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{
"title": "Tennessee lawmaker introduces bill to declare CNN, Washington Post ‘fake news’",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-lawmaker-introduces-bill-to-declare-cnn-washington-post-fake-news/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-31T17:41:00.594493Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T00:42:29.178228Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T00:42:29.094772Z",
"date": "2020-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Nashville",
"longitude": -86.78444,
"latitude": 36.16589,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o651w\">A Republican State Representative in Tennessee filed a joint resolution declaring CNN and The Washington Post “fake news” for introduction on Jan. 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5mnt\">The <a href=\"http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/HJR0779.pdf\">resolution</a> was introduced by Tennessee State Rep. Micah Van Huss, and co-sponsored by Reps. Dennis Powers, Bruce Griffey and Mike Sparks. A <a href=\"http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HJR0779&ga=111\">brief description</a> of the statement of intent or position on the official assembly website reads, “Recognizes CNN and the Washington Post as fake news and condemns them for denigrating our citizens.”</p><p data-block-key=\"my1fl\">Van Huss <a href=\"https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/local-lawmaker-introduces-resolution-recognizing-cnn-washington-post-as-fake-news/\">told</a> News Channel 11 he had a list of articles and outlets that were “very hypocritical,” but limited the scope of the bill to the Post and CNN. The bill specifically cites the two outlets’ reviews of the same book, “The Cult of Trump,” by Steven Hassan.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qk5i\">Announcing the bill on Twitter, Van Huss wrote, “The State of Tennessee recognizes CNN and The Washington Post as fake news and part of the media wing of the Democrat Party. I’ve filed HJR 779 on behalf of a constituency that’s tired of fake news and Republicans who don’t fight.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The State of Tennessee recognizes CNN and The Washington Post as fake news and part of the media wing of the Democrat Party.<br><br>I've filed HJR 779 on behalf of a constituency that's tired of fake news and Republicans who don't fight.<br><br>Follow it's progress: <a href=\"https://t.co/7qp6E7q9LT\">https://t.co/7qp6E7q9LT</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/XyqQETtLKy\">pic.twitter.com/XyqQETtLKy</a></p>— Micah Van Huss (@MicahVanHuss) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MicahVanHuss/status/1222656020259966977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 29, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"i8fxi\">The language used in Van Huss’ tweet closely mirrors that used in President Donald Trump’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/back-campaign-trail-president-trump-increases-his-anti-press-tweet-offensive/\">negative tweets about the media</a>. Trump has used the epithet “fake news” in 630 tweets as president, and has targeted CNN and the Post or their reporters in 228 and 116 tweets, respectively.</p><p data-block-key=\"uy4he\">Brad Batt, who plans to challenge Van Huss for his House seat, told News Channel 11 the bill is “a waste of time and taxpayer money.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ydp5a\">“We should be focused on addressing real problems,” Batt said in his statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"ajha0\">Once the bill is introduced it must be passed by both the Tennessee House and Senate before going before the governor.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS24ITL.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xlmjn\">A man wears a 'CNN is fake news' T-shirt at a 2018 California rally for President Trump. A Tennessee state representative has introduced a resolution to recognize CNN and The Washington Post as ‘fake news’ outlets.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"CNN",
"The Washington Post"
],
"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
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},
{
"title": "Court denies motion to quash subpoena against journalist working on book about 1993 NY murder",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/court-denies-motion-to-quash-subpoena-against-journalist-working-on-book-about-1993-ny-murder/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-09T17:41:50.583074Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-14T18:18:46.608589Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-14T18:18:46.448710Z",
"date": "2020-01-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Lockport",
"longitude": -78.69031,
"latitude": 43.17061,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ucoqp\">Journalist Samantha Christmann was subpoenaed on Jan. 29, 2020, to testify about her interviews with the defendant in an ongoing murder trial in Lockport, New York. Christmann’s motion to quash the subpoena was dismissed by the Niagara County Court on Jan. 21, 2021, according to her lawyer.<br/><br/> The trial involves the 1993 murder of Mandy Steingasser, who was strangled to death when she was 17. In 2018, police charged Joseph H. Belstadt with the murder after newly tested DNA evidence allegedly connected him to the crime. Belstadt had long been a suspect in the crime but was only charged when the new testing was done on DNA recovered from his car in 1993, according to <a href=\"https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/attorneys-seek-to-prevent-writers-testimony-in-nt-murder-trial/article_545437c4-2a7b-11eb-b465-435972a3fef8.html\">The Buffalo News</a>.<br/><br/>Christmann is a business reporter for The Buffalo News but will not cover the trial for the outlet, The News said. Michael Higgins, Christmann’s lawyer, said she is working on a book about the murder case and was subpoenaed as an independent journalist. According to the paper, she went to school with both Steingasser and Belstadt, and in interviews she did with Belstadt he gave a different account of his whereabouts when the murder happened than what he had told police.</p><p data-block-key=\"eauow\">Higgins filed a motion to quash the subpoena in June 2020 and told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he argued Christmann was protected by New York state journalist shield laws. After the court refused to quash the subpoena, Higgins told the Tracker that Christmann did not plan to appeal the ruling. He said it is unclear when the court might call Christmann to testify; the trial has <a href=\"https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/local_news/belstadt-trial-faces-new-delay/article_3009cd98-0438-5dd2-bf11-b8028eefc8c8.html\">faced delays</a> due to the state’s COVID-19 restrictions on jury trials.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-11-16 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist not forced to testify about interview with man on trial for murder"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Samantha Christmann (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"upheld"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "State Department removes NPR reporter from official trip",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-department-removes-npr-reporter-official-trip/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-29T15:18:07.794241Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:43:20.450702Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:43:20.358908Z",
