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{
"title": "Florida broadcast photographer assaulted outside of jail",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-broadcast-photographer-assaulted-outside-of-jail/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-24T15:32:31.497116Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-08-24T15:32:31.497116Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-08-24T15:28:26.869049Z",
"date": "2023-08-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"a8tl9\">A WPLG-TV photographer was assaulted in Miami, Florida, on Aug. 17, 2023, while covering the release from jail of a woman accused of grand theft and fraudulent use of a credit card.</p><p data-block-key=\"jnjg\">The station <a href=\"https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/08/17/father-of-accused-yoga-studio-thief-goes-on-tirade-grabs-photojournalist-as-daughter-leaves-jail/\">reported</a> that the woman ran out of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center covering her face with papers when she was released on bond. A man, identified as the woman’s father, confronted the WPLG photojournalist for filming her, shoving the journalist and shouting expletives.</p><p data-block-key=\"9cost\">In footage from the incident, the man can be heard shouting, “Stop fucking filming my fucking kid” and “You’re a fucking criminal.”</p><p data-block-key=\"frnhv\">South Miami Police Sgt. Fernando Bosch told WPLG, “I just saw the video and that’s an assault.” The Miami Police Department Public Information Office did not respond to a voicemail requesting additional information.</p><p data-block-key=\"auj4d\">WPLG did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 29 (WPLG)"
],
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},
{
"title": "New York congressman lifts press ban for public town hall meetings",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-congressman-lifts-press-ban-for-public-town-hall-meetings/",
"first_published_at": "2024-01-08T19:44:01.377724Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-11T19:41:02.974326Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-11T19:41:02.883198Z",
"date": "2023-08-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Carmel",
"longitude": -73.68013,
"latitude": 41.43009,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">A New York congressman for several months in 2023 enforced a policy of restricting press access at his town hall events to journalists who live in his district, prohibiting reporters in attendance from recording the events, using cameras and asking questions.</p><p data-block-key=\"7kb1p\">U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., ultimately reversed the policy on Jan. 5, 2024, announcing that his office will now grant access to all credentialed media and allow cameras. Lawler said he will also take reporters’ questions after each event.</p><p data-block-key=\"d5rns\">Lawler’s press crackdown was first reported after an Aug. 22, 2023, meeting when his staff only allowed a reporter for The Highlands Current to enter a Carmel, New York, town hall with restrictions <a href=\"https://highlandscurrent.org/2023/08/25/lawler-urges-immigration-reform-energy-policy/?noamp=available\">on her newsgathering methods.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"a1i62\">“On entering, with my ticket, I had my camera around my neck. Lawler’s staff members said that I could not take photos or otherwise record the event and had to immediately either put the camera back in my car or surrender it until the town hall ended,” Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"41gr9\">Armstrong added: “When I explained that I was with the press, the staff answered that the town hall was not open to news media coverage. I expressed my surprise and questioned how a House member and his staff, all paid by taxpayers, could forbid press coverage of a public forum held in a public, local government building. The staff appeared confused and a long discussion ensued between me and one of Rep. Lawler’s senior staff members.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8jhv4\">Armstrong said she was finally able to gain entry to the town hall using a ticket issued to one of Lawler’s constituents.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ukbm\">Similar press restrictions were imposed throughout the fall of 2023. Lawler’s staff, for instance, barred journalists from attending a Sept. 25 town hall event in East Fishkill, New York, Kayla Guo of <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/28/us/politics/government-shutdown-house-republicans.html\">The New York Times reported</a>. Guo interviewed town hall attendees outside the venue.</p><p data-block-key=\"aur9a\">Lawler also barred the press from a Nov. 19 town hall event at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, where attendees were threatened with expulsion if they recorded the event, <a href=\"https://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/18/lawler-press-ban-continues-at-congressional-town-hall-in-westchester/71903896007/\">reported David McKay Wilson of The Journal News</a>. Wilson gained access to the sold-out town hall by obtaining a friend’s ticket to the event. He published an account and a photo of the event in The Journal News.</p><p data-block-key=\"9euap\">The Rockland Daily reported that its request for a press pass to the Nov. 19 event was denied, but that one of its photographers was allowed to attend the town hall in his capacity as a private citizen and a constituent of Lawler’s, and was permitted to take photos with his cellphone.</p><p data-block-key=\"5qr50\">Lawler’s Dec. 17 town hall at a high school in Thornwood, New York, was also closed to the press, according to the Eventbrite <a href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com.mx/e/westchester-county-town-hall-tickets-772512996167?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&keep_tld=1\">page for the event</a>. A <a href=\"https://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/18/lawler-press-ban-continues-at-congressional-town-hall-in-westchester/71903896007/\">Journal News photographer</a> and a <a href=\"https://westchester.news12.com/rep-lawler-bans-media-cameras-from-town-hall-meetings\">News 12 Westchester camera crew</a> were barred from entering the venue.</p><p data-block-key=\"82s18\">The Journal News’ Wilson said he was allowed to attend that event as a constituent but not as a member of the press — he reported that attendees were again threatened with expulsion if they recorded Lawler’s exchanges or took photos.</p><p data-block-key=\"e2rga\">“This was an event of a member of Congress, in his official capacity as member of Congress,” Wilson told the Tracker. “It’s the first time I was barred from a public congressional event.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9bak6\">The New York Times and News 12 did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"252ke\">Lawler, in his Jan. 5 statement, said his office had imposed the policy to make the town halls “as hospitable and welcoming as possible. … The goal was to prevent these town halls from being hijacked by out-of-district political grandstanders desperately searching for a viral video clip, and instead geared towards hearing directly from constituents with serious questions or concerns.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7ibqh\">Lawler’s statement added: “Upon reflection, while well-intentioned, these rules could have been explained and implemented in a better way.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Lawler_town_hall_rules-August.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"9ue6o\">Placard displayed at an Aug. 22 town hall event hosted by U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-NY.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
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"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media",
"News 12 Westchester",
"The Highlands Current",
"The Journal News",
"The New York Times",
"The Rockland Daily"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Legislature"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
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"Government event"
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},
{
"title": "Newsroom, personal equipment seized in Kansas raid",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsroom-personal-equipment-seized-in-kansas-raid/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-14T19:56:36.521489Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-07T19:07:24.872243Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-07T19:07:24.620008Z",
"date": "2023-08-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Marion",
"longitude": -97.01725,
"latitude": 38.34835,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n9296\">Local law enforcement executed a search warrant on the offices of the Marion County Record on Aug. 11, 2023, seizing computers, cellphones, a file server and journalistic work product. The Kansas newspaper reported that the seizures jeopardized its ability to publish its weekly edition.</p><p data-block-key=\"3eom9\">A copy of the <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SearchWarrant2.jpg\">search warrant</a>, obtained by the Kansas Reflector, shows that the search was undertaken as part of an investigation into alleged unlawful use of a computer and identity theft.</p><p data-block-key=\"2nr98\"><a href=\"https://www.marionrecord.com/direct/updated_illegal_raids_contribute_to_death_of_newspaper_co_owner+5447raid+555044415445443a20496c6c6567616c20726169647320636f6e7472696275746520746f20646\">According to the Record</a>, however, when one of the paper’s reporters requested a copy of the probable cause affidavit that summarizes the circumstances and evidence supporting the warrant, the district court issued a signed statement that there wasn’t one on file.</p><p data-block-key=\"tc70\">The Record reported that during an Aug. 7 city council meeting a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, had accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining information that she had a prior DUI conviction and had driven without a license, as well as supplying the information to Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gm69\">In an <a href=\"http://marionrecord.com/direct/restaurateur_accuses_paper_councilwoman+5447newell+52657374617572617465757220616363757365732070617065722c20636f756e63696c776f6d616e\">article responding</a> to the allegations, Record Publisher and Editor Eric Meyer said that a source had reached out with the information via Facebook, and had independently sent it to Herbel as well. The Record had verified the allegations through a public website but decided not to publish it, instead alerting the Marion Police Department that the source may have obtained the information illegally.</p><p data-block-key=\"2qgrp\">The morning of Aug. 11, Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed the search warrant for the Record’s office. Marion Police Department officers and Marion County sheriff’s deputies executed it within two hours, ordering staff to leave the office as equipment was seized.</p><p data-block-key=\"7a85c\">Officers also arrived simultaneously with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-newspaper-editors-home-raided-by-local-law-enforcement/\">second warrant</a> at Meyer’s home — where he lives with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, a co-owner and correspondent for the Record, the Reflector <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/11/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-marion-county-newspaper-seizing-computers-records-and-cellphones/\">reported</a>. Joan Meyer passed away the following day, which <a href=\"http://marionrecord.com/direct/updated_illegal_raids_contribute_to_death_of_newspaper_co_owner+5447raid+555044415445443a20496c6c6567616c20726169647320636f6e7472696275746520746f206465617468206f66206e657773706170657220636f2d6f776e65723c212d2d2d2d3e?\">the Record attributed</a> in part to the stress of the raid.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhc3i\">Eric Meyer told the Reflector that officers seized “everything” from the newsroom, and that he wasn’t sure how the staff would complete the edition before it needed to go to press on Aug. 15. According to court documents <a href=\"https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/court-documents-police-seized-5-computers-2-cell-phones-in-raid-on-kansas-newspaper\">obtained by KSHB</a>, officers seized four computers, a backup hard drive and reporting materials as part of the warrant.</p><p data-block-key=\"9632i\">Officers also seized two personal cellphones belonging to reporters <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-reporter-injured-during-police-raid-of-newsroom/\">Deb Gruver</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-reporter-files-suit-after-phone-seized-in-newsroom-raid/\">Phyllis Zorn</a>, which were not listed on the warrant. Gruver <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/deb.gruver/posts/pfbid02kHWHUHWeEh7PhUyzqy6dFv95Vk1dQzw8KUjSpjCTdjr8fJF3kNy1v3q3Jjp7cze3l\">alleged on Facebook</a> that Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody injured her finger when he “forcibly yanked” the phone from her hand.</p><p data-block-key=\"6eo76\">Eric Meyer, a veteran reporter from the Milwaukee Journal and former journalism professor at the University of Illinois, <a href=\"https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article278212472.html\">told The Kansas City Star</a> following the raid that the Record had also been investigating Cody’s background and allegations of wrongdoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"c4nhv\">Cody, who did not immediately respond to a request for further information, told the Star that the lack of an article about the allegations shows they had no basis. “If it was true, they would’ve printed it,” Cody said.</p><p data-block-key=\"46oai\">On Aug. 14, a coalition of more than 30 press freedom organizations <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/marion-county-record-raid-letter/\">sent a letter</a> to Cody condemning the raid and calling for the return of the newspaper’s equipment and reporting materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"8doh3\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, which operates the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/fpf-statement-on-alarming-police-raid-of-kansas-newspaper/\">called the raid</a> “alarming.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ji6r\">“Based on the reporting so far, the police raid of the Marion County Record on Friday appears to have violated <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-661-privacy-protection-act-1980\">federal law</a>, the First Amendment, and basic human decency,” said Director of Advocacy Seth Stern. “Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ckfvf\">In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/marionpoliceks/posts/pfbid02fzBK6Mp4voBLB39mF6p1ug9uQreXjZ8yPnK5mWFqYwsXdkkzBzBUj46sQeeeP6mHl\">statement released on Facebook</a>, Cody defended the legality of the raid and said that the Marion Police Department had received assistance from local and state investigators.</p><p data-block-key=\"75mg2\">“It is true that in most cases, [the federal Privacy Protection Act] requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search,” Cody wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"dj7sc\">Eric Meyer, who could not immediately be reached for comment, told the Record that while the paper’s attorneys are working to have the equipment returned, they also plan to file a federal lawsuit to ensure that such a raid never happens again.</p><p data-block-key=\"eqvm6\">“Our first priority is to be able to publish next week,” he said, “but we also want to make sure no other news organization is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today. We will be seeking the maximum sanctions possible under law.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d9bbo\"><i>This article was updated to reflect reporting from KSHB around the type of equipment seized.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"2c9a5\"><i>Editor’s Note: The incident and its metadata have been updated to reflect that the equipment belonging to the Marion County Record was seized as part of a warrant, but the equipment belonging to reporters Deb Gruver and Phyllis Zorn was taken by law enforcement without any legal order permitting the seizure. Gruver’s cellphone seizure and the assault she experienced during the raid are documented</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-reporter-injured-during-police-raid-of-newsroom/\"><i>here</i></a><i>. The seizure of Zorn’s cellphone is now documented</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-reporter-files-suit-after-phone-seized-in-newsroom-raid/\"><i>here</i></a><i>.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"chqmo\">Kansas law enforcement officers raided the Marion County Record office Aug. 11, 2023, with a search warrant that free press attorneys and advocates say violated federal law.</p>",
