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{
"title": "Alpha News reporter Preya Samsundar attacked by protesters in Minnesota",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/alpha-news-reporter-preya-samsundar-attacked-protesters-minnesota/",
"first_published_at": "2018-01-16T10:09:46.050223Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:53:43.861880Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:53:43.740651Z",
"date": "2017-06-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "St. Paul",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"54vg3\">Preya Samsundar, a reporter for online media startup Alpha News, was livestreaming at rally outside the Minnesota state capitol building on June 10, 2017, when an anti-fascist protester physically attacked her and damaged her recording device.</p><p data-block-key=\"nu0gt\">Samsundar’s livestream captured part of the altercation.</p><p data-block-key=\"ijcz5\">Near the end of Preya’s over two-and-a-half hour livestream, she speaks with a group of anti-fascist protesters, one of whom asks what news organization she is with and whether it is a right-wing source. At the time, Samsundar was reporting for Alpha News, an online news organization that covers Minnesota politics. </p><p data-block-key=\"jsimb\">“I cover the news,” she tells the protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"zujpq\">One of the protesters repeatedly tells her to leave. She continues filming — “It’s a free country,” she says — and then a man in black baseball cap briefly appears on screen before the picture quickly shudders and momentarily cuts out. </p><p data-block-key=\"h0c6k\">Samsundar described what happened in an <a href=\"http://alphanewsmn.com/anti-sharia-antifa-assault/\">article on Alpha News</a>, published June 11, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"0ja8x\">“He then grabbed my work phone, which was mounted on a portable selfie-stick, shoved me out of the way and threw the phone several feet away, in front of a line of State Patrol Officers,” she wrote. “The screen was completely shattered, but still recording.”</p><p data-block-key=\"o48gs\">Samsundar believes that protesters also stole her personal phone, in addition to grabbing and throwing her work phone. </p><p data-block-key=\"b1lzc\">“I had my second phone in my backpack where I kept all of my equipment,” she said. “After I moved away from the group to be a bit safer, I went to look for my personal cellphone to see if I could use it to call my boss. ... That’s when I knew it was gone.”</p><p data-block-key=\"jbtq7\">After the protest, Samsundar said, some of the anti-fascist protesters followed her to her car.</p><p data-block-key=\"aw40i\">“I got into my car and that’s when they surrounded me and my car, started pounding on the windows,” she said, adding the protesters threatened to break her windows if she didn’t leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"zvpc2\">Mitch Berg, a local conservative radio show host, had planned to interview Samsundar after the rally. He said that Samsundar called him and told him that she had been surrounded by protesters angry with her reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"15zeo\">“I sent her a Facebook message asking if she could come on the air with me when she got clear of whatever was going on,” Berg told the Freedom of the Press Foundation. “She said she’d try and then she called me when she was going towards her car, and she mentioned she was being followed to her car. I could hear in the background, some yelling and some commotion. ... She mentioned, as I recall, her car was surrounded and people were a little too close for comfort, a little too animated for civil society, and she hung up and called me back about ten or fifteen minutes later.”</p><p data-block-key=\"za5o7\">After the protest, Samsundar filed a police report with the St. Paul Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"ek4sp\">A spokesman for department confirmed the contents of Samsundar’s police report, and told the Freedom of the Press Foundation the case is currently listed as inactive. </p><p data-block-key=\"5sz1s\">“Based on the reports, it looks like the journalist’s personal cellphone was stolen and her work phone (and a selfie stick) were grabbed by a suspect and thrown about 25 to 30 feet, causing its face to crack. A group also followed her to her car, pounded on the vehicle and threatened her as she drove away.</p><p data-block-key=\"52zwm\">An investigator worked to identify the suspect but was unfortunately able to do so.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b7six\">When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol said simply, “The items reported stolen occurred on a city street, which is St. Paul Police’s jurisdiction.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c80pv\">After learning about what happened to Samsundar on June 10, Alpha News hired private security for her.</p><p data-block-key=\"ixk4l\">Samsundar said that a bodyguard accompanied her the next time she reported on a protest, but she was still harassed.</p><p data-block-key=\"ej4uz\">“I was being threatened and people came up to me and said I need to behave myself or else,” she said. “The bodyguard with me was like, ‘I don’t want you to get hurt. I want you to be safe, so if you please could just do as little as possible in this situation to make it work that’d be great.’ I was a little bummed because as a journalist I want to talk to these people, find out why they’re here, and I’m being told I can’t.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j6800\">Samsundar said that she continued filming the protest march for ten to fifteen minutes, until the harassment escalated and her security guard pulled her back and advised her to leave the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"b17p4\">After that experience, Samsundar left journalism. She is now a communications specialist for the Minnesota GOP.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mgrt\">“These guys targeted me from day one once they knew who I was,” she said. “It got to the point where my bosses didn’t want me going out to cover stories because they feared for my safety. It was one reason I changed jobs. If I couldn’t go out and do my job, there was no point.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qxmff\">Organizers of the June 10 counterprotest did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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{
"title": "Reality Winner charged with leaking information to The Intercept",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reality-winner-charged-leaking-information-intercept/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-31T21:25:51.263619Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-16T20:47:51.142350Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-16T20:47:50.976824Z",
"date": "2017-06-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Augusta",
"longitude": -81.97484,
"latitude": 33.47097,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lxuuk\">Reality Winner, a 25-year-old Air Force veteran and federal contractor, was arrested and charged under the Espionage Act on June 3, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"638l1\">Winner is <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/05/us/politics/reality-winner-contractor-leaking-russia-nsa.html\">accused</a> of <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/reality-winner-who-is-accused-leaker/index.html\">sending journalists</a> a top-secret NSA intelligence report, which showed that the NSA had collected intelligence suggesting that Russian military intelligence had tried to gain access to states’ electronic voting systems in 2016. The Intercept <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2017/06/05/top-secret-nsa-report-details-russian-hacking-effort-days-before-2016-election/\">published</a> a partially-redacted version of the report on June 5, 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"19xgh\">On June 8, Winner was arraigned on one count of violating the the Espionage Act, a century-old law that criminalizes the disclosure of national defense information. Winner pleaded not guilty.</p><p data-block-key=\"rdznr\">She was denied bail and is currently being held in jail pending trial.</p><p data-block-key=\"9z04e\">The Intercept <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2017/06/06/statement-on-justice-department-allegations/\">has said</a> that the NSA report it published was mailed to it anonymously, so it does not technically know whether Winner was its source. First Look Media, parent company of The Intercept, <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2017/07/11/first-look-to-support-defense-of-reality-winner-in-espionage-act-prosecution/\">has pledged</a> to support Winner’s legal defense through its Press Freedom Defense Fund.</p><p data-block-key=\"u9yhj\">Winner is the first person to be prosecuted under the Espionage Act since Trump took office. During the Obama administration, the Department of Justice prosecuted eight people under the Espionage Act for sharing classified information with journalists.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "On June 26, 2018, Winner pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Espionage Act.",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/relaity_winner.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