"date": "2020-01-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5klxo\">In apparent retaliation for an NPR reporter’s interview with Mike Pompeo, the State Department removed a different NPR reporter from accompanying the secretary on an official trip abroad.</p><p data-block-key=\"0fsax\">During an <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/798579754/transcript-nprs-full-interview-with-secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo\">interview on Jan. 24</a>, Mary Louise Kelly, co-host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” and a former national security correspondent, asked Pompeo about U.S. policy and Iran and his role in the Ukrainian affair, particularly the dismissal of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.</p><p data-block-key=\"uw0ur\">NPR <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/25/799562818/after-contentious-interview-pompeo-publicly-accuses-npr-journalist-of-lying-to-h\">reported</a> that an aide cut off the interview immediately following Kelly’s questions on Ukraine. Pompeo then leaned in, glared silently at Kelly and left the room. A few moments later, the same aid asked Kelly to follow her into Pompeo’s private living room at the State Department without a recorder, not specifying that the conversation would be off the record.</p><p data-block-key=\"qk9pc\">“He shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the [9-minute] interview itself had lasted,” Kelly <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799244678/pompeo-wont-say-whether-he-owes-yovanovitch-an-apology-i-ve-done-what-s-right\">told</a> her “All Things Considered” co-host Ari Shapiro. “He was not happy to have been questioned about Ukraine. He asked, ‘Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?’ He used the f-word in that sentence and many others.”</p><p data-block-key=\"majb0\">“He asked if I could find Ukraine on a map. I said yes. He called out for his aides to bring him a map of the world with no writing, no countries marked. I pointed to Ukraine, he put the map away. He said, ‘People will hear about this.’ And then he turned and said he had things to do,” Kelly said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7k6c7\">The following day, Pompeo issued <a href=\"https://www.state.gov/statement-by-secretary-michael-r-pompeo/\">a rare official statement</a> — a medium typically used for condemnations of human rights violations or announcing sanctions — denouncing Kelly and the media as a whole.</p><p data-block-key=\"9blzq\">In the statement, Pompeo accuses Kelly of lying to him twice: both in setting up the interview and when agreeing to have their post-interview conversation off the record.</p><p data-block-key=\"gnh0h\">“It is shameful that this reporter chose to violate the basic rules of journalism and decency,” the statement reads. “This is another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this Administration. It is no wonder that the American people distrust many in the media when they so consistently demonstrate their agenda and their absence of integrity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0r6cc\">NPR Senior Vice President for News Nancy Barnes and President and CEO John Lansing came to <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/25/799584780/npr-responds-to-sec-pompeo-interview\">Kelly’s</a> <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799244678/pompeo-wont-say-whether-he-owes-yovanovitch-an-apology-i-ve-done-what-s-right\">defense</a>, citing her integrity and professionalism, and stood behind NPR’s reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"jecw1\">In an <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/25/799584780/npr-responds-to-sec-pompeo-interview\">interview</a> with “All Things Considered,” Lansing acknowledged that tensions can and do arise when journalists press officials on hard questions. “But this goes well beyond tension — this goes toward intimidation,” Lansing said. “And let me just say this: We will not be intimidated. Mary Louise Kelly won’t be intimidated, and NPR won’t be intimidated.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cqjyv\">Kelly also wrote about the incident in an <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/opinion/mike-pompeo-kelly-interview.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">opinion article</a> for The New York Times, in which she recounted the interview and said, “Journalists don’t sit down with senior government officials in the service of scoring political points. We do it in the service of asking tough questions, on behalf of our fellow citizens.”</p><p data-block-key=\"y1fzo\">Five Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — ranking member Bob Menendez (NJ), Cory Booker (NJ), Ed Markey (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR) and Tim Kaine (VA) — wrote a letter castigating Pompeo’s statement, The Hill <a href=\"https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/479927-senate-dems-to-pompeo-comments-about-npr-reporter-insulting-and-contemptuous\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"zloa6\">“At a time when journalists around the world are being jailed for their reporting — and as in the case of Jamal Khashoggi, killed — your insulting and contemptuous comments are beneath the office of the Secretary of State,” the letter reads.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At a time when journalists around the world are being jailed for their reporting, Sec Pompeo’s insulting and contemptuous comments to NPR’s <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NPRKelly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NPRKelly</a> are beneath the office of the Secretary of State. <br><br>Read our letter 👇 <a href=\"https://t.co/x3qaRrUXTM\">pic.twitter.com/x3qaRrUXTM</a></p>— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SenatorMenendez/status/1221182757302345729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 25, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pztnu\">Pompeo was echoing language often used by President Donald Trump, who has previously <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1160160760179372032\">referred to the press as “unhinged,”</a> and blamed an absence of “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1193562107666673664\">journalistic standards</a>, for waning public trust in the media. Trump has also affirmed <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1221436736594681856\">critiques</a> of NPR and <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-benjamin-netanyahu-to-reveal-their-mideast-peace-plan\">praised Pompeo’s actions</a> in regards to Kelly.</p><p data-block-key=\"todnu\">On Jan. 27, the State Department Correspondents’ Association released a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jmhansler/status/1221993136056041474\">statement</a> in response to the department’s decision to remove NPR correspondent Michele Kelemen from Pompeo’s plane, asserting that the move was “retaliation” against the outlet and urging it to reconsider the decision.</p><p data-block-key=\"ymwi1\">“The removal of Michele, who was in rotation as the radio pool reporter, comes days after Secretary Pompeo harshly criticized the work of an NPR host. We can only conclude that the State Department is retaliating against National Public Radio as a result of this exchange,” said Shaun Tandon, the association’s president.</p><p data-block-key=\"xwhy7\">“The State Department press corps has a long tradition of accompanying secretaries of state on their travels and we find it unacceptable to punish an individual member of our association.”</p><p data-block-key=\"guu7n\">NPR’s Lansing and Barnes <a href=\"https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=6705246-NPR-Letter-to-State-Department\">wrote to the State Department</a> on Jan. 28 asking for confirmation of Kelemen’s removal from Pompeo’s official trip and clarification around NPR access. The letter also asked for copies of policy and procedures regarding pool reporters, as well as correspondence regarding the Kelemen decision.</p><p data-block-key=\"k3bn4\">The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8zp9v\">Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departs early on Jan. 29, 2020, from Maryland for an official trip to Europe. The State Department removed an NPR reporter from this trip in apparent retaliation to Pompeo’s dispute with another NPR reporter.</p>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"targeted_institutions": [
"National Public Radio"
],
"tags": [],
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"Federal government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access",
"Chilling Statement"
],
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"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "State agency sends cease and desist letter to NBC journalists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-agency-sends-cease-and-desist-letter-nbc-journalists/",
