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{
"title": "Freelance journalist shoved, arrested while filming police in Arizona",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-shoved-arrested-while-filming-police-in-arizona/",
"first_published_at": "2023-10-03T18:35:39.960937Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-24T17:15:11.904484Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-24T17:15:11.674017Z",
"date": "2023-05-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Yuma",
"longitude": -114.6244,
"latitude": 32.72532,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2mrk2\">Freelance journalist Lucas Mullikin was shoved to the ground and then arrested while filming officers detain a man in Yuma, Arizona, on May 16, 2023. Prosecutors deferred two charges against him on Sept. 19.</p><p data-block-key=\"7iq1r\">Mullikin, whose work has been published by NBC News, Al Jazeera, Business Insider and CNBC, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was driving by as he saw officers aggressively detaining someone, so pulled over to film with his smartphone from what he believed was a safe distance.</p><p data-block-key=\"b1tre\">“Knowing not to impede the detention, I positioned myself on the far side of the fence,” Mullikin wrote to the Tracker via email. “[An] officer saw me filming through the fence and yelled ‘Get that guy.’ As I was already backing up, suddenly another officer charged, shoving me to the ground.” Mullikin said that the fall reinjured his ACL and caused his knees to bleed.</p><p data-block-key=\"ektci\">In the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lucasmullikin/status/1703687726954840466\">footage Mullikin captured</a> on his cellphone, the officer tells him to “Stay there” before Mullikin stands and asks multiple times for his badge number. The officer immediately turns, points at Mullikin and tells him that he’s under arrest. As Mullikin calls out for a sergeant, the footage ends.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yuma?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Yuma</a>, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Arizona?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Arizona</a> Police assault and unlawfully arrest journalist documenting police violence against unsheltered community member. <a href=\"https://t.co/rwktaWE0Nn\">pic.twitter.com/rwktaWE0Nn</a></p>— Lucas Mullikin (@lucasmullikin) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lucasmullikin/status/1703687726954840466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 18, 2023</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=\"2mrk2\">“I didn’t resist [the arrest] in any way, even as he attempted to lift me off the ground by bending my arm upwards behind my back, a move that could have easily dislocated my shoulder,” Mullikin told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"4114t\">Mullikin <a href=\"https://www.azfamily.com/video/2023/09/24/journalist-claims-yuma-officers-violated-his-rights-while-recording-arrest/\">told AZ Family</a> that he turned off his cellphone to protect his footage, but that his girlfriend filmed his arrest, in which two officers can be seen pinning him to the ground. He told the Tracker he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist throughout the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"bjtqh\">The Yuma Police Department <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGdPx-i2zEM\">released the body camera footage</a> from the incident on Sept. 25. Voice-over narration detailed the department’s version of events, including that Mullikin and his girlfriend were “flanked” on either side of the officer during the initial arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"feqq9\">“The male subject started to inject himself into the incident by asking the officer questions,” Sergeant Lori Franklin said in the video. “For approximately five minutes the officer had to deal with a resisting suspect and attempt to watch two unknown subjects who continued to encroach into the officers’ direct space.”</p><p data-block-key=\"35ve6\">Mullikin was charged with failure to obey and resisting arrest, according to court records reviewed by the Tracker. Mullikin said the city prosecutor’s office initially offered a plea deal that would have him serve 40 days in jail, which he declined. They later offered him deferred prosecution, akin to probation, under which he would not be prosecuted on the charges unless he was arrested over the subsequent year. Mullikin accepted the offer — which included paying a $500 fee — on Sept. 19.</p><p data-block-key=\"4to7q\">Mullikin told the Tracker that he intends to file a civil lawsuit against the Yuma Police Department. He said the deposition of officers in his case found that the department does not provide training on how to interact with journalists or the public’s right to record, and that lack of training makes them negligent.</p><p data-block-key=\"2l0pd\">“It’s very important for me to have a positive outcome for this,” Mullikin said. “I want the city to start hiring accountable officers.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mullikin.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gbc2d\">Body cameras worn by police captured freelance journalist Lucas Mullikin being pinned to the ground and arrested while filming a detainment in Yuma, Arizona, on May 16, 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Yuma Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2023-05-16",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-09-19 00:00:00+00:00) Freelancer won’t face charges in forcible arrest; files claim against Arizona police"
],
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"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
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],
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{
"title": "News outlet hack halts publication, deletes nearly 26,000 articles",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-outlet-hack-halts-publication-deletes-nearly-26000-articles/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-11T16:03:07.825040Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-11T16:03:07.825040Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-10T21:22:46.526590Z",
"date": "2023-05-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pgcrb\">Investigative news outlet Black Star News was targeted in a cyberattack on May 16, 2023, that disrupted publishing and deleted nearly 26,000 articles.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1nv8\">The New York City-based newspaper <a href=\"https://blackstarnews.com/after-massive-targeted-cyberattack-black-star-news-is-back/\">reported</a> that over the course of the attack, it lost the ability to post new articles until May 27. But BSN Publisher Milton Allimadi <a href=\"https://www.journal-isms.com/2023/06/cyberattack-hits-black-news-website/\">told Journal-isms</a> that the developer building the newspaper’s new website had been archiving past articles and managed to save most of the 25,768 deleted articles, except those published between March and May.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bkft\">“In the past, some of our most critical editorials or articles about corruption allegations had been specifically targeted and deleted,” BSN reported. “But never before had our website crashed.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7n6li\">The outlet reported the incident to the New York Police Department and the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James, BSN reported. Allimadi did not respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kglv\">While BSN wrote that it was disappointed by the disruption, it added that it took it as a confirmation of the importance of its investigative reporting: “We are elated to know that we are producing journalism that some individuals or entities are scared of — individuals or entities that like operating in darkness.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Black Star News"
],
"tags": [
"cyberattack"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Cyberattack disrupts Inquirer publishing, closes newsroom",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cyberattack-disrupts-inquirer-publishing-closes-newsroom/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-13T19:28:23.403250Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-06-13T19:28:23.403250Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-06-13T19:28:23.231699Z",
"date": "2023-05-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Philadelphia",
"longitude": -75.16362,
"latitude": 39.95238,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wjohk\">The Philadelphia Inquirer’s publishing systems were disrupted by a cyberattack that prevented the newspaper from printing its regular Sunday edition on May 14, 2023, temporarily closed its newsroom and took select computer systems offline.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vld\">The Inquirer <a href=\"https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philadelphia-inquirer-hack-cyber-disruption-20230514.html\">reported</a> that it was not clear when the systems were first breached but that the attack was detected the morning of May 13, when employees found that the newspaper’s content management system wasn’t working. Inquirer Publisher and CEO Elizabeth H. Hughes said in a statement later that day that the paper had “discovered anomalous activity on select computer systems and immediately took those systems off-line.”</p><p data-block-key=\"869lm\">The newspaper said it was able to implement workarounds that day that allowed online publication to continue, albeit sometimes at a slower pace.</p><p data-block-key=\"9lf5\">The Sunday early edition — which was compiled on May 12 — was successfully printed, but the company was unable to print the regular edition of the newspaper. It instead published solely the online version, and printing resumed during the afternoon of May 14 for the Monday edition.</p><p data-block-key=\"667rc\">The Inquirer reported that employees were barred from entering the newspaper’s offices until May 16, as the internet servers had also been disrupted.</p><p data-block-key=\"42cbp\">In an emailed statement on May 14 to Inquirer journalists reporting on the attack, Hughes said that outside cybersecurity experts had been brought in to help restore systems and that an investigation was ongoing into who was behind the attack and whether any employees or particular systems were targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"5vi4p\">“We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we work to fully restore systems and complete this investigation as soon as possible,” Hughes said. “We will keep our employees and readers informed as we learn more.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2dcd3\">The Inquirer later <a href=\"https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-inquirer-ransomware-cuba-fbi-20230523.html\">reported</a> on May 23 that a ransomware group that calls itself Cuba claimed it was behind the attack and had posted a trove of stolen data and files online. Hughes told the newspaper that the company has not found any evidence that materials were actually taken or shared online.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
],
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"cyberattack"
],
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"Other Incident"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist arrested at candlelight vigil for man killed on NYC subway",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-candlelight-vigil-for-man-killed-on-nyc-subway/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-09T14:29:41.056093Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-01T16:56:30.072132Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-01T16:56:29.967779Z",
"date": "2023-05-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zqpbl\">Freelance news photographer Stephanie Keith was arrested while documenting a candlelight vigil in New York, New York, on May 8, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"5t7j0\">The vigil was organized following the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/nyregion/jordan-neely-chokehold-death-subway.html\">May 1 death of Jordan Neely</a>, a homeless man who was choked to death on a subway train by a Marine Corps veteran. Keith has been documenting demonstrations in the wake of Neely’s death, with some of her coverage published in <a href=\"https://www.bkmag.com/2023/05/05/photos-protestors-march-from-brooklyn-to-manhattan-to-protest-the-murder-of-jordan-neely/\">Brooklyn Magazine</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dq4ce\">Keith was one of nearly a dozen people arrested at the May 8 vigil, <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2023/05/08/multiple-people-arrested-during-protest-over-jordan-neely/\">according to the New York Post</a>, which was held at the Broadway-Lafayette subway station in Manhattan where Neely was killed. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/1655728628217380864\">footage posted to Twitter</a> by Oliya Scootercaster, Keith can be heard identifying herself as a press photographer as multiple officers place her in handcuffs and lead her away.</p><p data-block-key=\"34ljf\">When reached for comment, a New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed that Keith was issued a summons and released, but declined to say which specific charges were filed against her.</p><p data-block-key=\"896mc\">The spokesperson directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/1655766853619429384\">footage of a press conference</a> held later that evening. During the press conference, Chief of Patrol John Chell indicated that the majority of those arrested were charged with obstructing government administration and disorderly conduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ddmh\">“The reporter interfered in at least two arrests in the middle of the street and we got very physical,” Chell said. “She interfered a third time, so she was placed under arrest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"43i2u\">Keith, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, <a href=\"https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-photojournalist-arrested-jordan-neely-protest-20230509-dgi423vmu5dpnf3njmqvlavjr4-story.html\">told the Daily News</a> she was detained at the 7th Precinct.</p><p data-block-key=\"6lqe2\">“I was trying to photograph what I thought was an arrest but I never even got a chance to see since they grabbed me as soon as I tried to photograph,” Keith told the News. “I said, ‘I’m press’ and they said, ‘You’re not, you’re arrested.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"6jlo8\">New York Press Photographers Association President Bruce Cotler said in a statement to the News that the organization stands in support of Keith and that he is confident the Manhattan district attorney will drop any charges against her.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3ctk\">Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that Keith was charged with disorderly conduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"9tg03\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with details of the charges filed against Keith.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"dy3xj\">Photojournalist Stephanie Keith was arrested on May 8, 2023, while documenting a candlelight vigil for a man who died on a New York City subway train earlier in the month. Keith was charged and released.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2023-05-08",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-07-25 13:03:00+00:00) Disorderly conduct charge against NY photojournalist deferred",
