproductive rights protests at the capitol building in Phoenix on June 25, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"arar1\">Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s<a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html\"> controversial ruling</a> overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy. The Republic <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2022/06/26/abortion-rights-protesters-pull-down-arizona-capitol-fence-4-arrested/7741963001/\">reported</a> that protesters in Phoenix gathered at the Arizona Capitol complex, pounding on the doors and windows of the Senate building while the legislature was in session.</p><p data-block-key=\"8cobh\">Troopers set up temporary fences around the perimeter of the Capitol the following morning, according to The Republic.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2su4\">Sorgi, who documents for LLN Arizona, part of a <a href=\"https://lln.live/\">newsgathering collective</a>, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that hundreds gathered for demonstrations at the complex that day until most dispersed at around 11 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9ffh\">“Around the 11:15 p.m. mark, that’s when protesters started grabbing on the chain link fence that surrounded the Capitol,” Sorgi said. “[They] started shaking it, eventually pulling the fence down about a dozen feet of the fence.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fprnk\">Approximately 45 seconds later, Sorgi said state troopers announced that it was an unlawful assembly and dozens of troopers swarmed the area from the north and south sides of the Capitol.</p><p data-block-key=\"1o7lg\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LLN_Jack/status/1540968377807536128\">footage</a> Sorgi captured of the incident, a line of troopers can be seen running out from behind the fences with some shouting “Get on the ground!” and “Back up!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Following hours of sit-ins and marches a small group remained after 11 PM at the state capitol where they began attempting to take down the fence surrounding the building. DPS quickly swarmed the area and surrounded the group ordering everyone to the floor (myself included) <a href=\"https://t.co/9Tis98JsLB\">pic.twitter.com/9Tis98JsLB</a></p>— LLN Jack | Phoenix Metro (@LLN_Jack) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LLN_Jack/status/1540968377807536128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 26, 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=\"dmai7\">The video continues as Sorgi moves away from the advancing troopers toward the sidewalk where multiple individuals who appear to be photographers and legal observers are already kneeling on the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ebnq\">Sorgi told the Tracker he verbally identified himself as press while holding his press pass out in front of him. He also said he was wearing a T-shirt with “media” printed across the front and back.</p><p data-block-key=\"9o2n7\">“Get all the way down man, all the way down,” a state trooper directs him in the footage. “I don’t care what your pass says.”</p><p data-block-key=\"17kc2\">Sorgi said that after getting on the ground he tried to position his camera at the trooper who was giving him orders, but the trooper told him to put his hands “all the way down” and grabbed his camera by the lens hood and forced it into the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"batcs\">At least one other journalist, Arizona Republic photojournalist Alberto Mariani, was also detained by state troopers that night. The Tracker has documented that incident <a href=\"/all-incidents/arizona-republic-photographer-detained-while-documenting-protests/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2rv4f\">Sorgi continued to record as multiple individuals nearby were allowed to stand and leave the area. After approximately a minute on the ground, Sorgi said a trooper who appeared to be supervising the others said, “This guy has a camera, get him out of here.” Sorgi was then directed to stand and follow the others across the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"7q1cq\">When reached for comment, DPS Media Relations Specialist Bart Graves provided this statement: “They were in a restricted area and once they identified themselves as news media (via credentials) they were released. Local media are well aware of the rules.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4paqd\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Sorgi.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"lrnrs\">LLN Arizona photographer Jack Sorgi, center, was ordered to get on the ground and briefly detained by state troopers while documenting reproductive rights protests in Phoenix on June 25, 2022.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Arizona Department of Public Safety",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"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": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"court verdict",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jack Sorgi (LLN Arizona)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Videographer assaulted, detained while covering reproductive rights protests in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-assaulted-detained-while-covering-reproductive-rights-protests-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-28T20:29:02.718160Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-12-13T21:04:34.651119Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-12-13T21:04:34.469497Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"l94s3\">Independent videographer Vishal Singh was assaulted by law enforcement officers and detained in a kettle while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"bg7en\">Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, which had previously protected the right to abortion under the right to privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"4l5us\">Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when he arrived at Los Angeles City Hall shortly after 6 p.m. to cover the demonstrations, the crowds seemed relatively calm, despite hundreds of people already gathered.</p><p data-block-key=\"9hbbs\">As the crowds started marching in different directions, Singh said Los Angeles Police Department officers stopped him and two other reporters behind the protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"fv2d0\">“I asked them if there was a media viewing area,” Singh said, “and we were eventually let go, but I get frustrated with even these momentary restrictions to access because things happen so quickly during protests.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Journalists temporarily denied entry as officers assault pro-abortion/pro-choice protesters. We asked about the media viewing zone but were met with no actual reply. <a href=\"https://t.co/8EBkk00IRI\">pic.twitter.com/8EBkk00IRI</a></p>— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1540530461012684800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"l94s3\">Singh told the Tracker that after officers allowed the journalists to continue following the crowd, he immediately saw a clash between protesters and police. He started filming the encounter when an officer approached him.</p><p data-block-key=\"9kifv\">“He walked toward me, grabbed me by the shoulders, and shoved me,” Singh said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD threatens to hit pro-abortion/pro-choice protesters with their vehicle. As folks move out of the way, impatient riot police start shoving people aside, myself included. <a href=\"https://t.co/aCJkyBnUwz\">pic.twitter.com/aCJkyBnUwz</a></p>— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1540532896343023616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"l94s3\">Singh said he followed protesters for most of the night and saw police becoming increasingly aggressive. At one point, an officer pointed a crowd-control weapon at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2kmu\">“I started filming some b-roll from the sidewalk, focusing my frame when I heard yelling coming from the left,” Singh said, “and when I looked over, I’m staring down the barrel of a riot launcher pointed at my head.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">While I'm filming a police vehicle, I look to my left and stare down the barrel of a 40mm riot gun. This is how LAPD responded tonight. With violence. Soon after this clip they opened fire. <a href=\"https://t.co/6V775G64AR\">pic.twitter.com/6V775G64AR</a></p>— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1540568241671528448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"l94s3\">Singh said as he backed away from the area an officer noticed him filming and shoved him toward a crowd of people. Afterward, he noticed the press pass he was wearing on a lanyard around his neck had fallen off and was lost.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As LAPD opens fire with riot munitions at point blank range on pro-choice and pro-abortion protesters, I try and get a shot of an officer with a 40mm riot gun and another officer shoves me nearly to the ground. <a href=\"https://t.co/P4s9VDc7PZ\">pic.twitter.com/P4s9VDc7PZ</a></p>— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1540569433860583424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"l94s3\">“I got up, and obviously, I was shaken, and at that point, all hell broke loose,” Singh said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ep3m7\">Singh said he saw police officers assault other journalists, including <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-struck-shoved-to-ground-while-documenting-la-protests-on-reproductive-rights/\">Tina Desiree-Berg</a> and <a href=\"/all-incidents/beverly-hills-courier-reporter-shoved-by-police-officers-while-covering-reproductive-rights-protests/\">Samuel Braslow</a>. Soon after, he realized officers were forming a kettle around him and other journalists and protesters.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Journalists kettled. <a href=\"https://t.co/VngJUNwtGw\">pic.twitter.com/VngJUNwtGw</a></p>— Vishal P. Singh (they/he) 🏳️⚧️ (@VPS_Reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1540586549665886208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"l94s3\">“I continually asked the officers if an unlawful assembly had been officially issued or if there was a dispersal order,” Singh said, but to no response. According to Singh, he was allowed to leave after an officer read a dispersal order.</p><p data-block-key=\"8dru6\">Singh was among several journalists assaulted or detained by LAPD officers while covering the protests. <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-25/lapd-treatment-of-journalists-denounced-again-after-abortion-rights-protest-downtown\">The Los Angeles Times</a> reported that police officers repeatedly ignored<a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-california-27c9b8a1c530df4344b4909fd8d7993d\"> a law signed in October 2021</a> that protected journalists from interference by law enforcement and expanded the rights of journalists covering protests during the civil protests:</p><p data-block-key=\"ce6v\">“According to Times reporters, witnesses' videos and interviews with other media members on the ground, journalists were pushed, struck with batons, forced out of areas where they had a right to observe police activity and blocked from entering other areas where police and protesters were clashing and arrests were being made.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2obf7\">LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Times that the department would be investigating the complaints made by members of the press. The LAPD did not return emailed requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"dtd0t\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"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": [
"court verdict",
"kettle",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Vishal Singh (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Independent videographer detained while documenting LA reproductive rights protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-detained-while-documenting-la-reproductive-rights-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-27T20:51:37.047452Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:14:05.125927Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-05T19:14:05.057664Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"c65ml\">Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was repeatedly shoved and detained in a kettle alongside other journalists while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ffhl\">Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html\">controversial ruling</a> overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"afh82\">The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-24/protests-southern-california-roe-abortion\">reported</a>, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?categories=10&search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">assaults of at least eight journalists</a> in the city that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"3b6tk\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at Pershing Square in downtown LA at around 2 p.m., and that the first hours of the protest were energetic but not destructive.</p><p data-block-key=\"9geql\">After a group of protesters were able to block the highway, disrupting traffic, Beckner-Carmitchel said the atmosphere shifted and the Los Angeles Police Department officers became more aggressive with the demonstrators and press. He told the Tracker that he was shoved by officers multiple times that evening, and that at one point an officer shoved a protester who then fell into him.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5llc\">Shortly after 9 p.m., Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1540546198053957632\">posted on Twitter</a> that police had detained him alongside protesters and other journalists using a technique known as kettling, in which police box in a crowd before typically conducting mass arrests.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kettled. One member of press currently detained. Lots of violence.