"first_published_at": "2020-03-04T21:06:59.528043Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-11T16:41:44.188820Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-11T16:41:44.081261Z",
"date": "2020-01-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Madison",
"longitude": -89.40123,
"latitude": 43.07305,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mhxei\">The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families sent a cease and desist letter to an NBC reporter and producer on Jan. 24, 2020, in an effort to block the outlet from publishing information the agency believed was confidential.</p><p data-block-key=\"z40tc\">NBC investigative reporter Mike Hixenbaugh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he received the letter a few days after he had emailed the child welfare agency requesting an interview. The letter, shared with the Tracker, advised Hixenbaugh and NBC Nightly News producer Janelle Richards that the disclosure of a confidential file is a criminal offense punishable by up to 6 months imprisonment and up to a $1,000 fine, under <a href=\"https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/48/XX/981/7\">state law</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"gwjwc\">“Please cease and desist immediately from any further illegal use and disclosure of the documents in the child abuse investigation file illegally disclosed to you, and any information obtained in that file,” wrote the agency’s chief legal counsel Therese Durkin. “Failure to comply will lead to further legal action.”</p><p data-block-key=\"74ggu\">Hixenbaugh told the Tracker that in all of his reporting on child protective services across the country, never before had a state agency reached out to block his reporting or threaten him.</p><p data-block-key=\"kwche\">“It was unusual and surprising to receive a letter that suggested that I could be imprisoned for doing journalism,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"t0you\">NBC attorney Alexander Ziccardi emailed a response to the letter, noting that the agency had falsely assumed the information used in the outlet’s reporting could only have been obtained from a confidential report.</p><p data-block-key=\"e95co\">“[V]irtually all of that information is available from alternative sources that are entirely independent of the CPS investigation file,” he wrote. Ziccardi added that even if NBC did source information from a CPS report it would “unquestionably” be protected under the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"hxf27\">Sarah Matthews, a staff attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, <a href=\"https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/04/gov-tony-evers-administration-threatened-prosecution-journalist/2855362001/\">confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a> that media outlets cannot be held liable when publishing information that a third-party illegally obtained or disclosed. Matthews is also on the Tracker’s advisory board.</p><p data-block-key=\"pp05a\">Hixenbaugh told the Tracker that his reporting ultimately cited only court records and other legally obtained files, such as hospital records and criminal complaints, making no references to a CPS investigative file.</p><p data-block-key=\"o43h9\">Thomas McCarthy, communications director for the agency, told the Tracker that the letter was meant not as a threat but as a warning, as the department cannot itself pursue criminal charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"cui24\">“We are concerned with how he received the information, but understand and respect his role as a journalist to report,” McCarthy said.</p><p data-block-key=\"srvct\">Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers spoke in support of the department’s actions after the letter was publicized by media and First Amendment organizations.</p><p data-block-key=\"uafjz\">“I believe it’s appropriate that DCF protects the kid in this case. Somebody’s got to stick up for that young kid who was deemed to be abused,” Evers said, <a href=\"https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/04/tony-evers-stands-warning-journalist-prosecution-over-reporting/4659301002/\">according to the Journal Sentinel</a>. “Somebody’s got to stand up for the kind, and we did and I did support that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7y59i\">Hixenbaugh emphasized to the Tracker that the privacy of the allegedly abused child was never threatened, as journalistic ethics prevent such disclosures.</p><p data-block-key=\"alilu\">“Although through many different means we are aware of her name and identifying information, we did not name her and would never have named her in this situation,” Hixenbaugh said.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"wo1wv\">NBC News investigative reporter Mike Hixenbaugh was sent a cease and desist letter by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.</p>",
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"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mike Hixenbaugh (NBC News)",
"Janelle Richards (NBC News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "NotiCentro photojournalist attacked with reporter while covering Puerto Rico protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-photojournalist-attacked-with-reporter-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-24T18:25:46.402353Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-17T20:27:24.951037Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-17T20:27:24.842466Z",
"date": "2020-01-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Juan",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sny8h\">Two journalists for NotiCentro WAPA-TV were attacked while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 23, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"yqh3q\">According to translations made available to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reporter Kefrén Velázquez and photojournalist Luis Ojeda were covering protests against Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced and her administration in Old San Juan.</p><p data-block-key=\"keev8\">Shortly after police fired a canister of tear gas towards the crowd around 11 p.m., the station’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-vehicle-vandalized-during-puerto-rico-protests/\">news vehicle was attacked</a> by protesters, <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/comunicados/editorial-noticentro_20131122468684.html\">according to an editorial</a> by NotiCentro News Director Rafael Lenín López. A photo published by the outlet shows damage to the side mirrors and windshield, as well as spray painted messages on the hood and side door.</p><p data-block-key=\"lxf4n\">Newspaper Primera Hora <a href=\"https://www.primerahora.com/entretenimiento/cine-tv/notas/kefren-velazquez-reacciona-tras-agresion-en-manifestaciones/\">reported</a> that Velázquez interceded when protesters attempted to set the car on fire. Though Velázquez was able to stop the vandals, protesters threw stones at him. The Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-attacked-news-van-vandalized-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/\">documented Velázquez’s assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ysje2\">The individuals also reportedly attacked Ojeda with a piece of wood.</p><p data-block-key=\"nt5kb\">In <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/locales/grupo-de-individuos-vandalizan-vehiculo-de-noticentro_20131122468655.html\">an interview</a> with his station the following morning, Velázquez said that police officers did not act quickly to protect them from the riot. However, eventually the Special Forces lined up in front of him and Ojeda.</p><p data-block-key=\"ke207\">“There were two completely different environments,” Velázquez said. “During the afternoon hours, I walked with the demonstrators and colleagues Sylvia Verónica Camacho, producer Erika Martínez and Luis Ojeda. We walked with them until we reached La Fortaleza and by then everyone was chanting and dancing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"z26p1\">Velázquez said that he wouldn’t describe the people who attacked him and Ojeda later that evening as demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkfag\">“I will call them ‘individuals’ because they were certainly not the people we saw before,” Velázquez said. He added that the attackers had hammers and baseball bats, not the pans or cowbells used during the march.