"(2024-06-20 00:00:00+00:00) Watchdog says NYPD patrol chief didn’t overstep during arrest of journalist",
"(2024-01-25 10:57:00+00:00) Charge dropped against photojournalist arrested at NYC vigil"
],
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"tags": [
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Stephanie Keith (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "FBI raids home, office of independent journalist on hacking allegations",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-raids-home-office-of-independent-journalist-on-hacking-allegations/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-07T15:28:30.434371Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-13T18:38:52.543558Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-13T18:38:52.237584Z",
"date": "2023-05-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Tampa",
"longitude": -82.45843,
"latitude": 27.94752,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ltqnl\">Florida-based independent journalist Tim Burke awoke on May 8, 2023, to the sound of FBI agents banging on the door of his Tampa home with a search warrant. By the time the raid ended approximately 10 hours later, agents had seized virtually all of the electronics in his newsroom.</p><p data-block-key=\"4pcvj\">The Tampa Bay Times <a href=\"https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2023/05/26/tucker-carlson-fox-news-hacks-tied-fbi-search-tampa-council-members-home/\">reported</a> that the raid was connected to a criminal probe into “alleged computer intrusions and intercepted communications at the Fox News Network.” At least six behind-the-scenes clips of former Fox host Tucker Carlson were leaked over the past year. The broadcaster has <a href=\"https://twitter.com/maxwelltani/status/1654490911445864449/photo/1\">asserted</a> that it did not authorize the release of the footage and that its systems could have been hacked.</p><p data-block-key=\"3n6sl\">Burke, who worked previously at Deadspin and The Daily Beast, has made a career of capturing publicly available livestreams. The Times <a href=\"https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2023/05/26/hack-fox-news-tucker-carlson-leaks-fbi-tampa/\">reported</a> that he launched Burke Communications in 2019, offering contract work and consulting, as well as access to his 181,000-gigabyte video archive.</p><p data-block-key=\"9qiu\">According to the <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flmd.414154/gov.uscourts.flmd.414154.25.1.pdf\">search warrant</a> for his home, which was unsealed on May 26, officers were authorized to seize all of Burke’s electronics or physical records of alleged violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The warrant also stipulated that officers could force residents to unlock devices enabled with biometrics, including fingerprints or facial recognition.</p><p data-block-key=\"266hb\">In total, federal agents seized nine computers, seven hard drives, four cellphones and four notebooks from Burke’s home and the guesthouse that serves as his office. Two computers belonging to Lynn Hurtak, Burke’s wife and a Tampa City Council member, were also seized, along with a third that the couple both used, Burke told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in August.</p><p data-block-key=\"c16fa\">Attorney Mark Rasch, who is representing Burke and <a href=\"https://kjk.com/professionals/mark-rasch/\">created</a> the Justice Department’s Computer Crime Unit, denied any criminal behavior by Burke.</p><p data-block-key=\"b2tml\">“Hacking is not simply obtaining information that someone would rather you not,” Rasch told the Tracker. “And hacking is also not going to a website that someone would prefer that you not or finding information that they would prefer that you not.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3o30f\">Rasch said that Burke uses no special software or tools to access or record live feeds, and that viewing them does not require a username or password. Rather, Burke has cultivated search skills and sources that direct him to the URLs where they are publicly visible.</p><p data-block-key=\"4estl\">Burke told the Tracker that he’s worked as an assignment editor his entire career, and sees his current work as an extension of that: sifting through content to identify newsworthy material for publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"26b2n\">“I have always promoted my approach of taking video in its most raw nature as being the best we have when it comes to veracity,” Burke said. “The raw video is the truth. That’s what journalism is, that’s what we’re reporting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c8oj0\">But Burke told the Tracker that the seizure of his electronics has made it impossible for him to continue his journalistic work.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ektr\">“It’s very difficult for me to do most of the things that I do as a journalist without my contacts that are on my phone or without the video editing softwares that are on my computer,” Burke said. “I just want to get back to doing this thing that I’ve dedicated my life to.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6n1pf\">The seizures also caused Burke to be locked out of his email, social media, banking and other important accounts. <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flmd.414154/gov.uscourts.flmd.414154.25.2_2.pdf\">According to Rasch</a>, federal prosecutors asked that Burke waive his Fifth Amendment rights and provide the passcode to his cellphone so it could be cloned. Burke refused.</p><p data-block-key=\"4h0hh\">Burke told the Tracker that prosecutors later said they no longer needed the passcode, and allowed him to access the device to transfer the two-factor authentication applications he needed.</p><p data-block-key=\"3idil\">On July 21, Rasch <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flmd.414154/gov.uscourts.flmd.414154.25.0.pdf\">filed a motion</a> for the return of Burke’s devices and to unseal the affidavit submitted in support of the search warrant, which he believes will provide insights into the basis on which Burke is being investigated.</p><p data-block-key=\"9rskt\">Rasch also highlighted that multiple Justice Department officials — including the U.S. attorney general — are <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1547046/download\">required</a> to approve searches involving journalists or newsrooms, and details of whether investigators followed that procedure should be in the affidavit.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7qff\">The government response to Rasch’s motion is due by Aug. 9, according to court records.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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{
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"equipment": "cellphone"
},
{
"quantity": 9,
"equipment": "computer"
},
{
"quantity": 7,
"equipment": "storage device"
},
{
"quantity": 4,
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}
],
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-09-29 12:08:00+00:00) FBI returns some equipment seized from Tampa journalist",
"(2025-01-30 00:00:00+00:00) FBI returns two computers to Florida journalist; many items still in custody",
"(2023-11-09 17:37:00+00:00) FBI returns additional equipment seized from Tampa journalist",
"(2024-02-21 17:10:00+00:00) Florida journalist indicted for alleged conspiracy, computer fraud, wiretapping"
],
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},
{
"title": "Shot fired at empty Alabama newspaper office, none injured",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shot-fired-at-empty-alabama-newspaper-office-none-injured/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-23T19:22:20.338100Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-27T21:04:41.554479Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-27T21:04:41.448859Z",
"date": "2023-05-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Moundville",
"longitude": -87.63001,
"latitude": 32.99762,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t9ob4\">The Moundville Times reported that an unknown individual fired a bullet through a window of the newspaper’s office in Moundville, Alabama, in early May 2023. The office was empty at the time and no one was injured.</p><p data-block-key=\"1idbk\">The Times <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MoundvilleTimesMedia/posts/711351487656567\">reported</a> that the shooting happened sometime between May 3 and May 7. On May 7, Editor Travis Vaughn noticed a piece of molding had fallen off the wall. Then, three days later, when moving a plant on the windowsill, he discovered damage to the blinds and a hole in the window.</p><p data-block-key=\"2bp7e\">Police later recovered the bullet from an interior wall and are investigating the incident, which would be a felony, the paper reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"8chn1\">Vaughn <a href=\"https://www.wbrc.com/video/2023/05/18/bullet-hole-found-moundville-times-office/\">told WBRC-TV</a> that he is worried about whether it was a random accident or if someone targeted the newsroom.</p><p data-block-key=\"blmkt\">“It's very scary. It's very disturbing to think about what could have been,” Vaughn said. “You try to do a good job and you try to be fair, but you have to cover the news. So you wonder: Could it be somebody retaliatory, or a message of, ‘Hey, back off.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"dlk1m\">Vaughn did not respond to requests for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"bqgko\">Moundville Police Chief Toby Banks told the weekly newspaper that shootings in downtown Moundville are rare.</p><p data-block-key=\"6cnef\">“Since I’ve been chief here, you can count on one hand the number of incidents even remotely like this in downtown Moundville,” Banks said. “We’re hoping no one was targeting the Moundville Times and that it was just someone goofing off or someone made it accidentally happen.”</p><p data-block-key=\"88fpm\">Publisher Tommy McGraw wrote in an op-ed for the newspaper on May 17 that both the Times and its sister paper, the Sumter County Record Journal, have received numerous threats over the more than 30 years they’ve been publishing.</p><p data-block-key=\"86j54\">“That is the sad and frightening thing about being in the newspaper business, sometimes fearing for your life for doing the right thing, exposing corruption, and printing the truth,” McGraw wrote.</p></div>",
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"name": "Alabama",
"abbreviation": "AL"
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"Moundville Times"
],
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"Equipment Damage"
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{
"title": "NJ journalist files lawsuit following cease and desist notice from police director",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nj-journalist-files-lawsuit-following-cease-and-desist-notice-from-police-director/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-10T17:55:35.206317Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-11T16:40:24.893586Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-11T16:40:24.747087Z",
"date": "2023-05-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New Brunswick",
"longitude": -74.45182,
"latitude": 40.48622,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3cvog\">Charlie Kratovil, founder and editor of New Jersey newspaper New Brunswick Today, received a cease and desist notice after he raised questions during a city council meeting on May 3, 2023, about where a city official lives. Kratovil subsequently filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city and the official seeking protections from possible criminal or civil penalties.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0ag\">Kratovil told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Anthony Caputo, who serves as the civilian director of police and sits on the board of commissioners for the Parking Authority, has been “extraordinarily absent.”</p><p data-block-key=\"91d29\">“Our police director has been really elusive. He has not attended a council meeting in 15 years,” Kratovil said. “I’ve had important questions to ask him over the years, and he typically doesn’t engage, certainly doesn’t have press conferences or anything like that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8mono\">Kratovil told the Tracker he had learned through a public records request that in 2022 Caputo changed the residence on his voter registration to Cape May. The small town at the southernmost tip of New Jersey is more than two hours drive from New Brunswick.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfc0v\">After Kratovil attempted to reach Caputo for comment about his residence — including during a Parking Authority board meeting — the journalist said he raised the issue at a public meeting attended by the New Brunswick City Council.</p><p data-block-key=\"furra\">Kratovil stated the name of the street listed on Caputo’s voter profile and handed copies — which contained the full address — to the council members, asking whether there are residency requirements for the positions Caputo fills. According to the lawsuit filed on Kratovil’s behalf by the New Jersey chapter of the ACLU, the council members did not provide an answer and said they would have to look into it.</p><p data-block-key=\"4vcdi\">Caputo wrote Kratovil on official city letterhead the following day, copying a Middlesex County prosecutor and the New Brunswick city attorney, to assert that he is protected from disclosure of his home address or telephone number under <a href=\"https://www.danielslaw.nj.gov/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f\">Daniel’s Law</a>. The state statute makes it a crime to post addresses or phone numbers of judges, prosecutors, law enforcement, and their families on public websites.</p><p data-block-key=\"4pn34\">“I do hereby request that you cease the disclosure of such information and remove the protected information from the internet or where otherwise made available,” Caputo’s letter states. “I trust you will be guided accordingly.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5nj9b\">A recording of the public meeting subsequently released by the city was edited to mute the audio not only of Kratovil stating the street of Caputo’s home but his entire line of questioning about the police director’s residency.</p><p data-block-key=\"6n5es\">ACLU of New Jersey, in its lawsuit filed July 12, argued that the city of New Brunswick and Caputo have attempted to chill Kratovil’s journalism after he reported lawfully obtained information that is in the public interest.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3lce\">“Government should not threaten news reporters with prosecution or civil liability if they write a news story or share information about something questionable going on with a public servant’s address,” the lawsuit states.</p><p data-block-key=\"7f42b\">The suit seeks an injunction against the city to protect Kratovil from any attempts to pursue civil or criminal penalties against him for alleged violations of Daniel’s Law.</p><p data-block-key=\"78usm\">In a court filing reviewed by the Tracker, attorneys for the city confirmed that Caputo is indeed registered to vote in Cape May, but asserted that he rents an apartment in East Brunswick where he stays during the week.</p><p data-block-key=\"fosn9\">Caputo did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qg72\">An initial hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for Aug. 23.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rch2e\">A portion of the cease and desist notice sent to New Brunswick Today editor Charlie Kratovil after he raised questions during a public meeting about where a civilian police official lives.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New Jersey",