</p>— Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1540546198053957632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"c65ml\">The Tracker has documented all of the journalists detained in the kettle that night <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=kettle&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"daa6k\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker he was released at exactly 9:30 p.m., and that he believed they were detained for 30 to 45 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"ad0un\">“A lot of what I saw was a flagrant violation of the spirit of [Senate Bill 98], if not the letter of the law,” Beckner-Carmitchel said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fnm0g\">In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions,<a href=\"https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/politics/2021/10/10/gov--newsom-signs-bill-to-ensure-press-freedom-in-california\"> according to Spectrum News 1</a>. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4988\">LAPD did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"100f2\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"lpic\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Sean Beckner-Carmitchel.</i></p></div>",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with police batons while covering reproductive rights protests in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-police-baton-while-covering-reproductive-rights-protests-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-28T14:22:30.740589Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:15:10.075498Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-05T19:15:10.015807Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u2k6e\">Independent photojournalist Jake Lee Green was assaulted by Los Angeles Police Department officers on June 24, 2022, while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California.</p><p data-block-key=\"eqij8\">Protesters gathered in Downtown LA following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Green told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing the demonstrations and wearing multiple press badges and a shoulder mounted camera when two police officers jabbed him in the side with their batons. Green said he had been filming when the officers jabbed him in the ribs, catching him by surprise.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">So, I made it onto the LA Times <a href=\"https://twitter.com/latimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@latimes</a> Web Site. That’s me getting jabbed in the ribs by an <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LAPDHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LAPDHQ</a> Officer. I was wearing my PRESS badge. I decided NOT to go in armor and now I wish I had. My side still hurts. <a href=\"https://t.co/tX0EfNkR0C\">https://t.co/tX0EfNkR0C</a></p>— Jake Lee Green (@AeonPhotoCo) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AeonPhotoCo/status/1540910496026697730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 26, 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=\"u2k6e\">“I was so focused on setting up my shot that I really wasn’t paying attention when the officers approached me,” Green said. “I told them I was just trying to do my job but I immediately got out of there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6nfg0\">Green said he repeatedly encountered police throughout the day while covering the protests and noticed them acting aggressively toward reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"5edl0\">“My encounter wasn’t as bad as some of my colleagues that night but that use of force was unnecessary,” Green said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2d394\">Green was among several other journalists who reported assaults or detainments while covering demonstrations in LA. <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-25/lapd-treatment-of-journalists-denounced-again-after-abortion-rights-protest-downtown\">The Los Angeles Times</a> reported police officers repeatedly ignored a recent law, passed in October 2021, that <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-california-27c9b8a1c530df4344b4909fd8d7993d\">granted broader protections</a> to journalists covering civil protests and access to areas closed off by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"40a3c\">“According to Times reporters, witnesses' videos and interviews with other media members on the ground, journalists were pushed, struck with batons, forced out of areas where they had a right to observe police activity and blocked from entering other areas where police and protesters were clashing and arrests were being made.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eu4np\">LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Times that the department would be investigating the complaints made by press members. LAPD did not return an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"d14hq\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "California",
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},
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{
"title": "Cinematographer detained while documenting LA reproductive rights protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cinematographer-detained-while-documenting-la-reproductive-rights-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2022-07-11T21:02:42.815747Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-05T21:15:19.510200Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-05T21:15:19.392357Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oob45\">A cinematographer who works on documentary and feature film projects was detained in a kettle alongside other journalists while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"2irkv\">Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html\">controversial ruling</a> overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"9pgb4\">The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-24/protests-southern-california-roe-abortion\">reported</a>, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?categories=10&search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">assaults of at least eight journalists</a> in the city that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"fr5o4\">Jean, who asked to only be identified by her first name out of fear of retaliation, told the Tracker she arrived in downtown LA to document the protests taking place near City Hall. She said she filmed from an overpass as some members of the crowd made their way to a highway entrance nearby, and then followed as members of the crowd made their way back into downtown.</p><p data-block-key=\"dq90j\">“That was when protesting started happening a little differently — people started going against traffic and so on and so forth,” Jean said. “There came a point though where the protesting was stopped by the police, and this was when the first firework went off.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dr2bm\">Officer tried to stop the protesters from advancing, Jean said, but because of their small numbers they were unable to do so. She said that officers resorted to pushing and shoving her and many protesters while running past.</p><p data-block-key=\"32r4m\">The group of protesters continued marching to another intersection, where Jean said police assaulted multiple members of the press, including independent journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-shoved-to-ground-while-documenting-la-protests-on-reproductive-rights/\">Tina-Desiree Berg</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"78i7f\">“There was a major dash by poIice to the site of the crowd, and so many others rushed in to see what was happening,” Jean said. “In a video that I documented I was telling an officer that I am trying to see what is happening beyond him and while I am telling him this there is Tina — who’s also trying to do the same — except what I see is another officer with a riot gun strikes her across the face and stuns her.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e6nvt\">Jean said that before Berg was able to react, a second officer shoved her to the ground near Jean’s feet, and she helped Berg stand back up.</p><p data-block-key=\"fajkj\">Soon after, Jean said she was corralled alongside the rest of the crowd and multiple journalists by police using a technique known as kettling, in which police box in a crowd before typically conducting mass arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"farhj\">Independent videographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-detained-while-documenting-la-reproductive-rights-protests/\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a>, who was also detained that night, told the Tracker they were released at 9:30 p.m. after being held for 30 minutes to an hour. The Tracker has documented all of the journalists detained in the kettle that night <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=kettle&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"99is2\">“After already getting out of the kettle around the other side to head back to City Hall,” Jean said, “they still advanced on us again and threatened to kettle us for not dispersing quickly enough.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d43gt\">“In general, what I take away from the night was that the initial response was to be forcefully aggressive and not follow basic protocol procedures,” Jean told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhrjm\">In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions,<a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089643078/lapd-media-echo-park-history\"> according to NPR</a>. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.</p><p data-block-key=\"b26ao\">LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"sbq7\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"case_number": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"court verdict",
"kettle",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
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{
"title": "Journalist struck, shoved to ground while documenting LA protests on reproductive rights",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-shoved-to-ground-while-documenting-la-protests-on-reproductive-rights/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-28T21:11:42.741345Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:15:30.694414Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-05T19:15:30.621812Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zefpq\">Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was repeatedly shoved and struck in the head by a police officer while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mp8e\">Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html\">controversial ruling</a> overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"2qgit\">The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-24/protests-southern-california-roe-abortion\">reported</a>, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?categories=10&search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">assaults of at least eight journalists</a> in the city that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l6od\">Berg told the Tracker she was documenting the arrest of an abortion rights protester when an officer approached her without her noticing. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1540589747835260933\">footage</a> captured by independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, Berg can be seen walking toward a group of officers arresting at least one individual while multiple individuals film from approximately six feet back.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here it is from my angle. <a href=\"https://t.co/89Oi9rQEiL\">pic.twitter.com/89Oi9rQEiL</a></p>— Notorious TDB (@TinaDesireeBerg) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TinaDesireeBerg/status/1540576084592164864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"zefpq\">An officer can be heard shouting, “Back up!” before appearing to lunge to the side, grabbing Berg as she attempts to join the others documenting the arrest. The officer then appears to shove Berg back.</p><p data-block-key=\"2f1ra\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/SamBraslow/status/1540548658365550592\">Footage</a> captured by Beverly Hills Courier reporter Sam Braslow shows the next moments, in which the officer appears to strike Berg in the head as a second officer approaches. That officer then pushes her, ultimately shoving Berg to the ground.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police manhandle reporter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TinaDesireeBerg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TinaDesireeBerg</a>, who gets up and continues to report after being thrown to the ground. <a href=\"https://t.co/1zGFUgz9MW\">pic.twitter.com/1zGFUgz9MW</a></p>— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SamBraslow/status/1540548658365550592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"zefpq\">Berg told the Tracker the second officer said she needed to learn her lesson, telling her, “We’re trying to protect you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cns0f\">“After that, I said to him, ‘But I’m press, here are my actual credentials.’ And I flipped them around so he saw the credential credential, not just my company one,” Berg said. “I said, ‘You’re not supposed to be doing this, we’re supposed to be allowed to be a safe space away from an arrest and film it.’ And he just said, ‘I don’t care.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"5o0rp\">Berg said she didn’t seek medical treatment after the incident, but felt sore the next few days.</p><p data-block-key=\"34np5\">In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089643078/lapd-media-echo-park-history\">according to NPR</a>. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.</p><p data-block-key=\"8u49p\">“The last couple of months have been fine, believe it or not. No issues. So, I thought [the Senate bill] was a game changer. Apparently not. A little bit of stress and everything reverts back,” Berg said. “It’s not about me: it’s about the First Amendment, it’s about the importance of preserving press freedom.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1bkpe\">LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"17qq8\">In a statement to the Times, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the department will investigate all complaints, including those that allege officers violated journalists’ rights under the new law.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kidn\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"drbv7\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Tina-Desiree Berg.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Berg2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"94idr\">While documenting an arrest at a reproductive rights protest in Los Angeles on June 24, 2022, journalist Tina-Desiree Berg, seen in the lower left of the frame, was shoved and struck in the head by police officers.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