</p><p data-block-key=\"sbnbk\">The reporter tweeted a thank you to those who reached out with their concerns, and said that Ojeda was doing well. Neither journalist responded to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">A todos los que han enviado texto, WhatsApp, llamadas, tuits etc. Gracias! Estoy bien! Todavía sorprendido como terminó la noche, pero pa' alante. Mi compañero fotoperiodista, Luis Ojeda (Ojedita) fue golpeado con un cuartón de madera, pero está bien y recuperando. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/VamoArriba?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VamoArriba</a></p>— Kefrén Velázquez (@kefvelazquez) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kefvelazquez/status/1220752182661787649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 24, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7lmsz\">López wrote in his editorial, “To attack the press is to attack the country. It undermines the right to expression.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fkegh\">“Noticentro will not let its guard down in our work or informing and watching everyone equally. On the contrary, events like these make us braver to affirm that we are with you always,” López said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"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": "Puerto Rico",
"abbreviation": "PR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Luis Ojeda (WAPA-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "NotiCentro vehicle vandalized during Puerto Rico protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-vehicle-vandalized-during-puerto-rico-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-13T17:08:17.680704Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-03T17:34:54.756201Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-03T17:34:54.665265Z",
"date": "2020-01-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Juan",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m4jyr\">A NotiCentro WAPA-TV news vehicle was vandalized while the news crew covered protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 23, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"hvgpn\">According to translations made available to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reporter Kefrén Velázquez and photojournalist Luis Ojeda were covering protests against Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced and her administration in Old San Juan.</p><p data-block-key=\"qurd1\">Shortly after police fired a canister of tear gas towards the crowd around 11 p.m., the station’s news vehicle was attacked by protesters, <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/comunicados/editorial-noticentro_20131122468684.html\">according to an editorial</a> by NotiCentro News Director Rafael Lenín López. A photo published by the outlet shows damage to the side mirrors and windshield, as well as spray painted messages on the hood and side door.</p><p data-block-key=\"4wq5p\">Newspaper Primera Hora <a href=\"https://www.primerahora.com/entretenimiento/cine-tv/notas/kefren-velazquez-reacciona-tras-agresion-en-manifestaciones/\">reported</a> that Velázquez interceded when protesters attempted to set the car on fire. Though Velázquez was able to stop the vandals, individuals then <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-attacked-news-van-vandalized-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/\">attacked both journalists</a>. It was not immediately clear how extensive the damage to the vehicle was.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
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"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Puerto Rico",
"abbreviation": "PR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"WAPA-TV"
],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
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},
{
"title": "Two journalists attacked, news van vandalized while covering Puerto Rico protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-attacked-news-van-vandalized-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-13T16:18:10.426228Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-02-16T22:56:29.471356Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-02-16T22:56:29.387922Z",
"date": "2020-01-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Juan",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6boa2\">Two journalists for NotiCentro WAPA-TV were attacked while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 23, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"k1zng\">According to translations made available to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, reporter Kefrén Velázquez and photojournalist Luis Ojeda were covering protests against Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced and her administration in Old San Juan.</p><p data-block-key=\"356zp\">Shortly after police fired a canister of tear gas toward the crowd around 11 p.m., the station’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-vehicle-vandalized-during-puerto-rico-protests/\">news vehicle was attacked</a>. An <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/comunicados/editorial-noticentro_20131122468684.html\">editorial</a> by NotiCentro News Director Rafael Lenín López detailed the event, and a photo published by the outlet shows damage to the side mirrors and windshield, as well as spray painted messages on the hood and side door.</p><p data-block-key=\"ul4my\">Newspaper Primera Hora <a href=\"https://www.primerahora.com/entretenimiento/cine-tv/notas/kefren-velazquez-reacciona-tras-agresion-en-manifestaciones/\">reported</a> that Velázquez interceded when individuals attempted to set the car on fire. Though Velázquez was able to stop the vandals, others threw stones at him. The individuals also reportedly attacked Ojeda with a piece of wood. Ojeda's <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/noticentro-photojournalist-attacked-with-reporter-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/\">assault is documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"s77yz\">In <a href=\"https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/locales/grupo-de-individuos-vandalizan-vehiculo-de-noticentro_20131122468655.html\">an interview</a> with his station the following morning, Velázquez said that police officers did not act quickly to protect them from the riot. However, eventually the Special Forces lined up in front of him and Ojeda.</p><p data-block-key=\"ao97w\">“There were two completely different environments,” Velázquez said. “During the afternoon hours, I walked with the demonstrators and colleagues Sylvia Verónica Camacho, producer Erika Martínez and Luis Ojeda. We walked with them until we reached La Fortaleza and by then everyone was chanting and dancing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"yk5oe\">Velázquez said that he wouldn’t describe the people who attacked him and Ojeda later that evening as demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"398he\">“I will call them ‘individuals’ because they were certainly not the people we saw before,” Velázquez said. He added that the attackers had hammers and baseball bats, not the pans or cowbells used during the march.</p><p data-block-key=\"511ul\">The reporter tweeted a thank you to those who reached out with their concerns, and said that Ojeda was doing well. Neither journalist responded to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">A todos los que han enviado texto, WhatsApp, llamadas, tuits etc. Gracias! Estoy bien! Todavía sorprendido como terminó la noche, pero pa' alante. Mi compañero fotoperiodista, Luis Ojeda (Ojedita) fue golpeado con un cuartón de madera, pero está bien y recuperando. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/VamoArriba?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VamoArriba</a></p>— Kefrén Velázquez (@kefvelazquez) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kefvelazquez/status/1220752182661787649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 24, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fgdq7\">López wrote in his editorial, “To attack the press is to attack the country. It undermines the right to expression.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mycj0\">“Noticentro will not let its guard down in our work or informing and watching everyone equally. On the contrary, events like these make us braver to affirm that we are with you always,” López said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS2ZM3I.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1kr10\">Protesters gather in front of the capitol building on Jan. 23, 2020, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after a warehouse full of unused Hurricane Maria relief aid was discovered.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"actor": null,