"abbreviation": "NJ"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-09-21 00:00:00+00:00) New Jersey journalist appeals case over cease and desist notice",
"(2024-04-26 00:00:00+00:00) Appeals court affirms dismissal of New Jersey journalist’s case"
],
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"dismissed"
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
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"Charlie Kratovil (New Brunswick Today)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Shot fired into FOX13 Memphis station, no injuries reported",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shot-fired-into-fox13-memphis-station-no-injuries-reported/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-02T21:26:48.931666Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-27T21:05:00.740305Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-27T21:05:00.643736Z",
"date": "2023-05-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Memphis",
"longitude": -90.04898,
"latitude": 35.14953,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s79yl\">A man fired a shot from an AR-style rifle into the FOX13 Memphis newsroom on May 2, 2023, <a href=\"https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/shot-fired-at-fox13-station-no-injures-reported/article_0d722d26-e909-11ed-b939-53354f10c540.html\">according to reports from the outlet</a>, but no injuries were reported. Employees were evacuated to a back parking lot for approximately 30 minutes before being allowed back into the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"fv37o\">FOX13 reported that at around 11:30 a.m. a man approached an employee wanting to talk, and showed the employee that he was carrying a gun. The employee ended the conversation and left, after which the man walked to the front of the building and fired a single shot. The gunman then fled and barricaded himself in a nearby restaurant.</p><p data-block-key=\"4bs6r\">FOX 13 reporter Shelia O’Connor <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SheliaOConnor/status/1653444622108983322\">posted on Twitter</a> at 1 p.m. that no employees or staff members were hit or injured during the incident.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UPDATE: we have been let back inside the station, but we’re still on lockdown. Here’s more photos of the bullet hole. Memphis police have the guy in custody. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FOX13Memphis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FOX13Memphis</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/PbF4uWFOUq\">pic.twitter.com/PbF4uWFOUq</a></p>— Shelia O'Connor FOX13 (@SheliaOConnor) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SheliaOConnor/status/1653468366953148416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 2, 2023</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=\"s79yl\">Another FOX13 reporter, Dakarai Turner, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Dakarai_Turner/status/1653468520431210496\">tweeted</a> that negotiators were able to disarm the gunman and Memphis Police Department officers took him into custody. The department, which did not immediately respond to a request for additional information, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MEM_PoliceDept/status/1653466138871840769\">confirmed on Twitter</a> that the suspect had been arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"cm5gs\">When reached for comment, FOX13 directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the voicemail of general manager, Kyle Krebs.</p></div>",
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{
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],
"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-05-03 15:10:00+00:00) Man charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment after shot fired into FOX13 Memphis newsroom"
],
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"WHBQ-TV"
],
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},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist sent cease and desist letter by San Diego police union",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-sent-cease-and-desist-letter-by-san-diego-police-union/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-19T17:26:52.468176Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-11T16:41:03.909482Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-11T16:41:03.776784Z",
"date": "2023-04-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Diego",
"longitude": -117.16472,
"latitude": 32.71571,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ke73n\">Freelance photojournalist Joe Orellana received a cease and desist letter from the police union in San Diego, California, on April 28, 2023, demanding that he delete tweets about an officer’s testimony during a legislative hearing.</p><p data-block-key=\"f68nr\">Orellana told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for Left Coast Right Watch, an investigative outlet focused on politics and extremism, covering a push by the San Diego Police Department for smart streetlight cameras and automated license plate readers.</p><p data-block-key=\"efm6h\">Two tweets in Orellana’s <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeorephoto/status/1652009437689937920\">Twitter thread</a> concerned the testimony of San Diego Police Lt. Adam Sharki at a hearing before the city’s Privacy Advisory Board on April 27. Orellana reported that Sharki is on the Brady List, typically compiled by the local prosecutor’s office or police department and containing the names of officers or others who have a history of misconduct that could jeopardize a prosecution.</p><p data-block-key=\"a55en\">The following day, San Diego Police Officers Association President Jared Wilson wrote a cease-and-desist letter to Orellana and posted it to the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SDPOA/status/1652076472167985153\">police union’s Twitter</a>, asserting that the claim about Sharki was incorrect and demanding that the tweet be removed.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ar95\">“You must also refrain from making any further statements that falsely defame or disparage Lt. Sharki,” Wilson wrote. “Failure to comply with this demand will result in legal action against you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fc5ql\">Orellana told the Tracker that the only interaction he had with the police union before the letter was publicly posted was a comment from the police union on his tweet about Sharki that read, “This is false.” The cease and desist letter was sent to him via Twitter direct message less than an hour before it was published on the union’s account.</p><p data-block-key=\"18iub\">He contacted the First Amendment Coalition, which on May 4 <a href=\"https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/2023/05/fac-letter-to-san-diego-police-officers-union-regarding-cease-and-desist-demand-to-photojournalist-joe-orellana/\">wrote a letter</a> in support of Orellana and asked the police union to withdraw its cease and desist demand.</p><p data-block-key=\"du57r\">“Threats of litigation can exert a significant chilling effect on speech protected by the First Amendment,” Coalition Legal Director David Loy wrote. “Regardless of whether correction or retraction of a statement might be appropriate, the First Amendment prohibits claims arising from a statement about a public official unless the plaintiff can prove by clear and convincing evidence that the statement was made with actual knowledge it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dfniu\">On May 6, Orellana deleted the tweets at issue and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeorephoto/status/1654897375033577472\">posted</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeorephoto/status/1654898386469031942\">corrections</a>, writing that although Sharki had been named by a third-party website, Orellana was unable to view any government documents that could confirm or refute whether the officer was on the Brady List. Later that day, the police union <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SDPOA/status/1654958387451531265\">wrote on Twitter</a> that because a correction was entered it considers the issue resolved. Wilson, the union’s president, could not be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2vk50\">Orellana told the Tracker, however, the legal threat did have a chilling effect on his reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"3g72t\">“It slowed down my reporting on other matters while I tried to make connections with people who could help, and I avoided being on city property until I issued the retraction,” Orellana said. “If SDPD felt I didn’t take the letter seriously, I worried they might make it harder to do my job.”</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"categories": [
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"Joe Orellana (Left Coast Right Watch)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Arizona judge grants state senator’s restraining order against journalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/arizona-judge-grants-state-senators-restraining-order-against-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-08T20:16:33.471613Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-13T22:25:55.214976Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-13T22:25:55.100764Z",
"date": "2023-04-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Flagstaff",
"longitude": -111.65127,
"latitude": 35.19807,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0sniw\">Arizona Capitol Times reporter Camryn Sanchez was ordered to have no contact with state Sen. Wendy Rogers after the lawmaker obtained a restraining order against her on April 19, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"1bu00\">The Capitol Times <a href=\"https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2023/04/20/rogers-asks-court-to-bar-reporter-from-contacting-her/\">reported</a> that Sanchez, who covers the state senate, was investigating whether Rogers lives in the Flagstaff-area district she was elected in 2020 to represent. The senator had purchased a home in Chandler and listed Tempe as her place of residence in the title documents, not Flagstaff. But Rogers had listed Flagstaff as her home on her nominating paperwork and campaign finance report. Both Chandler and Tempe are located near Phoenix, approximately two-and-a-half hours from Flagstaff.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5apk\">Sanchez traveled to both the Chandler and Tempe homes in an attempt to identify where the senator was living, ringing the doorbells and speaking with neighbors, according to the Capitol Times. Sanchez declined to comment, citing advice from the newspaper’s attorneys.</p><p data-block-key=\"elr00\">Flagstaff Justice Court Magistrate Judge Amy Criddle granted the restraining order on April 19 following a hearing without Sanchez being notified or allowed the opportunity to speak in her own defense, according to the Capitol Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"11quc\">Rogers’ petition for an injunction against harassment not only requested that Sanchez be barred from approaching the senator’s homes, but also asked that the reporter be barred from entering the Arizona Senate building, the Capitol Times <a href=\"https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2023/04/20/rogers-asks-court-to-bar-reporter-from-contacting-her/\">reported</a>. Rogers had also asked Senate leadership to revoke Sanchez’s access to the floor in March, but Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen declined, instead directing the reporter not to approach Rogers on the floor.</p><p data-block-key=\"2f2sb\">On April 20, Rogers <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WendyRogersAZ/status/1649110353572429824\">tweeted</a> a copy of the restraining order and doorbell camera screenshots of Sanchez at her homes, calling the reporter’s behavior “creepy” and “bizarre.” In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AZSenateGOP/status/1649210280658993152\">statement</a> by Rogers released by the Arizona Senate Republicans the same day, the lawmaker alleged that she was fearful for her physical safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"cb192\">“I don’t know this reporter personally, I don’t know what she is capable of, and I don’t believe anyone in their right mind would show up uninvited to my home at night,” Rogers said in the statement. “Therefore, I don’t trust that this person wouldn’t lash out and try to physically harm me in some fashion.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cfebd\">Rogers did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"a12gv\">Society of Professional Journalists Phoenix Chapter President Tim Eigo <a href=\"https://phoenixspj.org/2023/04/22/spj-phoenix-statement-in-support-of-arizona-capitol-times-reporter-camryn-sanchez/\">released a statement</a> supporting Sanchez, writing that she was engaging in standard journalistic newsgathering.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3dci\">“Senator Rogers has made unfounded suggestions that the reporter may be a danger to the senator. But Sanchez was doing nothing more than her job as a journalist, inquiring into the accurate residence of a lawmaker,” Eigo wrote. “In the reporting process, she reached out to the senator for comment and clarification. It is that process, done by hundreds of reporters every day on hundreds of stories, that Senator Rogers has suggested is a criminal act.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9kf8m\">Capitol Times Publisher Michael Gorman condemned the no contact order in an <a href=\"https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2023/04/24/arizona-capitol-times-responds-to-injunction-against-reporter/\">op-ed for the newspaper</a>, stating that it was an unconstitutional prior restraint.</p><p data-block-key=\"f1uie\">“The petition and injunction were not about the Senator’s personal safety but were about silencing the press in direct contravention of the First Amendment,” Gorman wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"fgahg\">Gorman added that the Capitol Times intends to challenge the injunction. Executive Editor Gary Grado told Freedom of the Press Foundation, which oversees the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that a hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for May 10.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Sanchez.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"auirr\">Arizona Sen. Wendy Rogers obtained a restraining order against reporter Camryn Sanchez on April 19, 2023, and tweeted it, alleging that the Arizona Capitol Times journalist was harassing her by investigating where she lives.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"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,