"court verdict",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist repeatedly shoved while covering LA reproductive rights protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-repeatedly-shoved-while-covering-la-reproductive-rights-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-27T21:11:01.576075Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:14:27.673757Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-05T19:14:27.620206Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"98vvk\">Lexis-Olivier Ray, a reporter with the digital news site L.A. Taco, was repeatedly shoved by police officers while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"fg4t3\">Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html\">controversial ruling</a> overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"cibsp\">The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-24/protests-southern-california-roe-abortion\">reported</a>, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?categories=10&search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">assaults of at least six journalists</a> in the city that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"78gid\">Ray told the Tracker that he arrived downtown at Pershing Square that afternoon to report on the protests planned to begin at 5 p.m. After a series of speeches, Ray said the crowd of approximately 1,000 people marched less than a mile to City Hall.</p><p data-block-key=\"ogqg\">“Eventually that part of the protest kind of ended,” Ray said. “A splinter group broke off and started heading toward the freeway. That’s when things started to escalate.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dge1g\">Ray said he followed the group as they made their way to an on ramp, where they were met by both Los Angeles Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers, who prevented the demonstrators from getting onto the highway. Part of the group split away and ultimately did end up marching onto the interstate and blocking traffic, Ray said. He said it was after the demonstrators exited the highway that he had his first physical altercation with law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"2d21d\">“A group of LAPD Metro division officers were trying to clear the area and I ended up getting shoved with a baton and an officer shoved me with his hands,” Ray said. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1540529890344071168\">tweet</a> posted shortly before 8 p.m., Ray can be heard identifying himself as a member of the press as lines of officers advance toward him.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD officers shoved me and jabbed <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@joeyneverjoe</a> in the stomach with a baton, sending him to the ground. We both identified ourselves as press repeatedly. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LATCO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LATCO</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/0FRTH7hlu3\">pic.twitter.com/0FRTH7hlu3</a></p>— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1540529890344071168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"98vvk\">Multiple officers can be heard shouting, “Leave the area! Leave the area!” Both Ray and a second journalist — documentary photographer Joey Scott — can be heard identifying themselves as press in response.</p><p data-block-key=\"9r95t\">At approximately 0:06 in the clip, an officer steps forward and shoves Ray backward. “Woah, woah, woah! What are you doing man?” Ray can be heard asking.</p><p data-block-key=\"fkjqs\">After taking a few steps back, Ray appears to walk back toward the officer and says, “I’m press, I have a legal right to be here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6tmvc\">Moments later, an officer pushed Scott to the ground with a baton, causing damage to his helmet as he fell into a vehicle. The Tracker has documented that incident <a href=\"/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-helmet-damaged-while-covering-la-protest/\">here</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD just assaulted a journalist & legal observer on South Broadway. <a href=\"https://t.co/Mc3PUmljy0\">pic.twitter.com/Mc3PUmljy0</a></p>— JP (Josh Pacheco) ✨🏳️⚧️They/Them (@JoshMPacheco) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoshMPacheco/status/1540527305243729920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"98vvk\">“That really changed the whole tone [of the evening],” Ray said. “That was really upsetting and frustrating.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dg07t\">Over the course of the evening, Ray told the Tracker, he was shoved by LAPD officers on multiple occasions. During one of the encounters, an officer told Ray and Scott that where they were standing was the media staging ground and to wait there for a public information officer to arrive to answer their questions. Within moments, a line of officers advanced on them and aggressively cornered him until he was pinned against a police car.</p><p data-block-key=\"etj5v\">Ray said that he was clearly identifiable as a member of the press, wearing an L.A. Taco shirt with “press” printed on the back and was wearing his press pass.</p><p data-block-key=\"2bbo6\">“In terms of press freedom rights, it was probably one of the worst protests I’ve been at,” Ray said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9dvna\">In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, <a href=\"https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/politics/2021/10/10/gov--newsom-signs-bill-to-ensure-press-freedom-in-california\">according to Spectrum News 1</a>. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.</p><p data-block-key=\"ca8lj\">The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"fp5qc\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Ray.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"32ere\">L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, left, moments after a Los Angeles police officer shoved him backward while he was documenting protests in the city on June 24, 2022.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"court verdict",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
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{
"title": "Journalist detained in kettle while documenting reproductive rights protests in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-detained-in-kettle-while-documenting-reproductive-rights-protests-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-27T20:57:50.167525Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:14:15.433418Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-05T19:14:15.368825Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"d0ro6\">Anthony Cabassa, a field correspondent for the conservative bilingual outlet El American, was detained in a kettle alongside at least one other journalist while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"3g406\">Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html\">controversial ruling</a> overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ssqh\">The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-24/protests-southern-california-roe-abortion\">reported</a>, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?categories=10&search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">assaults of at least eight journalists</a> in the city that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tcth\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1540556888277798913\">Twitter post</a> at 9:45 p.m., Cabassa wrote that police had detained him alongside protesters and other journalists using a technique known as kettling, in which police box in a crowd before typically conducting mass arrests.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In my reporting this evening, I (alongside protestors and other journalists) are being detained. This after the group I was following assaulted police and were vandalizing downtown shops. <br><br>I showed police my journalist credentials, they said we cannot leave, as arrests are made. <a href=\"https://t.co/KrIkzR8ukp\">pic.twitter.com/KrIkzR8ukp</a></p>— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1540556888277798913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"d0ro6\">“When we approach the police line, we are told that we are not allowed to leave. We showed them our media credentials,” Cabassa said in a video posted with the tweet. “I guess we’re being detained. I believe we are awaiting further instructions on what’s to happen, but as of now we cannot leave, we cannot leave at all.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5e4dp\">Cabassa did not respond to a request for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ea3g4\">Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, confirmed to the Tracker that he was detained in the kettle alongside Cabassa that night, and that they were released at 9:30 p.m. The Tracker has documented Beckner-Carmitchel’s detainment <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-detained-while-documenting-la-reproductive-rights-protests/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8l87a\">At around 10:30 p.m., Cabassa <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1540567433655640064\">posted on Twitter</a> that he had been released without being charged.</p><p data-block-key=\"3b6rq\">The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfqie\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhhoj\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include details from independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Cabassa.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zzppm\">In his Twitter livestream, El American correspondent Anthony Cabassa details his detainment while covering a reproductive rights demonstration in Los Angeles on June 24, 2022.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"court verdict",
"kettle",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anthony Cabassa (El American)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Beverly Hills Courier reporter shoved by officers while covering reproductive rights protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/beverly-hills-courier-reporter-shoved-by-police-officers-while-covering-reproductive-rights-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-27T22:12:38.603865Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:14:49.970219Z",
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"date": "2022-06-24",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"un8nm\">Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow wrote that he was assaulted by law enforcement officers on June 24, 2022, while covering demonstrations in Los Angeles, California, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the landmark reproductive rights case Roe v. Wade.</p><p data-block-key=\"7q8n4\">Braslow chronicled the demonstrations in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SamBraslow/status/1540498644843253761\">a Twitter thread</a> and wrote that the crowds eventually made their way to City Hall, where Los Angeles Police Department officers wearing riot gear told protesters to leave the area. According to Braslow, he never heard the officers announce an order to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"btv2\">Braslow was filming the crowd when LAPD officers shoved him toward another group of officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"2j7co\">“Police just pushed me and another reporter into other police officers resulting in the other reporter’s detention or arrest. I haven’t seen officers this aggressive in a long time,”<a href=\"https://twitter.com/SamBraslow/status/1540547264657051649\"> Braslow wrote on Twitter.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"ci2bf\">Another journalist documenting the protest <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1540590856347852801\">posted a video</a> on Twitter of Braslow’s assault.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police throwing journalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SamBraslow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SamBraslow</a> backwards just a few moments later. He did have a small bloodstain on his shirt shortly after. <a href=\"https://t.co/Og8Y9bEHiX\">pic.twitter.com/Og8Y9bEHiX</a></p>— Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1540590856347852801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"un8nm\">Braslow and the LAPD did not return emailed requests for comment as of publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"86qr4\">Braslow was among several journalists who reported being assaulted or detained by LAPD officers while covering the protests. <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-25/lapd-treatment-of-journalists-denounced-again-after-abortion-rights-protest-downtown\">The Los Angeles Times</a> reported that police officers repeatedly ignored<a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-california-27c9b8a1c530df4344b4909fd8d7993d\"> a law signed in October 2021</a> that protected journalists from interference by law enforcement and expanded the rights of journalists covering protests during the civil protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"701k6\">“According to Times reporters, witnesses' videos and interviews with other media members on the ground, journalists were pushed, struck with batons, forced out of areas where they had a right to observe police activity and blocked from entering other areas where police and protesters were clashing and arrests were being made,” the Times reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhp9e\">LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Times that the department would be investigating the complaints made by members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"f91cb\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"court verdict",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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{