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"assailant": "unknown",
"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": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Puerto Rico",
"abbreviation": "PR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Kefrén Velázquez (WAPA-TV)"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Shop owner charged with assaulting journalists, breaking Univision equipment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-27T21:17:49.849740Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-13T20:51:55.304845Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-13T20:35:19.270370Z",
"date": "2020-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "La Mesa",
"longitude": -117.02308,
"latitude": 32.76783,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"89xld\">A La Mesa, California, business owner was arrested after altercations with several news crews on Jan. 20, 2020. The man also threw a Univision reporter’s video camera to the ground, causing thousands of dollars of damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"idkjf\">Reporters and photographers had gathered outside of a men’s apparel store to speak with owner Peter Carzis concerning allegations that he had engaged in lewd and inappropriate behavior in front of his shop.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5daz\">Claudia Buccio, a multimedia journalist for Univision, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mwLThBlhF/\">posted on Instagram</a> that she was capturing footage in front of the store for her piece and did not see Carzis approach her.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0byg\">“He yanked my shoulder, pushed me and then he grabbed my camera and threw it to the sidewalk,” she wrote. “Thank God there were fellow journalists in the area who jumped out at my defense.”</p><p data-block-key=\"twdyq\">Buccio wrote in a subsequent comment that several other news crews were in the area to report on the accusations against Carzis, but were in their vehicles and did not film the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"ke3sc\">Journalists from independent San Diego station KUSI News were among those who came to Buccio’s defense.</p><p data-block-key=\"igz4p\">Reporter Dan Plante recounted the incident in <a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\">a live broadcast</a> that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"po38u\">“The first person he went after when he came out blazing was a young woman from Univision, and he pushed her up against the wall and he took her camera and he threw it in the street and broke it into a hundred pieces,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9q2e0\">Carzis then <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/\">turned on Plante and KUSI cameraman Michael Saucedo</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Media assaulted, camera broken, women groped in public and Peter Carzis is finally tracked down and arrested in downtown San Diego. After “years of abuse” the people in the Village of La Mesa are breathing easier now that police are taking action. KUSI Tonight <a href=\"https://t.co/a7ZgMqNP2d\">pic.twitter.com/a7ZgMqNP2d</a></p>— Dan Plante (@DanPlanteKUSI) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanPlanteKUSI/status/1219782262402629632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6swx8\">Other journalists, including ABC 10News reporter Mimi Elkalla and photographer Virginia Creighton, witnessed the assaults but were not targeted by Carzis.</p><p data-block-key=\"pg4xz\">Plante called 911 and Carzis retreated to his store, locking the door behind him. Carzis was gone by the time police arrived, according to a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/lamesapolicedepartment/photos/a.139743763041488/1109313549417833/?type=3&theater\">press release</a> from the La Mesa Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"xrydh\">Police said that after canvassing the area, they located Carzis in nearby San Diego and arrested him on Jan. 21 on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony vandalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"zbo3w\">“Carzis is accused of battering multiple reporters and causing irreparable damage to a video camera reported to be worth approximately $7,000.00,” the press release states.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Lewd_La_Mesa2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8u8oq\">The owner of a men’s clothing store in La Mesa, California, was arrested and charged with assault of several journalists and damage to this Univision video camera.</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,
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"actor": "private individual",
"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": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-03-10 00:00:00+00:00) California man sentenced for destruction of reporter’s equipment"
],
"case_statuses": [],
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"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Claudia Buccio (Univision)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "California shop owner charged with assaulting journalists, breaking camera equipment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-24T16:31:45.929871Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-13T20:52:00.403488Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-13T20:37:28.750385Z",
"date": "2020-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "La Mesa",
"longitude": -117.02308,
"latitude": 32.76783,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ghtrj\">A La Mesa, California, business owner was arrested after altercations with several news crews on Jan. 20, 2020. The man also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/\">threw a reporter’s video camera to the ground</a>, causing thousands of dollars of damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"u65jk\">Reporters and photographers had gathered outside of a men’s apparel store to speak with owner Peter Carzis concerning allegations that he had engaged in lewd and inappropriate behavior in front of his shop.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qg44\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/\">Claudia Buccio</a>, a multimedia journalist for Univision, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mwLThBlhF/\">posted on Instagram</a> that she was capturing footage in front of the store for her piece and did not see Carzis approach her.</p><p data-block-key=\"i7f2p\">“He yanked my shoulder, pushed me and then he grabbed my camera and threw it to the sidewalk,” she wrote. “Thank God there were fellow journalists in the area who jumped out at my defense.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8nsb8\">Buccio wrote in a subsequent comment that several other news crews were in the area to report on the accusations against Carzis, but were in their vehicles and did not film the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"jwxk9\">A crew from KUSI News, an independent station in San Diego, was among those who came to Buccio’s defense. KUSI News Director Steve Cohen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that reporter Dan Plante stepped in to stop Carzis’ attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"el6w6\">Plante recounted the incident in <a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\">a live broadcast</a> that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2qqp\">“The first person he went after when he came out blazing was a young woman from Univision, and he pushed her up against the wall and he took her camera and he threw it in the street and broke it into a hundred pieces,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9y3ba\">Carzis then turned on Plante.