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"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-05-10 21:00:00+00:00) Judge rejects Arizona senator’s restraining order against journalist"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Camryn Sanchez (Arizona Capitol Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Journalist threatened with perjury charges by member of Congress after testimony",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-threatened-with-perjury-charges-by-member-of-congress-after-testimony/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-08T17:44:09.652906Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-05-08T17:44:09.652906Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-05-08T17:44:09.572337Z",
"date": "2023-04-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xfqvj\">Journalist Matt Taibbi was threatened with the possibility of perjury charges in an April 13, 2023, letter from congresswoman Stacey Plaskett who alleged he lied under oath when testifying before Congress.</p><p data-block-key=\"5dj8k\">Taibbi gave testimony before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government on March 9 after he obtained and published the “Twitter Files,” a <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/14/1142666067/elon-musk-is-using-the-twitter-files-to-discredit-foes-and-push-conspiracy-theor\">collection of internal communications</a> shedding light on how the social media company made content moderation decisions before and after the 2020 election.</p><p data-block-key=\"lbpt\">Plaskett, a Democrat, <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23784693-2023-04-13_sep_to_taibbi_redacted\">wrote in the letter</a> that information “foundational” to Taibbi’s testimony had been found to be false or misleading. After flagging multiple such instances, Plaskett called on Taibbi to correct his statements and provide responses to supplementary questions, including about his communications with Twitter owner Elon Musk.</p><p data-block-key=\"50a9e\">Plaskett then reminded Taibbi of his oath under penalty of perjury, writing “providing false information is punishable by up to five years imprisonment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aar2l\">Taibbi, who did not respond to a request for comment, published a <a href=\"https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/19/house-democrats-have-lost-their-minds/\">response to the letter</a> outlining why Plaskett’s accusations are themselves misleading.</p><p data-block-key=\"cou55\">“I’m not going to lie, it frightens me a little that I even have to offer this defense,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"ems0n\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, which oversees the operation of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, condemned the threat of prosecution as an intimidation tactic.</p><p data-block-key=\"35q4c\">“It’s disturbing that a member of Congress would attempt to threaten a journalist with imprisonment for summarizing his reporting during a congressional hearing,” said Advocacy Director Seth Stern. “Whatever one may think of Taibbi or his reporting on the Twitter files, baselessly threatening to imprison journalists is reprehensible, no matter if the threats are from Democratic members of Congress or Donald Trump.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"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": 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": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Matt Taibbi (Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Los Angeles sues journalist in attempt to claw back photos of police officers",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/los-angeles-sues-journalist-in-attempt-to-claw-back-photos-of-police-officers/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-01T20:23:24.521010Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-11T20:37:22.762771Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-11T20:37:22.644675Z",
"date": "2023-04-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"akibk\">Ben Camacho, a reporter for the nonprofit community journalism outlet Knock LA, was sued by the City of Los Angeles on April 5, 2023, in an attempt to force the return of photographs of police officers released to him as part of a public records request.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5667\">Camacho told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he noticed a pattern of Los Angeles Police Department officers obscuring their identities at protests by shining lights into cameras and refusing to disclose their badge numbers. Camacho filed a request under California’s Public Records Act seeking a full roster of LAPD officers and their personnel headshots in October 2021, having had success earlier that year with a similar request in Santa Ana.</p><p data-block-key=\"6020m\">In January 2022, the department responded that it could provide the roster but not the photographs, as they weren’t digitized. Camacho filed a <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23772326-2022-05-22-ben-camacho-v-city-of-la-complaint\">lawsuit</a> challenging that refusal, and the city ultimately gave him the images on Sept. 16 as part of a settlement agreement. The city provided Camacho a printed roster of sworn officers, a flash drive containing 9,310 officers’ photos and a letter explaining that officers working in undercover assignments had been excluded from the disclosures.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ak5s\">Camacho said that approximately two months after he received the files, activist group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition contacted him about sharing the records.</p><p data-block-key=\"pp6h\">“Because I don't see myself as a gatekeeper of a public record that is actually the public’s property, I gave it to them,” Camacho said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e1ik\">The group released the photos on its website Watch the Watchers on March 17, 2023, and Camacho <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bencamach0/status/1637993901838708737\">tweeted a link</a> to a folder containing all of the headshots a few days later.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">RAW DATA DUMP: Here's 9,310 of LAPD's headshots. All of these are a public record. I re-uploaded to my cloud in a more stable way. The first folder was buggy with so many files in it. <br><br>All of these are public record.<a href=\"https://t.co/rPr2hVQbgI\">https://t.co/rPr2hVQbgI</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/77RXChUjY5\">https://t.co/77RXChUjY5</a></p>— benjamin (@bencamach0) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bencamach0/status/1637993901838708737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 21, 2023</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=\"akibk\">“Almost immediately myself and everybody else realized that there are more images on there than the LAPD wanted to be on there,” Camacho said.</p><p data-block-key=\"apesq\">The Los Angeles Police Protective League, a union representing rank-and-file LAPD officers, <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23772328-001-lappl-v-city-of-la-complaint\">filed a lawsuit</a> against the City and Police Chief Michel Moore on March 28 demanding that the City recover the officers’ headshots and prevent them from being distributed further. Representatives of the police union <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-03-28/lapd-police-union-sues-police-chief-to-force-him-to-claw-back-photos-of-undercover-officers\">have</a> <a href=\"https://www.newsnationnow.com/video/l-a-detective-they-dont-care-about-the-safety-of-our-officers-morning-in-america/8513204/\">argued</a> that it uses a broader definition of “undercover” than the City did when censoring the records, and it should include officers in “sensitive assignments” involving surveillance and those who had or might in the future work undercover.</p><p data-block-key=\"2i9bg\">A law firm representing 321 allegedly undercover LAPD officers also <a href=\"https://www.mcnicholaslaw.com/lawsuit-filed-against-city-of-los-angeles-and-lapd-for-wrongly-releasing-identities-of-undercover-officers/\">announced plans to file a class-action suit</a> against the City seeking damages for negligence.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ltm1\">Camacho told the Tracker that the City, LAPD and the police union are attempting to redefine “undercover” in order to allow the police department to continue to operate without public scrutiny.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ld6n\">On March 30, the City sent Camacho a <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23772963-letter-to-ben-camacho-from-la-attorneys-office\">letter</a> demanding that he return the flash drive of photos and delete all copies of the photos in his possession. The letter said that the City would provide an “updated production” of the records, but that in order to protect the identities of undercover officers it would only include the approximately 130 officers listed as <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/lapd-command-staff/\">command staff</a> on the LAPD’s website — less than 1.5% of the images originally released.</p><p data-block-key=\"8vu96\">Camacho did not comply with the demands, and on April 5 the City <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23772327-2023-04-05_camacho-complaint\">filed a lawsuit</a> against him and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, requesting that a judge bar them from further releasing the officers’ photos and order them to unpublish the images and return or destroy all electronic and physical copies.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lhp8\">A spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office provided this statement when reached by email for comment:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-blockquote\">\n\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\" >\n\t<div class=\"rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"radm8\"><i>“While there is strong public interest in governmental transparency, there is equally strong interest in the safety of LAPD officers, especially those in sensitive and undercover assignments. That is why we brought this suit — to have the photos of officers immediately removed from the website and to have the flash drive containing them returned.”</i></p></div>\n\t\n</blockquote>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"akibk\">The spokesperson declined to comment further, citing the pending litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"feja6\">The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to a request for comment and a spokesperson for the police union was not available to comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0opg\">The Media Guild of the West led a coalition of more than a dozen media organizations and press freedom advocates in opposition to the lawsuit, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MediaGuildWest/status/1645560598162468865\">penning a letter</a> to City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto and Mayor Karen Bass.</p><p data-block-key=\"2rd37\">“The City’s sweeping demand for censorship defies logic as well as the First Amendment,” the letter said. “The City Attorney’s additional threat of law enforcement seizure sends a chilling warning to any journalist or individual who would lawfully use the Public Records Act to learn about their own government.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4s50\">The Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-04-25/lapd-officer-photo-scandal-judge-rejects-city-motion-gives-victory-to-journalist\">reported</a> that on April 25 Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff denied the City’s motion for a temporary restraining order, which attorneys representing Camacho <a href=\"https://twitter.com/joeyneverjoe/status/1648419519273263104/photo/1\">had argued</a> amounted to an unconstitutional prior restraint.</p><p data-block-key=\"ecrrm\">“The City of Los Angeles’ lawsuit is a thinly veiled attempt to silence Mr. Camacho and other journalists who report on law enforcement,” attorney Dan Stormer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bencamach0/status/1648431661057740800\">said in a statement</a>. “The real motives behind this lawsuit are to shield the Los Angeles Police Department from any measure of accountability and transparency.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Camacho.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"lc43s\">A portion of a lawsuit filed against Knock LA reporter Ben Camacho on April 5, 2023, attempting to claw back photographs of Los Angeles Police Department officers given him in response to a public records request.</p>",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-08-14 00:00:00+00:00) Los Angeles settles suit against journalist over release of photos"
],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"public records"
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ben Camacho (Knock LA)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Newspaper ordered to comply with subpoena for jailhouse interview notes",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newspaper-ordered-to-comply-with-subpoena-for-jailhouse-interview-notes/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-19T19:48:37.358137Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-03T22:30:02.059026Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-03T22:30:01.877079Z",
"date": "2023-04-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bakersfield",
"longitude": -119.01871,