"title": "Video journalist assaulted at reproductive rights demonstrations in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-assaulted-while-covering-reproductive-rights-demonstrations-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-27T22:19:07.369088Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:15:00.678137Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-05T19:15:00.603905Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e40si\">Independent video journalist Mason Lake confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was assaulted by a group of individuals on June 24, 2022, in Portland, Oregon, while covering demonstrations in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the landmark case of Roe v. Wade.</p><p data-block-key=\"8eonb\">Lake told the Tracker that he was livestreaming the speeches and capturing video of more than a thousand people marching toward downtown Portland when individuals assaulted him for reporting during the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"1cmhm\">“I went out there to stream the event because, sadly, there hasn’t been a lot of coverage in Portland because of all the hate that the press has gotten here lately,” Lake said.</p><p data-block-key=\"36q0r\">Lake said he was wearing a vest labeled “press” on the front and back for the duration of the demonstration. He identified the individuals as being in black bloc, a technique of dressing in all black to avoid identification.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hdok\">Lake said individuals came up behind him before shoving him and knocking his phone, which he was using to stream the event, out of his hand. He said his phone was not damaged but he lost a stylus and a phone case that were attached to it.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In Portland, OR over 1000 people gathered for speeches & to march in protest of the SCOTUS overturning Roe v Wade. Live stream link <a href=\"https://t.co/DrxR7Sj9Kx\">https://t.co/DrxR7Sj9Kx</a> <br>Cuts at the end when I am assulted by bloc for reporting. Another civil right but that one they don't care about.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoeVsWade?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#RoeVsWade</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/lV6q2WPnQv\">pic.twitter.com/lV6q2WPnQv</a></p>— Mason Lake Media (@MasonLakePhoto) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1540542345258475520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"e40si\">After he picked up his phone, Lake said one of the individuals grabbed him by the vest and forced him to leave the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"fug8m\">“Everyone should have the right to be at these events, especially when it's in the middle of the city,” Lake said. “I take real issue with this and I know there’s a real danger in doing this but that’s why I keep coming out.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dgtsk\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8ab3\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with comment from Mason Lake.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"court verdict",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mason Lake (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist detained while documenting LA reproductive rights protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-detained-while-documenting-la-reproductive-rights-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2022-07-07T14:30:49.708159Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-05T21:07:08.016099Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-05T21:07:07.871215Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p61x3\">Freelance photojournalist Julianna Lacoste was detained in a kettle alongside other journalists while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"5sbqr\">Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html\">controversial ruling</a> overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"fcvac\">The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-24/protests-southern-california-roe-abortion\">reported</a>, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?categories=10&search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">assaults of at least eight journalists</a> in the city that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6826\">Lacoste told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she arrived in downtown LA at around 6 p.m., after the protests had already gotten underway. She said she saw a crowd gathered near City Hall and walked with others and they made their way to a highway entrance nearby. When officers with the Los Angeles Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security barred individuals from entering, Lacoste said she thought the protest had more or less ended.</p><p data-block-key=\"43b9e\">“I walked around downtown with some other press people that I knew trying to find the protesters for about an hour,” Lacoste said.</p><p data-block-key=\"bm6f6\">She had gotten in a car with a couple of other journalists to head home when she spotted lines of police cars driving by and got out to document what was happening.</p><p data-block-key=\"ch14q\">“I just put myself in front of the protest line in between the protesters and the police, so I was just filming the police at that point,” Lacoste said. “There were at least 100 protesters at that point, it was a big group, and there were just not enough officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3dlmb\">Lacoste told the Tracker the situation became increasingly tense as officers tried to give the crowd orders and after someone launched a firework that landed behind the police line.</p><p data-block-key=\"aevm8\">In a matter of moments, Lacoste said she saw a second firework explode, and officers aggressively shove a legal observer, arrest an individual who had made a makeshift incendiary device and assault independent journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-shoved-to-ground-while-documenting-la-protests-on-reproductive-rights/\">Tina-Desiree Berg</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"1eha8\">Lacoste said she moved along the police skirmish line until she was detained alongside protesters and other journalists using a technique known as kettling, in which police box in a crowd before typically conducting mass arrests. When she identified herself as press and asked if she could leave, Lacoste said the officer told her she’d have to wait as they cleared the area in waves.</p><p data-block-key=\"aiqhl\">Independent videographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-detained-while-documenting-la-reproductive-rights-protests/\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a>, who was also detained that night, told the Tracker they were released at 9:30 p.m. after being held for 30 minutes to an hour. The Tracker has documented all of the journalists detained in the kettle that night <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=kettle&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"di35d\">“I just didn’t think that the protests would escalate to that magnitude,” Lacoste said. “It was worse than I have seen in a long time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bkmj6\">Lacoste told the Tracker she tried to play it safe that night in order to avoid injuries like those she <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-assaulted-arrested-during-la-protest/\">sustained while covering protests</a> in the city in 2020, which caused her to be hospitalized. After the night’s events, she decided not to cover any of the other protests that weekend.</p><p data-block-key=\"35sp7\">In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089643078/lapd-media-echo-park-history\">according to NPR</a>. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.</p><p data-block-key=\"5mfqf\">LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"414ms\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/C1DA1B45-B8FF-47A3-809B-CAE326175.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"alfe5\">Photojournalist Julianna Lacoste documented reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022. That night, she was detained in a police kettle alongside other journalists.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"court verdict",
"kettle",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Julianna Lacoste (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved, helmet damaged while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-helmet-damaged-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-27T21:14:56.720504Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T14:12:12.127405Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T14:12:12.014429Z",
"date": "2022-06-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7tuiy\">Documentary photographer Joey Scott was shoved to the ground by police officers while documenting reproductive rights protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"7bmf8\">Protests broke out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html\">controversial ruling</a> overturning Roe v. Wade that morning, which established that the right to abortion is guaranteed under the right to privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ilq\">The first protests in LA began outside a federal courthouse around noon, the Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-24/protests-southern-california-roe-abortion\">reported</a>, and continued into the night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?categories=10&search=&date_lower=2022-06-24&date_upper=2022-06-24&city=Los+Angeles&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">assaults of at least six journalists</a> in the city that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qdpe\">L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray told the Tracker that he and Scott had followed protesters as they attempted to get onto the highway. After demonstrators exited the highway, Los Angeles Police Department officers advanced toward them to clear the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"3f8u9\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1540527314961842176\">tweet</a> posted at around 7:45 p.m., Scott wrote that he had just been shoved to the ground by an LAPD officer.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Got shoved before this. LAPD Metro not honoring press passes. <a href=\"https://t.co/BBlbkY1KuN\">pic.twitter.com/BBlbkY1KuN</a></p>— Joey Scott (@joeyneverjoe) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1540527859474714624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"7tuiy\">In a video <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1540527859474714624\">posted in a subsequent tweet</a>, multiple officers can be heard shouting, “Leave the area! Leave the area!” Both Scott and a second journalist — L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray — can be heard identifying themselves as press in response. Scott was not immediately available to provide comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"25qco\">At approximately 0:06 in the clip, an officer steps forward and says, “It doesn’t matter, you guys gotta get going.”</p><p data-block-key=\"85tg4\">“I’m press, it does matter,” Scott can be heard responding. “I’m on a public sidewalk.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q641\">At that same moment, one of the officers pushed Ray backward. The Tracker has documented that incident <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-repeatedly-shoved-while-covering-la-reproductive-rights-protests/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7dv72\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoshMPacheco/status/1540527305243729920\">footage posted</a> by photojournalist Josh Pacheco, Scott can be seen stepping back onto the sidewalk and taking two steps before an LAPD officer appears to push him backward with his baton, sending him sprawling into a car a few feet behind him.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD just assaulted a journalist & legal observer on South Broadway. <a href=\"https://t.co/Mc3PUmljy0\">pic.twitter.com/Mc3PUmljy0</a></p>— JP (Josh Pacheco) ✨🏳️⚧️They/Them (@JoshMPacheco) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoshMPacheco/status/1540527305243729920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 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=\"7tuiy\">“What wasn’t captured in the footage was the attitude: the blatant disregard and hostility the officers had to our legal rights to be there,” Scott told the Tracker. “The more that we identified ourselves and pushed back on their unlawful commands, the more hostile and, obviously, more violent they got toward us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ckv0n\">In footage from the incident, “press” labels are visible on Scott’s backpack and helmet. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1541215409692545025\">tweet thread</a> two days later, Scott wrote that his body and ribs were still sore and that his helmet was damaged from the fall.</p><p data-block-key=\"8d1tc\">“Going into this weekend, I was like: Cool. We have these new laws and protections, this should be a lot easier than previous experiences,” Scott said. “And it was the complete opposite. Worse than before the laws were enacted and the supposed training and reform that the department has done.”</p><p data-block-key=\"70g1\">In October 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 98, which was written in order to ensure the rights of journalists while covering protests or other civic actions, <a href=\"https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/politics/2021/10/10/gov--newsom-signs-bill-to-ensure-press-freedom-in-california\">according to Spectrum News 1</a>. The law states that “law enforcement shall not intentionally assault, interfere with, or obstruct journalists” and explicitly exempts members of the press from dispersal orders.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qoiq\">The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"b7tc\">Find press freedom violations documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker at reproductive rights demonstrations across the U.S. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=&date_lower=&date_upper=&city=&state=&targeted_journalists=&targeted_institutions=&tags=reproductive+rights&case_number=&case_statuses=&case_type=&release_date_lower=&release_date_upper=&arrest_status=&status_of_charges=&charges=&detention_date_lower=&detention_date_upper=&assailant=&border_point=&target_nationality=&target_us_citizenship_status=&politicians_or_public_figures_involved=&equipment_broken=&actor=&status_of_seized_equipment=&equipment_seized=&workers_whose_communications_were_obtained=&status_of_prior_restraint=&subpoena_type=&subpoena_statuses=&detention_status=&third_party_in_possession_of_communications=&third_party_business=&legal_order_type=\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebu6r\"><i>Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Joey Scott.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Scott.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"5wahb\">Documentary photographer Joey Scott, right, with ‘press’ taped on his backpack, is seen moments before a Los Angeles police officer shoves him with a baton while Scott was documenting protests in the city on June 24, 2022.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