"updates": [
"(2018-08-23 18:34:00+00:00) Winner sentenced",
"(2017-10-06 12:00:00+00:00) Judge denies bail",
"(2017-09-01 12:00:00+00:00) Trial delayed",
"(2018-06-26 13:48:00+00:00) Winner pleads guilty",
"(2021-06-14 13:48:00+00:00) Reality Winner released from federal prison on good behavior"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [
"The Intercept"
],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice",
"Espionage Act"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Leak Case"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
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},
{
"title": "Al Jazeera journalist stopped and questioned in Los Angeles airport",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/al-jazeera-journalist-stopped-and-questioned-los-angeles-airport/",
"first_published_at": "2018-10-22T15:16:57.034767Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-10-19T20:35:52.427721Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-10-19T20:35:52.374636Z",
"date": "2017-05-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>Ali Latifi, a journalist for Al Jazeera English, was flagged for secondary screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers when he flew to Los Angeles from Istanbul on May 27, 2017.</p><p>Latifi is a dual Afghani and American citizen who has reported for the New York Times, the Telegram, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune. He told the Committee to Protect Journalists that when he arrived in Los Angeles, he scanned his U.S. passport at the customs area and received a document with an ‘X’ printed over his face. When he reached the passport counter, a CBP officer instructed him to step aside for additional screening.</p><p>Latifi said that the CBP officer emptied his backpack and took both his U.S. and Afghan passports. The officer also asked Latifi to unlock and turn over his phone, which Latifi told CPJ he did, believing he didn’t have much of a choice. Latifi said that the officer looked through his phone for approximately five minutes, but did not ask to search his computer.</p><p>After finishing the search, the officer asked Latifi a number of questions, including details about where he lives in Kabul, Afghanistan. He also asked Latifi for his U.S. address and phone number, although Latifi hasn’t lived in the United States in four years. The CBP officer also asked Latifi about his occupation and, upon hearing that he was a journalist, what he writes about. He then asked Latifi to name a recent article that he had written that he had really liked and asked, “If I Google your name and LA Times, will it come up?”</p><p>All told, Latifi said, the questioning and search were “annoying but fine.”</p><p>This was far from Latifi’s first secondary screening, he told CPJ that he has been stopped everywhere from Heathrow to Dubai. He plans to file a FOIA request to see what information he can glean about the rationale behind his repeated stops. </p><p>“I’ve always wondered what they see on the screen and what makes them suspect,” he said.<br/></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": "Los Angeles 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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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": null,
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [
"Afghanistan",
"United States"
],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ali Latifi (Al Jazeera [Qatar])"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "GOP Congressional candidate assaults Guardian U.S. reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/gop-congressional-candidate-assaults-guardian-us-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-25T05:49:19.927870Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-16T20:56:29.430143Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-16T20:56:29.311709Z",
"date": "2017-05-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bozeman",
"longitude": -111.03856,
"latitude": 45.67965,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0cd94\">Greg Gianforte, the Republican nominee in a special congressional race in Montana, physically assaulted Guardian U.S. reporter Ben Jacobs on May 24, 2017, while Jacobs tried to interview him at his campaign headquarters in Bozeman, MT.</p><p data-block-key=\"s4yrr\">A crew of Fox News journalists who witnessed the attack <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter\">described</a> it as brutal and unprovoked:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-blockquote\">\n\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\" cite=\"http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/24/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter.html\">\n\t<div class=\"rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"b5zvi\">At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, “I’m sick and tired of this!”</p><p data-block-key=\"3ce95\">Jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken. He asked Faith, Keith and myself for our names. In shock, we did not answer. Jacobs then said he wanted the police called and went to leave. Gianforte looked at the three of us and repeatedly apologized. At that point, I told him and Scanlon, who was now present, that we needed a moment. The men then left.</p><p data-block-key=\"tfrup\">To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff's deputies. </p></div>\n\t\n\t\t<cite class=\"blockquote__citation\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"blockquote__link text-link\" href=\"http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/24/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter.html\">\n\t\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"hruqj\">Fox News</p>\n\t\t\t</a>\n\t\t</cite>\n\t\n</blockquote>\n</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/KQwu4wff7lI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe>\n</div>\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n \n <p data-block-key=\"9qwd4\">Audio of Greg Gianforte assaulting Ben Jacobs</p>\n \n \n <p>Guardian U.S.</p>\n \n </figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mb8kc\">Following the attack, which left Jacobs’ glasses broken, police arrived to interview witnesses and an ambulance took Jacobs to the hospital, where he got an X-ray on his elbow. A few hours later, Gallatin county sheriff Brian Gootkin announced that Gianforte had been <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/24/greg-gianforte-bodyslams-reporter-ben-jacobs-montana\">cited</a> for misdemeanor assault.</p><p data-block-key=\"n68ak\">“The nature of the injuries did not meet the statutory elements of felony assault,” Gootkin said in a statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"wggxw\">Responding to reports that he had donated $250 to Gianforte’s campaign in March, Gootkin confirmed that he had made the donation but said that “this contribution has nothing to do with our investigation which is now complete.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5qy14\">Gianforte’s campaign initially released a statement claiming that Jacobs was to blame for the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"pluui\">After <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/26/greg-gianforte-wins-montana-congress-race-body-slam-reporter\">winning the election</a> on May 25, Gianforte publicly apologized to Jacobs during his victory speech.</p><p data-block-key=\"5d85a\">On June 7, as part of a settlement with Jacobs, Gianforte <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/07/greg-gianforte-ben-jacobs-assault-case-civil-settlement\">pledged to donate</a> $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists — which used the money to <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2017/06/cpj-to-use-50000-gianforte-donated-as-part-of-body/\">help fund the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker</a> — and wrote a lengthy apology to Jacobs:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-blockquote\">\n\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote\" cite=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/350685936/Gianforte-letter\">\n\t<div class=\"rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"k9714\">I write to express my sincere apology for my conduct on the evening of May 24. My physical response to your legitimate question was unprofessional, unacceptable, and unlawful. As both a candidate for office and a public official, I should be held to a high standard in my interactions with the press and the public. My treatment of you did not meet that standard.</p><p data-block-key=\"jeeai\">Notwithstanding anyone's statements to the contrary, you did not initiate any physical contact with me, and I had no right to assault you. I am sorry for what I did and the unwanted notoriety this has created for you. I take full responsibility.</p><p data-block-key=\"t6p1t\">I understand the critical role that journalists and the media play in our society. Protections afforded to the press through the Constitution are fundamental to who we are as a nation and the way government is accountable to the people I acknowledge that the media have am obligation to seek information. I also know that civility in our public discourse is central to a productive dialogue on issues. I had no right to respond the way I did to your legitimate question about healthcare policy. You were doing your job.