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"case_number": "2:24-cv-02122",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": true,
"actor": "law enforcement",
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"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 4,
"equipment": "computer"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "storage device"
},
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "work product"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Kansas",
"abbreviation": "KS"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-10-02 15:12:00+00:00) Police chief in Kansas raid resigns; paper reports on new bodycam footage",
"(2023-08-28 16:24:00+00:00) Kansas authorities to destroy digital files from newspaper raid",
"(2023-08-30 16:16:00+00:00) Police turn over files secretly copied during raid on Marion County newspaper, destroy backups",
"(2024-04-01 00:00:00+00:00) Kansas publisher files First Amendment lawsuit against city and county",
"(2023-08-16 15:45:00+00:00) Kansas county attorney withdraws search warrant, returns seized equipment",
"(2024-08-05 00:00:00+00:00) Marion County Record journalists committed no crimes, say special prosecutors"
],
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"ongoing"
],
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"Marion County Record"
],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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},
{
"title": "Kansas newspaper editor’s home raided by local law enforcement",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-newspaper-editors-home-raided-by-local-law-enforcement/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-14T20:07:39.176170Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-07T19:07:27.573849Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-07T19:07:27.268829Z",
"date": "2023-08-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Marion",
"longitude": -97.01725,
"latitude": 38.34835,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wv07u\">Local law enforcement executed a search warrant on the home of the owners and editor/publisher of the Marion County Record on Aug. 11, 2023. A simultaneous raid on the Kansas newspaper’s offices and equipment seizure jeopardized its ability to publish its upcoming weekly edition.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5lhd\">A copy of one of the <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SearchWarrant2.jpg\">search warrants</a>, obtained by the Kansas Reflector, shows that the searches were undertaken as part of an investigation into alleged unlawful use of a computer and identity theft.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7o2d\"><a href=\"https://www.marionrecord.com/direct/updated_illegal_raids_contribute_to_death_of_newspaper_co_owner+5447raid+555044415445443a20496c6c6567616c20726169647320636f6e7472696275746520746f20646\">According to the Record</a>, however, when one of the paper’s reporters requested a copy of the probable cause affidavit that summarizes the circumstances and evidence supporting the warrant, the district court issued a signed statement that there wasn’t one on file.ile.</p><p data-block-key=\"32t5a\">The Record reported that during an Aug. 7 city council meeting a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, had accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining information that she had a prior DUI conviction and had driven without a license, as well as supplying the information to Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel.</p><p data-block-key=\"9dp48\">In an <a href=\"http://marionrecord.com/direct/restaurateur_accuses_paper_councilwoman+5447newell+52657374617572617465757220616363757365732070617065722c20636f756e63696c776f6d616e\">article responding</a> to the allegations, Editor and Publisher Eric Meyer said that a source had reached out with the information via Facebook, and had independently sent it to Herbel as well. The Record had verified the allegations through a public website but decided not to publish it, instead alerting the Marion Police Department that the source may have obtained the information illegally.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qn1g\">The morning of Aug. 11, Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed search warrants <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsroom-personal-equipment-seized-in-kansas-raid/\">for the newsroom</a> and Meyer’s home — where he lives with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, a co-owner and correspondent for the Record. <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/11/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-marion-county-newspaper-seizing-computers-records-and-cellphones/\">According to the Reflector</a>, Marion Police Department officers and Marion County sheriff’s deputies executed the warrants within hours.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ngvq\">Joan Meyer passed away the following day, which the <a href=\"http://marionrecord.com/direct/updated_illegal_raids_contribute_to_death_of_newspaper_co_owner+5447raid+555044415445443a20496c6c6567616c20726169647320636f6e7472696275746520746f206465617468206f66206e657773706170657220636f2d6f776e65723c212d2d2d2d3e?\">Record attributed</a> in part to the stress of the raid. According to <a href=\"https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/court-documents-police-seized-5-computers-2-cell-phones-in-raid-on-kansas-newspaper\">court documents obtained by KSHB</a>, officers seized three computers, including a router, Eric Meyer’s cellphone, a storage device and reporting materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"et2oh\">Meyer, a veteran reporter from the Milwaukee Journal and former journalism professor at the University of Illinois, <a href=\"https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article278212472.html\">told The Kansas City Star</a> following the raid that the Record had also been investigating Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody’s background and allegations of wrongdoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l9d7\">Cody, who did not immediately respond to a request for further information, told the Star that the lack of an article about the allegations shows they had no basis. “If it was true, they would’ve printed it,” Cody said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kgiq\">On Aug. 14, a coalition of more than 30 press freedom organizations <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/marion-county-record-raid-letter/\">sent a letter</a> to Cody condemning the raids and calling for the return of the newspaper’s equipment and reporting materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"afdit\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, which operates the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/fpf-statement-on-alarming-police-raid-of-kansas-newspaper/\">called the raid</a> “alarming.”</p><p data-block-key=\"22of9\">“Based on the reporting so far, the police raid of the Marion County Record on Friday appears to have violated <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-661-privacy-protection-act-1980\">federal law</a>, the First Amendment, and basic human decency,” said Director of Advocacy Seth Stern. “Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e48i\">In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/marionpoliceks/posts/pfbid02fzBK6Mp4voBLB39mF6p1ug9uQreXjZ8yPnK5mWFqYwsXdkkzBzBUj46sQeeeP6mHl\">statement released on Facebook</a>, Cody defended the legality of the raid and said that the Marion Police Department had received assistance from local and state investigators.</p><p data-block-key=\"ub5b\">“It is true that in most cases, [the federal Privacy Protection Act] requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search,” Cody wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"1c5fl\">Meyer, who could not immediately be reached for comment, told the Record that while the paper’s attorneys are working to have the equipment returned, they also plan to file a federal lawsuit to ensure that such a raid never happens again.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rkgd\">“Our first priority is to be able to publish next week,” Meyer said, “but we also want to make sure no other news organization is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today. We will be seeking the maximum sanctions possible under law.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a3oli\"><i>This article was updated to reflect reporting from KSHB around the type of equipment seized.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"z8ikv\">Kansas law enforcement officers execute a search warrant on the home of Marion County Record co-owners Joan Meyer, second from left, and Eric Meyer, not pictured, on Aug. 11, 2023.</p>",
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{
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"equipment": "cellphone"
},
{
"quantity": 3,
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},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "storage device"
},
{
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}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Kansas",
"abbreviation": "KS"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-10-02 15:15:00+00:00) Police chief in Kansas raid resigns; paper reports on new bodycam footage",
"(2024-04-01 00:00:00+00:00) Kansas publisher files First Amendment lawsuit against city and county",
"(2023-08-16 15:52:00+00:00) Kansas county attorney withdraws search warrant, returns seized equipment",
"(2023-08-30 14:44:00+00:00) Police turn over photos taken during raid on Marion County publishers’ home",
"(2024-08-05 00:00:00+00:00) Marion County Record journalists committed no crimes, say special prosecutors"
],
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"ongoing"
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"Equipment Search or Seizure",
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{
"title": "Kansas reporter files suit after phone seized in newsroom raid",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-reporter-files-suit-after-phone-seized-in-newsroom-raid/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-09T17:45:05.673096Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-07T19:07:32.716637Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-07T19:07:32.548290Z",
"date": "2023-08-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Marion",
"longitude": -97.01725,
"latitude": 38.34835,
"body": "<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/LtoRstaffersPhyllisZornCheriBentzEricMeyerDebG.width-828.jpg\" width=\"542\" height=\"397\" alt=\"COURTESY OF MARION COUNTY RECORD\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"byg74\">Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn, far left, filed a federal lawsuit on Feb. 6, 2024, alleging her constitutional rights were violated during a raid on the paper’s newsroom in August 2023.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY OF MARION COUNTY RECORD\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0r36s\">Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn had her personal cellphone seized by local law enforcement as they executed a search warrant on the Kansas newspaper’s offices on Aug. 11, 2023. In February 2024, she filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the law enforcement officials involved in the raid, alleging violations of her First and Fourth amendment rights.</p><p data-block-key=\"fkka0\">A copy of the search <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SearchWarrant2.jpg\">warrant</a>, obtained by the Kansas Reflector, showed that the raid was part of an investigation into the Record’s alleged unlawful use of a computer and identity theft to obtain information about local restaurant owner Kari Newell’s prior DUI conviction and driving record. Marion Police Department officers and Marion County sheriff’s deputies <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsroom-personal-equipment-seized-in-kansas-raid/\">executed the warrant within two hours</a> of its approval by a Marion County District Court magistrate judge, ordering staff to leave the office as equipment was seized.</p><p data-block-key=\"14qe2\">In September, however, the Record <a href=\"https://marionrecord.com/direct/cody_found_reporter_s_file_on_his_misdeeds_during_newsroom_raid+5502breaking4+436f647920666f756e64207265706f7274657227732066696c65206f6e20686973206d6973646565647320647572696e67206e657773726f6f6d20726169643c212d2d4d2d373737322d36313832312d353930352d2d3e\">discovered</a> in body camera footage captured during the raid that Marion police knew at the time how the paper had obtained the information — through a former friend of Newell’s.</p><p data-block-key=\"cqql0\">In the recording, the Record reported, then Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody tells Zorn that “we’re pretty confident we know that [the former friend] delivered it.” Zorn tells Cody which computer she used to view the document and then verify it via the state Department of Revenue website. Cody asks Zorn if her cellphone was involved in the document viewing or verification; Zorn says no.