"quantity": 1,
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"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"court verdict",
"protest",
"reproductive rights"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
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"Joey Scott (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporters removed from Uvalde committee hearing on school shooting response",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-removed-from-uvalde-committee-hearing-investigating-response-to-school-shooting/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-30T19:39:24.069166Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T20:48:44.127875Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T20:48:43.991153Z",
"date": "2022-06-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Uvalde",
"longitude": -99.78617,
"latitude": 29.20968,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gqyuw\">On June 20, 2022, journalists were told to leave a committee hearing in Uvalde, Texas, where Texas House legislators were scheduled to discuss the law enforcement response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May.</p><p data-block-key=\"fq2l6\">According to <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/06/28/we-were-seen-enemies-journalists-uvalde-threatened-by-police/\">The Washington Post</a>, Fire Marshal Juan Hernandez asked reporters to leave the meeting and wait outside City Hall. Hernandez said people were intimidated by the presence of the reporters at the meetings.</p><p data-block-key=\"bee4l\">CNN correspondent Shimon Prokupecz <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1538906002547953664\">posted a video on Twitter</a> of journalists gathering equipment before exiting the building while law enforcement officers looked on. In the video, Prokupecz questions Hernandez, asking why reporters needed to leave.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here is the full video<br>You can see the parent and chaplain.<br>More of the fire marshal telling us to leave. <a href=\"https://t.co/U1wKYnav2e\">pic.twitter.com/U1wKYnav2e</a></p>— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1538906002547953664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 20, 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=\"gqyuw\">Hernandez tells Prokupecz reporters were allowed to “hang around outside, but not inside the building.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4hkr3\">“But this is a city-building, right?” Prokupecz said. Hernandez replied that if he wasn’t going to pay the building’s water bill, he had to wait outside.</p><p data-block-key=\"bl857\">Reporters covering the aftermath of the massacre at Robb Elementary School and the emerging details of the <a href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/03/pete-arredondo-uvalde-school-police-chief/\">response by law enforcement</a> say they continue to report facing harassment and stonewalling as they try to gather information.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gqyuw\">The City of Uvalde did not respond to requests for comment.</p><h4 data-block-key=\"89fii\"><b>Read:</b> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-covering-mass-shootings-report-harassment-and-threats-of-arrest/\"><b>Journalists covering mass shootings report harassment and threats of arrest</b></a></h4></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Local government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
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"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Former Fox News journalist subpoenaed to reveal confidential source",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-fox-news-journalist-subpoenaed-to-reveal-confidential-source/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-06T21:50:38.627179Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-05T19:16:36.218474Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-05T19:16:36.090833Z",
"date": "2022-06-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o9bhf\">Journalist Catherine Herridge was subpoenaed on June 16, 2022, about coverage of a federal investigation into a Chinese American scientist that later led to a privacy lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"4u6oi\">Fox published the investigative online articles and broadcast reports from February to June 2017. Multiple agencies were investigating the possible foreign military ties of Yanping Chen and the university she founded in the Washington, D.C., metro area.</p><p data-block-key=\"6r3r6\">The articles cited, and included excerpts of, materials from the investigation, such as FBI interviews, Chen’s immigration forms and photos of her in a Chinese military uniform. The six-year investigation was concluded in 2016. No charges were brought against Chen.</p><p data-block-key=\"ejd6f\">In December 2018, Chen sued the FBI and the departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security, arguing that investigators violated her rights under the Privacy Act when her personal information was shared with then-Fox News correspondent Herridge.</p><p data-block-key=\"2p09j\">Chen <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.96.13.pdf\">subpoenaed Herridge</a> on June 16, seeking documents and communications from December 2012 through July 2018 concerning the published excerpts from the federal investigation, as well as sufficient information to identify her source. According to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Herridge was also ordered to appear to testify about her reporting and her source or sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"2c0ul\">Fox News and producers Pamela K. Browne and Cyd Upson — who were also bylined on the articles — received similar subpoenas for documents and testimony. The Tracker has documented each of the subpoenas <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2022-05-19&date_upper=2022-06-16&city=washington&state=District+of+Columbia&targeted_institutions=Fox+News&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"a65lq\">Upson and Browne ultimately agreed to provide sworn statements in place of documents or testimony, according to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.86.0.pdf\">court filings</a>. In exchange, Chen agreed to withdraw her subpoenas to Browne and Upson, but continued to pursue the subpoenas to Fox and Herridge, a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.122.0.pdf\">subsequent court filing</a> confirmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"bf4fm\">Attorney Patrick Philbin filed <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.96.1.pdf\">motions</a> <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.97.1.pdf\">to quash</a> the subpoenas against Herridge and Fox News on Aug. 1, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt8gq\">As part of the motion, Herridge submitted a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.97.4.pdf\">declaration</a> confirming that she did not disclose her sources to anyone at Fox and stating that a forced disclosure by the court would have a ripple effect for all national security journalists and whistleblowers.</p><p data-block-key=\"cf4j0\">“Confidential sources, and the information they provide, are essential for informing the public on matters relating to national security, including information relating to the military, espionage, government surveillance, and homeland security,” Herridge wrote. “Fear of exposure will make sources less likely to serve as whistleblowers or otherwise act as confidential sources for such matters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8bdb4\">U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper heard arguments concerning the motions on May 30, 2023. <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/fox-news-pushes-to-quash-subpoena-that-could-unmask-source/\">Courthouse News reported</a> that he seemed reluctant to accept Philbin’s argument that the subpoenas posed a threat to First Amendment protections. Philbin did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"dthv4\">Cooper did not indicate when he would rule on the motions to quash, according to Courthouse News.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Herridge_1.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xgnhw\">A portion of a subpoena issued to former Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge seeking documents, communications and testimony concerning her reporting on an FBI investigation into a Chinese American scientist's possible foreign military ties.</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": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-08-01 16:58:00+00:00) Judge orders journalist to reveal confidential source",
"(2024-02-29 13:10:00+00:00) Former Fox News reporter held in contempt for refusing to comply with subpoena"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Catherine Herridge (Fox News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "PA photographer, investigative reporter assaulted by business owner",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pa-photographer-investigative-reporter-assaulted-by-business-owner/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-13T16:13:16.559380Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-13T16:13:16.559380Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-13T16:13:16.445360Z",
"date": "2022-06-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "South Centre Township",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hha4v\">A WBRE/WYOU Eyewitness News crew was attacked by a local business owner in South Centre Township, Pennsylvania, on June 15, 2022. The man was subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to charges of harassment.</p><p data-block-key=\"1uosg\">Photojournalist L Bacerra and investigative reporter Andy Mehalshick were reporting on claims that Vision Home Builders had closed without warning in April and owed customers tens of thousands of dollars for incomplete or never started homes, <a href=\"https://www.pahomepage.com/video/top-video/confrontation-gets-physical-at-vision-home-builders-office/\">according to Eyewitness News</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3b4f4\">When the news crew approached the shuttered business to ask for the owner, Jeff McCreary, they were told to “get lost.” Moments later, Mehalshick and Bacerra were filming as a customer approached the same office and a man and woman, later identified as McCreary and his wife, stepped outside the building to respond to her. McCreary became physical with the customer, eventually pushing her off the office’s porch and to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"ai6gq\">“Then McCreary turned his attention to us,” Mehalshick said in his report for Eyewitness News.</p><p data-block-key=\"cfuru\">In footage from the incident, McCreary walked up to the pair of journalists, only identifying himself as the property owner before repeatedly shoving the journalists and attacking the camera. It is unclear whether the camera was damaged during the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"6de5m\">“Get off the property! Get off my property!” McCreary says. “Erase that camera!”</p><p data-block-key=\"bnj04\">“Don’t assault us here!” Mehalshick responds.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvvop\">“Erase that camera!” McCreary says as he again punches at the camera lens.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebc11\">Mehalshick reported that he called the police to report the incident as McCreary continued to accost them.</p><p data-block-key=\"3g85a\">Eyewitness News <a href=\"https://www.pahomepage.com/news/i-team/vision-home-builders-owner-jeff-mccreary-charged/\">reported</a> that McCreary was charged with two counts of harassment and disorderly conduct for the attack on Mehalshick and Bacerra. McCreary was also charged with simple assault and harassment for the attack on the customer.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6sse\">McCreary appeared for a preliminary hearing in January 2023, during which a judge dismissed the simple assault charge, <a href=\"https://www.pahomepage.com/news/mccreary-in-court-for-alleged-assault-charges/\">according to the outlet</a>. He pleaded guilty to the three counts of harassment on March 3, at which time Judge Gary Norton appears to have dropped the disorderly conduct charge.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2l0g\">McCreary was sentenced to nine months probation and issued $900 in fines. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victims and pay the costs of prosecution.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fpe3\">Following the sentencing in March 2023, neither journalist responded to emails requesting comment, and the South Center Township Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Bacerra_1i7ZnMk.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zjy5d\">A business owner in South Centre Township, Pennsylvania, center, confronts WBRE/WYOU Eyewitness News Reporter Andy Mehalshick and the photojournalist capturing the incident, on June 15, 2022. The man later pleaded guilty to harassment charges.</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": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"L Bacerra (WBRE-TV/WYOU)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Broadcast photojournalist assaulted after filming fight in Miami Beach",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-photojournalist-assaulted-after-filming-fight-in-miami-beach/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-23T17:16:24.018645Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-06-23T17:16:24.018645Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-06-23T17:16:23.955785Z",