</p></div>\n\t\n\t\t<cite class=\"blockquote__citation\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"blockquote__link text-link\" href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/350685936/Gianforte-letter\">\n\t\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"wsphe\">Greg Gianforte's letter of apology to Ben Jacobs</p>\n\t\t\t</a>\n\t\t</cite>\n\t\n</blockquote>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x4ouh\">On June 12, Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. He was <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/12/republican-greg-gianforte-sentenced-assaulting-guardian-reporter\">sentenced</a> to community service and anger management classes, but did not face any jail time.</p><p data-block-key=\"6iqsm\">Gianforte was <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/21/greg-gianforte-congress-republican-house\">sworn into</a> the U.S. House of Representatives on June 21 and has already filed for re-election in 2018.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "Greg Gianforte won the special election, was only sentenced to community service and anger management classes, and now serves in the U.S. Congress",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"28hca\">Montana Republican congressman-elect Greg Gianforte appears in court to face a charge of misdemeanor assault after he was accused of attacking a reporter on the eve of his election, in Bozeman, Montana, U.S., June 12, 2017.</p>",
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"assailant": "politician",
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"state": {
"name": "Montana",
"abbreviation": "MT"
},
"updates": [
"(2017-11-17 15:39:00+00:00) Gianforte misled police",
"(2017-08-29 22:00:00+00:00) Gianforte refuses to meet with Jacobs"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ben Jacobs (The Guardian)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journal & Topics editor Todd Wessell subpoenaed to reveal source",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journal-topics-editor-todd-wessell-subpoenaed-reveal-source/",
"first_published_at": "2018-04-20T20:15:56.638823Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:53:57.299152Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:53:57.201908Z",
"date": "2017-05-20",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Des Plaines",
"longitude": -87.8834,
"latitude": 42.03336,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"he2na\">Todd Wessell — editor at Journal & Topics Media Group in Des Plaines, Illinois — was issued a subpoena In May 2017 as part of a defamation lawsuit filed by police Sgt. Michael Holdman against the city of Des Plaines, Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner and police Sgt. John Rice.</p><p data-block-key=\"m4yhn\">In 2015, Wessell wrote <a href=\"https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/claims-of-porn-in-police-department-prompt-probe/\">an article</a> about Des Plaines police officers viewing a pornographic image on a department computer inside the Des Plaines Police Station. The article relied on an anonymous source who gave the paper a copy of a photograph that showed officers looking at the image.</p><p data-block-key=\"pn0lj\">Holdman was accused of leaking the photograph to the paper and demoted. In 2017, he filed a lawsuit against the city, the police chief and a fellow officer. </p><p data-block-key=\"l3s3e\">In May 2017, the defendants in that lawsuit <a href=\"https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/give-us-your-source-city/\">subpoenaed</a> Wessell, seeking to uncover the identity of his source for the 2015 story.</p><p data-block-key=\"e8n0w\">Wessell told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that he believes the defendants subpoenaed him in an attempt to confirm that Sgt. Holdman was the leaker, which would potentially exonerate them of wrongdoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"tqi2k\">In accordance with a court order, Wessell ultimately <a href=\"https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/journal-complies-with-court-order-wont-reveal-source/\">agreed</a> to answer a single yes/no question.</p><p data-block-key=\"gs682\">“I was not going to reveal any source whatsoever, I was steadfast in that,” he said. “In the settlement, I agreed to them asking me one question. The one question was, ‘Did I get the information, the picture, from Holdman?’ and the answer was ‘no,’ and that was it. It was over. So they have no idea where I got it and they never will.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fmtto\">Although Wessell was not forced to reveal his source, the case presented a financial burden for him.</p><p data-block-key=\"bb8m0\">“It was a very strange case to begin with and I knew we were in the right,” he said. “My lawyer had to make motions and go to court and it cost a lot of money, you know.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xw2xu\">The Des Plaines police department did not immediately return a request for comment. Holdman’s defamation lawsuit remains unresolved.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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"Todd Wessell (Journal & Topics Media Group)"
],
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"carried out"
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},
{
"title": "BBC journalist questioned by US border agents, devices searched",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/bbc-journalist-questioned-by-us-border-agents-devices-searched/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-18T06:22:24.490363Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-01-30T20:53:45.921810Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-01-30T20:53:45.803700Z",
"date": "2017-05-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"btisc\">Ali Hamedani, a reporter for BBC World Service, was stopped in Chicago O’Hare airport on May 18, 2017, two days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning entry to the U.S. for 90 days for individuals from seven countries, including Iran. </p><p data-block-key=\"3jqiu\">The British-Iranian journalist, who said he was traveling on a Media I Visa, <a href=\"https://www.cpj.org/2017/02/bbc-journalist-questioned-by-us-border-agents-devi.php\">told the Committee to Protect Journalists</a> that border agents detained and questioned him for over two hours. Hamedani also said that border agents searched his phone and computer and read his Twitter feed.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2vxsy\">Passengers arrive at O'Hare airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. February 4, 2017. </p>",
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": "O'Hare International Airport",
"target_us_citizenship_status": "U.S. non-resident",
"denial_of_entry": false,
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "computer"
}
],
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [
"Iran",
"United Kingdom"
],
"targeted_institutions": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Border Stop",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ali Hamedani (BBC News [United Kingdom])"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "FCC security guards pin reporter against wall as he tries to ask FCC commissioner a question",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fcc-security-guards-pin-reporter-against-wall-he-tries-ask-fcc-commissioner-question/",
"first_published_at": "2018-03-20T20:09:26.063599Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T20:59:42.170852Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T20:59:42.074547Z",
"date": "2017-05-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0vtau\">CQ Roll Call reporter John Donnelly was forcibly removed from the Federal Communications Commission headquarters on May 18, 2017, after trying to ask FCC commissioner Michael O’Rielly a question as he was leaving a scheduled press conference. </p><p data-block-key=\"yesm2\">Donnelly, who is also the chair of the National Press Club’s Press Freedom Committee, <a href=\"https://www.press.org/news-multimedia/news/reporter-manhandled-fcc-guards-because-he-asked-question\">told the NPC</a> that two of O’Rielly’s security guards <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/fcc-security-reporter.html\">pinned</a> him up against a wall as O’Rielly walked past him and he attempted to ask the commissioner a question. Once O’Rielly had passed, one of the security guards asked Donnelly why he had not asked a question during the press conference and then forcibly escorted him from the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"ezpzm\">“I could not have been less threatening or more polite,” Donnelly told NPC. “There is no justification for using force in such a situation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b6m33\">The FCC later apologized for its treatment of Donnelly.</p><p data-block-key=\"ltw0o\">“We apologized to Mr. Donnelly more than once and let him know that the FCC was on heightened alert today based on several threats,” an FCC spokesperson said in <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/19/fcc-apologizes-manhandles-cq-reporter-238606\">a statement sent to Politico</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"z0u6u\">The FCC meeting room is seen empty following a security threat ahead of the vote on the repeal of so called net neutrality rules, on December 14, 2017.</p>",