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ph7\">Despite this, Cody not only confiscated the computer Zorn had indicated but also directed the seizure of personal cellphones belonging to Zorn and her <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-reporter-injured-during-police-raid-of-newsroom/\">fellow reporter Deb Gruver</a>, neither of which are listed in the search warrant. Law enforcement also seized three of the Record’s computers and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-newspaper-editors-home-raided-by-local-law-enforcement/\">computers at the paper’s co-owners’ home</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"d71ts\">The sole copy of the document in question, the Record noted, was left untouched on a desk a few feet away from one of the confiscated computers.</p><p data-block-key=\"8gdo8\">Gruver, who <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/deb.gruver/posts/pfbid02kHWHUHWeEh7PhUyzqy6dFv95Vk1dQzw8KUjSpjCTdjr8fJF3kNy1v3q3Jjp7cze3l\">alleged on Facebook</a> that Cody injured her finger when he “forcibly yanked” the phone from her hand, has since filed a federal suit against him for First and Fourth amendment violations, alleging that the raid and the seizure of her phone were retaliation for her investigation into allegations of misconduct by Cody.</p><p data-block-key=\"35d7h\">In a <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67744880/9/gruver-v-cody/\">response</a> to Gruver’s complaint, Cody claimed that he and other law enforcement officers confiscated the newsroom’s computers and Zorn’s cellphone because it was taking hours to download the newsroom’s data onto the sheriff’s office’s equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"eflr8\">Cody initially defended the legality of the raid <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/marionpoliceks/posts/pfbid02fzBK6Mp4voBLB39mF6p1ug9uQreXjZ8yPnK5mWFqYwsXdkkzBzBUj46sQeeeP6mHl\">on Facebook</a>, but resigned in October several days after being suspended, the Record <a href=\"https://marionrecord.com/direct/chief_abruptly_resigns+5503resigns+4368696566206162727570746c792072657369676e73\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9kq8\">Record Editor and Publisher Eric Meyer previously told <a href=\"https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article278212472.html\">The Kansas City Star</a> that prior to the raid the weekly newspaper had been investigating Cody’s background and allegations of wrongdoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"bshca\">Gruver resigned from the paper after viewing the body camera footage, <a href=\"https://marionrecord.com/direct/cody_found_reporter_s_file_on_his_misdeeds_during_newsroom_raid+5502breaking4+436f647920666f756e64207265706f7274657227732066696c65206f6e20686973206d6973646565647320647572696e67206e657773726f6f6d20726169643c212d2d4d2d373737322d36313832312d353930352d2d3e\">according</a> to the Record. Joan Meyer, a co-owner and correspondent for the Record at whose home law enforcement executed the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-newspaper-editors-home-raided-by-local-law-enforcement/\">second warrant</a>, passed away the day after the raid, which <a href=\"http://marionrecord.com/direct/updated_illegal_raids_contribute_to_death_of_newspaper_co_owner+5447raid+555044415445443a20496c6c6567616c20726169647320636f6e7472696275746520746f206465617468206f66206e657773706170657220636f2d6f776e65723c212d2d2d2d3e?\">the Record attributed</a> in part to the stress of the experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"fln8t\">An Aug. 16 <a href=\"http://mediaassets.kshb.com/NWT/Sam/Motion%20and%20Order%20to%20Release%20Evidence%20Seized%20%281%29.pdf\">court order</a> mandated that police return all equipment seized in the raid, but a separate USB drive that law enforcement had used to copy the newspaper’s computer files was not returned until Aug. 30, after the paper’s attorney discovered it on an inventory list <a href=\"https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/investigations/attorney-marion-police-downloaded-kept-copy-of-raided-kansas-newspapers-computers\">released</a> by the Marion District Court.</p><p data-block-key=\"dlr08\">On Feb. 6, 2024, Zorn filed a federal suit against Cody, the city of Marion, the Board of Marion County Commissioners, various members of law enforcement involved in the raid and a former mayor.</p><p data-block-key=\"f4k6n\">“The defendants are co-conspirators in an unconstitutional effort to deny Ms. Zorn her rights under the First and Fourth Amendments,” Zorn <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ksd.151148/gov.uscourts.ksd.151148.1.0_2.pdf\">alleges</a> in her complaint, arguing the raid was an act of retaliation for Zorn’s exercise of her First Amendment rights, and that the seizure of her phone and computer without any evidence that they had been used to commit crimes exceeded the scope of the warrant.</p><p data-block-key=\"telj\">Zorn adds that within days of the raid, her Grand Mal seizures returned after a five-year reprieve. “The seizures have been debilitating,” her complaint notes, “and have led to extreme depression and anxiety.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ntml\">“We just can’t have people doing this,” Zorn’s attorney Randall Rathbun <a href=\"https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/marion/marion-record-reporter-sues-gideon-cody-city-and-county-employees-for-nearly-1-mill-following-newsroom-raid\">told</a> KSHB and said that he and his client are suing for $950,000 in damages “so they don’t do this again.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9fkrl\"><i>Editor’s Note: The seizure of reporter Phyllis Zorn's personal cellphone was originally reported in connection with the raid of the Marion County Record. While her phone was seized during the raid, it was not part of the search warrant executed on the newsroom, which is documented</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsroom-personal-equipment-seized-in-kansas-raid/\"><i>here</i></a><i>.</i></p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"54hnt\">Reporter Phyllis Zorn, pictured at left among other staffers of the Marion County Record, filed a federal lawsuit on Feb. 6, 2024, alleging her constitutional rights were violated during a raid on the paper’s newsroom in August 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"case_number": "2:24-cv-02044",
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"actor": null,
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"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
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"state": {
"name": "Kansas",
"abbreviation": "KS"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-08-05 00:00:00+00:00) Marion County Record journalists committed no crimes, say special prosecutors"
],
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"ongoing"
],
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"Equipment Search or Seizure"
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"Phyllis Zorn (Marion County Record)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Cameraman hit by village vehicle, municipal employee arrested",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-hit-by-village-vehicle-municipal-employee-arrested/",
"first_published_at": "2023-09-29T13:02:22.586486Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-15T18:21:23.606509Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-15T18:21:23.393991Z",
"date": "2023-08-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Hillsdale",
"longitude": -90.284,
"latitude": 38.68338,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"124rx\">KTVI-TV cameraman Wade Smith was struck and seriously injured by a Hillsdale, Missouri, municipal vehicle on Aug. 11, 2023, with the village’s top official in the passenger seat. The station reported that Smith required emergency surgery and was recovering at home. The vehicle’s driver — an employee of the suburban St. Louis village — was arrested in connection with the incident in early September, it added.</p><p data-block-key=\"fhika\">Smith and reporter Mitch McCoy were investigating reports that municipal governments were towing individuals’ vehicles from their driveways due to expired tags or the absence of a village sticker, <a href=\"https://fox2now.com/news/fox-files/fox-2-photographer-run-over-after-community-threatens-to-tow-cars/\">according to KTVI</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dqgcj\">When the pair went to Village Hall to interview Dorothy Moore, the chair of the Board of Trustees who functionally serves as mayor, the chief of police informed the journalists that she wasn’t there. An hour later, Smith saw Moore leaving the hall through the back door.</p><p data-block-key=\"assme\">Smith and McCoy followed as Moore climbed into a public works truck and slid into the passenger seat as the municipal employee got behind the wheel, KTVI reported. As he drove away at the urging of Moore, Smith was run over by the trailer attached to the truck and fell to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"bqkk9\">An accident report filed about the incident stated that the Hillsdale worker saw Smith on the ground as they drove away, but told police he didn’t know Smith had been hit, according to KTVI.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqjfc\">Smith also dropped the camera when he was struck, but the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was not immediately able to confirm the extent of the damage to the equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ovrd\">Smith’s attorney Chet Pleban confirmed to <a href=\"https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/fox-2-news-ktvi-hillsdale-government-municipality-st-louis-county/article_8473f610-3c61-11ee-8b2b-6badeadfdeba.html\">the St. Louis Post-Dispatch</a> that Smith’s tibia had been broken and that he was rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery.</p><p data-block-key=\"18v8j\">“It’s a pretty sad day when a reporter or a cameraman is run over by a vehicle simply because an elected official doesn’t want to talk to them,” Pleban said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rk4o\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/tv-photojournalist-hit-st-louis-velda-city-431db02f15575297368cccada9841c86\">reported</a> on Sept. 8 that the municipal worker had been released pending a prosecutor’s review to decide whether to pursue charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"8jb5n\">Neither Smith’s attorney nor KTVI responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Wade_Smith.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"geytt\">In its broadcast about the incident, KTVI-TV reported that photographer Wade Smith (not pictured) was seriously injured in Hillsdale, Missouri, when a public works truck pulling a trailer struck him on Aug. 11, 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"actor": "public figure",
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"assailant": "public figure",
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{
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"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-02-07 00:00:00+00:00) Charge dropped for Missouri municipal worker who hit cameraman with vehicle"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Wade Smith (KTVI)"
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},
{
"title": "Kansas reporter injured when cellphone seized during police raid of newsroom",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-reporter-injured-during-police-raid-of-newsroom/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-14T20:43:52.272403Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-07T19:07:30.062823Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-07T19:07:29.873641Z",
"date": "2023-08-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Marion",
"longitude": -97.01725,
"latitude": 38.34835,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lzeay\">Marion County Record reporter Deb Gruver was injured when local law enforcement executed a search warrant on the newspaper’s offices and forcibly seized her cellphone, alongside other equipment and journalistic work product. The Kansas newspaper reported that the seizures jeopardized its ability to publish its weekly edition.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gtk6\">A copy of the <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SearchWarrant2.jpg\">search warrant</a>, obtained by the Kansas Reflector, shows that the search was undertaken as part of an investigation into alleged unlawful use of a computer and identity theft. The warrant, however, did not include Gruver’s cellphone or <a href=\"/all-incidents/kansas-reporter-files-suit-after-phone-seized-in-newsroom-raid/\">another reporter’s cellphone</a>, both seized by law enforcement during the raid.</p><p data-block-key=\"1l53\"><a href=\"https://www.marionrecord.com/direct/updated_illegal_raids_contribute_to_death_of_newspaper_co_owner+5447raid+555044415445443a20496c6c6567616c20726169647320636f6e7472696275746520746f20646\">According to the Record</a>, when one of the paper’s reporters requested a copy of the probable cause affidavit that summarizes the circumstances and evidence supporting the warrant, the district court issued a signed statement that there wasn’t one on file.</p><p data-block-key=\"575vu\">The Record reported that during an Aug. 7 city council meeting a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, had accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining information that she had a prior DUI conviction and had driven without a license, as well as supplying the information to Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel.</p><p data-block-key=\"4o991\">In an <a href=\"http://marionrecord.com/direct/restaurateur_accuses_paper_councilwoman+5447newell+52657374617572617465757220616363757365732070617065722c20636f756e63696c776f6d616e\">article responding</a> to the allegations, Record Publisher and Editor Eric Meyer said that a source had reached out with the information via Facebook, and had independently sent it to Herbel as well. The Record had verified the allegations through a public website but decided not to publish it, instead alerting the Marion Police Department that the source may have obtained the information illegally.</p><p data-block-key=\"419h2\">The morning of Aug. 11, Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed the search warrant for the Record’s office. Marion Police Department officers and Marion County sheriff’s deputies <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsroom-personal-equipment-seized-in-kansas-raid/\">executed it within two hours</a>, ordering staff to leave the office as equipment was seized.</p><p data-block-key=\"5kc1\">Meyer told the Reflector that officers seized “everything” from the newsroom, and that he wasn’t sure how the staff would complete the edition before it needed to go to press on Aug. 15.</p><p data-block-key=\"ag4c5\">Gruver <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/deb.gruver/posts/pfbid02kHWHUHWeEh7PhUyzqy6dFv95Vk1dQzw8KUjSpjCTdjr8fJF3kNy1v3q3Jjp7cze3l\">alleged on Facebook</a> that Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody injured her finger when he “forcibly yanked” her personal cellphone from her hand. “I’ve filed a report with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation because a previously dislocated finger was re-injured,” Gruver wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"23b98\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/marion-kansas-newspaper-raid-aca057365ea3925328a69acd615c9893\">reported</a> that officers also read Gruver her rights while Cody watched, though the reporter was not arrested or detained.