"date": "2022-06-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami Beach",
"longitude": -80.13005,
"latitude": 25.79065,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"elqqt\">A 7News photojournalist was assaulted after filming a fight while on assignment in Miami Beach, Florida, on June 15, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"9v9ba\">The outlet <a href=\"https://wsvn.com/news/local/miami-dade/7news-photojournalist-beat-up-while-on-job-in-miami-beach/\">reported</a> that the photojournalist — who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons — was out reporting when he saw two men throwing punches at each other.</p><p data-block-key=\"aoqbl\">“[It] looked like they were going to get into and, like, have a fight,” the journalist told 7News. “My kind of news antenna went up. I was like, what’s going on, and then I was just trying to be aware.”</p><p data-block-key=\"57lc0\">The photojournalist began filming, but when the men realized that they had been recorded they ran across the street and confronted him, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"encvg\">“They got me in the back of the head right here,” the photojournalist said. He told the outlet that he was repeatedly punched in the head and face. One of the men grabbed his phone from him, but he said he was able to get it back.</p><p data-block-key=\"6630m\">When asked if he had told the men he was simply doing his job, the photojournalist told 7News that he hadn’t had time to think about it, as things happened too fast.</p><p data-block-key=\"a9khm\">The journalist was able to flag down a police officer and filed a report before seeking medical treatment. He told the outlet that he was fine but was still shaken.</p><p data-block-key=\"mb8b\">“We cover it all the time, you just never think you’re gonna be part of the story,” the photojournalist said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8kp13\">According to 7News, Miami Beach Police are investigating the incident as a simple battery case.</p><p data-block-key=\"e66oe\">Neither the outlet nor the police department responded to requests for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"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": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 24 (WSVN)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "PA investigative reporter, photojournalist assaulted by business owner",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pa-investigative-reporter-photojournalist-assaulted-by-business-owner/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-13T16:06:10.963997Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-13T16:06:10.963997Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-13T16:06:10.869707Z",
"date": "2022-06-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "South Centre Township",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jiclv\">A WBRE/WYOU Eyewitness News crew was attacked by a local business owner in South Centre Township, Pennsylvania, on June 15, 2022. The man was subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to charges of harassment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2esm\">Investigative reporter Andy Mehalshick and photojournalist L Bacerra were reporting on claims that Vision Home Builders had closed without warning in April and owed customers tens of thousands of dollars for incomplete or never started homes, <a href=\"https://www.pahomepage.com/video/top-video/confrontation-gets-physical-at-vision-home-builders-office/\">according to Eyewitness News</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6sfhl\">When the news crew approached the shuttered business to ask for the owner, Jeff McCreary, they were told to “get lost.” Moments later, Mehalshick and Bacerra were filming as a customer approached the same office and a man and woman, later identified as McCreary and his wife, stepped outside the building to respond to her. McCreary became physical with the customer, eventually pushing her off the office’s porch and to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"7eenc\">“Then McCreary turned his attention to us,” Mehalshick said in his report for Eyewitness News.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lrv1\">In footage from the incident, McCreary walked up to the pair of journalists, only identifying himself as the property owner before repeatedly shoving the journalists and attacking the camera. It is unclear whether the camera was damaged during the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4b9\">“Get off the property! Get off my property!” McCreary says. “Erase that camera!”</p><p data-block-key=\"f7bqq\">“Don’t assault us here!” Mehalshick responds.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfivt\">“Erase that camera!” McCreary says as he again punches at the camera lens.</p><p data-block-key=\"4863m\">Mehalshick reported that he called the police to report the incident as McCreary continued to accost them.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ics4\">Eyewitness News <a href=\"https://www.pahomepage.com/news/i-team/vision-home-builders-owner-jeff-mccreary-charged/\">reported</a> that McCreary was charged with two counts of harassment and disorderly conduct for the attack on Mehalshick and Bacerra. McCreary was also charged with simple assault and harassment for the attack on the customer.</p><p data-block-key=\"c564r\">McCreary appeared for a preliminary hearing in January 2023, during which a judge dismissed the simple assault charge, <a href=\"https://www.pahomepage.com/news/mccreary-in-court-for-alleged-assault-charges/\">according to the outlet</a>. He pleaded guilty to the three counts of harassment on March 3, at which time Judge Gary Norton appears to have dropped the disorderly conduct charge.</p><p data-block-key=\"bisv2\">McCreary was sentenced to nine months probation and issued $900 in fines. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victims and pay the costs of prosecution.</p><p data-block-key=\"9qipc\">Following the sentencing in March 2023, neither journalist responded to emails requesting comment, and the South Center Township Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mehalshick.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"frnk2\">A business owner in South Centre Township, Pennsylvania, left, confronts WBRE/WYOU Eyewitness News Reporter Andy Mehalshick and the photojournalist capturing the incident, on June 15, 2022. The man later pleaded guilty to harassment charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Andy Mehalshick (WBRE-TV/WYOU)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Filmmaker detained, pressured to delete footage",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-detained-pressured-to-delete-footage/",
"first_published_at": "2022-12-27T18:51:46.479469Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-05-22T16:11:23.929453Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-05-22T16:11:23.838135Z",
"date": "2022-06-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h081s\">A documentary filmmaker was detained by Atlanta Police Department officers while filming in a forest southeast of Atlanta, Georgia, on June 15, 2022, according to <a href=\"https://saportareport.com/protester-terrorism-charges-come-amid-legal-battle-over-other-arrests-of-demonstrators-journalists/columnists/johnruch/\">a news report</a> and an interview with the journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"b25g6\">The filmmaker — who has produced work for CNN and Discovery Channel — asked to remain anonymous out of concern of retribution. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had begun working on a documentary about the Defend the Atlanta Forest campaign, a grassroots movement against the destruction of forest area to make way for a 85-acre police training facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"djdhv\">“On that day in particular I had seen on social media that the police were in the forest cutting trees and looking for protesters so I decided to take my cameras and go down,” the filmmaker said. “The protesters in the forest were all hiding, so I didn’t see any of them that day. I walked through the forest and I came to a clearing and I saw the police down the hill on a dirt road in the forest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"co36d\">The filmmaker said that he was standing approximately 50 to 80 yards away from the officers and began filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"cf5lm\">“I was standing right in the middle of the road, I was not hiding, I had my vest on that was clearly marked with large patches, front and back, ‘PRESS’,” he said. “And when they approached me I did not run, I did not do anything other than identify myself as a journalist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6m119\">The officers informed him that he was trespassing and that he needed to leave the area. As he began walking in the direction the officers had indicated, the filmmaker said more officers arrived on an all-terrain vehicle and told him that he was being detained.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8n40\">The filmmaker told the Tracker he was alarmed by the behavior of the officer who seemed to be a supervisor and who had initially told him he was under arrest for trespassing.</p><p data-block-key=\"5cfg4\">“I have no doubt that he’s done this before and he’s confident that he can intimidate a journalist with impunity,” the journalist said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fnm4d\">After examining his ID for 15 minutes, another officer was called in and took the lead in questioning him, at first about what he was doing in the area and then more extensively about his reporting and what he had filmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"756ci\">“Everything seemed to stop at that point,” the filmmaker said.</p><p data-block-key=\"c0rjv\">“The next 30 to 40 minutes was all about, ‘We want to see your footage. Delete your footage. We want to see your footage. You might be going to jail. You’re going to be arrested,’” he said. “They were just continually trying to intimidate me into deleting my footage or showing it to them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"26lf9\">In <a href=\"https://vimeo.com/782712414\">footage of the incident</a>, an officer tells the filmmaker his responses could determine his ability to walk away.</p><p data-block-key=\"481gm\">“I’m going to ask you to delete all the footage that you have today since it was obtained illegally,” the officer says. “And depending on how the rest of this interview goes, will determine whether or not you’re going to be arrested.”</p><p data-block-key=\"deslo\">The filmmaker said he believed the officer to be from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"8u10h\">The journalist repeatedly refused to show them or delete the footage, and said he was released after approximately 90 minutes with a warning not to return.</p><p data-block-key=\"c126o\">Drago Cepar, an attorney advising the filmmaker, told the Tracker that it is clear the detainment was in retaliation for the journalist exercising his First Amendment rights.</p><p data-block-key=\"epvnd\">“I think if you detain somebody and tell them they have to delete their footage or else, it’s pretty clear that’s what’s going on,” Cepar said. “I think it’s a pretty egregious situation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aft3c\">The APD announced that it would investigate the detainment in December, <a href=\"https://saportareport.com/apd-opens-internal-investigation-into-journalists-detention-during-training-center-protest-coverage/sections/reports/johnruch/\">according to SaportaReport</a>. When emailed for comment, APD’s Public Affairs Office responded with an automated reply that it was operating on holiday on-call capacity, and that it would follow up.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Atlanta Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:23-cv-02204",
"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,
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"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": [
"(2023-05-16 12:09:00+00:00) Filmmaker files lawsuit against City of Atlanta following detainment"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"environmentalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Watchulonis (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Documentarian subpoenaed by House Committee investigating Jan. 6 riot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-subpoenaed-by-house-committee-investigating-jan-6-riot/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-23T15:35:30.003895Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:28:12.980760Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:28:12.885462Z",