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"assailant": "private security",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
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"Federal government: Agency"
],
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"Assault",
"Denial of Access"
],
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"John Donnelly (CQ Roll Call)"
],
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"Other"
]
},
{
"title": "DHS secretary jokes about using sword on reporters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dhs-secretary-jokes-about-using-sword-reporters/",
"first_published_at": "2017-08-30T13:51:18.514591Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-08T15:58:23.910276Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-08T15:58:23.822039Z",
"date": "2017-05-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New London",
"longitude": -72.09952,
"latitude": 41.35565,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vhrhh\">After President Donald Trump was presented with a ceremonial saber at a commencement ceremony for the U.S. Coast Guard on May 17, 2017, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly made a joking comment to the president, which was caught on a hot mic.</p><p data-block-key=\"n6i8k\">“Use that on the press, sir,” Kelly <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2017/live-updates/trump-white-house/trump-comey-and-russia-how-key-washington-players-are-reacting/dhs-head-kelly-jokes-about-trumps-saber-and-the-press/?utm_te\">said</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"5wfxb\">“Yeah,” the president responded, chuckling.</p><p data-block-key=\"0bpdf\">Trump was handed the sword as token of appreciation following remarks in which he stated, “No other politician in history… has been treated worse or more unfairly.” He also claimed that “the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6943c\">Trump’s comments at the U.S. Coast Guard ceremony occurred during a tense time for the president and the press. On May 15, two days before the ceremony, the Washington Post reported that Trump had revealed classified information to Russia’s foreign minister and its ambassador to the U.S. during a White House meeting. The following day, the New York Times reported that that Trump had asked F.B.I. director James Comey to consider imprisoning journalists who published classified information.</p><p data-block-key=\"pobw0\">On July 31, Kelly replaced Reince Priebus as Trump’s chief of staff.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"9p6si\">President Donald Trump and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly attend the Coast Guard Academy commencement ceremonies in New London, Connecticut.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Connecticut",
"abbreviation": "CT"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter arrested for shouting questions at Trump cabinet official",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-dan-heyman-arrested-shouting-questions-hhs-secretary/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-18T06:14:28.159430Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-17T15:42:49.144529Z",
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"date": "2017-05-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Charleston",
"longitude": -81.63262,
"latitude": 38.34982,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4o73a\">Public News Service radio journalist Dan Heyman was <a href=\"https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/press-agency-condemns-arrest-of-journalist-at-wv-capitol/article_8327fc69-2dd3-5d7c-a1da-380aa75e3b69.html\">arrested</a> in the West Virginia Capitol building on May 9, 2017, while <a href=\"https://www.dailydot.com/debug/reporter-arrested-kellyanne-conway-tom-price/\">attempting to interview</a> Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price.</p><p data-block-key=\"ieczu\"><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/05/16/i-was-arrested-for-asking-tom-price-a-question-i-was-just-doing-my-job/\">Video footage</a> of the incident shows two police officers holding Heyman and escorting him to a police office in the capitol building. Heyman was released on a $5,000 bail about four hours after being arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"3hc4x\">Heyman was <a href=\"https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/daniel-heyman-getting-arrested-asking-question/\">charged</a> with “willful disruption of governmental processes,” a misdemeanor. The <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jake_zuckerman/status/862081963242532864\">criminal complaint</a> against him accused him of “causing a disturbance by yelling questions at Ms. Conway and Secretary Price.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1gyuh\">Heyman appeared at a court hearing on Aug. 29.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "All charges against reporter Dan Heyman were dropped on September 6, 2017",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX339IH.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880_dsHmyqx.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"fpt1b\">Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price testifies on Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Blueprint before the Committee on Appropriations at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 29, 2017.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "West Virginia Capitol Police",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "West Virginia",
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},
"updates": [
"(2017-09-06 15:12:00+00:00) Charges dropped against Heyman"
],
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"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dan Heyman (Public News Service)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "South Dakota state prosecutor subpoenas journalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/south-dakota-state-prosecutor-subpoenas-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-31T06:10:57.134498Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-20T18:56:44.519704Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-20T18:56:44.396502Z",
"date": "2017-05-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Sioux Falls",
"longitude": -96.70033,
"latitude": 43.54997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cgs76\">Dana Ferguson, a reporter with Argus Leader Media, a South Dakota news outlet that forms part of the USAToday network, received a subpoena on May 8, 2017. The subpoena from the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office <a href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/13/state-prosecutor-orders-reporter-testify-flandreau-marijuana-case/320248001/\">ordered the reporter to testify</a> in a criminal trial of an individual who allegedly helped the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe in an aborted attempt to open a recreational marijuana resort. On May 15, prosecutors <a href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/15/ag-drops-subpoena-argus-leader-reporter/323786001/\">withdrew</a> the subpoena, according to <a href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/15/ag-drops-subpoena-argus-leader-reporter/323786001/\">USA Today</a>. </p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Marijuana_qLGBtWQ.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hfcel\">A cannabis plant. The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe attempted to set up a marijuana resort in Flandreau, South Dakota but later suspended the project in the wake of legal pressure.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "South Dakota",
"abbreviation": "SD"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dana Ferguson (Argus Leader Media)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"dropped"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Puerto Rico Department of Justice executes search warrant against three student media outlets",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/puerto-rico-department-justice-executes-search-warrant-against-three-student-media-outlets/",
"first_published_at": "2019-10-23T17:42:58.819197Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T14:51:48.127374Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T14:51:48.005982Z",