</p><p data-block-key=\"2np7t\">Officers also executed a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-newspaper-editors-home-raided-by-local-law-enforcement/\">second warrant</a> at Meyer’s home — where he lives with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, a co-owner and correspondent for the Record, the Reflector <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/11/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-marion-county-newspaper-seizing-computers-records-and-cellphones/\">reported</a>. Joan Meyer passed away the following day, which <a href=\"http://marionrecord.com/direct/updated_illegal_raids_contribute_to_death_of_newspaper_co_owner+5447raid+555044415445443a20496c6c6567616c20726169647320636f6e7472696275746520746f206465617468206f66206e657773706170657220636f2d6f776e65723c212d2d2d2d3e?\">the Record attributed</a> in part to the stress of the raid.</p><p data-block-key=\"3d0je\">Eric Meyer, a veteran reporter from the Milwaukee Journal and former journalism professor at the University of Illinois, <a href=\"https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article278212472.html\">told The Kansas City Star</a> following the raid that the Record had also been investigating Cody’s background and allegations of wrongdoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"d7274\">Cody, who did not immediately respond to a request for further information, told the Star that the lack of an article about the allegations shows they had no basis. “If it was true, they would’ve printed it,” Cody said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1sicu\">On Aug. 14, a coalition of more than 30 press freedom organizations <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/marion-county-record-raid-letter/\">sent a letter</a> to Cody condemning the raid and calling for the return of the newspaper’s equipment and reporting materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"u71d\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, which operates the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/fpf-statement-on-alarming-police-raid-of-kansas-newspaper/\">called the raid</a> “alarming.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7cv21\">“Based on the reporting so far, the police raid of the Marion County Record on Friday appears to have violated <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-661-privacy-protection-act-1980\">federal law</a>, the First Amendment, and basic human decency,” said Director of Advocacy Seth Stern. “Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fosg2\">In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/marionpoliceks/posts/pfbid02fzBK6Mp4voBLB39mF6p1ug9uQreXjZ8yPnK5mWFqYwsXdkkzBzBUj46sQeeeP6mHl\">statement released on Facebook</a>, Cody defended the legality of the raid and said that the Marion Police Department had received assistance from local and state investigators.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjegc\">“It is true that in most cases, [the federal Privacy Protection Act] requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search,” Cody wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"am8hp\">Eric Meyer, who could not immediately be reached for comment, told the Record that while the paper’s attorneys are working to have the equipment returned, they also plan to file a federal lawsuit to ensure that such a raid never happens again.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0sqm\">“Our first priority is to be able to publish next week,” he said, “but we also want to make sure no other news organization is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today. We will be seeking the maximum sanctions possible under law.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5jf7k\"><i>Editor’s Note: This incident has been updated to reflect that, while reporter Deb Gruver’s personal cellphone was seized during the</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsroom-personal-equipment-seized-in-kansas-raid/\"><i>raid on the Marion County Record</i></a><i>, it was not part of the search warrant executed on the newsroom.</i></p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"e5hvo\">Security footage of the raid on the Marion County Record newsroom in August 2023 shows law enforcement seizing the Kansas paper’s computers. Reporter Deb Gruver was injured when her cellphone was forcibly seized during the raid.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Kansas",
"abbreviation": "KS"
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"updates": [
"(2023-10-02 00:00:00+00:00) Police chief in Kansas raid resigns; paper reports on new bodycam footage",
"(2024-06-25 00:00:00+00:00) Kansas reporter settles claims with former police chief who led raid on newsroom",
"(2023-08-30 14:52:00+00:00) Reporter sues police chief following phone seizure during newspaper raid",
"(2024-08-05 00:00:00+00:00) Marion County Record journalists committed no crimes, say special prosecutors"
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{
"title": "Subpoena quashed for Ohio reporter’s documents in civil rights case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-quashed-for-ohio-reporters-documents-in-civil-rights-case/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-16T18:02:28.972044Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-16T18:02:28.972044Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-16T18:02:28.860465Z",
"date": "2023-08-10",
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"city": "Columbus",
"longitude": -82.99879,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qq5rd\">Jeremy Pelzer, a reporter for Cleveland.com, was subpoenaed on Aug. 10, 2023, to turn over documents in a federal civil rights suit filed by a man incarcerated in Ohio, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"1aic2\">A motion to compel Pelzer to comply with the subpoena was quashed on Feb. 5, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"4loat\">In the lawsuit, Lance Pough, imprisoned in 2000, alleged that members of the Ohio Parole Board used his race as a factor in their decision to deny his application for parole, in violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment. Pough, who is Black, filed his case in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.</p><p data-block-key=\"a24a5\">Pough’s complaint cited Pelzer’s <a href=\"https://www.cleveland.com/politics/2019/01/ohio-parole-board-is-secretive-and-frighteningly-unfair-former-member-shirley-smith-says.html\">January 2019 article</a> about alleged unfair practices by the parole board. In the article — which does not mention Pough — former board member Shirley Smith claimed that she had “witnessed strongly biased opinions regarding cases, unprofessional behavior, unethical decisions, and a frighteningly unfair practice of tribal morality.”</p><p data-block-key=\"442u6\">In the <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193.135.0.pdf\">Aug. 10 subpoena</a>, Pough, who was representing himself, ordered Pelzer to turn over by Aug. 25 any documents relating to or referring to Shirley Smith, including interview notes, interview transcripts, emails, phone texts and electronically stored documents. It also sought his communications with then-parole board spokesperson JoEllen Smith about Shirley Smith’s claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"5gnsq\">Pelzer filed an objection to the subpoena on Aug. 24. Pough followed on Oct. 9 with a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193.146.0.pdf\">motion to compel</a> Pelzer’s compliance.</p><p data-block-key=\"fgm6u\">But Pelzer, in a Nov. 2 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193.149.0.pdf\">response</a> opposing the motion to compel, argued that Pough should instead obtain the information firsthand from Shirley Smith and Jo Ellen Smith, who had already been subpoenaed in the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"41jep\">He also asserted that subpoena imposed an undue burden on his First Amendment guarantees, which protect newsgathering activities from “attempts by civil litigants to turn non-party journalists or newspapers into their private discovery agents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1i8m2\">U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Gentry <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193.164.0.pdf\">denied</a> the motion to compel on Feb. 5, 2024, ruling that the court must limit discovery that “can be obtained from some other source that is more convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive.” The judge did not consider Pelzer’s First Amendment claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"7g3p3\">Pough objected on March 1 to Gentry’s ruling, but U.S. District Judge Michael Watson <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193/gov.uscourts.ohsd.252193.175.0.pdf\">overruled</a> the objection on March 19.</p><p data-block-key=\"dn8va\">Pough had also earlier filed a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ohio-reporters-subpoena-for-testimony-in-civil-rights-case-quashed/\">separate subpoena</a> seeking Pelzer’s testimony about his interviews with Shirley Smith and JoEllen Smith, which was quashed in July 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ht7e\">Pelzer and his attorney, Daniel Kavouras, did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ezhhx\">A portion of an Aug. 10, 2023, subpoena served to Cleveland.com reporter Jeremy Pelzer seeking documents in a civil rights lawsuit. The subpoena was quashed in February 2024.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
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"Jeremy Pelzer (Cleveland.com)"
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},
{
"title": "WLS-TV photographer assaulted, phones stolen, vehicle damaged",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wls-tv-photographer-assaulted-phones-stolen-vehicle-damaged/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-31T19:40:00.280489Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-27T21:04:08.301555Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-27T21:04:08.180114Z",
"date": "2023-08-08",
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"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4ix4w\">A photographer for WLS-TV was assaulted and robbed while preparing to cover a press conference in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 8, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"r62\">CWBChicago <a href=\"https://cwbchicago.com/2023/08/chicago-tv-news-photographer-mugged-abc7-west-side.html\">reported</a> that the photographer was approached at approximately 2 p.m. by two men asking for money. When the journalist replied that he didn’t have any, one of the men tried to grab his phone. The photographer pushed the man away and put his phone into a vehicle from the news station’s fleet, but the man then shoved him to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"3dbg\">The Chicago Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the victim, who they did not identify, was able to run away. The second man broke the vehicle’s window and took two phones from inside before both men fled the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"da091\">WLS <a href=\"https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-shooting-east-garfield-park-reward-reverend-paul-jakes/13619841/\">confirmed</a> that one of its photographers was assaulted and robbed, reporting that he was “fine and suffered only minor scrapes.” The station’s general manager did not respond to an emailed request for additional information.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4e92\">The Chicago police said that the incident is classified as an attempted strong-arm robbery with theft, simple battery and criminal damage to a vehicle, and is still under investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"7mf1b\">Less than three weeks later, a Univision Chicago news crew was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2023-08-28&date_upper=2023-08-28&city=Chicago&tags=robbery\">robbed, this time at gunpoint</a>, and one of the station’s cameras was taken.</p><p data-block-key=\"67n6h\">Raza Siddiqui, president of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians Local 41, which represents TV photographers in Chicago, <a href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2023/8/28/23850057/chicago-tv-news-crew-robbed-at-gunpoint-while-reporting-on-armed-robberies\">told the Chicago Sun-Times</a> that the union is arranging a safety meeting for members to voice concerns about the dangers they are increasingly facing.</p><p data-block-key=\"21o3d\">“We want to make sure that we provide a longer-lasting solution, that we work not only with management but our members, and make sure that we read some protocols that everyone is happy with and feels can be a workable solution,” Siddiqui said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qfuj\">Some Chicago news stations have begun to implement additional security measures in the meantime, Siddiqui added, including hiring security for some TV crews.</p></div>",
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"actor": "private individual",
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{
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{
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
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{
"title": "Cannabis commission restricts reporter’s access",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cannabis-commission-restricts-reporters-access/",
"first_published_at": "2023-10-06T15:43:35.974288Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T20:36:29.642546Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T20:36:29.561609Z",
"date": "2023-08-04",
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"city": "Worcester",
"longitude": -71.80229,