"date": "2022-06-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"asjlj\">The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol subpoenaed British documentary filmmaker Alex Holder for footage and testimony on June 15, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"22mvd\">Holder, the founder of AJH Media Group, began working on a documentary about then-President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign in September 2020, Politico <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2022/06/21/scoop-jan-6-panel-subpoenas-unseen-trump-tapes-00040911\">reported</a>. According to a statement Holder <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alexjholder/status/1539254430033387522?s=20&t=w5ecDDKZA0YECe2dezvs0A\">published on Twitter</a>, he had “unparalleled access and exclusive interviews” with the Trump family and then-Vice President Mike Pence at the White House and Mar-A-Lago and behind-the-scenes access on the campaign trail and both before and after the insurrection.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My statement in response to being subpoenaed by Congress: <a href=\"https://t.co/LOY53rEynI\">pic.twitter.com/LOY53rEynI</a></p>— Alex Holder (@alexjholder) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alexjholder/status/1539254430033387522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 21, 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=\"asjlj\"><a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/alex-holder-jan-6-committee-subpoena-1371644/\">Rolling Stone</a> reported that several former officials in Trump’s reelection campaign told the magazine they had no idea that a documentary was being filmed during that period.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t9ma\">The <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000181-8458-de12-add1-bc5824520000\">subpoena</a> orders Holder to produce raw footage from Jan. 6, 2021; interviews with Trump, Pence, Trump’s children and his son-in-law; and any footage of discussions of election fraud or election integrity around the 2020 presidential election.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekhv\">According to Holder’s statement, he turned over footage in compliance with the subpoena on June 21, 2022, and will sit for a deposition on June 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"8e2ah\">“When we began this project in September 2020, we could have never predicted that our work would one day be subpoenaed by Congress,” Holder said. “We have dutifully handed over all the materials the Committee has asked for and we are fully cooperating.”</p><p data-block-key=\"btmrt\">When reached for comment, the law firm representing Holder directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to Politico’s coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"figgu\">The House Select Committee, chaired by Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, has now issued at least three subpoenas targeting journalists or their records. The committee subpoenaed freelance photojournalist Amy Harris’ <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-sues-following-house-committees-subpoena-of-her-phone-records/\">phone records</a> in November 2021 and ordered another British documentarian, Nick Quested, to <a href=\"/all-incidents/documentary-filmmaker-subpoenaed-by-house-committee-investigating-jan-6-riot/\">provide footage and testify</a> in early 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"4vjh7\">Holder’s documentary, “Unprecedented,” is set to be released in three parts this summer, according to his statement.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Holder_subpoena.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gbqy1\">A portion of the subpoena issued to documentary filmmaker Alex Holder ordering him to produce footage from his coverage of then-President Trump’s reelection campaign and the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"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": [],
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alex Holder (AJH Media Group)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"carried out"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Subpoena to uncover confidential source dropped following sworn statement",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-to-uncover-confidential-source-dropped-following-sworn-statement/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-06T21:43:52.831150Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-06T21:43:52.831150Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-06T21:43:52.725518Z",
"date": "2022-06-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"a0wpp\">Broadcast journalist Pamela K. Browne was subpoenaed on June 14, 2022, about coverage of a federal investigation into a Chinese American scientist that later led to a privacy lawsuit. The subpoena was ultimately withdrawn.</p><p data-block-key=\"4pae7\">Fox published the investigative online articles and broadcast reports from February to June 2017. Multiple agencies were investigating the possible foreign military ties of Yanping Chen and the university she founded in the Washington, D.C., metro area.</p><p data-block-key=\"csrdi\">The articles cited, and included excerpts of, materials from the investigation, such as FBI interviews, Chen’s immigration forms and photos of her in a Chinese military uniform. The six-year investigation was concluded in 2016. No charges were brought against Chen.</p><p data-block-key=\"9jtug\">In December 2018, Chen sued the FBI and the departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security, arguing that investigators violated her rights under the Privacy Act when her personal information was shared with then-Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qq0u\">In 2022, Chen subpoenaed Browne, Herridge, Fox Executive Producer Cyd Upson and Fox News for documents and testimony, in an attempt to uncover the confidential source behind the leak. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented each of the subpoenas <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2022-05-19&date_upper=2022-06-16&city=washington&state=District+of+Columbia&targeted_institutions=Fox+News&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"d789s\">According to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.86.0.pdf\">court filings</a> reviewed by the Tracker, Browne and Upson ultimately agreed to provide sworn statements in place of documents or testimony. In exchange, Chen agreed to withdraw her subpoenas to Browne and Upson, but continued to pursue the subpoenas to Fox and Herridge, a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.122.0.pdf\">subsequent court filing</a> confirmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"8262b\">In a June 30 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.97.2.pdf\">statement</a>, Browne declared that she was never made aware of the identity of Herridge’s confidential source or sources, and has no information that could be used to help identify them. She also confirmed that she left her position at Fox in late 2018, and has no access to the electronic devices, phone or email address that she used to communicate about the reports.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Browne.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"p1prn\">A portion of a sworn statement filed by former Fox News producer Pamela K. Browne in June 2022, about her coverage of an FBI investigation into a Chinese American scientist's possible foreign military ties.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"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": "Federal",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Pamela K. Browne (Fox News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Editor files lawsuit after new policy closes access to Tenn. courts annual meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/editor-files-lawsuit-after-new-policy-closes-access-to-tenn-courts-annual-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-16T19:18:34.204770Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-22T16:18:53.764259Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-22T16:18:53.623113Z",
"date": "2022-06-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Nashville",
"longitude": -86.78444,
"latitude": 36.16589,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2afyx\">The executive editor of a Chicago-based news publication filed a federal lawsuit against the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts on June 13, 2022, over access to a meeting of the Tennessee Judicial Conference.</p><p data-block-key=\"3c354\">According to <a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/14/chicago-news-outlet-sues-tennessee-courts-over-first-amendment-access/7612525001/\">the Tennessean</a>, Dan McCaleb, executive editor of The Center Square, learned on June 6 of a new policy put forth by Michelle Long, the Director of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts, preventing the public and members of the media from attending the annual meetings.</p><p data-block-key=\"3lqp9\">The annual conference comprises the state’s active and retired judges who meet to consider laws, draft legislation and make recommendations to the state’s general assembly. Court documents obtained by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker shows that Long, named in the lawsuit in her official capacity, approved the policy on Feb. 1, to “ensure the safety and security of conference attendees, staff, and invited speakers during AOC conferences.”</p><p data-block-key=\"47s4u\">In <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/578204380/McCaleb-v-Long#download&from_embed\">the lawsuit</a>, McCaleb argues that the policy violates his First Amendment right to assign reporters to cover “future Tennessee Judicial Conference meetings either virtually or in person,” and “limits necessary transparency around the state court rulemaking process.” McCaleb added that the yearly meetings “played a significant and positive role in the rulemaking process regarding federal court policy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3dsoi\">During an emergency hearing on June 15, two days after McCaleb filed the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw declined to order this year’s Tennessee Judicial Conference to be opened to the public and media. Instead, according to<a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/15/judge-declines-to-open-tennessee-judicial-conference-to-public/7633547001/\"> the Tennessean</a>, Crenshaw sided with the state’s Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter, who testified during the hearing that the conference meetings would be “entirely educational” for the attendees. While the conference will not be open to the public, McCaleb’s lawsuit will continue in federal court and can argue for future meetings to be open if the meetings discuss public policy.</p><p data-block-key=\"ec5jr\">In response to a request for comment, Barbara Peck, the Director of Communications for the Tennessee State Courts, directed the Tracker to the state’s filing opposing the temporary restraining order filed by McCaleb. In it, Long argues that “while the First Amendment right of access covers certain judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings and records filed in those proceedings, neither the Sixth Circuit nor the Supreme Court has ever recognized a First Amendment right of access to meetings of a state judiciary such as the TJC.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ducr6\">McCaleb did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-11-20 00:00:00+00:00) Court nixes editor’s access to annual judicial meeting in Tennessee"
],
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"dismissed"
],
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"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Judiciary: State Court"
],
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"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dan McCaleb (The Center Square)"
],
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"Change in policy or practice",
"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Journalist detained by deputies after documenting arrests at Idaho Pride parade",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-detained-by-deputies-after-documenting-arrests-at-idaho-pride-parade/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-21T16:45:36.039634Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-11-08T20:24:02.284400Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-11-08T20:24:02.206554Z",
"date": "2022-06-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Coeur d'Alene",
"longitude": -116.78047,
"latitude": 47.67768,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ft9ql\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar was detained by Kootenai County Sheriff's deputies and her car searched after she documented multiple arrests at a Pride parade in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on June 11, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu9af\">Portland-based Azar told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she decided to travel to Idaho when she became aware that right-wing and neo-Nazi groups were planning a protest in opposition to the annual Pride in the Park event.</p><p data-block-key=\"fvlc9\">Azar told the Tracker she documented the arrests of two individuals at around 1 p.m., and then continued to report on the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1535705289806073857\">general festivities</a> and the actions of the gathered <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1535710600285720576\">counterprotesters</a>. Azar said she was planning to leave a few hours later when she saw a sheriff running with his baton out, trailed by six or seven individuals.</p><p data-block-key=\"bqrja\">“I wasn’t sure what was going on but I knew something was happening, so I started running and I followed them,” Azar said. “I followed all the way out of the park and another one to one-and-a-half blocks away, where there were a bunch of police cars in the street. As I got a little bit closer that’s when I saw the group of Patriot Front that was arrested.”</p><p data-block-key=\"30oia\">CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/11/us/31-people-arrested-for-conspiracy-to-riot-near-idaho-pride-parade/index.html\">reported</a> that 31 individuals believed to be affiliated with Patriot Front — which the Anti-Defamation League <a href=\"https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/patriot-front\">identifies</a> as a white supremacist group — were arrested for conspiracy to riot.</p><p data-block-key=\"boaid\">Azar said that while filming law enforcement unmasking and processing each individual, an officer called her by name and told the officer next to him, “There’s your girl, the one filming.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6buq9\">At approximately 1:38 in her <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1535735682877902848\">footage</a>, a voice can be heard saying, “Hey Azar, hey Azar.” As the video pans to the right, an officer waves at her while a voice off screen says, “Yeah, that’s her.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Patriot front arrested. they have a uhaul filled with shields and idk what else <a href=\"https://t.co/c8pCyd0xGW\">https://t.co/c8pCyd0xGW</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/omQuLyPpoe\">pic.twitter.com/omQuLyPpoe</a></p>— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1535735682877902848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 11, 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=\"ft9ql\">Azar told the Tracker that she returned to her car when the arrests were finished, which was parked about a mile away.</p><p data-block-key=\"63o7o\">“I had a bad feeling after being called out by name, but I didn’t notice anyone following me,” Azar said. She opened all of her car doors to allow it to cool off; within five minutes, a Kootenai Sheriff's deputy arrived and began asking her questions.