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{
"title": "RT America reporter arrested at Trump inauguration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rt-america-reporter-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-12T19:39:24.339114Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-17T16:00:22.343789Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-17T16:00:22.189996Z",
"date": "2017-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"154hc\">Alexander Rubinstein, a reporter with the Russian state-funded broadcaster RT America, was arrested while covering protests on the day of the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. RT said in a <a href=\"https://www.rt.com/usa/374421-rt-reporter-arrested-inauguration-protests/\">Jan. 20, 2017, report</a> on its website that Rubinstein showed his media credentials to police before he was encircled with a crowd of people who were all arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"cexgq\">He was <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/23/two-journalists-trump-inauguration-protests-felony-riot-charges-evan-engel-alex-rubinstein\">charged</a> with the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.</p><p data-block-key=\"r8uni\">On Jan. 30, the charges against Rubinstein were <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/inauguration-protest-arrests/\">dropped</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSWKU3.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1kraq\">Protesters and journalists scramble as stun grenades are deployed by police during a protest near the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S., January 20, 2017.<br/></p>",
"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
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"Alexander Rubinstein (RT America)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist Cheney Orr arrested at Trump inauguration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-cheney-orr-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-25T21:25:00.130739Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-05T14:52:59.435207Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-05T14:52:59.333643Z",
"date": "2017-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"10vak\">Cheney Orr, an independent photographer, was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Orr was doing a portrait series that day when he was arrested with a group of 60 protesters, handcuffed with zip ties, and his gear confiscated: this included his digital Canon DSLR camera, two lenses, a Contaxt point-and-shoot, memory cards, a Rolleiflex 120 film camera, and his cellphone.</p><p data-block-key=\"z9ksh\">He was one of more than 200 people arrested and charged with felony rioting, the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting. While he was released the next day, law enforcement wanted to use his images as evidence, but couldn’t access them without a warrant or Orr’s permission. When Orr’s attorney advised him that the warrant would almost certainly be granted and that waiting for the warrant would leave his equipment impounded for weeks or months, Orr granted his permission.</p><p data-block-key=\"ucyr3\">The felony charges were dropped on Feb. 21, though Orr is still waiting for the return of both his film and memory cards.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSWL1W.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880_s5CQKXW.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ts1tu\">DC riot police form a line across K Street Northwest at 13th Street as protesters react to the swearing in of U.S. President Donald Trump in downtown Washington, U.S., Jan. 20, 2017. </p>",
"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2017-01-21",
"detention_date": "2017-01-20",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in part",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
},
{
"quantity": 3,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 3,
"equipment": "storage device"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "work product"
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],
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Cheney Orr (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter Alex Stokes charged with rioting at Trump inauguration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-alex-stokes-charged-rioting-trump-inauguration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-25T21:19:08.544615Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-03T18:35:39.506952Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-03T18:35:39.363390Z",
"date": "2017-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dhe3n\">Alexander Stokes — an independent journalist whose show was broadcast on Albany Public Access TV news show — was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Stokes, whose full name is Alexander Stokes Contompasis, stated that he was never asked for press credentials despite informing officers that he was press, and his cellphone and two cameras were seized by police during his arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"6s2o3\">He was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.</p><p data-block-key=\"5pzz0\">On Feb. 21, the charges against Stokes were dropped. On March 1, his cameras and cellphone were returned, though he told Buzzfeed that he was uncertain whether they had been searched.</p><p data-block-key=\"nc442\">Stokes is now a member of "Press Connection," a group that advocates for those still facing criminal charges in connection with the Inauguration protests.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gi7p0\">Protesters and journalists scramble as stun grenades are deployed by police during a protest near the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S., Jan. 20, 2017. </p>",
"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:18-cv-00120",
"case_type": "CLASS_ACTION",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
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{
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{
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],
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
"updates": [
"(2021-09-17 00:00:00+00:00) Independent journalist receives payout as plaintiff in class-action lawsuit"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alex Stokes (Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist Matthew Hopard arrested at Trump inauguration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-matthew-hopard-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-25T21:15:44.100054Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-21T19:08:34.958901Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-21T19:08:34.896746Z",
"date": "2017-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9qsao\">Matthew Hopard — an independent photojournalist who has published with The New York Times, Fox News, and Business Insider — was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration.</p><p data-block-key=\"1evh3\">He was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.</p><p data-block-key=\"dkwre\">On Jan. 30, the charges against Hopard were dropped.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/3000.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880_q9In7va.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xgebj\">Washington DC police made a number of arrests, including of journalists, after protests against Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017, resulted in windows being smashed and other damage. </p>",
"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Matthew Hopard (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Producer Jack Keller arrested at Trump inauguration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/producer-jack-keller-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-25T21:09:36.767540Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-18T19:22:34.200590Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-18T19:22:33.951489Z",
"date": "2017-01-20",
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"city": "Washington",
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"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"22ma4\">Jack Keller, producer of the web documentary series Story of America, was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Annabel Park, the co-director of the web series, confirmed that Keller was arrested and detained for 36 hours while covering the protest. He was returned his video camera after being released, but both the video and his cellphone remained in police custody.</p><p data-block-key=\"00s5w\">He was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.</p><p data-block-key=\"rnuuk\">On Jan. 30, the charges against Keller were dropped.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/download.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880_5jmEMKh.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4alm3\">A demonstrator smashes a Starbucks window using a trash can at 12th and I streets in Washington, D.C., on Friday, during a march that ended with a partial encirclement and mass arrest. </p>",