</p><p data-block-key=\"sdgl2\">A<a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\"> video</a> taken by Plante on his cellphone shows Carzis attempting to hit him multiple times before rounding on <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-in-california-charged-with-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/\">KUSI cameraman Michael Saucedo</a>, pushing him into a couple parking meters and pursuing him several yards down the sidewalk.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Media assaulted, camera broken, women groped in public and Peter Carzis is finally tracked down and arrested in downtown San Diego. After “years of abuse” the people in the Village of La Mesa are breathing easier now that police are taking action. KUSI Tonight <a href=\"https://t.co/a7ZgMqNP2d\">pic.twitter.com/a7ZgMqNP2d</a></p>— Dan Plante (@DanPlanteKUSI) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanPlanteKUSI/status/1219782262402629632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"68ihk\">In the video, Plante can be heard telling Carzis that he’s “about to get arrested.” Carzis then turns again on Plante, attempting to both hit and kick him. A brief scuffle ensued as Plante attempted to keep Carzis at a distance, according to his accounting of the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"xp4p9\">“When he was throwing punches at me, I was kind of laughing a little bit because I’m not afraid of a guy like that,” Plante said. “So what was going through my mind was, ‘Block the punches, block the kicks, get it all on video tape and expose this guy for who he is.’ And I believe that’s what happened.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tcgax\">Carzis did land a blow against him, Plante said, resulting in a small cut on his nose from a piece of jewelry Carzis was wearing. Plante also dropped his phone in the altercation, but KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker it was not damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"8xu7l\">Other journalists, including ABC 10News reporter Mimi Elkalla and photographer Virginia Creighton, witnessed the assaults but were not targeted by Carzis.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just moments after a store owner attacks members of the media Peters men’s clothing store owner wanted for questioning. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LaMesaPD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LaMesaPD</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/fox5sandiego?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@fox5sandiego</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/0zZGKSmYvh\">pic.twitter.com/0zZGKSmYvh</a></p>— Jaime Chambers (@jaimechambers) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jaimechambers/status/1219390994463854592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 20, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1tnoi\">Plante called 911 and Carzis retreated to his store, locking the door behind him. Carzis was gone by the time police arrived, according to a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/lamesapolicedepartment/photos/a.139743763041488/1109313549417833/?type=3&theater\">press release</a> from the La Mesa Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ge5v\">Police said that after canvassing the area, they located Carzis in nearby San Diego and arrested him on Jan. 21 on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony vandalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"l4z1t\">“Carzis is accused of battering multiple reporters and causing irreparable damage to a video camera reported to be worth approximately $7,000.00,” the press release states.</p><p data-block-key=\"qzzfh\">KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker that the broadcaster had not needed to press charges, but they expect Plante or Saucedo will need to provide testimony as the case against Carzis moves forward.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8rs8\">“It was just an absolutely crazy thing,” Plante said of the attack.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/La_Mesa4.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pohi6\">Several news crews were on scene when a La Mesa, California, store owner broke a Univision video camera and accosted this KUSI News cameraman and other journalists.</p>",
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"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": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-03-10 00:00:00+00:00) California man sentenced after altercation with reporter"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dan Plante (KUSI-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Shop owner in California charged with assaulting journalists, breaking camera equipment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-in-california-charged-with-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-24T17:40:21.534976Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T00:43:45.097662Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T00:43:45.015525Z",
"date": "2020-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "La Mesa",
"longitude": -117.02308,
"latitude": 32.76783,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ds40g\">A La Mesa, California, business owner was arrested after altercations with several news crews on Jan. 20, 2020. The man also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/\">threw a reporter’s video camera</a> to the ground, causing thousands of dollars of damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"tdf2h\">Reporters and photographers had gathered outside of a men’s apparel store to speak with owner Peter Carzis concerning allegations that he had engaged in lewd and inappropriate behavior in front of his shop.</p><p data-block-key=\"63kgi\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-univision-equipment/\">Claudia Buccio</a>, a multimedia journalist for Univision, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mwLThBlhF/\">posted on Instagram</a> that she was capturing footage in front of the store and did not see Carzis approach her.</p><p data-block-key=\"3e62a\">“He yanked my shoulder, pushed me and then he grabbed my camera and threw it to the sidewalk,” she wrote. “Thank God there were fellow journalists in the area who jumped out at my defense.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0xh3k\">Buccio wrote in a subsequent comment that several other news crews were in the area to report on the accusations against Carzis, but were in their vehicles and did not film the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"wrbgk\">A crew from KUSI News, an independent station in San Diego, was among those who came to Buccio’s defense. KUSI News Director Steve Cohen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that reporter Dan Plante stepped in to stop Carzis’ attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"vo5y0\">Plante recounted the incident in <a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\">a live broadcast</a> that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"5uceo\">“The first person he went after when he came out blazing was a young woman from Univision, and he pushed her up against the wall and he took her camera and he threw it in the street and broke it into a hundred pieces,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"w8pd4\">Carzis then turned on Plante. The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-shop-owner-charged-assaulting-journalists-breaking-camera-equipment/\">that assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"snjur\">A <a href=\"https://www.kusi.com/la-mesa-business-owner-gets-in-physical-altercation-with-reporters/\">video</a> taken by Plante on his cellphone shows Carzis attempting to hit him multiple times before rounding on KUSI cameraman Michael Saucedo, pushing him into a couple parking meters and pursuing him several yards down the sidewalk.