"latitude": 35.37329,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q8joy\">A California judge has ordered The Bakersfield Californian to comply with a subpoena seeking unpublished materials from a jailhouse interview conducted by one of the newspaper’s reporters. The newspaper and its reporter, Ishani Desai, were instructed on May 10, 2023, to turn over the materials by May 17, but they have refused and now face possible contempt charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"biqlv\">The dispute began after Desai conducted a jailhouse interview in February with Sebastian Parra. Parra was a key witness in the murder indictment of another inmate, Robert Pernell Roberts, but was subsequently indicted as a co-defendant.</p><p data-block-key=\"9j1pa\">The Californian published <a href=\"https://www.bakersfield.com/news/man-indicted-in-shooting-death-of-corrections-counselor-denies-murder/article_c9ca6746-b555-11ed-8227-e3b918ad2c29.html\">Desai's article</a> about Parra on Feb. 26. On March 3, the public defender representing Roberts, Alexandria Blythe, subpoenaed the newspaper seeking any audio or video recordings of the interview or, if no recording exists, a copy of Desai’s notes and interview questions. The Tracker has documented that subpoena <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newspaper-subpoenaed-for-reporters-notes-from-jailhouse-interview/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"72b6p\">While the first subpoena was quashed on April 4, a nearly identical subpoena was issued the same day and served to The Californian on April 10.</p><p data-block-key=\"93vbu\">An attorney representing the newspaper, Thomas Burke, filed a motion to quash the second subpoena on April 25, according to court filings reviewed by the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"5pieb\">“In a civil case, the protections for these materials would be absolute; but even criminal defendants like Roberts are not entitled to subject newsgatherers to compelled discovery unless strict conditions are met,” Burke wrote. “Defendant Roberts <i>still</i> cannot begin to satisfy those conditions — he’s simply trying for a second time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1o9tg\">During a hearing on May 10, Blythe argued that because Parra’s statements to The Californian differed from his sworn testimony it was possible he made other claims that would support Roberts’ defense, according to a transcript reviewed by the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"629ag\">Kern County Superior Court Judge Elizabet Rodriguez sided with Blythe, ruling that unlike with the first subpoena, Blythe had successfully shown that the documents would assist in Roberts’ defense.</p><p data-block-key=\"72egg\">“Clearly Ms. Blythe does not know what’s in the reporter’s notes since they have not been disclosed,” Rodriguez said, according to the hearing transcript. “There is no requirement that she in fact prove that the notes will be helpful. The requirement is just to make a showing that the information will materially assist his defense.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7sve2\">Rodriguez ordered the newspaper and Desai to turn over the interview questions and notes by 5 p.m. local time on May 17. According to the transcript, Blythe also intends to call Desai as a witness at the trial, which is scheduled to begin on May 24.</p><p data-block-key=\"ajc7k\">Burke told the Tracker that one of the most alarming aspects was how the judge's decision might encourage similar demands for reporters' notes in future.</p><p data-block-key=\"cb5fs\">“She announced it in a courtroom where I counted at least five prominent criminal defense attorneys who were really listening, as she said how frankly easy it is for a criminal defendant to get notes from a reporter who interviews them,” Burke said. “That’s not a good development. Absent a reversal by the Court of Appeals, that’s like a blueprint for every criminal defendant that the newspaper interviews.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8kaq7\">The Californian filed an emergency appeal on May 15 requesting a stay of the order compelling Desai to turn over her notes. The Court of Appeals determined that the request was premature, and that a newsperson must be held in contempt before the appellate court can intercede.</p><p data-block-key=\"3crmt\">Burke confirmed to the Tracker that The Californian would not turn over the materials, and Desai said she and the newspaper plan to continue fighting the order.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ipld\">“We are doing this because we don’t believe that my notes, my unpublished materials, should be seized by any government agency in order for them to use them for their purposes,” Desai said. “A news organization is independent, we don’t help the government do its job.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Desai_3.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"oxoeb\">A portion of a judge’s May 10, 2023, ruling ordering The Bakersfield Californian to comply with a subpoena seeking recordings or notes from reporter Ishani Desai’s jailhouse interview with a defendant charged with murder.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Superior Court of California",
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"name_of_business": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-11-15 14:10:00+00:00) Newspaper complies with court order, turns over jailhouse interview notes",
"(2023-11-07 16:16:00+00:00) Appeals court drops contempt charges, but says paper must turn over jailhouse interview notes",
"(2023-05-24 12:44:00+00:00) Newspaper held in contempt after refusing to turn over jailhouse interview notes"
],
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"The Bakersfield Californian"
],
"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order",
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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"ignored"
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},
{
"title": "Former Fox News producer subpoenaed in defamation suit against Fox",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-fox-news-producer-subpoenaed-in-defamation-suit-against-fox/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-19T13:55:41.507517Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-04-19T16:02:06.766241Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-04-19T16:02:06.543387Z",
"date": "2023-04-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jmc0w\">Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg was subpoenaed as part of a defamation lawsuit against the broadcast company on April 3, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjmjh\">Smartmatic, which builds and implements electronic voting systems, is pursuing a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News for broadcasting allegations that the company was involved in potential election fraud during the 2020 presidential election.</p><p data-block-key=\"88l7b\">The <a href=\"https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=syz0LBFZQfSu6vucyjIprg==&system=prod\">subpoena</a>, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, directs Grossberg to produce extensive documents and communications dating from Jan. 1, 2020 to the present concerning the claims of election interference broadcast by Fox News. The requested files include all correspondence with former President Donald Trump’s attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as all communications with Fox News or its parent company, Fox Corp, concerning the 2020 election and the network’s coverage of it.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsfee\">Grossberg’s attorney Parisis Filippatos <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna78357\">told NBC News</a> that the former producer intends to fully comply with the subpoena, which instructs her to produce the documents within 20 days. Filippatos did not respond to an email requesting further comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3h7g\">According to NBC, Grossberg worked at Fox from 2019 to March 24, 2023, and was fired after filing a lawsuit against the network alleging that she was coerced into giving misleading deposition testimony in a separate libel lawsuit against the broadcast company, which was <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/04/18/business/fox-news-dominion-trial-settlement\">settled on April 18</a>. Fox told NBC that she was fired after divulging privileged information.</p><p data-block-key=\"adabl\">Fox News did not respond to an email requesting additional comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Grossberg.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7uif0\">A portion of a subpoena issued to former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg on April 3, 2023, seeking documents and communications concerning the network’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"actor": null,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"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": [
"Abby Grossberg (Fox News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"carried out"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Anchorage photojournalist attacked while covering campaign sign vandalism",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/anchorage-photojournalist-attacked-while-covering-campaign-sign-vandalism/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-06T22:42:57.990340Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-04-06T22:42:57.990340Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-04-06T22:42:57.902181Z",
"date": "2023-03-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Anchorage",
"longitude": -149.90028,
"latitude": 61.21806,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8uiqj\">Anchorage Daily News photojournalist Loren Holmes was assaulted while reporting a story about political sign vandalism in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 31, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"2lhdc\">In an account of the assault on its journalist, <a href=\"https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2023/04/01/an-anchorage-daily-news-journalist-was-assaulted-while-doing-his-job-heres-what-happened/\">the Daily News</a> wrote that the newspaper was covering vandalized or stolen campaign signs ahead of an April 4 municipal election.</p><p data-block-key=\"2lilq\">Holmes, who did not respond to requests for comment, had made arrangements to meet with someone from Ship Creek Group, a consulting firm working with several candidates, at the site of multiple incidents of vandalism in South Anchorage. When he arrived on March 31, Holmes saw a man who appeared to be tending to the campaign signs and approached him. Holmes said he introduced himself as a Daily News journalist and asked if the man was from Ship Creek Group, to which the man replied yes.</p><p data-block-key=\"4k1se\">The man then told Holmes that he was in the process of replacing the signs, but said that he didn’t want his picture taken and refused to tell Holmes his name. After Holmes pointed out that they were in a public place, the man responded that if Holmes took his picture he’d take the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"4npbb\">When the man then approached Holmes, the photojournalist took out his phone to document the interaction but tripped and fell backward. The man then jumped on top of Holmes, pinned him to the ground and wrestled the phone from his hands.</p><p data-block-key=\"dnh7i\">Holmes told the Daily News he called 911 on his smartwatch and said that he had been the victim of an assault and theft. The man, hearing the call, threw Holmes’ phone and ran. Holmes said he was able to locate his phone in the snow; it was not immediately clear whether it had been damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"4335q\">The Daily News reported that Holmes has an abrasion on his hand most likely from the fall, but that he was otherwise unharmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ieaj\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lorenholmes/status/1642387234522542081\">tweet</a> following the incident, Holmes wrote, “While the attack felt personal in the moment, sadly it is becoming part of a pattern nationally and globally.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was attacked yesterday in Anchorage while reporting a story about political sign vandalism. While the attack felt personal in the moment, sadly it is becoming part of a pattern nationally and globally. <a href=\"https://t.co/Zi4g2wQQt2\">https://t.co/Zi4g2wQQt2</a></p>— Loren Holmes (@lorenholmes) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lorenholmes/status/1642387234522542081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 2, 2023</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=\"8uiqj\">Shortly after police arrived at the scene, so did the representative from Ship Creek Group, who confirmed that the man who had attacked Holmes was not connected with the group.</p><p data-block-key=\"9q4h3\">The Anchorage Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that no charges have been filed in connection with the incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Alaska",
"abbreviation": "AK"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Loren Holmes (Anchorage Daily News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Louisiana photojournalist attacked, his camera thrown",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/louisiana-photojournalist-attacked-his-camera-thrown/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-17T18:11:58.269847Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T14:08:35.874058Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T14:08:35.780328Z",
"date": "2023-03-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Slidell",
"longitude": -89.78117,
"latitude": 30.27519,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cwzad\">WVUE Fox8 News photojournalist Steven A. Wolfram told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was repeatedly attacked by a man while reporting on shooting deaths in Slidell, Louisiana, on March 29, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"2lgv\">Wolfram said he and WVUE reporter Olivia Vidal were filming outside a home where police had discovered what <a href=\"https://www.fox8live.com/2023/03/29/swat-standoff-ends-with-suspected-murder-suicide-slidell/\">appeared to be a murder-suicide</a> following a standoff with SWAT officers. Vidal told the Tracker two other news crews were at the scene, and that family members had made it clear they did not want to speak to the press and didn’t want anyone approaching the house. By approximately 8 a.m. the other news crews had left the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"cqak7\">Vidal told the Tracker that when preparing for the 9 a.m. live broadcast, she asked Wolfram to keep an eye out, as something felt off. When they completed the report, Wolfram left the station’s camera and live unit set up on a tripod and he and Vidal returned to their vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"2s524\">“This young man starts marching toward the camera,” Wolfram said. “I’ve been doing this for 25 years and I’ve been doing it in some of the toughest neighborhoods in New Orleans. I wasn’t expecting it, and I think that was my first mistake.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3allf\">Wolfram said he got out of the car and tried to deescalate the situation and explain why they were there, but the man grabbed the tripod, camera and live unit and threw it on the ground. Though Wolfram was able to soften the blow, a piece of the wireless microphone broke.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6th6\">While he was turned away, the man struck Wolfram in the side of the head.</p><p data-block-key=\"ej6d2\">“My first thought was, ‘I can’t believe that didn’t knock me out,’” Wolfram said. “I was stunned but was able to retreat back to the car. He starts banging on the window. We told him, ‘We’re calling the cops! We’re calling the cops!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"825mp\">Vidal said the man came around to the passenger side where she was sitting, attempted to open the door and continued pounding on the glass.</p><p data-block-key=\"4o178\">Three individuals pulled the attacker away, providing an opportunity for Wolfram to retrieve the equipment and load it into the vehicle. When Wolfram attempted to photograph the man to show police, the man once again charged the photojournalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bs5i\">Wolfram said the man missed making contact and fell, then got up to charge him again. That’s when he grabbed the man by the collar and tried to restrain him on the ground. The other individuals intervened again and separated the man from the photojournalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"20a8k\">Wolfram said he drove the vehicle around the corner to distance the pair of journalists from the situation while waiting for the police. The man broke away from the group restraining him and ran to a nearby car, Wolfram said, where he reached into the glove box.</p><p data-block-key=\"agohs\">“At that point we got the hell out of there,” Wolfram said. “This guy wanted to hurt me if not kill me, and I saw him go run for a weapon.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7dubk\">Vidal told the Tracker three officers and an ambulance met the journalists in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant. Wolfram sought medical care after speaking with sheriff’s deputies about the incident, and reported minor injuries.</p><p data-block-key=\"bc4ga\">The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a summons was issued in connection with the incident for simple assault and criminal damage.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Louisiana",