"date": "2017-05-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Juan",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qe80k\">The Puerto Rico Department of Justice issued a <a href=\"https://www.scribd.com/document/429548476/Search-Warrant-Against-University-Media-Outlets-in-Puerto-Rico#fullscreen&from_embed\">search warrant</a> for the Facebook accounts of three university publications on May 5, 2017, seeking information about student protesters who had rallied that April against austerity cuts at a meeting of the University of Puerto Rico's governing board.</p><p data-block-key=\"0xs5h\">Seven of those students will go on <a href=\"https://www.metro.pr/pr/noticias/2019/10/11/cuestionaran-validez-la-orden-allanamiento.html\">trial</a> this November for interrupting the meeting. That interruption was part of a lengthy <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/us/puerto-ricos-university-is-paralyzed-by-protests-and-facing-huge-cuts.html\">student-led protest movement</a> against austerity cuts that effectively shut down the majority of the university’s eleven campuses for several months in the spring of 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"lag0p\">Superior Court Judge Rafael E. Jimenez-Rivera signed off on the search warrant, which requested Facebook data covering the period between April 26-28, 2017, from three student publications: Pulso Estudiantil, UPR Dialogue, and Centro de Comunicación Estudiantil.</p><p data-block-key=\"8sozm\">Facebook provided some 1,553 pages of information from Pulso Estudiantil's Facebook account to the Puerto Rico Department of Justice, including private messages, photos, videos, comments and the names of those who commented on the account’s posts. Facebook provided another 1,500 pages from the account of Centro de Comunicación Estudiantil, <a href=\"https://www.metro.pr/pr/noticias/2019/10/11/repudian-intervencion-redes-sociales-pide-desestimar-cargos-estudiantes.html\">according</a> to a statement from CCE spokesman Gabriel Casals published by Metro Puerto Rico. Casals went on to demand that the charges against the student protesters be dropped.</p><p data-block-key=\"89ejx\">The terms of the search warrant prevented Facebook from notifying the impacted parties for 90 days. Neither Facebook nor the Department of Justice notified the student media outlets about the search warrant after that period expired, <a href=\"https://www.pulsoestudiantil.com/justicia-interviene-con-cuenta-de-pulso-estudiantil-en-redes-sociales/\">according</a> to a report from Pulso Estudiantil. Facebook’s policies require such notification, NoticEl <a href=\"https://www.noticel.com/hack/facebook-fallo-en-su-manejo-de-la-orden-de-justicia-contra-medios-estudiantiles/1131078560\">reported</a>, citing an attorney from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and so this constitutes a lapse on the part of the social networking site.</p><p data-block-key=\"0crco\">Editors at Pulso Estudiantil only learned of the search warrant on Sept. 27, 2019, when a staffer for Denis Márquez Lebrón, a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, contacted them via Facebook about the matter. Lawyers representing the seven students on trial had uncovered the documents in the course of the discovery process, Marisol Nazario, executive director of Pulso Estudiantil, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"u0jgl\">"We consider this to be a violation of our freedom of the press and our privacy," Nazario said. “If this happened to us, this could happen to any news outlet in Puerto Rico.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ki3ks\">At the time the search warrant was issued, now-Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced was then Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Justice. When asked about the warrant at a press conference in October, Vázquez Garced said the warrant was issued properly as part of a criminal investigation, El Nuevo Dia <a href=\"https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/nota/wandavazquezdefiendelaordenderegistroaorganizacionesdeprensa-2522592/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"enqjw\">A lawyer representing one of the seven students on trial for interrupting the university board meeting plans to challenge the legality of the search warrant, Metro Puerto Rico <a href=\"https://www.metro.pr/pr/noticias/2019/10/11/cuestionaran-validez-la-orden-allanamiento.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"gl53f\">Márquez Lebrón introduced a<a href=\"http://www.tucamarapr.org/dnncamara/Documents/Measures/98d28497-2dee-47fa-b06e-5eab97de9f39.pdf\"> House resolution</a> on Sept. 19, 2019, calling for the body to investigate the matter and weigh in on whether the search warrant was constitutional.</p><p data-block-key=\"i1lkt\">"The House of Representatives must conduct an investigation in order to assess whether public security agencies are complying with the requirements established in the Constitution of Puerto Rico when accessing electronically stored information," the resolution says.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"fegix\">University of Puerto Rico students protest budget cuts in the spring of 2017. In May, the Department of Justice issued warrants for three student publications' Facebook accounts seeking information on student protesters.</p>",
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"name": "Puerto Rico",
"abbreviation": "PR"
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"Centro de Comunicación Estudiantil",
"[University of Puerto Rico] Diálogo",
"[University of Puerto Rico] Pulso Estudiantil"
],
"tags": [
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"Subpoena/Legal Order"
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{
"title": "Alaska state senator slaps journalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/alaska-state-senator-slaps-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-18T07:12:00.350939Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-17T15:43:33.463302Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-17T15:43:33.171650Z",
"date": "2017-05-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Juneau",
"longitude": -134.41972,
"latitude": 58.30194,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o54we\">Alaska Dispatch News journalist Nathaniel Herz was slapped by Alaska state senator David Wilson on the main stairs of the Alaska Capitol in Juneau on May 2, 2017. </p><p data-block-key=\"kgo5h\">Herz reports that he had approached Wilson to get his reaction to a recent report he had published on Wilson’s new bill. After a brief, awkward exchange, Wilson <a href=\"https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2017/05/03/alaska-dispatch-news-reporter-says-he-was-slapped-by-wasilla-lawmaker/\">slapped</a> Herz in the face. Herz recorded the entire incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"0sq5q\">Herz filed a police report after the incident, but no charges were filed against Wilson.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "politician",
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"state": {
"name": "Alaska",
"abbreviation": "AK"
},
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"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Nathaniel Herz (Alaska Dispatch News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist charged at by man with ax while covering eviction",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-charged-at-by-man-with-ax-while-covering-eviction/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-13T16:48:19.078194Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T22:17:04.670995Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T22:17:04.476808Z",
"date": "2017-04-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Mount Juliet",
"longitude": -86.51861,
"latitude": 36.20005,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"apxvd\">Photojournalist Bob Stinnett of NewsChannel 5 was assaulted on April 26, 2017, while reporting on an individual living in a vacant home in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.</p><p data-block-key=\"19kk3\">According to <a href=\"https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/squatter-who-charged-news-crew-with-an-axe-must-leave-home\">NewsChannel 5</a>, Stinnett and reporter Ben Hall were investigating claims that the individual, Jude Pischke, had been living in an unoccupied house in a suburban Nashville neighborhood for more than two years despite not having any legal claims to the property. Hall, whose assault was documented <a href=\"/all-incidents/tv-reporter-charged-at-by-man-with-ax-while-covering-eviction/\">here</a>, confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Stinnett was with him at the time of the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"5a83j\">Video taken by Stinnett of the incident shows Hall approaching Pischke and questioning him about the house. Pischke demands that the reporter and news crew leave, then retrieves an ax from the bed of a pickup truck and charges toward the reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hue2\">As Stinnett and Hall back away from Pischke, Hall can be heard saying, “We’re backing up. We’re leaving right now,” as Pischke swung the ax toward the news crew’s feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"cu0cv\">The <a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/wilson/mt-juliet/2017/04/30/man-arrested-mt-juliet-charging-channel-5-crew-ax/101136858/\">Tennessean reported</a> that as the news crew rushed to leave, Pischke got into his vehicle and drove aggressively toward them. Police officers issued an arrest warrant for Pischke, and he was detained during a traffic stop later that same day. Pischke was charged with three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of reckless endangerment for assaulting the news crew.</p><p data-block-key=\"2aqk1\">The Tracker filed a public records request for the incident report with the Mt. Juliet Police Department, which was unfulfilled as of publication.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