</p><p data-block-key=\"58obj\">“I do think it was extremely targeted,” Azar told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjtu2\">The deputy told her that by leaving her doors open she was blocking the roadway and breaking the law, so she closed the doors but the officer continued to question her and asked her to sit on the sidewalk. Azar told the Tracker that throughout the encounter she identified herself as a journalist and was wearing her press badge.</p><p data-block-key=\"esekr\">She said two additional police vehicles pulled up within 15 minutes, and an officer questioned her about her presence at the various arrests during the day.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kj88\">“He said that he was suspicious of my involvement because I was one of the first people there on the scene, but I thought that was very odd because there were a bunch of onlookers there that were witnessing it,” Azar said. “And I was the first person at every arrest that happened that day because that’s kind of what I do: I document all of that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1cd8f\">She was then told to go back to the sidewalk, where within moments a Sheriff’s deputy told her she was being detained.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bm2d\">“I thought it was a joke,” Azar said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">“Ok. NOW you’re being detained.” I thought this was a joke at first, but they were serious. The sheriff left for a moment as the other cops began taking a ton of pictures of me on their phones. The sheriff came back with his K9 and the cops began searching every inch of the car</p>— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1536090807505039360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 12, 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=\"ft9ql\">The K-9 officer and other deputies proceeded to search her car and belongings. Azar said that while she was sitting on the sidewalk, numerous other officers took photos of her with their cellphones.</p><p data-block-key=\"de5q7\">Officers did not find anything in her car, Azar said, and she was ultimately released without charges after about an hour. She told the Tracker she has not decided whether to file a complaint with the Sheriff’s department.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hjkir\">More than 30 members of a white nationalist group were arrested at a Pride event in Idaho on June 11, 2022. Shortly after documenting their arrests, independent journalist Alissa Azar was herself detained by law enforcement.</p>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
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"state": {
"name": "Idaho",
"abbreviation": "ID"
},
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"tags": [
"LGBTQ+ rights"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
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"Alissa Azar (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Sarasota Herald-Tribune prohibited from publishing deputies’ names",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sarasota-herald-tribune-prohibited-from-publishing-deputies-names/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-16T17:52:08.137028Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-21T20:46:13.506436Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-21T20:46:13.397082Z",
"date": "2022-06-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Sarasota",
"longitude": -82.53065,
"latitude": 27.33643,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mxylf\">A Florida judge granted an emergency injunction on June 10, 2022, barring the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and reporter Melissa Pérez-Carrillo from publishing the names of deputies involved in a fatal shooting in April, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"b1mrt\"><a href=\"https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/sarasota/2022/06/14/judge-orders-herald-tribune-not-publish-sarasota-deputies-names-marsys-law/7624647001/\">According to the Herald-Tribune</a>, the State Attorney’s Office provided the outlet with the last names of the three deputies involved in a court-ordered eviction that resulted in the shooting death of a Sarasota resident as part of a routine public records request.</p><p data-block-key=\"7a9ak\">The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office argues that two of the deputies’ identities are confidential under Marsy’s Law, which provides certain protections to crime victims and was added to the Florida Constitution in 2018. Whether the law can be used to shield law enforcement officers in this way is at the center of a case <a href=\"https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2021/12/21/florida-supreme-court-review-marsys-law-dispute-tallahassee/8980067002/\">being heard by the Florida Supreme Court</a> stemming from a fatal police shooting in Tallahassee in May 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tscq\">Chief Circuit Judge Charles Roberts granted the request from the Sheriff’s Office and the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday evening without notifying the Herald-Tribune, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tlf6\">Attorneys for the Herald-Tribune filed an emergency motion to dissolve the injunction on June 13 on behalf of the newspaper Pérez-Carrillo. The motion, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, contends that the order amounts to an unconstitutional prior restraint violating both the United States and Florida constitutions.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei3a5\">“It’s important for us to follow through on this action because we are committed to fulfilling our First Amendment right to responsibly report news about this case which is important and of public interest,” Jennifer Orsi, executive editor at the Herald-Tribune, told the Tracker. “We believe that once our arguments are heard, this injunction will be lifted.”</p><p data-block-key=\"100hb\">The law firm representing the Herald-Tribune told the Tracker that a hearing on the motion to dissolve has been scheduled for June 21 before Judge Charles Williams.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ilrs\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Sarasota Herald-Tribune Executive Editor Jennifer Orsi.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Herald-Tribune.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"z3cn7\">A portion of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s motion to lift an unconstitutional prior restraint against the newspaper and one of its reporters, which was put in place on June 10, 2022.</p>",
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"status_of_prior_restraint": "struck down",
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-06-27 16:17:00+00:00) Judge strikes down prior restraint against the Sarasota Herald-Tribune"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Sarasota Herald-Tribune"
],
"tags": [
"public records"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Melissa Pérez-Carrillo (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)"
],
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},
{
"title": "St. Joseph journalist deposed after reporting on hospital",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/st-joseph-journalist-deposed-after-reporting-on-hospital/",
"first_published_at": "2022-07-07T21:50:19.558072Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-07-07T21:50:19.558072Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-07-07T21:50:19.502955Z",
"date": "2022-06-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "St. Joseph",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qfcze\">A regional medical center in St. Joseph, Missouri, subpoenaed St. Joseph News-Press reporter Clayton Anderson and a news director on June 2, 2022, after Anderson reported on an ongoing worker’s compensation lawsuit against the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"cg4ot\">On May 18, the <a href=\"https://www.newspressnow.com/news/local_news/courts/ex-employees-lawsuit-against-mosaic-continues/article_61a68840-d0a2-11ec-a239-d3961f03705c.html\">News-Press published Anderson’s article</a> on a discrimination and worker’s compensation lawsuit filed against Heartland Regional Medical Center, operating as Mosaic Life Care, by a former employee who sustained an injury while working as a medical technician and was later terminated from the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mjtc\"><a href=\"https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-06-30/a-hospital-in-st-joseph-missouri-wages-a-legal-war-against-the-local-newspaper\">According to Kansas City NPR-affiliate KCUR</a>, Anderson’s reporting referenced a spreadsheet showing the number of employees injured while working at the hospital and were later terminated or let go. A judge sanctioned Mosaic during the trial for discrepancies found in the spreadsheet.</p><p data-block-key=\"4n73f\">In an email, Anderson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that about two weeks after publishing the article he received a phone call from Mosaic Life Care asking for reporting materials and recorded interviews with sources. He said he declined to provide any information. </p><p data-block-key=\"fj17t\">The hospital issued Anderson a subpoena for reporting materials and to sit for a deposition, arguing that Anderson and Steven Booher, the News-Press’ director of news content, received confidential information from the plaintiff’s lawyers. The law firm representing Mosaic Life Center did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fjn1\">In his deposition on June 14, Anderson answered questions about his motivation for reporting on the lawsuit. According to the transcript, reviewed by the Tracker, he denied having seen a confidential spreadsheet containing the names of former hospital employees. </p><p data-block-key=\"crfm6\">The plaintiff’s lawyer E.E. Keenan, who was not representing Anderson but was present during the deposition, said he objected to the subpoena. “The news media should be free, under the First Amendment, to do their job without having to go through something like this,” Keenan said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvbek\">Anderson told the Tracker that he continues reporting on the lawsuit, and the subpoena has not impacted his objectivity. </p><p data-block-key=\"18qqe\">“I think, if anything, this has just made me more aware of how business tend to work, but I am not spooked, and it has not impacted my news judgment,” he said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ep2a5\">A portion of the subpoena issued to St. Joseph News-Press reporter Clayton Anderson.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Clayton Anderson (St. Joseph News-Press)"
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"carried out"
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "St. Joseph News-Press news director deposed after reporting on hospital lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/st-joseph-news-press-news-director-deposed-after-reporting-on-hospital-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2022-07-11T19:40:22.102158Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-07-11T19:40:22.102158Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-07-11T19:40:22.056412Z",
"date": "2022-06-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "St. Joseph",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nhahm\">A regional medical center in St. Joseph, Missouri, subpoenaed St. Joseph News-Press News Director Steven Booher and a reporter on June 2, 2022, after the newspaper reported on an ongoing worker’s compensation lawsuit against the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"b6n4t\">On May 18, the <a href=\"https://www.newspressnow.com/news/local_news/courts/ex-employees-lawsuit-against-mosaic-continues/article_61a68840-d0a2-11ec-a239-d3961f03705c.html\">News-Press published an article</a> on a discrimination and worker’s compensation lawsuit filed against Heartland Regional Medical Center, operating as Mosaic Life Care, by a former employee who sustained an injury while working as a medical technician and was later terminated from the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"9enrn\"><a href=\"https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-06-30/a-hospital-in-st-joseph-missouri-wages-a-legal-war-against-the-local-newspaper\">According to Kansas City NPR-affiliate KCUR</a>, the New-Press’ reporting referenced a spreadsheet showing the number of employees injured while working at the hospital and were later terminated or let go. A judge sanctioned Mosaic during the trial for discrepancies found in the spreadsheet.</p><p data-block-key=\"19o9m\">The hospital issued Booher a subpoena for reporting materials and to sit for a deposition, arguing that Booher and Clayton Anderson, the News-Press reporter who wrote the article, received confidential information from the plaintiff’s lawyers. In his deposition on June 14, Booher refused to produce unpublished and unaired materials gathered while reporting on the lawsuit. According to the transcript, reviewed by the Tracker, he said the News-Press would consider producing the materials if ordered to by a judge. Neither Booher nor the lawyers representing Mosaic Life Center responded to requests for comment. </p><p data-block-key=\"8rsus\">The plaintiff’s lawyer E.E. Keenan, who was not representing Booher but was present during the deposition, asked Booher if subpoenas issued to reporters had the potential to have a chilling effect on journalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"8p19q\">“It would. It would definitely have that effect, and most likely it would affect our news judgment about stories that we do cover, and eventually it would have a detrimental effect on our business,” Booher said in the deposition. </p><p data-block-key=\"5nuta\">Keenan objected to the subpoenas during the depositions. “The news media should be free, under the First Amendment, to do their job without having to go through something like this,” he said.</p></div>",
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"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
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"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
},
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"categories": [
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"Steven Booher (St. Joseph News-Press)"
],
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