"abbreviation": "LA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Steven A. Wolfram (WVUE-DT)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist assaulted in Alabama courthouse",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-assaulted-in-alabama-courthouse/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-31T16:54:51.445402Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-31T16:54:51.445402Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-31T16:54:51.351428Z",
"date": "2023-03-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Huntsville",
"longitude": -86.58594,
"latitude": 34.7304,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6gxws\">A WAFF 48 News photographer was assaulted while covering a court case in Huntsville, Alabama, on March 28, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"4gdaj\">When reached for comment, WAFF 48 News Director Julie Szulczewski asked that the photographer only be identified by his first name, Erik.</p><p data-block-key=\"17tus\">The station <a href=\"https://www.waff.com/2023/03/28/waff-photographer-assaulted-by-woman-inside-madison-co-courthouse/\">reported</a> that Erik was reporting on a sentencing hearing for Travion Evans, who was charged with murder for the 2018 shooting of two people and killing of one.</p><p data-block-key=\"71pdg\">As Erik filmed Evans being led out of a courtroom in the Madison County Courthouse, a woman whom WAFF identified as a relative of Evans’ ran toward Erik, grabbing his arm and attempting to cover the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ssvs\">In footage published by WAFF, the woman can be heard saying, “Move away from my child!” before covering the camera. Erik is heard responding, “Ma’am, do not touch me.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WAFF photographer assaulted by a woman inside Madison Co. courthouse. <a href=\"https://t.co/Jd9JfHNfRt\">https://t.co/Jd9JfHNfRt</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/R4VaVMLwfZ\">pic.twitter.com/R4VaVMLwfZ</a></p>— WAFF 48 (@waff48) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/waff48/status/1640762169175285761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 28, 2023</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=\"6gxws\">Szulczewski told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that bailiffs immediately intervened. Erik called the station to let them know that he had been assaulted but that he was not injured.</p><p data-block-key=\"7hfi2\">After reviewing the footage, Szulczewski said they decided to press charges against the woman.</p><p data-block-key=\"d34h6\">“We just can’t let our crews be attacked in the field and not have consequences for the people that do that,” Szulczewski said.</p><p data-block-key=\"703j5\">The Huntsville Police Department did not respond to requests for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"9344x\">Aabama news station WAFF 48 in Huntsville has pressed charges against a woman, left, who attempted to stop its photojournalist from filming in the courthouse on March 28, 2023 by grabbing his arm and camera.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"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,
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"state": {
"name": "Alabama",
"abbreviation": "AL"
},
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{
"title": "Indian journalist harassed, struck in head while documenting DC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indian-journalist-harassed-struck-in-head-while-documenting-dc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-17T18:56:47.095550Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-10T23:05:42.898561Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-10T23:05:42.684238Z",
"date": "2023-03-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3z45c\">Lalit K. Jha, the chief U.S. correspondent for the Press Trust of India, was harassed and struck in the head with a set of wooden boards while reporting on a protest outside the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on March 25, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"26suj\">Jha told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he learned that supporters of the Khalistan movement were organizing a demonstration, calling for the creation of a Sikh homeland by establishing a sovereign state in India’s Punjab region. <a href=\"https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/pro-khalistan-protesters-barricaded-off-outside-india-house-in-london/articleshow/98923726.cms?from=mdr\">Similar</a> <a href=\"https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/pro-khalistani-protesters-attack-indian-consulate-in-san-francisco-1201957.html\">protests</a> in the days prior had resulted in property damage to Indian consulates and diplomatic missions.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ajbu\">Jha said that he arrived at around noon and began documenting the protest and taking notes from across the street. After a few minutes, a man approached him and began demanding that he identify himself. Jha said he was a reporter for PTI and explained that he was there to report on the demonstration.</p><p data-block-key=\"bjsva\">The man then repeatedly asked what he was going to write, eventually attempting to block his cellphone with his hand and the flags he was carrying.</p><p data-block-key=\"mm7r\">“At one point, I saw that he was putting his elbow in front of me, just in front of my nose, and I sensed that there’s going to be some kind of physical violence from him,” Jha said. “So I told him, ‘Look, I feel I’m being obstructed from doing my work. I feel like I’ll be physically assaulted, so I’m going to call 911.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"eo9ba\">After calling the police, Jha approached a van of Secret Service officers parked near the embassy. He told them that he was concerned about escalating aggression toward him, and they responded that they would ensure he was able to safely do his job.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4bv2\">Jha told the Tracker he resumed documenting while standing near the Secret Service officers, but was again approached by multiple individuals, some of whom filmed him while demanding that he explain why he was there. One individual told a nearby Secret Service officer that Jha needed to “leave my land” and that if Jha were to be assaulted, not to blame the demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"acfe7\">In footage Jha captured in the moments that followed, another man approached the journalist and began insulting him. As the man turned away, the two large wooden flag staffs he was carrying smacked Jha in the side of the head.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SecretService?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SecretService</a> 4 my protection 2day 4 helping do my job, otherwise I would have been writing this from hospital. The gentleman below hit my left ear with these 2 sticks & earlier I had to call 9/11 & rushed 2 police van 4 safety fearing physical assault👇. <a href=\"https://t.co/IVcCeP5BPG\">pic.twitter.com/IVcCeP5BPG</a></p>— Lalit K Jha ललित के झा (@lalitkjha) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lalitkjha/status/1639754129709957122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 25, 2023</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=\"3z45c\">In the footage, the man is heard saying, “Ope, I’m sorry,” immediately after striking Jha.</p><p data-block-key=\"7f72p\">Jha told the Tracker it was not a mistake and he was stunned following the hit. “I was standing there, and he did it purposefully. He swung the rod with the flag in such a way that it hit my ear.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dhscm\">Jha said the Secret Service officer approached him after he had recovered and asked if he wanted to file a complaint. He said no, that he was fine, and continued to cover the protest for about an hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"487bh\">After three days of persistent headaches and tears streaming from his left eye, Jha said he sought medical attention. Doctors told him there was no permanent damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"5pqdk\">Jha also said that because he has been covering the Khalistan movement, Sikhs for Justice, for 15 years and is known by the leaders, some of them called him to apologize for the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"7svei\">Jha said he was thankful to a lot of people, particularly the Secret Service. “They made sure that I, as a journalist, was able to do my job,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"b40u3\">The National Press Club condemned the attack in a <a href=\"https://www.press.org/newsroom/national-press-club-statement-attacks-against-indian-journalist-washington\">press release</a> on March 27, noting that bundles of sticks had also been brought to similar protests in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York in order to threaten and intimidate journalists and others.</p><p data-block-key=\"dk50p\">“Journalism is a dangerous business and without some quick work by the Secret Service, Lalit might have been more seriously injured,” the statement said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2raf4\">When asked about the incident during a <a href=\"https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-march-28-2023/\">press briefing</a> on March 28, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said attacks against journalists are never acceptable.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/jha3.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q3vn3\">Lalit K. Jha, the chief U.S. correspondent for the Press Trust of India, captured footage of a man striking him with wooden boards at a demonstration in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on March 25, 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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"categories": [
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"Lalit K. Jha (Press Trust of India)"
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{
"title": "Documentarian returning from film festival questioned for second time",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-returning-from-film-festival-questioned-for-second-time/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-09T18:38:48.552919Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-09T18:45:17.705788Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-09T18:45:17.590459Z",
"date": "2023-03-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xqrgk\">Independent filmmaker Michael Rowley was flagged for additional security screening and questioned about his documentary work for the second time, on this occasion upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on March 24, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"astpg\">Rowley was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-questioned-about-documentary-when-returning-from-west-bank/\">first stopped in October 2019</a> when returning from his film screening in the West Bank city of Ramallah, via Tel Aviv, Israel. At that time, a plainclothes officer questioned him about the content of his first documentary, which focuses on the lives of young Palestinian men, as well as about the characters in the film and his methods of making it.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0sfn\">Rowley told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in November 2023 that he had traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the world premiere of his latest film, “Praying for Armageddon,” from March 17 to 24. When passing through passport control at JFK Airport, Rowley was again flagged for secondary screening and directed to an interview room for questioning.</p><p data-block-key=\"6a4pu\">The officer who questioned him indicated that the filmmaker had been added to a watchlist of some kind, and that she had reviewed the notes from the questioning on his previous trip.</p><p data-block-key=\"4icce\">“She said, ‘So you’re in our system because of someone that you filmed with,’” Rowley added. He told the Tracker that he believes she was alluding to the man he had been asked to identify when questioned in 2019. She also asked about whether he had traveled to any “places of interest” while he was abroad. When asked to elaborate she specifically named Iran.</p><p data-block-key=\"4k6ps\">He said he was released after about 30 minutes, but that when he obtained the boarding pass for the next leg of his travels it was marked with “SSSS” — secondary security screening selection. Rowley said he was then subjected to a full-body pat-down, an extensive search of his belongings and was asked to demonstrate that his laptop and cellphone functioned, which delayed him an additional hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"616mi\">In April, Rowley said he filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Traveler Redress Inquiry Program in an effort to prevent further security screenings.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t8ec\">“It is clear from the questions that [Customs and Border Protection] officials have asked me that I am being singled out for questioning and additional security screening due to my First Amendment-protected journalistic and filmmaking activities,” Rowley wrote in his complaint, which asks that he be removed from any watchlist that he may have been added to.</p><p data-block-key=\"38jd9\">Rowley told the Tracker that during the two trips that he has taken since, he has not been stopped for additional security or questioning, but that his experiences had affected his reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"a9ll7\">“I was in the early stages of working on a new documentary here in Dallas, which I decided to put on hiatus indefinitely because of the realization of being on a watchlist and for fear of bringing government attention to the characters in the film,” Rowley said. “It certainly had a chilling effect on me and my work.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"668hf\">Documentarian Michael Rowley was questioned for the second time by U.S. border authorities when flying into New York, New York, on March 24, 2023. A plainclothes officer said he was “in [their] system” because of someone he filmed with in the West Bank.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