"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2017-01-21",
"detention_date": "2017-01-20",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:18-cv-00120",
"case_type": "CLASS_ACTION",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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"updates": [
"(2021-09-17 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist joins class-action suit alleging wrongful arrest; gets $4K"
],
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"settled"
],
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
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"Jack Keller (Story of America)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist Aaron Cantú arrested at Trump inauguration",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-aaron-cant%C3%BA-arrested-trump-inauguration/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-24T21:44:14.993595Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-23T16:09:26.739057Z",
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"date": "2017-01-20",
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"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vri33\">Aaron Cantú — an independent journalist who has written for The Baffler, the website Truthout, and Al-Jazeera — was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day President Donald Trump's inauguration. </p><p data-block-key=\"86oav\">Cantú was among more than 230 people arrested in Washington on Inauguration Day after some individuals set fire to a car and broke windows of downtown businesses.</p><p data-block-key=\"gixuu\">Cantú was one of nine journalists arrested during the protests. Charges were later dropped against most of the journalists, but not Cantú. On April 27, a grand jury <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/346923365/Felony-Rioting-Superseding-Indictment-April-27-2017\">indicted him</a> on eight separate felony counts — inciting a riot, rioting, conspiracy to riot, and five counts of destruction of property. If convicted on all counts, he could face to <a href=\"http://www.thedailybeast.com/reporter-covering-inauguration-protests-now-faces-75-years-in-prison\">75 years in prison</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccl89\">He is scheduled to go to trial in October 2018.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "Prosecutors dropped all charges against Cantú on July 6, 2018",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/5-Aaron-bracelet.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"d1l47\">Journalist Aaron Cantú was required to wear this bracelet while detained, after he was arrested while covering protests against President Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C.</p>",
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"case_number": "1:20-cv-00130",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
"updates": [
"(2018-07-06 16:13:00+00:00) Prosecutors drop charges against all remaining defendants",
"(2020-01-16 13:16:00+00:00) Two journalists sue D.C., police department for arrests while covering 2017 inauguration protests",
"(2023-04-25 17:17:00+00:00) DC government pays two journalists $175,000 to settle wrongful arrest claims",
"(2018-01-18 22:53:00+00:00) Prosecutors drop charges against protesters, but not Cantú"
],
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"settled"
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"election",
"Election 2016",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
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"Aaron Cantú (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Vocativ journalist charged with rioting in Washington, D.C.",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vocativ-journalist-charged-with-rioting-in-washington/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-24T01:48:49.773084Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-17T16:01:45.574024Z",
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"date": "2017-01-20",
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"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9br1f\">Evan Engel was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests in Washington, D.C., on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. At the time, Engel was a senior producer at Vocativ. Vocativ spokeswoman Ellen Davis told the Committee to Protect Journalists that police seized Engel’s camera and mobile phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"tg6ux\">In a <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/what-happened-during-my-arrest-trumps-inauguration/\">blog post for the Freedom of the Press Foundation</a>, Engel wrote about the circumstances of his arrest:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h3pkt\"><i>The group – which included protesters, journalists (including myself), medics, and legal observers – raised their hands in the air and awaited further instructions from the police.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"3xyus\"><i>I livestreamed the detention on Facebook. After about 40 minutes, police officers from DC’s Metropolitan Police Department began pulled me from the group (livestreamers were among the first arrested). As I’ve done in numerous protests since 2008, I showed officers my camera and business cards and explained that I was a journalist.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"23517\"><i>“That’s great,” one officer replied. “I’m a sergeant.”</i></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t3n90\">Engel was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington, D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.</p><p data-block-key=\"ph4iu\">Engel wrote that he was detained for over 27 hours. He said that he and other detainees were subjected to abusive treatment, including being locked in the back of an overheated van.</p><p data-block-key=\"0cm1b\">On Jan. 27, all charges against Engel were dropped. Police later returned his phone and camera.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Jo9larUG_400x400.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2020-01-21",
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-09-17 00:00:00+00:00) Vocativ journalist receives payout from class-action settlement with District of Columbia"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Evan Engel (Vocativ)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Chicago Sun-Times reporter punched while covering inauguration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-sun-times-reporter-punched-while-covering-inauguration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2017-09-07T19:05:57.313070Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-17T16:03:08.912770Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-17T16:03:08.818999Z",
"date": "2017-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"11c05\">Chicago Sun-Times reporter Sam Charles was punched in the chest while covering an anti-Trump protest in Chicago on Jan. 20, 2017 — the day of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.</p><p data-block-key=\"voiwi\">Charles told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that, while reporting on the Chicago protest, he spotted a woman with a black mask spray painting “Die Fascist Scum” on a bus stop and took out his phone to record it. When he started recording, another man attacked him.</p><p data-block-key=\"a6xdy\">“Two seconds into the video, a guy runs over to me, knocks the phone out of my hand and then punches me in the chest,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"k3njz\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/samjcharles/status/822634725252694016\">Video</a> filmed by Charles shows a man quickly approaching the camera, just before the camera seems to be thrown violently to the side. “Get the fuck out of here!” a man can be heard yelling on the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"t6jss\">After being punched, Charles left the area but continued to cover the protest. He said that he did not notify police about the assault because his priority was continuing to report on the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"h95k5\">“It’s one of those things where, in that moment, it’s not my main focus,” he said. “My main focus is on getting back to work.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I just got punched in the chest for recording a masked woman tagging a bus stop on Michigan Ave <a href=\"https://t.co/WQxFjR5740\">pic.twitter.com/WQxFjR5740</a></p>— Sam Charles (@samjcharles) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samjcharles/status/822634725252694016\">January 20, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/C2qZ37qWIAAKJ6d.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"wujf0\">Sam Charles was attacked while filming a protester spray paint this "Die Fascist Scum" graffiti in Chicago, Illinois, on January 20, 2017.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sam Charles (Chicago Sun-Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Shay Horse arrested at Trump inauguration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shay-horse-arrested/",