},
"updates": [
"(2017-05-22 00:00:00+00:00) Charges dropped against man who brandished an ax at WTVF photojournalist"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Bob Stinnett (WTVF)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Tennessee man threatens three journalists with ax; charges later dropped",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-man-threatens-three-journalists-with-ax-charges-later-dropped/",
"first_published_at": "2023-12-21T22:11:51.511263Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T22:11:51.511263Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T22:07:27.159787Z",
"date": "2017-04-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Mount Juliet",
"longitude": -86.51861,
"latitude": 36.20005,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u3mg9\">Three WTVF journalists were threatened with an ax on April 26, 2017, while trying to interview a man living in a vacant home in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Charges against the man for assault and reckless endangerment were dropped a month later.</p><p data-block-key=\"48cc3\">According to a police incident report, producer Kevin Wisniewski, photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-charged-at-by-man-with-ax-while-covering-eviction/\">Bob Stinnett</a> and reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-reporter-charged-at-by-man-with-ax-while-covering-eviction/\">Ben Hall</a> visited the Nashville suburb to <a href=\"https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/squatter-who-charged-news-crew-with-an-axe-must-leave-home\">investigate claims</a> that Jude Pischke had been living in an unoccupied house there for more than two years despite having no legal claims to the property.</p><p data-block-key=\"3k05m\"><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keqIPNyJLM0\">Video</a> taken by Stinnett of the incident shows Hall approaching Pischke to question him about the house. Pischke demands that the news crew leave, then retrieves an ax from the bed of a pickup truck and charges toward them, swinging the ax.</p><p data-block-key=\"b1kn2\">As the crew backs away from Pischke, Hall can be heard saying, “We’re backing up. We’re leaving right now.” The Tennessean newspaper <a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/wilson/mt-juliet/2017/04/30/man-arrested-mt-juliet-charging-channel-5-crew-ax/101136858/\">reported</a> that Pischke then got into a vehicle and drove aggressively toward them.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmhs2\">Police officers arrested Pischke during a traffic stop later that day and charged him with three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of reckless endangerment against Wisniewski, Stinnett and Hall, according to the incident report.</p><p data-block-key=\"4erg0\">The prosecutor declined to pursue the charges as of May 22, 2017, the Wilson County Clerk told the Tracker, and the case against Pischke was closed.</p><p data-block-key=\"ppfu\">WTNV <a href=\"https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/squatter-who-charged-news-crew-with-an-axe-must-leave-home\">reported</a> that prosecutors struck a deal with Pischke, requiring him to move out within two weeks from the house where the confrontation took place.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
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},
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Kevin Wisniewski (WTVF)"
],
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},
{
"title": "TV reporter charged at by man with ax while covering eviction",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-reporter-charged-at-by-man-with-ax-while-covering-eviction/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-13T16:44:33.273288Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T22:16:37.666962Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T22:16:37.450198Z",
"date": "2017-04-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Mount Juliet",
"longitude": -86.51861,
"latitude": 36.20005,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"opy55\">Reporter Ben Hall of NewsChannel 5 was assaulted on April 26, 2017, while reporting on an individual living in a vacant home in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.</p><p data-block-key=\"6g63i\">According to <a href=\"https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/squatter-who-charged-news-crew-with-an-axe-must-leave-home\">NewsChannel 5</a>, Hall was investigating claims that the individual, Jude Pischke, had been living in an unoccupied house in a suburban Nashville neighborhood for more than two years despite not having any legal claims to the property. Hall confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that photojournalist <a href=\"/all-incidents/photojournalist-charged-at-by-man-with-ax-while-covering-eviction/\">Bob Stinnett</a> was with him at the time of the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"7q031\">Video of the incident shows Hall approaching Pischke and questioning him about the house. Pischke demands that the reporter and news crew leave, then retrieves an ax from the bed of a pickup truck and charges toward the reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"6am80\">As Hall and Stinnett back away from Pischke, Hall can be heard saying, “We’re backing up. We’re leaving right now,” as Pischke swung the ax toward the news crew’s feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9hkh\">The <a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/wilson/mt-juliet/2017/04/30/man-arrested-mt-juliet-charging-channel-5-crew-ax/101136858/\">Tennessean reported</a> that as the news crew rushed to leave, Pischke got into his vehicle and drove aggressively toward them. Police officers issued an arrest warrant for Pischke, and he was detained during a traffic stop later that same day. Pischke was charged with three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of reckless endangerment for assaulting the news crew.</p><p data-block-key=\"5r8ct\">The Tracker filed a public records request for the incident report with the Mt. Juliet Police Department, which was unfulfilled as of publication.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
},
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"(2017-05-22 00:00:00+00:00) Charges dropped against man who brandished an ax at WTVF reporter"
],
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"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Appeals court says that hearing in murder case can be secret",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/appeals-court-says-hearing-murder-case-can-be-secret/",
"first_published_at": "2017-08-02T06:32:01.411493Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T21:02:49.211826Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T21:02:49.078066Z",
"date": "2017-04-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rip0n\">The Third District Court of Appeal in Florida ruled on April 26, 2017, that a pre-trial hearing in a Florida murder case can be held in secret, siding with a Miami-Dade Circuit Judge’s ruling to close a bond hearing for two defendants, citing “pervasive publicity” as a threat to their right to fair trial. </p><p data-block-key=\"kytpb\">Miami Herald and WPLG-ABC10 opposed the closure and, in a brief filed to the Third DCA, <a href=\"https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/miami-murder-press-freedom.php\">argued</a>: “That hearings of such magnitude and public importance should be held in secret and outside the presence of the public is unconstitutional.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kvi6x\">The appellate court affirmed “evidence of extensive local, national and international print and broadcast media coverage of the instant case,” which jeopardized the defendants’ right to a fair trial.</p><p data-block-key=\"rgi70\">“The speed of dissemination and the high percentage of likely jurors with access to social media and the internet also support the trial judge’s concern,” the opinion states. “The Closure Order is a temporary ruling subject to reconsideration as to subsequent hearings and the trial itself. Following our review of the petitioners’ requests, the records themselves, and the trial court’s analysis, we find no departure from the essential requirements of law.”</p><p data-block-key=\"89nav\">Scott Ponce, a lawyer for the Miami Herald, said, “The courtroom belongs to the public, and it’s difficult to accept that the public is being kicked out of a hearing during which the judge will consider whether two people indicted for first-degree murder should be released into public pending trial.”</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
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"Judiciary: State Court"
],
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"Denial of Access"
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"Other"
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},
{
"title": "Attorney General has repeatedly refused to rule out prosecuting or jailing journalists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/attorney-general-refuses-rule-out-prosecuting-media-organizations/",