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{
"title": "At least 10 journalists tracked in government migrant caravan database",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/at-least-10-journalists-tracked-in-government-migrant-caravan-database/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-27T20:40:38.576966Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-29T17:04:53.989941Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-29T17:04:53.884221Z",
"date": "2023-03-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Diego",
"longitude": -117.16472,
"latitude": 32.71571,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kt8ip\">At least 10 journalists were tracked in a database authorized by the U.S. government as part of its surveillance around the migrant caravan in 2019, according to documents <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/nbc7-operation-secure-line-secrets/\">released</a> in March 2023 in compliance with FOIA requests from San Diego TV station KNSD.</p><p data-block-key=\"4de1d\">The NBC station <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/source-leaked-documents-show-the-us-government-tracking-journalists-and-advocates-through-a-secret-database/3438/\">first broke the story</a> in March 2019 that Department of Homeland Security officials in San Diego had created the database as part of “Operation Secure Line” — the government’s code name for its response to the caravan. Agents compiled dossiers on at least 65 journalists, attorneys and humanitarian aid workers, and flagged them for additional questioning, searches and occasionally denials of entry at the border.</p><p data-block-key=\"2blcv\">A Homeland Security Investigations agent, who <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/government-secrets-why-and-how-a-special-agent-turned-whistleblower-uncovered-controversial-border-surveillance-tactics/2176213/\">later identified himself</a> as Wesley Petonak, told KNSD he was alarmed when he came across a PowerPoint containing details from the database and so leaked screenshots.</p><p data-block-key=\"a9iq5\">“It seemed these people's rights were being infringed on,” Petonak said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1664d\">The TV station, together with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, or RCFP, filed FOIA requests seeking documents from Operation Secure Line, then <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/reporters-committee-nbc-7-san-diego-sue-u-s-immigration-agencies-for-violating-foia/\">sued</a> in April 2019 when the government refused to produce the documents. In March 2023, the government began releasing the files. More than 4,800 pages have been released as of July 2023, according to reporter Tom Jones, who has led the reporting on Operation Secure Line, first at KNSD and now at WMAQ-TV in Chicago.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdahs\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/projects/border-surveillance-lawsuit-release_nbc-7-san-diego-and-reporters-committee-for-freedom-of-the-press-212294/\">documents</a>, officers surveilled journalists, social media influencers, attorneys, aid workers and immigration advocates whom officials suspected were connected to a caravan of more than 9,000 Central American migrants seeking asylum in late 2018 and early 2019. The title of the <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/photos-leaked-documents-to-nbc-7-investigates-11-3/126760/\">PowerPoint leaked to the station</a> identified those included as “Suspected Organizers, Coordinators, Instigators, and Media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8huf\">Five of the 10 journalists indicated in the documents released so far were named — photojournalists Kitra Cahana, Ariana Drehsler, Bing Guan, Go Nakamura and Robert Wilson. Five remain unnamed, as the TV station censored the names and images of any individuals who did not provide permission to publish their information.</p><p data-block-key=\"60hu8\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Kitra%20Cahana\">Cahana</a>, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Ariana%20Drehsler\">Drehsler</a>, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-photography-students-stopped-us-mexico-border-secondary-screening/\">Guan</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-stopped-at-us-mexico-border-for-secondary-screening/\">Nakamura</a> were each stopped at least once for additional questioning when crossing the border and asked about their work covering the Central American migrant caravan’s arrival in Mexico. Several had their equipment searched.</p><p data-block-key=\"2guh5\">All four photojournalists, along with photographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pulled-secondary-screening-border/\">Mark Abramson</a>, <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16493820/guan-v-mayorkas/\">filed a federal civil rights lawsuit</a> in November 2019 against the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, and its agencies U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit is ongoing as of July 2023, with discovery underway.</p><p data-block-key=\"f60i7\">Wilson confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in July 2023 that he, on the other hand, had not been stopped for secondary screening while covering the migrant caravan. He said it may be in part because he was extremely cautious.</p><p data-block-key=\"fesma\">“The whole time I was [in Mexico] I kind of assumed I was going to be on a list, so I tried to really minimize my crossings,” Wilson said. “I only went across the border twice, and I waited for the heaviest traffic times and went across on foot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1pvlr\">Following the initial revelations about the operation, DHS agreed to conduct an internal investigation, <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Department-of-Homeland-Security-Launches-Investigation-Into-Secret-Database-at-the-Border-528235731.html\">according to the station</a>. The Office of the Inspector General for DHS announced it would conduct its own independent investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"2n9rv\">While the OIG conceded in its <a href=\"https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2021-09/OIG-21-62-Sep21.pdf\">final report</a> that some of the “lookouts” placed on U.S. journalists, attorneys and others did not fully comply with U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy, it held that agents had legitimate reasons for flagging the individuals.</p><p data-block-key=\"anhld\">“Although we determined CBP’s lookouts on a number of journalists present at an illegal border crossing were unnecessary, we found no evidence that CBP placed these lookouts to harass the journalists,” the report said.</p><p data-block-key=\"37s3m\">RCFP attorney Katie Townsend <a href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/investigations/secure-line-secrets-documents-released-behind-border-surveillance-of-journalists-attorneys-and-humanitarian-aid-workers/3194760/\">told KNSD</a> she believes there is still more to learn about the surveillance effort.</p><p data-block-key=\"523f1\">“While the release of these records is a victory for transparency, the litigation is ongoing, and we anticipate that additional information will come to light,” Townsend said. RCFP is a member of the Tracker advisory board.</p><p data-block-key=\"27gfa\">Jones told the Tracker that as far as he knows, and based on the OIG investigation, this was the only active surveillance effort that included journalists, attorneys and other American citizens.</p><p data-block-key=\"3cojh\">“But the only reason we know about this surveillance effort is because records were leaked to us,” Jones said. “If it wasn’t for that leak, we would have never discovered this, so who’s to say there aren’t more efforts or lists like this out there?”</p><p data-block-key=\"cnj89\">Operation Secure Line is not the only instance of CBP monitoring journalists: In 2021, reporters revealed that a secretive CBP division, known as the Counter Network Division, had been <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/as-many-as-20-journalists-investigated-by-secretive-cbp-division/\">investigating as many as 20 journalists</a> beginning in 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"6dd3n\">According to a <a href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/news/operation-whistle-pig-inside-the-secret-cbp-unit-with-no-rules-that-investigates-americans-100000147.html\">report by Yahoo News</a>, CBP agents would run information and photos from passport applications through multiple government databases.</p><p data-block-key=\"42iha\">Also, in 2020, DHS<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dhs-compiles-intelligence-reports-two-journalists-covering-black-lives-matter-protests/\"> compiled intelligence reports</a> about the reporting and tweets of two journalists covering protests in Portland, Oregon, according to a Washington Post<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-who-published-leaked-documents/2020/07/30/5be5ec9e-d25b-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html#click=https://t.co/UEJyzCoJS7\"> article</a>. After the reports were made public, then-Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf ordered the office to cease all collection of information on journalists and announced an investigation into the reports.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/CBP_OSL.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ekydt\">A heavily redacted page confirms that journalists were among those surveilled as part of a government program. The pages were released to an NBC TV station in San Diego and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"migrant caravan"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ariana Drehsler (Freelance)",
"Bing Guan (Independent)",
"Go Nakamura (Freelance)",
"Kitra Cahana (Freelance)",
"Robert Wilson (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Reporter subpoenaed in Staten Island assault case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-subpoenaed-in-staten-island-assault-case/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-27T13:27:42.917874Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-09T18:23:13.665541Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-09T18:23:13.542123Z",
"date": "2023-03-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"su3do\">Reporter Maura Grunlund of the Staten Island Advance newspaper was subpoenaed on March 24, 2023, to testify on conversations with the victim of an assault. By the time the criminal trial ended on April 4, the subpoena had been quashed.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei99b\">Grunlund <a href=\"https://www.silive.com/news/g66l-2019/01/103ece02a48416/he-beat-me-senselessly-home-health-aide-recounts-attack-on-way-to-prayer-meeting.html\">reported</a> on a January 2019 attack on Beatrice Kaliku, a resident of New York City borough Staten Island. Police later <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/beating-staten-island-woman-arrested/\">arrested</a> Linden Beaton for the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"70ckg\">Beaton’s attorney subpoenaed Grunlund to testify about statements Kaliku had made about the height of her attacker, attempting to show inconsistencies with Kaliku’s later claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"cofui\">According to <a href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S-oG3Mn1SpsgWyYnlqRQlmCgOfGAxkiS/view?usp=drive_link\">an undated excerpt of the hearing transcript</a> made available by the Media Law Resource Center, Grunlund’s attorney, Thomas Sullivan of Ballard Spahr, moved to quash the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"9phjm\">Sullivan argued that the subpoena was not properly served, but also that Grunlund was protected from having to testify under both <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2013/cvr/article-7/79-h\">New York’s reporter shield law</a> and <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/constitution/new-york/article-i/section-8/\">Article 1, Section 8, of the state constitution</a>, a qualified privilege that protects disclosure of information gleaned from newsgathering.</p><p data-block-key=\"87d2h\">“If every time a newspaper reporter wrote about a criminal case they were called into court to testify,” Sullivan said, “it would be a strong disincentive for the press to do that reporting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5s7qi\">The judge agreed, ruling to quash the subpoena. Neither Grunlund nor Sullivan responded to requests for comment regarding the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"2bqdh\">Beaton, who had been convicted in 2022 for the kidnapping, rape and murder of another woman a few days after Kaliku’s attack, was ultimately <a href=\"https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2023/04/already-serving-150-years-for-murder-of-staten-island-grandma-hes-convicted-in-attack-on-2nd-woman.html\">found guilty</a> of assaulting Kaliku and <a href=\"https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2023/04/judge-adds-38-years-to-staten-island-mans-150-year-murder-sentence-for-attack-on-different-woman.html\">was sentenced</a> on April 25.</p></div>",
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"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
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"Maura Grunlund (Staten Island Advance)"
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{
"title": "Media outlets sue Denver Public Schools for records from closed meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/media-outlets-sue-denver-public-schools-for-records-from-closed-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-23T17:05:42.778926Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-13T18:49:56.303006Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-13T18:49:56.210654Z",
"date": "2023-03-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"emey6\">Seven news outlets in Denver, Colorado, have taken the city’s public school district to court after the Board of Education held a closed-door session on March 23, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"1p1ge\">The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-04-28-The-Denver-Post-v.-Wheeler-Application-for-access-to-recording-and-meeting-minutes.pdf\">filed the lawsuit</a> on April 28 on behalf of seven local news outlets: Chalkbeat Colorado, Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics, The Denver Gazette, The Denver Post, KDVR-TV and KUSA-TV.</p><p data-block-key=\"7q1g1\">According to the suit, the Denver Public Schools Board held a closed, five-hour session on March 23 to discuss security policies following a shooting of two administrators at East High School the day before. Following the meeting, board members unanimously voted to redeploy armed officers in every district high school for the remainder of the year, going against the district’s written policy.</p><p data-block-key=\"6bqh9\">“No public discussion, whatsoever, preceded the Board’s historic about-face concerning its policy of preventing armed ‘School Resource Officers’ inside the District’s high schools. None,” the lawsuit said. “It is clear and irrefutable that the Board had already decided, behind closed doors, to adopt the position or resolution in the Memorandum that they then unanimously voted to approve in public without discussion — a mere ‘rubber stamping’ of their earlier decision.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6nup4\">Between March 23 and 30, each of the media outlets party to the lawsuit filed requests under Colorado’s Open Records Act and Open Meetings Law seeking the meeting’s minutes and the recording of the session. Each of the requests was denied on the basis that the records are not subject to the open government laws.</p><p data-block-key=\"fc8ea\">The lawsuit requests that the court direct the school district to release the recording from the meeting in its entirety, or — if sections are exempt from disclosure — that those sections be redacted and the remainder released.</p><p data-block-key=\"2p0gp\">A hearing on the case is scheduled for June 1.</p></div>",