"latitude": 42.26259,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3wu7c\">Independent journalist Grant Smith-Ellis was barred on Aug. 4, 2023, from attending future press scrums or otherwise engaging in a professional capacity with the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, after the state body decided he was not a member of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"3il5a\">Smith-Ellis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that he has reported on the commission for more than four years, broadcasting its monthly public meeting and publishing articles about it on his personal website and with outlets such as DigBoston. But at the beginning of August, the commission emailed to notify him that he would only be permitted to interact with the commission and seek information through the same channels available to the general public.</p><p data-block-key=\"2k9pq\">The email, which Smith-Ellis provided to the Tracker, claimed that Smith-Ellis had voiced his personal opinions during legislative hearings and it questioned his “general code of conduct as a purported member of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4ke5c\">“On multiple occasions in recent months, the information you have disseminated as journalism on your social media channels has not been conveyed accurately or fairly, and blended rumor and conjecture with fact,” the commission wrote. “[The] information you rush to post is often riddled with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5o5sm\">When asked about the commission’s characterization of him as an advocate rather than a journalist, Smith-Ellis rejected the idea that reporters must maintain objectivity.</p><p data-block-key=\"5hc1p\">“Journalists are not dispassionate robots, nor should our government ever be in a position to demand such a thing from those in the Fourth Estate,” he said. “Journalists are human beings who tell human stories through human mediums.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3ghs2\">Smith-Ellis maintains that the target of the ban was his watchdog reporting and was an “attempt to silence critical coverage about internal agency dynamics.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7vc2p\">Smith-Ellis said he had asked the commission to review the decision, as it has no policy dictating press behavior or stipulations for inclusion on press lists. He was told on Aug. 7 that no review would be provided. A subsequent petition to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the state’s highest appellate court, was denied without a hearing, Smith-Ellis added.</p><p data-block-key=\"dooo7\">“As things stand, I am no longer permitted to send press inquiries to [Cannabis Control Commission] press staff or attend press conferences after each monthly public CCC hearing,” Smith-Ellis told the Tracker. “Over the past month, this punitive ban has prevented me from being able to ask the CCC questions on a number of pressing issues in the public interest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"76vsd\">When asked via email about the commission’s media policies, a spokesperson said that the commission's public meetings are open to reporters, in person or online, and that journalists can question commissioners afterwards during a staff-led media availability. The spokesperson did not offer a further statement on why Smith-Ellis’ access was restricted.</p><p data-block-key=\"7eck8\">Smith-Ellis told the Tracker he is considering next steps to address what he characterizes as a chilling overreach by a government agency.</p><p data-block-key=\"brnmi\">“The government has a right to dislike my reporting. The government has a right to seek corrections (which I have always issued when asked). The government does not have a right to silence critical journalism, without even basic due process, on the basis of its content,” Smith-Ellis said.</p></div>",
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"name": "Massachusetts",
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"Grant Smith-Ellis (Independent)"
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{
"title": "Journalist called to testify before grand jury on Trump election interference",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-called-to-testify-before-grand-jury-on-trump-election-interference/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-03T16:24:26.676439Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-08-31T16:41:35.990864Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-08-31T16:41:35.754398Z",
"date": "2023-07-31",
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"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nc5z4\">Freelance journalist George Chidi was subpoenaed for the second time on July 31, 2023, to testify before a grand jury in Atlanta, Georgia. Chidi told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that it is connected to alleged 2020 election interference, though the subpoenas do not specify what Chidi would be questioned about.</p><p data-block-key=\"272os\">In December 2020, Chidi was covering the meeting of electors casting their official votes for President-elect Joe Biden at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta when he observed a Republican elector entering a side room. Chidi <a href=\"https://theatlantaobjective.substack.com/p/bearing-witness\">wrote in his newsletter</a>, The Atlanta Objective, that when he began filming and asked what was going on in the room, he was quickly ushered out.</p><p data-block-key=\"135qf\">Chidi was <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/gchidi/posts/pfbid03878QJ4b9gPELdyrWNVgYNbunKa5ZV1BsqAd19xVzxNKeipqtfakwbzQDHeddWonql\">immediately suspicious</a> and believed Republican electors were working to submit fabricated election results certifying the state’s electoral college votes for Trump, despite Biden’s victory in Georgia.</p><p data-block-key=\"feevn\">The journalist was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-to-testify-in-grand-jury-hearing-on-georgia-election-interference/\">subpoenaed to testify</a> before a special grand jury in July 2022, which he unsuccessfully fought in court. Chidi was able to limit the scope of the questions to election interference and what he witnessed at the Capitol.</p><p data-block-key=\"bc55a\">A little over a year later, Chidi wrote in <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2023/07/31/trump-georgia-grand-jury-subpoena/\">The Intercept</a> that he met with an investigator from the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, who handed him two subpoenas. Chidi told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was ordered to be “on call” to testify between Aug. 7 and Aug. 31 before both of the <a href=\"https://www.ajc.com/news/trump-probe-grand-jurors-likely-to-weigh-charges-against-former-president-selected/G2J5WSK2YVDMNPEF3BM32ZOMNU/\">recently empaneled</a> grand juries, and that he will receive notice at least 48 hours before he is expected to appear.</p><p data-block-key=\"7sqe\">Chidi said that he is not certain whether he will be asked to testify before one of the juries, both or neither.</p><p data-block-key=\"3m8vv\">The journalist told the Tracker that he has received some assurances in writing that the scope of questioning will again be limited to exclude any unrelated reporting and so expects to testify again. Were the circumstances different, he added that he would fight the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"ad3o8\">“No district attorney anywhere in the United States should be making a habit of issuing subpoenas to journalists,” Chidi said. “This erodes the independence of a free press. And were it for anything less substantial than democracy and the principles of the United States, I would resist with complete vigor.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"o7x2x\">A portion of a July 31, 2023, subpoena ordering independent journalist George Chidi to be “on call” to testify before two grand juries potentially hearing cases alleging 2020 election interference by then-President Donald Trump and his allies.</p>",
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"name": "Georgia",
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"(2023-08-31 13:08:00+00:00) Journalist testimony not needed by grand jury hearing Trump election interference case"
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"election",
"Election 2020"
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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"George Chidi (Freelance)"
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{
"title": "North Carolina judge seizes reporter’s notes, issues gag order",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/north-carolina-judge-seizes-reporters-notes-issues-gag-order/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-09T19:35:06.383819Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-08-09T19:35:06.383819Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-08-09T19:35:06.253332Z",
"date": "2023-07-28",
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"city": "Greensboro",
"longitude": -79.79198,
"latitude": 36.07264,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"41trf\">Kenwyn Caranna, a government reporter for the News & Record, was covering a juvenile court hearing on July 28, 2023, when a North Carolina judge seized her notes and told her she was under a gag order.</p><p data-block-key=\"dr01b\">News & Record Executive Editor Dimon Kendrick-Holmes <a href=\"https://greensboro.com/news/local/judge-issues-gag-order-seizes-notes-of-news-record-reporter/article_48caaecc-330d-11ee-9f7c-bfce08f902e6.html\">wrote</a> that Caranna had been observing proceedings in the Greensboro courtroom most of the day, the only exception being a closed hearing when all observers were ordered to leave the courtroom.</p><p data-block-key=\"denat\">District Court Judge Ashley Watlington-Simms reportedly asked Caranna to identify herself later in the day. When Caranna did so, the judge denied the reporter’s request to speak with an attorney and left the courtroom to consult with Chief District Court Judge Teresa Vincent.</p><p data-block-key=\"6q1a7\">When she returned, Watlington-Simms told Caranna she was under a gag order. The judge then directed bailiffs to seize Caranna’s notes from the day’s proceedings, telling the journalist she could appeal the decision on a later date.</p><p data-block-key=\"4vu9u\">Watlington-Simms entered a formal protective order on Aug. 2, which stated that the prior restraint was necessary to protect confidential information from the juvenile court cases, according to the News & Record. The order also sealed Caranna’s notes and barred her from disclosing information from the cases she observed.</p><p data-block-key=\"43rk3\">The News & Record has requested a hearing to vacate the gag order as well as unseal and return Caranna’s notes.</p><p data-block-key=\"3sq89\">When reached by email, Caranna directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to a <a href=\"https://www.theassemblync.com/newsletter/who-investigates-prosecutors/\">newsletter</a> about the ruling, but declined to comment further. The newsletter reported that a district trial court coordinator refused to release a copy of the protective order, stating that it is confidential.</p></div>",
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"name": "North Carolina",
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"Kenwyn Caranna (News & Record)"
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{
"title": "Boston TV reporter shoved after court hearing",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/boston-tv-reporter-shoved-after-court-hearing/",
"first_published_at": "2023-09-27T20:44:52.351834Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-28T18:52:54.288422Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-28T18:52:54.203438Z",
"date": "2023-07-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Boston",
"longitude": -71.05977,
"latitude": 42.35843,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z7t4u\">A Boston TV reporter was allegedly assaulted on July 26, 2023, by a man leaving a courthouse after his arraignment for impersonating a police officer, according to law enforcement officials and <a href=\"https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/revere-man-charged-with-impersonating-police-officer-accused-assaulting-tv-reporter/CU76OYAVOJAMPPN3PTPNBYOQJ4/\">news reports</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cui1k\">Byron Boisseau, 44, allegedly <a href=\"https://www.suffolkdistrictattorney.com/press-releases/items/2023/9/12/revere-man-charged-with-impersonating-a-police-officer-faces-additional-assault-charge\">grabbed the TV reporter and shoved him</a> multiple times outside the District Court in Chelsea, Massachusetts, following Boisseau’s arraignment, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a Sept. 12 release.</p><p data-block-key=\"tp7l\">Police did not name the reporter, but WFXT-TV <a href=\"https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/police-man-caught-impersonating-officer-near-revere-beach-forced-drivers-off-road-with-fake-cop-car/YLQZJXVBR5HIRMQHFU7BMRT76A/\">reported on July 26</a> that Boisseau shoved reporter Bob Ward after he approached Boisseau for comment. Ward later turned over footage of the alleged attack to the Massachusetts State Police.</p><p data-block-key=\"dec6h\">The station said at the time that Ward was OK and had been checked out by medical professionals as a precaution.</p><p data-block-key=\"6p1bl\">Boisseau was charged with assault and battery of a person over 60 years old, according to the district attorney. Massachusetts law carries <a href=\"https://www.neymanlaw.com/massachusetts-g-l-c-265-13-k-assault-and-battery-upon-an-elderly.html\">enhanced penalties for assaults</a> on elderly people and people with disabilities.</p><p data-block-key=\"1i69c\">“This individual chose to commit another crime right after answering on a different one. We all have a job to do. Use of force or violence against someone performing their professional duties will never be tolerated, as this individual has found out,” DA Kevin R. Hayden said in a news release.</p><p data-block-key=\"2si25\">Paul Mahoney, Boisseau’s defense attorney, declined to comment on the assault charge. Boisseau is due back in court on Nov. 1.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"muvl6\">A Boston 25 News reporter was allegedly assaulted outside a courthouse on July 26, 2023, by a man who had just been arraigned for impersonating a police officer. The man has since been charged.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Massachusetts",
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},
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"Assault"
],
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"Bob Ward (WFXT)"
],
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{
"title": "Proposed bill would direct media coverage of mass shootings",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/proposed-bill-would-direct-media-coverage-of-mass-shootings/",
"first_published_at": "2023-10-24T17:37:42.162462Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-07T15:54:45.723206Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-07T15:54:45.622603Z",