"first_published_at": "2017-08-02T02:45:44.593853Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-20T18:47:08.188945Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-20T18:47:08.074894Z",
"date": "2017-04-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pcelx\">After the Justice Department indicated it planned on pursuing WikiLeaks and its publisher with criminal charges, Attorney General Jeff Sessions <a href=\"https://archive.thinkprogress.org/sessions-wikileaks-priority-assange-crackdown-press-freedoms-7f332489db2b/\">refused</a> to rule out using any potential precedent set by such a dangerous prosecution to go after other US-based news organizations. </p><p data-block-key=\"5hbv3\">When <a href=\"https://thinkprogress.org/sessions-wikileaks-priority-assange-crackdown-press-freedoms-7f332489db2b\">appearing on CNN</a> on April 21, 2017, CNN anchor Kate Bolduan asked Sessions whether “folks should be concerned that this would also open up news organizations like CNN and the New York Times to prosecution.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gjcta\">Sessions steadfastly refused to rule anything out, replying, “That’s speculative, and I’m not able to comment on that.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX3CBGD.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jqfqa\">Prosecuting WikiLeaks would be a grave threat to all journalists. </p>",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
"updates": [
"(2017-10-18 02:36:00+00:00) Sessions dodges the question again"
],
"case_statuses": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
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"Chilling Statement"
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},
{
"title": "The Justice Department and CIA threatens legal action against WikiLeaks for publishing",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-and-cia-threatens-legal-action-against-wikileaks-publishing/",
"first_published_at": "2017-08-02T02:59:51.510991Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-17T15:45:54.568013Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-17T15:45:54.470443Z",
"date": "2017-04-20",
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"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8253h\">After reports in April 2017 indicated that the Justice Department would seek to prosecute WikiLeaks and its editor Julian Assange for its publishing activities, Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a group of reporters on April 20 that arresting Assange was “a priority.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xtc9e\">“We are going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks,” Sessions <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/apr/21/arresting-julian-assange-is-a-priority-says-us-attorney-general-jeff-sessions\">said</a>. “This is a matter that’s gone beyond anything I’m aware of. We have professionals that have been in the security business of the United States for many years that are shocked by the number of leaks and some of them are quite serious.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tbxqi\">He added: “So yes, it is a priority. We’ve already begun to step up our efforts and whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dwfrg\">The Justice Department’s statements followed a speech by CIA director Mike Pompeo at <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2017/04/14/trumps-cia-director-pompeo-targeting-wikileaks-explicitly-threatens-speech-and-press-freedoms/\">a DC think tank on April 13</a>, where he called the publisher a “a non-state hostile intelligence service,” claiming that “we have to recognize that we can no longer allow Assange and his colleagues the latitude to use free speech values against us.” Pompeo falsely claimed that “Julian Assange has no First Amendment privileges” because he is “not a U.S. citizen.” (Non-citizens have just as many First Amendment protections as US citizens.)</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7h0gu\">Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo speaks at The Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, U.S. April 13, 2017.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
"updates": [
"(2018-11-16 17:17:00+00:00) DOJ has charged Assange"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"WikiLeaks"
],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist Nebyou Solomon arrested at Trump rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-nebyou-solomon-arrested-trump-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2017-05-18T06:56:39.556525Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-24T14:53:48.407834Z",
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"date": "2017-04-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Las Vegas",
"longitude": -115.13722,
"latitude": 36.17497,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9gzcz\">Nebyou Solomon, a photojournalist for 8 News Now, was <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/journalist-arrested-during-tax-protest-outside-trump-international-in-las-vegas/\">arrested</a> on April 15, 2017, while documenting a rally held outside Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department released a statement saying that Solomon continued recording from private property belonging to the Fashion Show Mall after security officers requested him to move. Amy Rose, of the ACLU's Nevada chapter, said that Solomon was recording from a sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"nohmn\">Solomon was released eight hours later on the night of his arrest. He was charged with trespassing and obstruction of a police officer.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"awjku\">Las Vegas police stand between protesters against and supporters of the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States on Nov. 12, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada. </p>",
"arresting_authority": "Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "2:19-cv-00652",
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"state": {
"name": "Nevada",
"abbreviation": "NV"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-12-11 15:24:00+00:00) Photojournalist’s lawsuit dismissed, appeal filed",
"(2019-04-17 13:28:00+00:00) Solomon files First Amendment lawsuit against Las Vegas police",
"(2025-06-12 21:04:00+00:00) Appeals court affirms dismissal of journalist’s lawsuit"
],
"case_statuses": [
"dismissed"
],
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"tags": [
"political rally",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
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"Nebyou Solomon (KLAS-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Morning Joe hosts claim that administration officials tried to use Enquirer story as leverage",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/morning-joe-hosts-claim-administration-officials-tried-use-enquirer-story-leverage/",
"first_published_at": "2017-08-01T11:00:27.634361Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:54:08.463989Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:54:08.375657Z",
"date": "2017-04-12",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g8uvv\">MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough claimed in a <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-is-not-well/2017/06/30/97759ee0-5d0f-11e7-9b7d-14576dc0f39d_story.html\">Washington Post op-ed</a> that senior White House officials used the threat of an Enquirer story about their then-private romantic relationship to try to extract an apology from them to President Donald Trump.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0ckg\">According to Scarborough, Jared Kushner was one of the administration officials who spoke with him about the Enquirer story. Scarborough texted with Kushner in April 2017 and the latter said that the host should personally apologize to Trump for negative coverage on his show, according to <a href=\"http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/06/what-happened-between-trump-morning-joe-and-the-enquirer.html\">a report in New York Magazine</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4wekh\">A <a href=\"http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/30/trump-kushner-never-blackmailed-scarborough-source-says.html\">Fox News article</a> citing an unnamed White House aide claimed that the exchange with Kushner was not a quid pro quo and that the suggestion of an apology was merely a suggestion for how Scarborough could get back on speaking terms with the president.</p><p data-block-key=\"y9qva\">On June 30, Trump tweeted, “Watched low rated<a href=\"https://twitter.com/Morning_Joe\"> @Morning_Joe</a> for first time in long time. FAKE NEWS. He called me to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no! Bad show.”</p><p data-block-key=\"g1myw\">Scarborough says that he never called Trump to apologize.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS195O6.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7hm3m\">MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski arrive for the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, U.S. on April 25, 2015.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joe Scarborough (MSNBC)",