"first_published_at": "2017-08-01T15:19:53.063008Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:29:07.494303Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:29:07.376867Z",
"date": "2017-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bwepq\">Independent journalist Shay Horse was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C., while covering protests around the inauguration of President Donald Trump.</p><p data-block-key=\"0c9rt\">Like other <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2017-01-20&date_upper=2017-01-20&city=Washington&state=District+of+Columbia&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge&endpage=2\">journalists and protesters arrested that day</a>, Horse was charged with the highest level of offense under the district’s law against rioting, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.</p><p data-block-key=\"gdbq4\">In February, the charges against Horse were dropped.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSWKXV.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0wrrp\">Activists stand amid smoke from a stun grenade during a protest against President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2017-01-21",
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": "1:17-cv-01216",
"case_type": "CLASS_ACTION",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [
"(2017-06-21 15:45:00+00:00) Photojournalist arrested while covering Inauguration Day protests named as plaintiff in ACLU lawsuit",
"(2021-04-26 00:00:00+00:00) DC settles class action lawsuit brought by independent journalist, others"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"election",
"Election 2016",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Shay Horse (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "WJLA photographer injured during Trump Inauguration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wjla-photographer-injured-during-trump-inauguration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-31T06:36:26.674996Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-17T16:03:47.123382Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-17T16:03:47.022997Z",
"date": "2017-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f0ufr\">Vanessa Koolhof — a photographer at WJLA, the local ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. — was knocked down and injured while covering a protest in response to President Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"60l8a\">WJLA <a href=\"http://wjla.com/news/local/wjla-photographer-knocked-down-injured-in-downtown-inauguration-protests\">reported</a> that Koolhof found herself in the middle of a shoving match between a group of anti-Trump protesters and a Trump supporter. After Koolhof fell down, D.C. police moved in to break up the struggle and help Koolhof up off the ground.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2017-08-02_at_4.07.28.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yyhov\">Vanessa Koolhof after being knocked down during a protest of President Donald Trump's inauguration, on January 20, 2017.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Vanessa Koolhof (WJLA-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Washington Post reporter thrown to ground by police at Inauguration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/washington-post-reporter-thrown-ground-police-inauguration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-31T06:22:54.285953Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-09T14:24:00.073974Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-09T14:23:59.974597Z",
"date": "2017-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1ib99\">Washington Post videojournalist Dalton Bennett was <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/2017/live-updates/politics/live-coverage-of-trumps-inauguration/washington-post-videojournalist-wrestled-to-ground-by-police/\">thrown to the ground</a> by police while covering a protest of President Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"shru9\">Alex Emmons, a reporter at The Intercept, captured video of the altercation and published it on Twitter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Washington Post reporter Dalton Bennett thrown to the ground by riot police. <a href=\"https://t.co/4I442QhEqM\">pic.twitter.com/4I442QhEqM</a></p>— Alex Emmons (@AlexanderEmmons) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexanderEmmons/status/822473187749404672\">January 20, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2017-07-31_at_6.17.13.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1c4fv\">A screencap from a video showing Washington Post photographer Dalton Bennett after being knocked to the ground by police officers during protests in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2017.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dalton Bennett (The Washington Post)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Independent journalist Jon Ziegler injured by rubber bullet at Standing Rock",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-jon-ziegler-injured-rubber-bullet-standing-rock/",
"first_published_at": "2017-08-24T08:51:21.953352Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-09T14:13:52.994906Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-09T14:13:52.914772Z",
"date": "2017-01-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Morton County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"y0gez\">Independent journalist Jon Ziegler, also known as "Rebelutionary_Z," was shot with rubber bullets while filming a police action against anti-pipeline protesters at Standing Rock, on Jan. 18, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"sa23v\"><a href=\"https://youtu.be/XX4B_malwk8\">Video recorded by Ziegler</a> shows a line of riot police, armed with rubber bullet shotguns and carrying shields, approaching a line of protesters near a bridge. As the police officers approach, they begin shooting rubber bullets at the protesters, who crouch behind shields of their own.</p><p data-block-key=\"sjyos\">"Go back to your camp!" the officers yell at the protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"dlp8m\">"You're on sovereign territory," some of the protesters respond.</p><p data-block-key=\"1h2hf\">"They're firing on people for no reason, at this point," Ziegler reports in the video. "They're now just taking potshots at people!"</p><p data-block-key=\"60hl1\">"It's Jon Ziegler!" one of the officers yells.</p><p data-block-key=\"gpmz8\">A few seconds later, Ziegler is hit by rubber bullets.</p><p data-block-key=\"fbt2h\">Ziegler continued live-streaming for the next few minutes, as he called for a medic and described his injuries, even holding his bloody hand in front of the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"sa079\">"I'm going to take the feed down so I can get some medical treatment, guys," he finally said. "Please wish me luck."</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-video\">\n\n<figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n <div style=\"padding-bottom: 56.25%;\" class=\"responsive-object\">\n <iframe width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/XX4B_malwk8?start=3690&feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe>\n</div>\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n \n <p data-block-key=\"g0tdj\">Video of police shooting at Jon Ziegler and protesters</p>\n \n \n <p>Rebelutionary_Z</p>\n \n </figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k57ir\">In an interview with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Ziegler said that he was hit with rubber bullets twice in the leg and once in his right hand, which was holding his camera. One of the rubber bullets shattered the bone in his little finger, which required him to go to the hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota, for immediate reconstructive surgery. He underwent a second surgery and months of physical therapy. In all, Ziegler had to pay more than $30,000 in medical costs as a result of the injury from the rubber bullet.</p><p data-block-key=\"01bbk\">Ziegler said that he believes that the police deliberately targeted him and aimed for his camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"vpv3k\">He also said that the police response was unprovoked. Earlier in the day, he said, a group of teenagers on the bridge had tossed snowballs at the police, but they had left hours before.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I'm heading to ER now...cops shot me at least twice, aiming for my phone, they broke my pinky and its bleeding BAD..<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoDAPL?src=hash\">#NoDAPL</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/orw8toclxH\">pic.twitter.com/orw8toclxH</a></p>— Rebelutionary Z (@Rebelutionary_Z) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Rebelutionary_Z/status/821971151291289600\">January 19, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Jon_Ziegler.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2j87u\">Jon Ziegler, also known as "Rebelutionary_Z," at Standing Rock</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "North Dakota",