"date": "2023-07-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k9425\">Two Republican lawmakers jointly introduced a resolution on July 18, 2023, proposing guidelines for how the media should report on mass shootings.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mgq4\">Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee proposed a <a href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-concurrent-resolution/15/text\">concurrent resolution</a> asserting that “irresponsible and sensationalistic reporting practices” are one of the key factors behind the prevalence of mass shootings in the United States. They also alleged that the press routinely covers the shooter more than the victims, satisfying the attacker’s desire for “notoriety and infamy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b1g71\">The two called on the media to “voluntarily and responsibly” change its approach by, for instance, not naming alleged perpetrators or promoting the shooter’s ideology or advocacy for any particular public policy change. Instead, they said the media should focus coverage on memorializing victims and on the “heroism” of any law enforcement, first responders or bystanders.</p><p data-block-key=\"712mi\">Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University and former editor-in-chief of USA Today, <a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/08/15/congress-resolution-on-media-coverage-of-shootings-raises-concerns-first-amendment-experts/70447777007/\">told The Tennessean</a> that any attempt by the government to stipulate how the media should operate raises immediate First Amendment concerns.</p><p data-block-key=\"15hhn\">Paulson also challenged the lawmakers’ assertion that the press voraciously covers every mass shooting, saying that while many newsrooms have independently reduced coverage to avoid inspiring copycats, the sheer number of incidents has made the coverage decision for them.</p><p data-block-key=\"eaac7\">“Mass murders now happen so often that they no longer get the same level of attention from the news media,” he said. “I believe the public sometimes confuses the coverage of unrelenting mass murders with excessive coverage of a single event.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0shi0\">Sen. Mike Lee of Utah speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in March 2022. Lee and Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee jointly proposed a bill in July 2023 that proposed guidelines for how journalists should cover mass shootings.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"Media"
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"Other Incident"
],
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},
{
"title": "Colorado reporter says he was assaulted by subject of reporting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-reporter-says-he-was-assaulted-by-subject-of-reporting/",
"first_published_at": "2023-09-21T19:57:35.433577Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-09-21T19:57:35.433577Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-09-21T19:21:39.440717Z",
"date": "2023-07-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Silverton",
"longitude": -107.66451,
"latitude": 37.81194,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xfd58\">Reporter Reuben Schafir of The Durango Herald said he was assaulted at a concert in Silverton, Colorado, on July 14, 2023, in retaliation for his reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"8icnp\">According to Schafir, a subject of two <a href=\"https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/silverton-locals-caught-in-avalanche-one-critically-injured/\">May</a> <a href=\"https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/skiers-recall-exacting-rescue-after-silverton-avalanche/\">stories</a> about a group of Silverton skiers caught in an avalanche walked up behind him at the concert, slowly poured a beer over his head and told him, “Go fuck yourself.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8rn09\">Schafir believes that the person attacked him because he “felt that the full narrative was not contained in my reporting, despite the fact that it was based off a first-person account posted to social media and official statements from first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dnpde\">The reporter also believes the individual may have acted because, as Schafir later learned, he had not notified all of his family members about the avalanche before the stories were published.</p><p data-block-key=\"6v1c1\">Schafir said he offered to talk with the individual after the stories were published, but that he did not respond. Schafir said he does not intend to file charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"i1qq\">“I stand by the reporting,” he said. “Obviously having a beer dumped on you is a small offense in the larger scheme of what reporters go through — but it felt worthwhile to make a note of it as it speaks to some of the unique hardships that come with being a small town reporter."</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
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"categories": [
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"Reuben Schafir (The Durango Herald)"
],
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{
"title": "WSAZ-TV publishes government document after judge ends protective order",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wsaz-tv-publishes-government-document-after-judge-ends-protective-order/",
"first_published_at": "2023-09-13T20:37:57.691359Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-11T19:32:22.102150Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-11T19:32:22.022144Z",
"date": "2023-07-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Charleston",
"longitude": -81.63262,
"latitude": 38.34982,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jqtmm\">West Virginia television station WSAZ, which had sued a state agency over access to documents that included a contentious draft letter terminating a senior official, was freed to publish the letter on Aug. 28, 2023, after Kanawha County Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard <a href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23929958/order-denying-defendants-motion-to-protect-and-dissolving-temporary-protective-order.pdf\">lifted a temporary protective order</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9sr0o\">In May 2022, WSAZ sued to access documents from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources after the department had <a href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23929959/wvdhhr-foia-denial.pdf\">rebuffed an earlier Freedom of Information Act request</a>. The station was, in part, seeking records related to the termination of the agency’s deputy secretary by its top administrator.</p><p data-block-key=\"670k3\">Ballard ruled in favor of the station, requiring the release of the requested documents, with the exception of the draft termination letter itself. But when the agency sent a PDF with hundreds of pages to the station in July 2023, it inadvertently included the letter. When the agency learned of the error, it asked that the letter be deleted. The station refused to delete it, so the agency asked the court to prevent its publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"frvc0\">On July 14, Ballard issued a temporary protective order barring disclosure of the letter’s contents. Ultimately, however, he determined a permanent bar would represent an unconstitutional prior restraint, so in August he lifted the protective order, <a href=\"https://www.wsaz.com/2023/08/28/wsaz-obtains-dhhr-deputy-secretary-termination-letter/\">allowing the station to publish the letter</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bs8r8\">“The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held,” the judge wrote in his decision, “that the news media has a First Amendment right, absent the government’s demonstration of a ‘state interest of the highest order,’ to publish information about a matter of public concern that it has lawfully obtained, regardless of whether the news media’s source violated the law in providing that information.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ft190\">Claire Magee Ferguson, an attorney with WSAZ’s parent company Gray Media, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “Judge Ballard’s ruling underlined that our daily pursuit of public information is a necessary, worthy fight. WSAZ and Gray Media were thrilled to receive judicial confirmation that the ‘overriding interest of justice’ inevitably sides with free speech.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fmqe2\">The agency did not respond to requests for comment from the Tracker.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ufvnj\">A portion of the decision, filed Aug. 28, 2023, lifting the temporary restraining order that held West Virginia television station WSAZ couldn’t publish a government document it received by mistake.</p>",
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{
"title": "Pennsylvania cameraman struck by pellet gun on assignment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-cameraman-struck-by-pellet-gun-on-assignment/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-24T15:22:38.458760Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-24T15:26:05.678081Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-24T15:26:05.565723Z",
"date": "2023-07-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Allentown",
"longitude": -75.49018,
"latitude": 40.60843,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kjxer\">A photojournalist for WFMZ-TV in Allentown, Pennsylvania, was hit multiple times by airsoft projectiles while on assignment on July 11, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"95bii\">One of the objects struck the photojournalist in the corner of the eye, causing an irritation but no lingering injuries and did not require medical attention, WFMZ-TV News Director Brad Rinehart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email.</p><p data-block-key=\"343qc\">A fellow reporter was not hit and no equipment was affected or damaged, Rinehart added. He declined to name the news staffers.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ms2h\">The photojournalist and the reporter were at the scene of a homicide that had occurred a few days earlier inside a home on the 300 block of North 16th Street in Allentown when “a person in a passing car fired shots from an airsoft gun,”<a href=\"https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2023/07/wfmz-tv-69-news-crew-at-homicide-scene-hit-by-airsoft-gun-projectiles.html\"> lehighvallylive.com</a> reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0602\">“The photojournalist was taking pictures with his phone, and not a full-fledged television camera, at the time of the attack,” Rinehart said. “He was not wearing station-branded attire, and he was across the street from the branded news vehicle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8pith\">Rinehart said he had no evidence that the attack was aimed at the staffer due to his job. “On the other hand, [the photojournalist] had been shooting with his TV camera earlier in the day and may have been identified by the shooter. Another reporter from our staff reported seeing a car circling the area on the morning of the attack,” Rinehart said.</p><p data-block-key=\"22oi8\">On the evening of the attack, WFMZ-TV News Anchor Rob Vaughn, with the station for more than 35 years, tweeted: “Awful: Today a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/69News\"> @69News</a> crew covering a 16th St,<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Allentown?src=hashtag_click\"> #Allentown</a> homicide was *shot at* by someone w/ a pellet gun (Airsoft?) fired from a passing car. Pellets hit our photographer in the head, including face. He's OK. If you know anything about it, call<a href=\"https://twitter.com/AllentownPolice\"> @AllentownPolice</a>”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Awful: <br><br>Today a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/69News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@69News</a> crew covering a 16th St, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Allentown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Allentown</a> homicide was *shot at* by someone w/ a pellet gun (Airsoft?) fired from a passing car. Pellets hit our photographer in the head, including face. He's OK. If you know anything about it, call <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AllentownPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AllentownPolice</a></p>— Rob Vaughn (@RobVaughnNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RobVaughnNews/status/1678949535882661889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 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=\"kjxer\">The incident, which was reported to the Allentown City Police, was confirmed by Capt. Kyle Pammer, who said no suspects had been named, nor any leads, and no arrests had been made as of July 19. Pammer also said the incident does not appear to be targeted and that the investigation is ongoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebtto\">In May, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/philadelphia-news-crew-shot-at-with-pellets-during-live-broadcast/\"> reported</a> the assault of a WTXF-TV FOX29 news crew who was shot at with a pellet gun from a moving vehicle while reporting outside of City Hall in Philadelphia.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Fox News subpoenaed by Trump attorneys for interview footage in Jan. 6 lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-subpoenaed-by-trump-attorneys-for-interview-footage-in-jan-6-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2023-08-07T13:09:41.974599Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-02T14:04:59.866068Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-02T14:04:59.767738Z",
"date": "2023-07-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9ivkq\">Fox News Network was subpoenaed by former President Donald Trump’s legal team on July 11, 2023, for recordings and notes after ex-network host Tucker Carlson referenced an unaired interview he conducted with former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund.</p><p data-block-key=\"60j4l\">Trump is facing a <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60313941/smith-v-trump/\">lawsuit</a> filed by seven Capitol Police officers who were injured during the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol. On March 16, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals denied Trump’s request to reconsider his motion to dismiss the suit, as well as several others. Discovery in the case is now underway.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6a7\">Puck <a href=\"https://puck.news/trump-has-subpoenaed-fox-news-for-tuckers-unaired-jan-6-interview/\">reported</a> that Carlson spoke about his interview with Sund during a July 7 <a href=\"https://stayfreepodcastwithrussellbrand.podbean.com/e/tucker-carlson/\">podcast with Russell Brand</a>. According to Carlson, Sund claimed the Jan. 6 crowd was rife with federal agents. </p><p data-block-key=\"bsft\">Trump now seeks a copy of the recording and all communications referencing the interview, according to a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.234873/gov.uscourts.dcd.234873.227.1.pdf\">copy of the subpoena</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"38fj4\">After receiving the subpoena, Fox News wrote Trump’s legal team arguing that the materials are protected under reporter’s privilege and suggested that they could obtain the information by deposing Sund himself, according to Puck. <a href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-news-reportedly-fighting-back-against-trump-subpoena-for-tucker-carlson-jan-6-interview/\">Mediaite reported</a> that Sund recently published a book about the riots.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4kco\">Fox News did not respond to a request for comment as of publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"dovf1\">On Aug. 10, Carlson, who was fired from Fox News the previous April, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1689783814594174976\">published</a> a recorded interview he conducted with Sund on the social platform X, writing that it took place because Fox News opted against airing the previous one. </p><p data-block-key=\"2q9to\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include details from the subpoena and Tucker Carlson’s second interview with Steven Sund.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"as1x8\">A portion of the subpoena issued to Fox News on July 11, 2023, seeking the recording and notes from an interview host Tucker Carlson held with former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund in connection with a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.</p>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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"Fox News"