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"case_number": "2023CV031265",
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-07-23 14:08:00+00:00) News outlets win release of school board meeting recording"
],
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"dismissed"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Chalkbeat Colorado",
"Colorado Newsline",
"Colorado Politics",
"KDVR",
"KUSA",
"The Denver Gazette",
"The Denver Post"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Local government: Public school district"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
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"Government event"
]
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{
"title": "Man arrested, pleads guilty to threatening West Virginia-based news crew",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-arrested-pleads-guilty-to-threatening-west-virginia-based-news-crew/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-19T15:01:41.526639Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-05-19T15:01:41.526639Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-05-19T15:01:41.392223Z",
"date": "2023-03-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Steubenville",
"longitude": -80.63396,
"latitude": 40.36979,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9v5mn\">An Ohio man threatened a WTRF-TV news crew reporting outside the Jefferson County Justice Center in Steubenville, Ohio, on March 21, 2023. The man, Santino Chiovitti, 20, was subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to inducing panic, according to court records.</p><p data-block-key=\"45e4p\">WTRF, which is located 40 miles away in Wheeling, West Virginia, <a href=\"https://www.wtrf.com/news/ohio-headlines/ohio-man-arrested-for-threatening-television-news-crew-and-media-staff/\">reported</a> that a man first called the newsroom on March 21 to demand that it take down an article about his sister’s arrest the day before. While speaking to News Director Brenda Danehart, Chiovitti allegedly became belligerent and verbally abusive, reportedly saying, “I think I see a WTRF car down the road, why don’t I just blow their heads off?”</p><p data-block-key=\"4q609\">Chiovitti hung up on Danehart before calling back and reaching Web Manager John Lynch. According to WTRF, Chiovitti asked whether he was speaking with the reporter he was looking at outside the justice center in Steubenville, which houses the sheriff’s department, county prosecutor’s office and juvenile detention center.</p><p data-block-key=\"1eg82\">The station reported that Chiovitti then approached the WTRF news crew while reaching into his jacket as though he had a firearm, telling the journalists — who were covering a press conference — that they’d want to hear what he had to say and instructing bystanders to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"dml3u\">Chiovitti was arrested on one felony count of inducing panic and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 175 days in prison, which was stayed — meaning he will not serve the time — pending the completion of one year of probation and attendance of a counseling session.</p><p data-block-key=\"funuq\">WTRF reported that Chiovitti may face additional charges in Wheeling for the threats against the station. The office of the prosecuting attorney in Ohio County, West Virginia, reached by phone in May 2023, was unable to confirm whether there is an ongoing investigation into Chiovitti but said there are no open charges against him.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
"abbreviation": "OH"
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"WTRF-TV"
],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Brenda Danehart (WTRF-TV)",
"John Lynch (WTRF-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Neo-Nazi leader charged with sending death threats to New York journalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/neo-nazi-leader-charged-with-sending-death-threats-to-new-york-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-30T17:16:28.370013Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-19T18:14:48.447732Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-19T18:14:48.234560Z",
"date": "2023-03-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m3h14\">The former leader of neo-Nazi group Feuerkrieg Division was arrested on March 21, 2023, and charged with making death threats against a New York-based journalist who was reporting on the extremist group.</p><p data-block-key=\"sr7j\">The FKD is an “international racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist” group, <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-03/fkd_filed_redacted_complaint.pdf\">according to the complaint</a>, and encourages attacks on racial minorities, the Jewish community, the LGBTQ community, journalists, the U.S. government and critical infrastructure.</p><p data-block-key=\"8db80\">A Justice Department <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/california-man-charged-conspiring-make-death-threats-against-brooklyn-based-journalist\">press release</a> alleges that in August 2021 Nicholas Welker, as the then-leader of FKD, and multiple co-conspirators created and shared a propaganda image threatening a journalist based in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The journalist’s name and outlet were redacted from the public complaint. FKD was disbanded in April 2022, according to the Justice Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahqis\">The image, included in the redacted complaint, has a picture of the journalist with the words “Race Traitor” over their eyes and a gun pointed to their head. It is captioned with “Journalist fuck off! You have been warned,” and says the reporter is “responsible for stalking our boys for information.”</p><p data-block-key=\"846ou\">The image was posted in a chat group used by FKD members and on Twitter, with multiple co-conspirators directly sending it to the journalist, asking if he’d seen their latest work.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8ikr\">Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, condemned Welker’s alleged crimes in the DOJ press release.</p><p data-block-key=\"cc1qg\">“[Welker] sought to quell freedom of expression and to intimidate and instill fear in a journalist and the journalist’s employer — a well-known news media organization. We will not hesitate to prosecute those who threaten the core values on which our society was founded, including freedom of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d3puq\">Welker was charged with conspiring to transmit threatening communications, and faces up to five years in prison if convicted. He has not yet entered a formal plea.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ardu8\">A portion of a criminal complaint against Nicholas Welker, the former leader of a neo-Nazi group, who was charged on March 21, 2023, with making death threats against a New York-based journalist.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
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"updates": [
"(2024-04-19 00:00:00+00:00) Neo-Nazi leader sentenced to over three and a half years in prison for threats to journalist"
],
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"tags": [
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"Unidentified reporter 4"
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},
{
"title": "Judge rules Virginia county must turn over recording of closed meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-rules-virginia-county-must-turn-over-recording-of-closed-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-13T23:06:36.808775Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-25T19:14:21.939221Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-25T19:14:21.733121Z",
"date": "2023-03-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Verona",
"longitude": -79.00836,
"latitude": 38.20208,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6ukby\">A Virginia Circuit Court judge <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/700108015/Breaking-Through-v-Augusta-Ruling\">ruled</a> on Jan. 11, 2024, that the Augusta County Board of Supervisors violated state code when it entered a closed session on March 20, 2023, and so must share a recording of the session with the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"1d9n8\">The ruling came in response to two lawsuits filed by news organizations and journalists after the county refused to comply with their Freedom of Information Act requests for the recording. The county has voted to appeal the ruling.</p><p data-block-key=\"e65dd\">According to Dec. 21, 2023, testimony in the case, described in <a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2024/01/18/augusta-supervisors-must-provide-closed-session-recording-judge-writes/72269455007/\">media</a> <a href=\"https://augustafreepress.com/news/judge-hears-arguments-in-augusta-county-foia-case-update-on-latest-developments/\">reports</a>, the March 20 closed session of the Board of Supervisors concerned member Steven Morelli, who had submitted his resignation shortly before the meeting. The motion to close the session cited an exemption for discussions of personnel matters, but did not give any other reason for closing it to the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"1b7c7\">Another board member, Scott Seaton, made a recording of the session without the knowledge of his colleagues; he had also secretly recorded several other closed sessions since he took office on Jan. 1, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"7sr7g\">When the board found out about the secret recordings, it <a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/2023/08/02/augusta-county-board-of-supervisors-demands-scott-seatons-closed-session-recordings-via-foia/70518087007/\">demanded</a> that Seaton turn them over, citing Virginia’s FOIA. Seaton voluntarily turned the recordings over to the board on Aug. 9, but the board did not make the recordings available to the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"7l86m\"><a href=\"https://original.newsbreak.com/@breaking-through-news-1615604/3211590101726-seeking-the-truth-why-we-re-taking-augusta-county-to-court\">Breaking Through Media</a> and its editor, Samuel Orlando, and <a href=\"https://augustafreepress.com/news/afp-is-taking-augusta-county-to-court-to-get-access-to-march-20-closed-session-recording/\">Augusta Free Press</a> managing editor and founder, Chris Graham, subsequently filed two separate FOIA requests in August for the recording of the March 20 session. The parties also requested recordings of the other closed sessions that had been secretly recorded by Seaton. When the county failed to comply, both news organizations separately sued.</p><p data-block-key=\"ag9re\">The Augusta Free Press <a href=\"https://augustafreepress.com/news/analysis-augusta-county-6-brought-legal-scrutiny-on-itself-with-series-of-missteps/\">reported that</a> Judge Thomas Wilson IV, in his Jan. 11 ruling, agreed with Graham’s contention that the recordings, “having been turned over to the County, are now County public records.” Because they were not Seaton’s private property, the recordings were subject to FOIA, the judge ruled.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ka7l\">In a separate but related <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/700108015/Breaking-Through-v-Augusta-Ruling\">ruling</a> on Breaking Through Media’s suit, Wilson wrote that under Virginia state code a body seeking to move into closed session must first satisfy three requirements, including specifically identifying the subject matter of the session.</p><p data-block-key=\"365t4\">Wilson wrote that the Augusta board claimed a personnel exemption for the closed session, and simply listed “Board of Supervisors” as the subject. That subject, Wilson agreed with Breaking Through Media, was “too cryptic, is merely a general reference to the subject matter, and does not contain the particularity I believe the statute requires.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bi3e7\">Wilson therefore found that the portion of the meeting discussing Morelli’s resignation was not exempt from Virginia’s FOIA, and ordered the county to provide the portion of the recording involving Morelli to the petitioners.</p><p data-block-key=\"buuto\">However, Wilson denied Breaking Through Media’s request for Seaton’s other recordings, agreeing with the county that none of the sessions “discussed the specific topics identified in the FOIA request.” He also rejected Graham’s argument that the personnel exemption did not apply to the meeting because Morelli had resigned. Wilson agreed with the county’s argument that under Virginia law, officials have until midnight to rescind their resignations and therefore, Morelli remained a supervisor at the meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"crh2p\">The Board of Supervisors voted Jan. 24 to authorize an appeal of Wilson’s order, the Augusta Free Press <a href=\"https://augustafreepress.com/news/augusta-county-6-vote-to-fund-appeal-of-defeat-in-freedom-of-information-act-case/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6nk0b\">A representative of the board told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that once Wilson’s final order is entered, the county will seek a stay of the order until the case can be decided by an appellate court.</p><p data-block-key=\"31vk5\">Graham of the Augusta Free Press, in an email to the Tracker, said, “We're still waiting for the wheels of justice to grind on this.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7p186\">Portion of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Breaking Through Media, one of two suits that forced the release of a closed meeting by a Virginia county’s board of supervisors.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
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"updates": [
"(2024-03-15 00:00:00+00:00) Virginia judge reverses ruling, keeps recording of government meeting secret"
],
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"Local government: Legislature"
],
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],
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"Samuel Orlando (Breaking Through Media)",
"Chris Graham (Augusta Free Press)"
],
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