"Mika Brzezinski (MSNBC)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Egyptian talk show host slapped on the back of the neck",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/egyptian-talk-show-host-slapped-back-neck/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-31T05:33:59.643118Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-20T17:24:41.546419Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-20T17:24:41.439595Z",
"date": "2017-04-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zy9gy\">Egyptian talk show host Youssef al-Hosiny was accosted by protesters in Washington, D.C. on April 3, 2017, and slapped on the back of the neck. </p><p data-block-key=\"srnqo\">According to <a href=\"https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/4/4/egypt-journalist-attacked-by-anti-sisi-protesters-in-washington-streets\">an article</a> in The New Arab (“Al-Araby Al-Jadeed” in Arabic), being slapped on the back of the neck is an extremely insulting form of assault in Egypt.</p><p data-block-key=\"303bs\">Al-Hosiny was in D.C. to cover Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s visit to the White House.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX33WBH.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7rli0\">U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House on April 3, 2017. Journalist Youssef al-Hosiny was accosted by protesters while in DC to cover the meeting.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Youssef al-Hosiny (Cairo Time [Egypt])"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Trump administration calls for changing libel laws",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-calls-changing-libel-laws/",
"first_published_at": "2017-08-01T02:23:46.470794Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-20T17:18:11.851925Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-20T17:18:11.758208Z",
"date": "2017-03-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pqxjc\">On March 30, 2017, President Trump tweeted, “The failing @nytimes has disgraced the media world. Gotten me wrong for two solid years. Change libel laws?”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The failing <a href=\"https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@nytimes</a> has disgraced the media world. Gotten me wrong for two solid years. Change libel laws? <a href=\"https://t.co/QIqLgvYLLi\">https://t.co/QIqLgvYLLi</a></p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/847455180912181249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 30, 2017</a></blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tieka\">There are currently no federal libel laws, and Supreme Court has said that plaintiffs must meet a very high standard in order to win a libel suit. Trump would have a difficult time following through on his threat, <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2016/12/transition-to-trump-first-amendment-attorney-floyd/\">according to First Amendment lawyers</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"gfsh2\"><a href=\"http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/30/media/libel-laws-donald-trump-new-york-times/?iid=EL\">This tweet</a> is not the first time that Trump suggested changing libel laws. On Feb. 26, 2016, during the Republican primary campaign, Trump <a href=\"http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/donald-trump-libel-laws-219866\">said</a> that he wanted to “open up libel laws.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"fc9bj\">Trump says that he will open up libel laws during a campaign event in Fort Worth, Texas on February 26, 2016.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "ICE denies parole to Mexican journalist seeking asylum",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ice-denies-parole-mexican-journalist-seeking-asylum/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-26T02:00:48.560178Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-20T17:13:48.378924Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-20T17:13:48.273929Z",
"date": "2017-03-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "El Paso",
"longitude": -106.48693,
"latitude": 31.75872,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"aj66y\">Martín Méndez Pineda, a Mexican journalist legally seeking asylum in the United States, was denied parole on March 28, 2017. Pineda arrived in the U.S. the previous month on February 5 and entered an asylum claim alleging that he received death threats in relation to his reporting on the federal police in the Mexican state of Guerrero.</p><p data-block-key=\"jxnuq\">On March 1, Pineda <a href=\"https://rsf.org/en/mexican-journalist-held-us-border-past-two-months\">passed</a> a “credible fear interview” to establish whether a real threat exists. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement refused to grant parole to Méndez, however, on the grounds that he was a “flight risk” and did not have substantial ties to the community.</p><p data-block-key=\"thbap\">Pineda spent almost four months in detention before returning to Mexico in May 2017.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3mtt9\">Martín Méndez Pineda</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
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},
"updates": [
"(2017-09-13 12:00:00+00:00) CBP refuses to allow Pineda into U.S."
],
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"tags": [
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"Martín Méndez Pineda (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "OC Weekly intern Frank Tristan attacked at pro-Trump rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oc-weekly-intern-frank-tristan-attacked-pro-trump-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-30T04:47:56.356311Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:54:50.312682Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:54:50.237493Z",
"date": "2017-03-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Huntington Beach",
"longitude": -117.99923,
"latitude": 33.6603,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qfdtf\">Frank Tristan, an intern at OC Weekly, <a href=\"http://www.ocweekly.com/news/huntington-beach-pro-trump-march-turns-into-attack-on-anti-trump-protesters-press-7991623\">was assaulte</a>d alongside OC Weekly photographers Julie Leopo and Brian Feinzimer on March 25, 2017, while covering a pro-Donald Trump march in Huntington Beach, California.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gn5a\">As demonstrators attacked Brian Feinzimer, Tristan attempted to intervene and was repeatedly punched by an unidentified assailant.</p><p data-block-key=\"xjq75\"><a href=\"http://www.ocweekly.com/news/oc-weekly-reporters-photographers-intern-talk-about-huntington-beachs-trumpbro-free-for-all-7997408\">According to OC Weekly editor</a> Gustavo Arellano, an officer was asked to pursue the man but refused.</p></div>",
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"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX32PKV.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6l8w6\">Demonstrators send off white doves from the beach as they protest in support of U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally in Huntington Beach, California, U.S., March 25, 2017. </p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"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,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-04-04 09:19:00+00:00) California man sentenced for punching journalist at pro-Trump rally"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Frank Tristan (OC Weekly)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "OC Weekly photographer Brian Feinzimer attacked at pro-Trump rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oc-weekly-photographer-brian-feinzimer-attacked-pro-trump-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2017-07-30T04:42:22.006402Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:54:42.265789Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:54:42.173375Z",
"date": "2017-03-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Huntington Beach",
"longitude": -117.99923,
"latitude": 33.6603,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9ncfd\">Brian Feinzimer, a photographer for OC Weekly, was <a href=\"http://www.ocweekly.com/news/huntington-beach-pro-trump-march-turns-into-attack-on-anti-trump-protesters-press-7991623\">assaulted alongsid</a>e OC Weekly photographer Julie Leopo and intern Frank Tristan on March 25, 2017, while covering a pro-Donald Trump march in Huntington Beach, California.</p><p data-block-key=\"7a478\">After photographing a demonstrator who repeatedly hit Leopo with an American flag, the demonstrator turned on Feinzimer. He was then shoved and punched by an unidentified assailant.</p><p data-block-key=\"stl5s\"><a href=\"http://www.ocweekly.com/news/oc-weekly-reporters-photographers-intern-talk-about-huntington-beachs-trumpbro-free-for-all-7997408\">According to OC Weekly editor</a> Gustavo Arellano, an officer was asked to pursue the man but refused.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX32PPL.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"r2u0i\">Pro-Trump rally participants mix with Anti-Trump protesters as the two sides clash during a Pro-Trump rally in Huntington Beach, California, U.S., March 25, 2017.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Brian Feinzimer (OC Weekly)"
],
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}
]