"abbreviation": "ND"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"environmentalism",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jon Ziegler (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Trump International Hotel bans journalists during Inauguration week",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-international-hotel-bans-journalists-during-inauguration-week/",
"first_published_at": "2017-08-02T07:52:40.115762Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-17T16:05:33.247691Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-17T16:05:33.147953Z",
"date": "2017-01-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r150t\">A Politico reporter was prevented from entering the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., for a previously-scheduled meeting on Jan. 17, 2017. When he identified himself as a journalist, he was told that “media” would not be allowed in the hotel during the week of Donald Trump's presidential inauguration.</p><p data-block-key=\"qtlc0\">“Media is not allowed in this week in respect of the privacy of our guests,” the hotel's director of sales and marketing <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2017/01/trump-dc-hotel-bans-media-inauguration-week-233766\">told Politico</a> in a statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"zknkw\">The hotel is owned by Trump’s family real-estate company, The Trump Organization, which won a bid to redevelop the property for the federal government in 2012. The Trump Organization has a 60-year lease on the property; one condition of the lease is that the public must be granted access to certain areas of the building.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS191DA.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"b32p2\">The entrance of Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Politico"
],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2016"
],
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"Other Incident"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist Jenifer Stum charged with trespassing and rioting at Standing Rock",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-jenifer-stum-charged-trespassing-and-rioting-standing-rock/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-26T05:10:07.285730Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T15:11:50.121096Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T15:11:49.927467Z",
"date": "2017-01-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Morton County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xc4rs\">Stum, an independent journalist, was arrested on Jan. 16, 2017, while filming an anti-pipeline protest on a bridge at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota.</p><p data-block-key=\"0aagc\">She was <a href=\"https://cpj.org/blog/2017/02/journalists-covering-standing-rock-face-charges-as.php\">charged</a> with criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor, and engaging in a riot, a class B misdemeanor. If convicted, she faces 60 days imprisonment and a $3,000 fine.</p><p data-block-key=\"vwl60\">Stum is scheduled to go to trial in April 2018.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSX747.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0mq8v\">A man walks through the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., Jan. 24, 2017.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Morton County Sheriff's Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "North Dakota",
"abbreviation": "ND"
},
"updates": [
"(2018-10-08 00:00:00+00:00) Case dismissed against journalist arrested at Standing Rock protest"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"environmentalism",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jenifer Stum (Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Russian documentary journalist denied entry to the U.S.",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/russian-documentary-journalist-denied-entry-us/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-31T21:56:17.136188Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-11-16T20:10:23.603618Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-11-16T20:10:23.554178Z",
"date": "2017-01-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Moscow",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>A Russian documentary reporter was denied entry to the U.S. while trying to fly from Moscow's Shremetyevo airport to New York City on Jan. 15, 2017. </p><p>The journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, works for RTD — a documentary channel that's part of Russia's government-funded TV network RT — and has dual Russian and Canadian citizenship. As a citizen of Canada, she can visit the United States without a visa. She has visited the U.S. on multiple occasions and had never had any problems entering the country.</p><p>On Jan. 15, though, she attempted to check-in to her flight but was informed that her name had been flagged by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She said that Russian border officials told her that, because she was flagged, they had to check with U.S. border officials before allowing her on the flight. </p><p>She said that the Russians spoke on the phone with their American counterparts for over an hour and then asked her whether she had ever been to Iraq or Syria. She answered that her work for RTD had taken her to both countries. Following more discussions with American border officials, the Russians told her that the U.S. would not allow her to enter the country.</p><p>She later asked the U.S. Embassy why she was not allowed to travel to the U.S., but the embassy referred her to to the Department of Homeland Security. A few months later, she received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security stating that the department could neither confirm nor deny that she had been stopped for any reason.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS18HQP.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p>The logo of Russian television network RT is seen on a board at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": "Shremetyevo Airport",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. non-resident",
"denial_of_entry": true,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "no",
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": "yes",
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Russia",
"abbreviation": null
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": null,
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [
"Canada",
"Russia"
],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anonymous documentary journalist 1 (RTDoc [Russia])"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Congressman blocks journalist from photographing protesters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/congressman-blocks-journalist-photographing-protestors/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-31T22:49:24.657652Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-17T16:07:54.792971Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-17T16:07:54.703906Z",
"date": "2017-01-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ewfid\">European Pressphoto Agency photographer Jim Lo Scalzo told the Dallas News that Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican congressman representing Texas, physically blocked him from photographing protesters during the nomination hearings for Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Jan. 10, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"i6mix\">Lo Scalzo said that Gohmert deliberately tried to prevent him from reporting on the protesters’ disruption of the hearing. </p><p data-block-key=\"bar40\">“When I asked him, ‘Are you seriously blocking me from making these pictures of these protesters?’ he said, ‘Yes,’” Lo Scalzo told the Dallas News. “He said, ‘The story is not there,’ and then he pointed to Sessions and said, ‘The story is over there.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"p03f4\">In an <a href=\"https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2017/01/11/texas-rep-louie-gohmert-accused-blocking-journalist-photographing-protesters\">interview</a> with the Dallas News, Gohmert defended his actions and claimed that Lo Scalzo had blocked his view of the hearing.</p><p data-block-key=\"pjjj6\">“There were plenty of cameras to capture what was going on, so there was no censorship, but the rule-breaking, distracting, view-blocking cameraman was blocking my view requiring me to stand,” Gohmert said. “He wasn’t determined to get the truth out, he was selfishly disrupting the view he was not allowed to, to try and prevent one of the many other photographers who were not violating rules from having a better picture than him.”</p><p data-block-key=\"85jnm\">But video of the hearing shows Gohmert getting up from his seat to block Lo Scalzo from taking photos of the protesters.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS9CCG_jWxpQNX.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gctky\">Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) speaks with a journalist at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, on March 4, 2016.<br/></p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jim Lo Scalzo (EPA Images [Germany])"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Florida TV correspondent nearly run over by man upset with her reporting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-tv-correspondent-nearly-run-over-man-upset-reporting/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-30T17:45:47.764865Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-14T16:08:13.061673Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-14T15:50:52.878576Z",