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{
"title": "LA Times journalists accused by police union of ‘stalking’",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-times-journalists-accused-by-police-union-of-stalking/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-20T22:02:22.145424Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-20T22:02:22.145424Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-20T22:02:13.555079Z",
"date": "2023-07-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ruzdm\">Two Los Angeles Times reporters were accused of “stalking” by the city’s police union, which emailed the charge to its more than 9,000 members on July 10, 2023, after the pair went to an officer’s home to ask for comment for a forthcoming article.</p><p data-block-key=\"2r7kc\">Reporters Brittny Mejia and Libor Jany <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-14/lapd-refused-to-id-the-officers-behind-a-huge-fireworks-explosion-now-we-have-their-names\">were investigating</a> the June 2021 detonation of a seized fireworks cache <a href=\"https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/south-la-los-angeles-illegal-fireworks-explosion-lapd-bomb-squad-timeline/2926329/\">that went awry</a>, seriously injuring 17 people and damaging homes, businesses and vehicles on a South L.A. residential block. The Los Angeles Police Department repeatedly declined requests to identify the bomb squad officers involved, citing existing law, but the journalists were ultimately able to uncover their identities.</p><p data-block-key=\"9tv89\">Prior to publication, on July 8, Mejia and Jany went to the homes of several officers without incident, the Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-14/times-reports-what-the-lapd-wanted-buried-drawing-outrage-from-police-officials-union\">reported</a>. Then the two arrived at the home of Sgt. Stefanie Alcocer, who had been suspended for 10 days for her role in the blast.</p><p data-block-key=\"a93bn\">The journalists identified themselves and asked Alcocer if she’d like to provide comment, as their article would make her identity public for the first time. Alcocer, who denied her role in the incident, made a call, took their business cards, then asked them to leave. Mejia and Jany did so.</p><p data-block-key=\"74f6p\">After the journalists left, the Times reported that Jany noticed a missed call from LAPD spokesperson Capt. Kelly Muniz. When he called her back, Muniz reprimanded him for approaching Alcocer at home. LAPD Chief Michel Moore also called Jany and Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida with similar complaints.</p><p data-block-key=\"eu3rd\">In a subsequent interview over text, Moore told the Times, “Such unannounced visits unnecessarily create fear and intimidation on the part of our people and their family (including children) during a time in which we have individuals calling for violence against police officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bvh6p\">Two days after the door-knocking, the Los Angeles Police Protective League — a union representing rank-and-file LAPD officers — sent an email to its members asserting that it was “unacceptable” for reporters to approach officers at their homes.</p><p data-block-key=\"e06oe\">The email alleged that Jany and Mejia had engaged in “stalking” and were “following officers to their homes,” the Times reported. The message also included photos of Mejia and Jany and identified them by name, according to a screenshot Mejia <a href=\"https://twitter.com/brittny_mejia/status/1679927245669011456\">posted on Twitter</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"anv5c\">“You do not have to open your door to these individuals,” the email said. “You do not have to engage with them at all, and if they persist in ringing your doorbell or banging on your door, do not open it as their motives are suspect.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last weekend, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/liborjany?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@liborjany</a> and I door knocked LAPD bomb squad technicians to give them a chance to respond to our story. <br><br>The police union then circulated our photos to thousands of its members and accused us of following officers home. We didn’t. <a href=\"https://t.co/Xg0GHBmlyf\">https://t.co/Xg0GHBmlyf</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/XxdIlHbXzy\">pic.twitter.com/XxdIlHbXzy</a></p>— Brittny Mejia (@brittny_mejia) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/brittny_mejia/status/1679927245669011456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 14, 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=\"ruzdm\">Tom Saggau, a spokesperson for the union, told the Times that union leaders decided it was necessary to alert officers, as many are on edge following the publishing of thousands of officer photos online.</p><p data-block-key=\"42qnt\">A roster of more than 9,000 officers and their photos was released to Knock LA reporter Ben Camacho in September 2022 and subsequently published by the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. In April, following backlash from the LAPD and union, the city of Los Angeles <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/los-angeles-sues-journalist-in-attempt-to-claw-back-photos-of-police-officers/\">filed a lawsuit against Camacho</a> in an attempt to claw back the photos.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fmbd\">Saggau did not respond to questions sent via text by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The LAPD declined to comment further when reached by email.</p><p data-block-key=\"7vh22\">Neither Mejia nor Jany responded to emailed requests for comment. But Times Executive Editor Merida, in a statement to the newspaper, defended the journalists’ actions as routine newsgathering.</p><p data-block-key=\"6cbjd\">“They are making an effort to give the subjects of their reporting an opportunity to speak for themselves and share their version of events,” Merida said. “As such, they are upholding the principles of journalism.”</p></div>",
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{
"title": "California reporter assaulted at meeting as man grabs camera",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-reporter-assaulted-at-meeting-as-man-grabs-camera/",
"first_published_at": "2023-09-12T21:20:16.164021Z",
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"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-09-12T21:18:33.603221Z",
"date": "2023-07-06",
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"city": "Cottonwood",
"longitude": -121.97108,
"latitude": 38.65824,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r2ogh\">Journalist Doni Chamberlain said she was assaulted by conservative activists in Cottonwood, California, on July 6, 2023, after they surrounded her at a meeting and demanded she leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"25mmo\">Chamberlain, publisher and owner of A News Cafe, an online news magazine, was eventually escorted out of the gathering by deputies from the Shasta County Sheriff's Department. She has since filed charges against one of the activists, Mark Kent.</p><p data-block-key=\"dnmub\">Chamberlain said that at one point Kent, who the Redding Record Searchlight <a href=\"https://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2023/06/06/shasta-leaders-face-outcry-for-lax-stance-to-use-of-n-word-at-meeting/70290365007/\">describes</a> as a far-right political activist, ordered Chamberlain to leave and grabbed her phone, which was hanging from a lanyard around her neck as she <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/1210986218/videos/214092161599401/\">recorded the meeting</a> for Facebook Live.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ej2\">“It caused the strap to snap my neck and pitch my head forward,” Chamberlain told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “It was momentarily like being hanged by my own phone strap.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8rpfr\">Chamberlain said she went to the emergency room the next day and was initially diagnosed with whiplash and a concussion. Later, her primary care physician diagnosed her with a traumatic brain injury. She said she has continued to experience severe confusion, aches in her neck and upper back, and tingling in her left hand.</p><p data-block-key=\"5e2ci\">Chamberlain explained to the Tracker that she found the invitation for the first of a monthly series of meetings posted on Facebook by Jesse Lane. Lane, who <a href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article278547069.html\">The Sacramento Bee calls</a> “an up-and-coming leader in the local far-right movement,” had <a href=\"https://anewscafe.com/2021/03/01/redding/zapata-and-friends-reveal-their-red-white-and-blueprint-to-reclaim-america/\">previously posted</a> of Chamberlain, “I think it’s time we remove her from our way of living.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1urcq\">Chamberlain said she was the only media present at what she considered a public gathering and added: “I maintain that as a journalist, covering meetings that most citizens are too afraid to attend, I had a right to be there to report.”</p><p data-block-key=\"48lrv\">But immediately after she arrived at the community center where the meeting was held, she said she was approached by Lane, who told her to leave. She was then approached by several more attendees, who repeated the demand. One attendee blocked Chamberlain’s camera with her hands and face. Chamberlain said that while she was surrounded, the meeting opened with approximately 200 people who prayed for her “salvation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5rqh7\">Lane ultimately called police to report her for trespassing and four sheriff's deputies subsequently arrived to escort her out of the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9pp\">The sheriff’s office told the Tracker via email that the district attorney’s office for Shasta County is reviewing Chamberlain’s case, but declined to release the report of the sheriff’s investigation.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"530c3\">Journalist Doni Chamberlain shows the lanyard that was around her neck when a man grabbed at it, giving her whiplash, as she recorded a July 2023 meeting of conservative activists in Cottonwood, California.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed five times in legal feud over boxing match",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-five-times-in-legal-feud-over-boxing-match/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-02T17:39:40.647351Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-02T18:38:50.017100Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-02T18:38:49.911620Z",
"date": "2023-06-30",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qayn8\">Journalist Lance Pugmire was subpoenaed on June 30, 2023, as part of a lawsuit around a major boxing match he covered in 2015 while a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"8mjih\">It was one of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lance+Pugmire&legal_order_type=SUBPOENA&legal_order_target=JOURNALIST&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">five subpoenas</a> Pugmire received in a plaintiff’s long-running lawsuit around finder’s fees for a 2015 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. The match broke pay-per-view records at more than $400 million in sales, as Pugmire himself <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-mayweather-pacquiao-ppv-record-20150512-story.html\">reported</a> for the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"cidb2\">The plaintiff in the suit claims that Showtime, which televised the fight, as well as Pacquiao and his trainer, Frederick Roach, promised him a finder’s fee for helping to negotiate the fight. The plaintiff first subpoenaed Pugmire for testimony in 2018 to have him confirm that quotations from Roach in Pugmire’s articles about the fight were accurately attributed. That subpoena was quashed on procedural grounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"ci55t\">The plaintiff, Showtime, Pacquiao and his trainer each subpoenaed the journalist for his testimony in June 2023 after a Showtime executive referenced a conversation with Pugmire in another deposition. The plaintiff also demanded that Pugmire produce correspondence with Showtime, the executive who had been deposed, and other executives involved in planning the fight.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bfbb\">On July 11, Pugmire objected to all of the subpoenas and refused to testify. The plaintiff then filed a motion to compel Pugmire’s cooperation with his subpoena. Defendants Showtime and Paramount Global, its parent company, also filed a motion to compel, claiming that Pugmire’s testimony would reveal “witness tampering” by the plaintiff.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ikhs\">In their opposition to the motions, Pugmire’s attorneys argued that California Shield Law and the reporter’s privilege wholly protect Pugmire. “The free flow of information to the public is jeopardized when litigants attempt to use the coercive power of the Court to turn journalists into witnesses and commandeer independent newsgathering efforts for parties’ private aims,” they wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"7k8qm\">On Sept. 11, the court denied the motions to compel, agreeing that forcing Pugmire to comply would violate the state’s shield law and reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0sse\">Pugmire’s attorney Karl Olson told the Tracker in October 2023 the parties should have been more respectful of the importance of the shield law. “It’s unfortunate that Mr. Pugmire and the Times were dragged into this not once, but twice,” he said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"r75d5\">Boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao meet ahead of their 2015 match. Journalist Lance Pugmire was subpoenaed five times as part of a lawsuit involving the match and his coverage of it while at the Los Angeles Times.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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"categories": [
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},
{
"title": "Reporters caught in EPA records dispute; Louisiana sues to obtain documents",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-caught-in-epa-records-dispute-louisiana-sues-to-obtain-documents/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-12T15:59:51.736671Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-01T16:13:06.822662Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-01T16:13:06.627779Z",
"date": "2023-06-29",