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Media assaulted, camera broken, women groped in public and Peter Carzis is finally tracked down and arrested in downtown San Diego. After “years of abuse” the people in the Village of La Mesa are breathing easier now that police are taking action. KUSI Tonight <a href=\"https://t.co/a7ZgMqNP2d\">pic.twitter.com/a7ZgMqNP2d</a></p>— Dan Plante (@DanPlanteKUSI) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanPlanteKUSI/status/1219782262402629632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p89kt\">In the video, Plante can be heard telling Carzis that he’s “about to get arrested.” Carzis then turns again on Plante, attempting to both hit and kick him. A brief scuffle ensued as Plante attempted to keep Carzis at a distance, according to his account of the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"lpcs9\">Carzis did land a blow against him, Plante said, resulting in a small cut on his nose from a piece of jewelry Carzis was wearing. Plante also dropped his phone in the altercation, but KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker it was not damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"yqmxv\">Other journalists, including ABC 10News reporter Mimi Elkalla and photographer Virginia Creighton, witnessed the assaults but were not targeted by Carzis.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just moments after a store owner attacks members of the media Peters men’s clothing store owner wanted for questioning. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LaMesaPD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LaMesaPD</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/fox5sandiego?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@fox5sandiego</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/0zZGKSmYvh\">pic.twitter.com/0zZGKSmYvh</a></p>— Jaime Chambers (@jaimechambers) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jaimechambers/status/1219390994463854592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 20, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k0n00\">Plante called 911 and Carzis retreated to his store, locking the door behind him. Carzis was gone by the time police arrived, according to a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/lamesapolicedepartment/photos/a.139743763041488/1109313549417833/?type=3&theater\">press release</a> from the La Mesa Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"uo6i7\">Police said that after canvassing the area, they located Carzis in nearby San Diego and arrested him on Jan. 21 on charges of misdemeanor battery and felony vandalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"lvgtp\">“Carzis is accused of battering multiple reporters and causing irreparable damage to a video camera reported to be worth approximately $7,000.00,” the press release states.</p><p data-block-key=\"o2hv4\">KUSI News Director Cohen told the Tracker that the broadcaster had not needed to press charges, but they expect Plante or Saucedo will need to provide testimony as the case against Carzis moves forward.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"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": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-03-10 00:00:00+00:00) California man sentenced after altercation with cameraman"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Saucedo (KUSI-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Media access restricted as historic impeachment trial begins",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/media-access-restricted-historic-impeachment-trial-begins/",
"first_published_at": "2020-01-22T17:58:37.394891Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:44:25.292322Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:44:25.118572Z",
"date": "2020-01-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o88rg\">Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger implemented restrictions on media access in advance of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, which began on Jan. 16, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rck5\">Roll Call <a href=\"http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/impeachment-trial-security-crackdown-will-limit-capitol-press-access\">reported</a> that the planned restrictions were announced following months of discussions between the Capitol’s chief security officials, including Stenger and the Capitol Police chief, Senate Rules Chairman Roy Blunt and the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which represents the interests of credentialed congressional reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"nto5l\">The new restrictions exceed those that were in place during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1998, Roll Call <a href=\"http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/impeachment-trial-security-crackdown-will-limit-capitol-press-access\">reported</a>, in part spurred by the hundreds of protesters that flooded the Capitol during the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.</p><p data-block-key=\"p0eby\">Sarah D. Wire, a congressional reporter for the Los Angeles Times and chair of the Standing Committee of Correspondents <a href=\"https://twitter.com/sarahdwire/status/1217202438031257602?s=21\">tweeted</a> that the Committee suggested changes to the restrictions prior to them being finalized. “Our suggestions were rejected,” Wire wrote, “without an explanation of how the restrictions contribute to safety rather than simply limit coverage of the trial.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vil1t\">In a <a href=\"https://237995-729345-1-raikfcquaxqncofqfm.stackpathdns.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Standing-Committee-statement.pdf\">letter</a> to Senate majority and minority leaders sent on Jan. 14, the Committee expressed its strong opposition to the planned restrictions, which it said failed to take into account the effective policies and practices that are currently in place.</p><p data-block-key=\"aq3x7\">The Committee listed the restrictions as:</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"7kkde\">The placement of a magnetometer at the door of the chamber inside the Senate press gallery to do additional security sweeps of members of the press each time they exit or enter the chamber;</li><li data-block-key=\"9u44h\">No electronics allowed within the Senate chamber;</li><li data-block-key=\"6wij3\">Pens to hold reporters on the second floor of the building in the Ohio clock corridor prohibiting reporters from freely accessing Senators as they come to and from the chamber;</li><li data-block-key=\"bs0l1\">A single pool camera with no audio to cover the arrival of the articles of impeachment from the House;</li><li data-block-key=\"af55j\">Restrictions on reporters’ ability to walk with senators from the Senate subway to the back of six elevators.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"u8n7i\">When the formal procession to deliver of the articles of impeachment from the House to the Senate took place on Jan. 15, the restriction limiting coverage to a single pool camera <a href=\"https://www.c-span.org/video/?468182-1/house-delivers-articles-impeachment-senate\">was lifted, or at least not enforced</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"j8da1\">Wire <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/16/media/press-restrictions-impeachment/index.html?utm_source=twCNN&utm_content=2020-01-17T00%3A41%3A21&utm_term=link&utm_medium=social\">told CNN Business</a> that when impeachment proceedings officially began the following day, several measures curtailing reporter access were implemented. Both a magnetometer — a type of metal detector — and a police officer were posted at the door of the Senate press gallery.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My view of the opening of the Senate impeachment trial. <a href=\"https://t.co/nHuj60DhBb\">pic.twitter.com/nHuj60DhBb</a></p>— Dana Milbank (@Milbank) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Milbank/status/1219682971743137792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5aeel\">According to Wire and <a href=\"https://www.rollcall.com/news/lack-official-guidance-impeachment-press-restrictions-causes-confusion\">reporting</a> from Roll Call, no written guidance concerning media restrictions was provided ahead of proceedings beginning in the Senate.