"date": "2017-01-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Cape Coral",
"longitude": -81.94953,
"latitude": 26.56285,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vrf6o\">While attempting to interview a woman accused of child cruelty in Cape Coral, Florida on Jan. 5, 2017, journalist Nicole Valdes was <a href=\"http://www.winknews.com/2017/01/05/wink-news-reporters-attacked-in-cape-coral/\">hit and nearly run over</a> by an angry neighbor of the woman, who drove his car at Valdes and cameraman Channing Frampton.</p><p data-block-key=\"pbxbz\">Valdes and Frampton are journalists at WINK News, a local CBS affiliate in southern Florida.</p><p data-block-key=\"d68ly\">A video filmed by Frampton that was later broadcast on WINK shows Frampton and Valdes attempting to interview Janet Crappse, the woman at the center of the story, when a man across the street begins yelling and swearing at them. He accuses the journalists of invading his privacy and trespassing, and repeatedly demands that they turn off their cameras and stop interviewing his neighbor. Later in the video, the man can be seen driving his car at high speed toward Frampton and Valdes.</p><p data-block-key=\"pvf3v\">The car clipped Valdes, who sustained no injuries. Frampton was not hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"e09v2\">The man behind the wheel was later <a href=\"http://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/water-cooler/man-nearly-hits-nicole-valdes-and-channing-frampton-from-wink-tv-with-car\">arrested</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2017-08-02_at_4.17.52.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"races\">A screenshot from a video filmed by Channing Frampton shows Nicole Valdes immediately after being clipped by a driver upset with her reporting.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [
"(2017-05-11 00:00:00+00:00) Man who hit TV reporter with car sentenced for assault"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Nicole Valdes (WINK-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Florida cameraman nearly run over by man upset with reporting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-cameraman-nearly-run-over-man-upset-reporting/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-30T17:45:04.889268Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-14T16:08:07.616915Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-14T15:51:56.286348Z",
"date": "2017-01-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Cape Coral",
"longitude": -81.94953,
"latitude": 26.56285,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u0y9y\">While attempting to interview a woman accused of child cruelty in Cape Coral, Florida on Jan. 5, 2017, cameraman Channing Frampton was <a href=\"http://www.winknews.com/2017/01/05/wink-news-reporters-attacked-in-cape-coral/\">nearly run over</a> by an angry neighbor of the woman, who drove his car at Frampton and his colleague, reporter Nicole Valdes.</p><p data-block-key=\"6zxk8\">Frampton and Valdes are journalists at WINK News, a local CBS affiliate in southern Florida.</p><p data-block-key=\"p3xrf\">A video filmed by Frampton that was later broadcast on WINK shows Frampton and Valdes attempting to interview Janet Crappse, the woman at the center of the story, when a man across the street begins yelling and swearing at them. He accuses the journalists of invading his privacy and trespassing, and repeatedly demands that they turn off their cameras and stop interviewing his neighbor. Later in the video, the man can be seen driving his car at high speed toward Frampton and Valdes. </p><p data-block-key=\"a5jmh\">The car missed Frampton but grazed Valdes, who sustained no injuries.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9km4\">The man behind the wheel was later <a href=\"http://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/water-cooler/man-nearly-hits-nicole-valdes-and-channing-frampton-from-wink-tv-with-car\">arrested</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "WINK News cameraman Channing Frampton filmed a video, later broadcast on WINK News, which shows the man can be seen driving his car at high speed toward Frampton and reporter Nicole Valdes.",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2017-08-02_at_4.12.37.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ymxqe\">Screenshot from Wink News Video shows the man driving his car directly toward the camera.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [
"(2017-05-11 00:00:00+00:00) Man who drove car at TV journalist sentenced for assault"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Channing Frampton (WINK-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Filmmaker restrained, phone seized at U.S.-Canada border crossing",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-restrained-phone-seized-at-us-canada-border-crossing/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-29T16:59:18.880790Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T20:05:31.420969Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T20:05:31.336637Z",
"date": "2017-01-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Lewiston",
"longitude": -79.03588,
"latitude": 43.17256,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g8b7f\">New York-based independent filmmaker Akram Shibly was stopped by border authorities and his phone searched for the second time in four days when returning to the United States from Canada on Jan. 4, 2017, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of Shibly and 10 others, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?case_number=1:17-cv-11730\">including three journalists</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"vgv5\">Shibly was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-forced-to-unlock-phone-at-us-canada-border-crossing/\">first stopped</a> for secondary screening and his cellphone searched when returning from a work trip to Toronto on Jan. 1, the <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.191990.7.0.pdf\">complaint</a> stated.</p><p data-block-key=\"9a85e\">Three days later, Shibly was again returning home from Toronto to Buffalo, New York, via the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge. In the secondary screening area, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer again ordered him to hand over his phone. Shibly refused.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mnvf\">The complaint alleged that three officers physically restrained him in order to seize the device:</p><p data-block-key=\"c6pe7\">“One of the officers squeezed his hand around Mr. Shibly’s throat, causing Mr. Shibly to suffer great pain and fear of death,” the lawsuit stated. “Another officer restrained Mr. Shibly’s legs, and a third officer pulled Mr. Shibly’s phone from his pocket.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1ua4s\">In <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.191990/gov.uscourts.mad.191990.91.8.pdf\">a 2019 affidavit</a>, Shibly said that the screen lock on his cellphone was still disengaged as a result of the first stop, and the device was taken to a separate room and presumably searched for 15-20 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"86ff6\">He described both searches as an invasion of his privacy. “I felt abused and unwelcome returning home,” Shibly said. “I felt like CBP invaded my personal and professional life, and to this day I am still traumatized by these invasive practices.”