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"city": "Baton Rouge",
"longitude": -91.18747,
"latitude": 30.44332,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tz4zu\">Nine journalists and their news outlets are embroiled in a legal dispute between Louisiana and the federal government that started June 29, 2023, when the state sought communications between the reporters and a federal agency, according to legal documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"6j65r\">Gov. Jeff Landry initiated the Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when he was the state’s attorney general. His administration has since continued his pursuit of the records, which relate to a <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/06/27/epa-investigation-louisiana-environmental-justice/\">since-shuttered EPA investigation</a> into “Cancer Alley,” a heavily polluted area primarily inhabited by Black residents. The state’s record request goes back to March 2021 and also seeks communications between the EPA and environmental activist groups.</p><p data-block-key=\"9klv\">Named in the state’s initial FOIA request were Halle Parker and/or news site Nola.com; Morgan Radford and/or MSNBC; Timothy Puko, Darryl Fears and Michael Phillis, and/or The Washington Post; Oliver Laughland and/or The Guardian; Anna McAllister and/or television station WGNO; Mike Smith and/or The Advocate newspaper; and Bobbi-Jeanne Misick and/or public radio station WWNO.</p><p data-block-key=\"1qtca\">Louisiana’s Deputy Solicitor General Joseph Scott St. John explained the records request in an August <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24388454-st-john-letter-to-epa#document/p2/a2424640\">letter to the EPA, in which he said,</a> “It has become apparent to the State from highly specific press inquiries that the EPA has been prodigiously leaking information to the press.” St. John did not cite any examples.</p><p data-block-key=\"firdj\">After the EPA said it would take more than a year to complete the records request, the state <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24388441-01\">filed a FOIA-related suit</a> on Dec. 19, 2023, seeking speedier release of the documents. The EPA was <a href=\"https://www.nola.com/news/politics/la-seeks-communications-from-journalists-in-epa-lawsuit/article_6dbb247a-c1f4-11ee-810c-471036efb78a.html\">reported</a> to have since sent the state 965 pages of information and was expected to send more in February 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"bon8g\">Parker, one of the journalists targeted by the state, told <a href=\"https://veritenews.org/2024/01/26/state-sues-epa-for-records-of-communications-with-la-environmental-groups-journalists/\">Verite News</a> she was surprised to learn she was part of its FOIA request. “I had never thought about a government agency looking to see what I had found out about them or what information I was seeking about topics in general. So it was just kind of eye opening to me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5qld2\">Kai Falkenberg, U.S. general counsel for The Guardian, whose reporter and news organization was also named in the FOIA suit, <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/02/louisiana-sues-epa-emails-journalists-cancer-alley-residents?mc_cid=73590f461e\">said</a>, “We are deeply concerned by what appears to be an attempt to intimidate journalists and interfere with their ability to report on alarming matters of environmental injustice.”</p><p data-block-key=\"98usb\">Rep. Troy Carter, whose district includes Cancer Alley, also told The Guardian, “The first amendment protects the right to free speech. The government should not have any appearance of targeting private individuals in a manner that could inhibit freedom.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6k52u\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, which oversees the operation of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, characterized the state’s action as “highly problematic.” Seth Stern, FPF’s director of advocacy, <a href=\"https://www.nola.com/news/politics/la-seeks-communications-from-journalists-in-epa-lawsuit/article_6dbb247a-c1f4-11ee-810c-471036efb78a.html\">told Nola.com</a>, “The Freedom of Information Act is intended as a tool for Americans to obtain information about what government is up to, not for governments to obtain information about what reporters are up to.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSA5EXO.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yv9o0\">In his role as state attorney general, Jeff Landry, seen speaking at a 2022 conference, initiated a public records request that involves communications between reporters and a federal agency. He’s continued to pursue the records as governor.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Louisiana",
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},
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"tags": [
"environmentalism"
],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Halle Parker (Nola.com)",
"Morgan Radford (MSNBC)",
"Timothy Puko (The Washington Post)",
"Darryl Fears (The Washington Post)",
"Michael Phillis (The Washington Post)",
"Oliver Laughland (The Guardian)",
"Anna McAllister (WGNO)",
"Mike Smith (The Advocate)",
"Bobbi-Jeanne Misick (WWNO)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist says public official shoved him after town meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-says-public-official-shoved-him-after-town-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2023-10-26T17:44:35.976123Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-26T17:44:35.976123Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-26T17:34:16.435896Z",
"date": "2023-06-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Vestal",
"longitude": -76.05381,
"latitude": 42.08507,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2uhva\">Independent journalist John Solak contends he was shoved by the town supervisor for Vestal, New York, on June 26, 2023, while attempting to interview a town board member about his arrest, Solak told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"bnum9\">Solak, who posts regularly using the handle <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BinghamtonDaily?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">@BinghamtonDaily</a> on X, formerly known as Twitter, said that after a town board meeting at the town hall, he followed Councilman Stephen Donnelly out of the meeting room to where Donnelly exited the building. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BinghamtonDaily/status/1673456678891560960\">video</a> Solak shot of the encounter on an iPad, a man he identifies as Town Supervisor John Schaffer shouts, “Hey, get out of here!” Schaffer then positions himself between Solak and the exit, telling him that the exit is “not for you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9jkcp\">Solak told the Tracker, “He made contact with a body move on me and the iPad, which I used as a shield, causing me to lose balance.” He added that he would characterize Schaffer’s actions as a physical assault, but did not file a complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"qj5a\">In the video, Schaffer then instructs a woman standing nearby, identified later by Solak as Councilwoman Patty Fitzgerald, to call the police. Solak leaves the town hall building through a different exit, before the police arrive.</p><p data-block-key=\"9g6j5\">Solak, who told the Tracker he has been attending local government meetings for about 50 years, said that he went to the emergency room later that day because, “as a heart [disease] patient, … the event caused more than a little stress.”</p><p data-block-key=\"198fr\">Schaffer subsequently filed an incident report with the Vestal Police Department in which he reported that “when he was attempting to prevent John Solak from speaking with [Donnelly], he was struck by Solak’s arm and in the chest.” Schaffer declined to prosecute. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "politician",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"categories": [
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"targeted_journalists": [
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{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed for testimony by boxer Manny Pacquiao",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-for-testimony-by-boxer-manny-pacquiao/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-02T18:08:57.498030Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-02T18:36:15.725236Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-02T18:36:15.612924Z",
"date": "2023-06-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1fmsm\">Journalist Lance Pugmire was subpoenaed on June 22, 2023, as part of a lawsuit around a major boxing match he covered in 2015 while a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ersb\">It was one of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lance+Pugmire&legal_order_type=SUBPOENA&legal_order_target=JOURNALIST&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">five subpoenas</a> Pugmire received in a plaintiff’s long-running lawsuit around finder’s fees for a 2015 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. The match broke pay-per-view records at more than $400 million in sales, as Pugmire himself <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-mayweather-pacquiao-ppv-record-20150512-story.html\">reported</a> for the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"5157f\">The plaintiff in the suit claims that Showtime, which televised the fight, as well as Pacquiao and his trainer, Frederick Roach, promised him a finder’s fee for helping to negotiate the fight. The plaintiff first subpoenaed Pugmire for testimony in 2018 to have him confirm that quotations from Roach in Pugmire’s articles about the fight were accurately attributed. That subpoena was quashed on procedural grounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"34p4d\">The plaintiff, Showtime, Pacquiao and his trainer each subpoenaed the journalist for his testimony in June 2023, after a Showtime executive referenced a conversation with Pugmire in another deposition. On July 11, Pugmire objected to all of the subpoenas and refused to testify.</p><p data-block-key=\"eluu6\">Showtime and Paramount Global, its parent company, then filed a motion to compel, claiming that Pugmire’s testimony would reveal “witness tampering” by the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed his own motion to compel Pugmire’s cooperation with his subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"2l9f6\">In their opposition to the motions, Pugmire’s attorneys argued that California Shield Law and the reporter’s privilege wholly protect Pugmire. “The free flow of information to the public is jeopardized when litigants attempt to use the coercive power of the Court to turn journalists into witnesses and commandeer independent newsgathering efforts for parties’ private aims,” they wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"3u2g5\">On Sept. 11, the court denied the motions to compel, agreeing that forcing Pugmire to comply would violate the state’s shield law and reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4jaq\">Pugmire’s attorney Karl Olson told the Tracker in October 2023 the parties should have been more respectful of the importance of the shield law. “It’s unfortunate that Mr. Pugmire and the Times were dragged into this not once, but twice,” he said.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rly75\">Boxer Manny Pacquiao speaks at a press event ahead of his 2015 pay-per-view match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. As a defendant in a lawsuit around finder’s fees, Pacquiao subpoenaed journalist Lance Pugmire, who covered the match for the Los Angeles Times.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Lance Pugmire (Freelance)"
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},
{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed by Showtime in boxing lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-by-showtime-in-boxing-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2023-11-02T18:12:15.428189Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-02T18:39:46.686028Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-02T18:39:46.595156Z",
"date": "2023-06-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gudq3\">Journalist Lance Pugmire was subpoenaed on June 22, 2023, as part of a lawsuit around a major boxing match he covered in 2015 while a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"8vdrf\">It was one of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lance+Pugmire&legal_order_type=SUBPOENA&legal_order_target=JOURNALIST&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">five subpoenas</a> Pugmire received in a plaintiff’s long-running lawsuit around finder’s fees for a 2015 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. The match broke pay-per-view records at more than $400 million in sales, as Pugmire himself <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-mayweather-pacquiao-ppv-record-20150512-story.html\">reported</a> for the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdntt\">The plaintiff in the suit claims that Showtime, which televised the fight, as well as Pacquiao and his trainer, Frederick Roach, promised him a finder’s fee for helping to negotiate the fight. The plaintiff first subpoenaed Pugmire for testimony in 2018 to have him confirm that quotations from Roach in Pugmire’s articles about the fight were accurately attributed. That subpoena was quashed on procedural grounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"95erg\">The plaintiff, Showtime, Pacquiao and his trainer each subpoenaed the journalist for his testimony in June 2023, after a Showtime executive referenced a conversation with Pugmire in another deposition. On July 11, Pugmire objected to all of the subpoenas and refused to testify.</p><p data-block-key=\"5u6tg\">Showtime and Paramount Global, its parent company, then filed a motion to compel, claiming that Pugmire’s testimony would reveal “witness tampering” by the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed his own motion to compel Pugmire’s cooperation with his subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pt02\">In their opposition to the motions, Pugmire’s attorneys argued that California Shield Law and the reporter’s privilege wholly protect Pugmire. “The free flow of information to the public is jeopardized when litigants attempt to use the coercive power of the Court to turn journalists into witnesses and commandeer independent newsgathering efforts for parties’ private aims,” they wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"5aj5u\">On Sept. 11, the court denied the motions to compel, agreeing that forcing Pugmire to comply would violate the state’s shield law and reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"52qom\">Pugmire’s attorney Karl Olson told the Tracker in October 2023 the parties should have been more respectful of the importance of the shield law. “It’s unfortunate that Mr. Pugmire and the Times were dragged into this not once, but twice,” he said.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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