</p><p data-block-key=\"13soa\">The ACLU and others filed the lawsuit in September 2017 against the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP, arguing that the plaintiff’s First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ifqh\">On Nov. 12, 2019, a federal judge in Boston ruled in favor of Shibly and the other plaintiffs, finding that warrantless searches of electronic devices at the border violate the Fourth Amendment, The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/25c8054b9c16409aaef355a1c20e3481\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"fiied\">But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First District overturned the federal district court's ruling restricting device searches and, in a judgment filed Feb. 9, 2021, instead denied the plaintiffs’ claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"bm8qc\">“We find no violations of either the Fourth Amendment or the First Amendment,” Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch wrote in the court’s findings. The ruling held that advanced searches of electronic devices at the border do not require a warrant or probable cause, and that basic border searches of electronic devices are routine searches that may be performed without reasonable suspicion.</p><p data-block-key=\"bp7l4\">The ACLU and EFF <a href=\"https://www.eff.org/document/merchant-v-mayorkas-petition-writ-certiorari\">filed a motion</a> on April 23 petitioning the Supreme Court to hear the case, but the court declined in June, effectively ending the lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"8d2nj\">“Nobody should fear having border agents rummage through their most private information for no good reason,” Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU’s speech, privacy and technology project, said in a <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-turns-away-digital-device-border-search-cases-2021-06-28/\">statement to Reuters</a>. Wessler added that the Supreme Court will still need to address the privacy issues raised by warrantless searches at the border soon, given disagreements among lower courts.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
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"case_number": "1:17-cv-11730",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": "Lewiston-Queenston Bridge",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. citizen",
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": true,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "yes",
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": "unknown",
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [
"dismissed"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [
"United States"
],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop",
"Assault",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Akram Shibly (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist questioned at Dulles International Airport",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-questioned-dulles-international-airport/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-26T09:49:39.629656Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T20:06:00.868070Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T20:06:00.776527Z",
"date": "2017-01-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qnn22\">Isma'il Kushkush — a former acting bureau chief of the New York Times in East Africa and International Center for Journalists fellow — was stopped at the border on Jan. 3, 2017, after arriving on a flight from Israel.</p><p data-block-key=\"dyqh2\">Kushkush, a Sudanese-American dual citizen, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that Customs and Border Protection officers were waiting for him as he got off from the plane and took him to the inspection area where they went through his bags and notebooks. He said that he was detained for about an hour and a half. Officers searched through his notebooks and one officer asked for his cellphone.</p><p data-block-key=\"2c16v\">Kushkush has reported being detained at the border on at least five previous occasions between 2013 and 2016. He said that these stops lasted between two to three hours and frequently involved requests for access to his electronic devices.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS18QTR.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"99la9\">International passengers arrive at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:17-cv-11730",
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": "Dulles International Airport",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. citizen",
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": true,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "yes",
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"name_of_business": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-06-28 00:00:00+00:00) Supreme Court declines to hear case on warrantless electronic device searches at border"
],
"case_statuses": [
"dismissed"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [
"Sudan",
"United States"
],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Isma’il Kushkush (Freelance)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter alleges phone data copied, sent to CIA during Assange interviews",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-alleges-phone-data-copied-sent-to-cia-during-assange-interviews/",
"first_published_at": "2025-03-07T15:43:17.456100Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-17T16:43:17.903405Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-17T16:43:17.830111Z",
"date": "2017-01-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "London",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n3dpp\">Journalists Charles Glass and John Goetz alleged that their phone data was collected and sent to the CIA while they were visiting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, England, between January 2017 and March 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"eat8l\">The allegations were part of a 2022 suit that cited Fourth Amendment violations by the CIA and a private security company, and which was dismissed on Feb. 15, 2025, when the court ruled that the spy agency was protected by the state secrets privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"ctds1\">Assange, who was the target of a long-running case by the U.S. Department of Justice over charges he violated the Espionage Act, lived in the embassy from 2012 to 2019 after Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa granted him asylum from extradition to Sweden on a rape allegation.</p><p data-block-key=\"8d6n1\">Glass and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-alleges-phone-data-copied-sent-to-cia-during-assange-interviews\">Goetz</a> sued the CIA in August 2022, along with two attorneys who had also visited Assange in 2017 and 2018. Glass is a freelancer and former correspondent for ABC News; Goetz is an editor at German radio and TV broadcaster NDR.</p><p data-block-key=\"eki2m\">The suit accused former CIA Director Mike Pompeo of recruiting Spanish private security company Undercover Global to illegally collect information from Assange and his visitors at the embassy, beginning in January 2017 and ending when the Ecuadorian government terminated the company’s contract around April 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjg8c\">The suit alleges that the plaintiffs were required to leave their electronic devices with an embassy security guard, and that the information on the devices — including personal photos, emails, texts and GPS data — was then copied and sent to the CIA.</p><p data-block-key=\"e4r16\">It also claims that the journalists’ meetings with Assange were surreptitiously recorded, and that those recordings were sent to the CIA as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"97up8\">The plaintiffs asked the court to order the CIA and UC Global to delete their private communications.</p><p data-block-key=\"988ka\">In December 2023, U.S. District Judge John Koeltl dismissed the part of the suit related to the meeting recordings, ruling that the journalists’ expectation of privacy in their conversations with Assange was “unreasonable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j0ih\">And in February 2025, Koeltl dismissed the remaining claims related to seizure of their device data, agreeing with the CIA that confirming or denying whether it had seized the data “reasonably could be expected to cause serious—and in some cases, exceptionally grave—damage to the national security of the United States.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cl5c9\">Koeltl acknowledged the plaintiffs’ argument that the data seizure had already been reported on in the media and discussed in Spanish court proceedings against UC Global. But, he argued, public information can still be covered by state secrets privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"bq6b7\">Neither the journalists nor their attorney responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2017-05-19T160502Z_921926269_RC1B.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"25rgi\">WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks in 2017 from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he sought asylum from 2012 to 2019. Journalist Charles Glass alleged his phone data was copied and sent to the CIA while he visited Assange there.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:22-cv-06913",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "in custody",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "work product"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "England",
"abbreviation": null
},
"updates": [
"(2025-04-15 00:00:00+00:00) Journalists appeal dismissal of suit accusing CIA of copying their phone data"
],
"case_statuses": [
"appealed"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Charles Glass (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist alleges phone data copied, sent to CIA during Assange interviews",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-alleges-phone-data-copied-sent-to-cia-during-assange-interviews/",
"first_published_at": "2025-03-07T15:42:09.471791Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-17T16:42:18.424289Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-17T16:42:18.346241Z",
"date": "2017-01-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "London",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f7cq5\">Journalists John Goetz and Charles Glass alleged that their phone data was collected and sent to the CIA while they were visiting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, England, between January 2017 and March 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"fapun\">The allegations were part of a 2022 suit that cited Fourth Amendment violations by the CIA and a private security company, and which was dismissed on Feb. 15, 2025, when the court ruled that the spy agency was protected by the state secrets privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"dha0n\">Assange, who was the target of a long-running case by the U.S. Department of Justice over charges he violated the Espionage Act, lived in the embassy from 2012 to 2019 after Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa granted him asylum from extradition to Sweden on a rape allegation.</p><p data-block-key=\"2jnhp\">Goetz and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-alleges-phone-data-copied-sent-to-cia-during-assange-interviews\">Glass</a> sued the CIA in August 2022, along with two attorneys who had also visited Assange in 2017 and 2018. Goetz is an editor at German radio and TV broadcaster NDR; Glass is a freelancer and former correspondent for ABC News.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qpol\">The suit accused former CIA Director Mike Pompeo of recruiting Spanish private security company Undercover Global to illegally collect information from Assange and his visitors at the embassy, beginning in January 2017 and ending when the Ecuadorian government terminated the company’s contract around April 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"90c96\">The suit alleges that the plaintiffs were required to leave their electronic devices with an embassy security guard, and that the information on the devices — including personal photos, emails, texts and GPS data — was then copied and sent to the CIA.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ojv4\">It also claims that the journalists’ meetings with Assange were surreptitiously recorded, and that those recordings were sent to the CIA as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"ejsod\">The plaintiffs asked the court to order the CIA and UC Global to delete their private communications.</p><p data-block-key=\"4n70b\">In December 2023, U.S. District Judge John Koeltl dismissed the part of the suit related to the meeting recordings, ruling that the journalists’ expectation of privacy in their conversations with Assange was “unreasonable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bqc8d\">And in February 2025, Koeltl dismissed the remaining claims related to seizure of their device data, agreeing with the CIA that confirming or denying whether it had seized the data “reasonably could be expected to cause serious—and in some cases, exceptionally grave—damage to the national security of the United States.”</p><p data-block-key=\"33q71\">Koeltl acknowledged the plaintiffs’ argument that the data seizure had already been reported on in the media and discussed in Spanish court proceedings against UC Global. But, he argued, public information can still be covered by state secrets privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"5k4vf\">Neither the journalists nor their attorney responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2016-02-05T120000Z_102307373_LR1E.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"eqmqh\">Julian Assange speaks to press in 2016 from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, England, where he sought asylum from 2012 to 2019. Journalist John Goetz alleged his phone data was copied and sent to the CIA while he visited Assange there.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:22-cv-06913",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "in custody",
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "work product"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "England",
"abbreviation": null
},
"updates": [
"(2025-04-15 00:00:00+00:00) Journalists appeal dismissal of suit accusing CIA of copying their phone data"
],
"case_statuses": [
"appealed"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"John Goetz (NDR)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Filmmaker forced to unlock phone at U.S.-Canada border crossing",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-forced-to-unlock-phone-at-us-canada-border-crossing/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-29T16:54:55.976094Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-06-10T19:41:21.936157Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-06-10T19:41:21.836645Z",
"date": "2017-01-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Lewiston",
"longitude": -79.03588,
"latitude": 43.17256,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0qw1q\">New York-based independent filmmaker Akram Shibly was stopped by border authorities and his phone searched when reentering the United States from Canada on Jan. 1, 2017, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of Shibly and 10 others, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?case_number=1:17-cv-11730\">including three journalists</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3vtp\">According to the <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.191990.7.0.pdf\">lawsuit</a>, Shibly was returning from a work trip in Toronto via the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in New York when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer directed him to a separate area. There officers directed him to fill out a form that included a request for his cellphone password. Shibly initially left the line blank.</p><p data-block-key=\"akj8a\">“A CBP officer examined the completed form and ordered Mr. Shibly to provide his password. Mr. Shibly told the officer that he did not feel comfortable doing so,” the complaint stated. “In an accusatory manner, the officer told Mr. Shibly that if he had nothing to hide, then he should unlock his phone.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bhlot\">Feeling he had no other choice, the lawsuit stated that Shibly unlocked and disengaged the screen lock, also disclosing his social media handles when asked. CBP officers then left the room with the device for at least an hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"480ma\">Shibly was stopped again at the same border crossing again <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-restrained-phone-seized-at-us-canada-border-crossing/\">three days later</a>, where his phone was forcibly taken from him.</p><p data-block-key=\"bf7bn\">The ACLU and others filed the lawsuit in September 2017 against the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP, arguing that the plaintiff’s First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated. In <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.191990/gov.uscourts.mad.191990.91.8.pdf\">a 2019 affidavit</a>, Shibly described the searches as an invasion of his privacy.</p><p data-block-key=\"2g116\">“I felt abused and unwelcome returning home,” Shibly said. “I felt like CBP invaded my personal and professional life, and to this day I am still traumatized by these invasive practices.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5cim6\">On Nov. 12, 2019, a federal judge in Boston ruled in favor of Shibly and the other plaintiffs, finding that warrantless searches of electronic devices at the border violate the Fourth Amendment, The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/25c8054b9c16409aaef355a1c20e3481\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"fbcb4\">But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First District overturned the federal district court's ruling restricting device searches and, in a judgment filed Feb. 9, 2021, instead denied the plaintiffs claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"7kngr\">“We find no violations of either the Fourth Amendment or the First Amendment,” Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch wrote in the court’s findings. The ruling held that advanced searches of electronic devices at the border do not require a warrant or probable cause, and that basic border searches of electronic devices are routine searches that may be performed without reasonable suspicion.</p><p data-block-key=\"6cbrf\">The ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation <a href=\"https://www.eff.org/document/merchant-v-mayorkas-petition-writ-certiorari\">filed a motion</a> on April 23 petitioning the Supreme Court to hear the case, but the court declined in June, effectively ending the lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qtjt\">“Nobody should fear having border agents rummage through their most private information for no good reason,” Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU’s speech, privacy and technology project, said in a <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-turns-away-digital-device-border-search-cases-2021-06-28/\">statement to Reuters</a>. Wessler added that the Supreme Court will still need to address the privacy issues raised by warrantless searches at the border soon, given disagreements among lower courts.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
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"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:17-cv-11730",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": "Lewiston-Queenston Bridge",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. citizen",
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": "yes",
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": "unknown",
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [
"dismissed"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [
"United States"
],
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"Border Stop",
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"Akram Shibly (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist Adam Schrader arrested at Standing Rock",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-adam-schrader-arrested-standing-rock/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-26T05:42:38.049644Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-08T18:57:19.335157Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-08T18:57:19.184490Z",
"date": "2016-10-27",
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"city": "Morton County",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hf9mx\">Adam Schrader, an independent journalist who contributes to the New York Daily News and other outlets, was arrested on Oct. 27, 2016 while filming clashes between police and protesters. Schrader <a href=\"http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/journalist-arrested-at-pipeline-protest/article_4df76157-c2ab-57cc-9f2c-936a94bfb5b1.html\">told the Bismarck Tribune</a> that he was arrested after asking a police officer about the use of pepper spray against protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccim2\">Schrader was initially charged with endangering by fire or explosion (a class C felony), maintaining a public nuisance (a class A misdemeanor), and engaging in a riot (a class B misdemeanor). The felony endangerment charge was dropped in November 2016, though he still faces the misdemeanor charges. If convicted, he faces one year and 30 days imprisonment and a $4,500 fine.</p><p data-block-key=\"wl4hi\">Police impounded Schrader's rental car following his arrest. Schrader told the Tribune that some items he left in the car — including a notebook and a $400 voice recorder — disappeared while the car was in police custody. A police spokeswoman told the Tribune that police did not search or take any evidence from cars that were impounded.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"71r3x\">Dakota Access Pipeline protesters and police near the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota in October 2016. Independent journalist Adam Schrader was arrested on Oct. 27, 2016, while documenting one of the protests.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Morton County Sheriff's Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2016-10-29",
"detention_date": "2016-10-27",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": "unknown",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "work product"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "work product"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "North Dakota",
"abbreviation": "ND"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-02-05 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist’s equipment still in custody after 2016 arrest at Standing Rock",
"(2017-08-21 19:00:00+00:00) All charges against Schrader dropped"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"environmentalism",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Adam Schrader ([New York] Daily News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Sara Lafleur-Vetter arrested, charged with three misdemeanors at Standing Rock",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sara-lafleur-vetter-arrested-charged-three-misdemeanors-standing-rock/",
"first_published_at": "2017-11-06T23:57:34.133926Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-03T18:38:17.736430Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-03T18:38:17.603264Z",
"date": "2016-10-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Morton County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7msqn\">Sara Lafleur-Vetter, an independent photojournalist and filmmaker, was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors while filming protests at Standing Rock for The Guardian U.S. on Oct. 22, 2016.</p><p data-block-key=\"qzwfl\">Lafleur-Vetter told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that Morton County police arrested her while she was filming a prayer walk near the construction site of the Dakota Access Pipeline near State Highway 1806 in North Dakota.</p><p data-block-key=\"848cf\">Lafleur-Vetter said that she identified herself as a journalist to the police, and a video of her arrest <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/johnnykdangers/videos/1825555694352875/\">posted on Facebook</a> shows another person informing police that Lafleur-Vetter was a member of the press. Still, police arrested her.</p><p data-block-key=\"uv7rx\">“It didn’t matter to them who was and wasn’t press,” Lafleur-Vetter said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ppfc\">She said that she was swept up in a mass <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/25/north-dakota-oil-pipeline-protest-arrests-journalists-filmmakers\">arrest of over 140 people</a> and was held in jail for two nights. She said that police seized her camera and SD cards. When she was released from jail, police returned her camera but not the SD cards.</p><p data-block-key=\"qs1nl\">Lafleur-Vetter was initially charged with criminal trespass and engaging in a riot. Those charges were dismissed on June 8, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"koudo\">But on May 17, 2017, Lafleur-Vetter was charged with three other misdemeanors: physical obstruction of a government function, disobedience of safety orders during a riot, and disorderly conduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"sihua\">On Oct. 18, nearly a year after she was first arrested, Lafleur-Vetter appeared at the Morton County courthouse for a trial before surrogate judge Thomas Merrick. She was the first journalist to be tried in connection with the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. She was acquitted on all charges, <a href=\"http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/journalist-acquitted-of-protest-charges/article_a2f92dda-f481-5355-8685-977c4ab50ec2.html\">according to the Tribune</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"hllgk\">“There's no evidence against her," judge Merrick said at the trial. "All it shows is she was working."</p><p data-block-key=\"ko92w\">After the trial, police returned Lafleur-Vetter's SD cards to her.</p><p data-block-key=\"m1imb\">Lafleur-Vetter said that she believes that the charges brought against her were intended to scare other journalists and deter them from covering protests.</p></div>",
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"arresting_authority": "Morton County Sheriff's Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2017-11-24",
"detention_date": "2017-11-22",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 8,
"equipment": "storage device"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "North Dakota",
"abbreviation": "ND"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"environmentalism",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sara Lafleur-Vetter (The Guardian)"
],
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}
]