</p><p data-block-key=\"ce2ot\">“Reporters [are] learning about the restrictions in real time,” Wire said.</p><p data-block-key=\"oquez\">On Jan. 16, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, joined by 57 news and press freedom organizations — including 16 U.S. Press Freedom Tracker partners — <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1-16-20-Impeachment-Senate-Press-Access-Letter-FINAL.pdf\">sent a letter</a> to the Senate condemning the restrictions.</p><p data-block-key=\"ppum5\">The letter reads in part: “Absent an articulable security rationale, Senate leaders and the Sergeant at Arms have an obligation to preserve and promote the public’s right to know. Reporters must have the ability to respond quickly to rapid developments and need reasonable access to lawmakers as they deliberate. The proposed restrictions on the use of electronic devices and on the ability of reporters to question lawmakers as they move about the Capitol, as well as the additional security screening, will hinder reporting without an obvious benefit for Senate security.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pus0o\">RCFP <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/impeachment-trial-press-access/\">wrote</a> that the U.S. District Court in D.C. found that the Capitol is not a “public forum” under the First Amendment, and therefore lawmakers and Capitol security have some discretion to “reasonably” limit or restrict press access to the building. It wrote that any such restrictions, however, cannot be based on vague or arbitrary standards and must be enforced consistently.</p><p data-block-key=\"jre0s\">Tweets from correspondents instead revealed that instructions were often contradictory, and that officers told journalists that they couldn’t clarify or confirm the rules. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Emma_Dumain/status/1217866524217806849?s=20\">Several</a> <a href=\"https://www.rollcall.com/news/lack-official-guidance-impeachment-press-restrictions-causes-confusion\">reporters</a> also tweeted that their interviews with willing senators were interrupted by Capitol Police.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Getting the latest guidance on press restrictions is like a game of telephone as reporters pass along to their colleagues & competitors what they’ve heard most recently. <br><br>Capitol Police officers can't clarify/confirm what reporters heard the rules are. <a href=\"https://t.co/R8kpZdU93g\">https://t.co/R8kpZdU93g</a></p>— K Tully-McManus (@ktullymcmanus) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ktullymcmanus/status/1217893151945437185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6fjag\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/dd945e7c4c820637272a087d6b99043b\">reported</a> that senators were given cards by Capitol Police with phrases to alert police that they need assistance and fend off protesters or reporters, including “You are preventing me from doing my job” and “Please move out of my way.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">JUST IN: <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBSNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBSNews</a> /<a href=\"https://twitter.com/caitlinconant?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@caitlinconant</a> obtain a flashcard being given to U.S. Senators ahead of the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ImpeachmentTrial?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ImpeachmentTrial</a> on tips to avoid reporters. (One thing it doesn’t suggest is calling reporters a “liberal hack.”) <a href=\"https://t.co/mAZpBP9Fv7\">pic.twitter.com/mAZpBP9Fv7</a></p>— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/edokeefe/status/1217850723926450177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS2ZBLV.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cqzf2\">Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) speaks to members of the press in a restricted area as President Donald Trump's impeachment trial begins in Washington, D.C.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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},
{
"title": "Fox News journalist subpoenaed for testimony in defamation lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-journalist-subpoenaed-testimony-defamation-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-18T18:03:42.814644Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-06-28T20:03:12.655666Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-06-28T20:03:12.541623Z",
"date": "2020-01-07",
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"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cnjiv\">Fox News journalist Malia Zimmerman was subpoenaed on Jan. 7, 2020, to testify about a 2017 article and her communications with the defendant in a pending defamation suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"d4dv4\">The article, published in May 2017, reported on the conspiracy around the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, alleging that he and his brother, Aaron Rich, were embroiled in a plot to steal and share DNC emails with WikiLeaks. Fox News retracted the article a week later.</p><p data-block-key=\"y93er\">In 2018, Aaron Rich sued Edward Butowsky, Matthew Couch and America First Media, alleging that they had defamed him by publishing false statements about his purported involvement in such a plot and prior knowledge of his brother’s murder.</p><p data-block-key=\"goppf\">According to a <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6876399-AaronRich-177.html\">court order</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Aaron Rich alleges that journalist Zimmerman was in frequent contact with Butowsky both before and after her article was retracted. Butowsky also appears to rely on Zimmerman’s article as a basis for his defense in the suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"ufhaa\">Zimmerman’s Twitter account was also among those listed in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/twitter-subpoenaed-information-journalists-media-outlets/\">a 2018 subpoena</a> issued to the social media company. Zimmerman could not be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"yqft3\">The January deposition subpoena orders Zimmerman to provide testimony concerning her communications with Butowsky, any knowledge she may have as to whether he acted intentionally or recklessly and Fox News’ decision-making process behind the retraction.</p><p data-block-key=\"he55s\">On Jan. 15, Fox and Zimmerman moved for a protective order barring her deposition on the basis that her testimony is protected by newsgathering privilege under the First Amendment and New York’s reporter shield law.</p><p data-block-key=\"wvv4d\">U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied their motion on March 25, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"xh0ln\">In his April 9 order explaining that decision, Leon wrote that Zimmerman’s communications with Butowsky were not protected because he was not her source (nor had Zimmerman claimed that he was), and that in sharing information with Butowsky she “waived any newsgathering privilege.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qt2sg\">Leon also stipulated that the outlet’s decision to retract Zimmerman’s article is not privileged, and even if it were, Aaron Rich had demonstrated the centrality of her testimony to his case.</p><p data-block-key=\"by0v2\">Fox and Zimmerman filed a motion for the court to reconsider its decision on April 22. Attorneys for Fox News and Zimmerman declined to comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"4vjnz\">In the <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6876401-Zimmerman.html\">motion</a>, reviewed by the Tracker, they argue that Judge Leon took an “unduly narrow” view of what is protected by reporter’s privilege. Butowsky — even though he is not quoted in Zimmerman’s piece — should still be considered a source, they said, and the decision to retract an article is made through the same editorial process as the decision to publish.</p><p data-block-key=\"g17xw\">Fox and Zimmerman urged Leon, if he remained unmoved by those arguments, to vacate his rulings on those issues and to rest his decision to allow Zimmerman’s deposition solely on the determination that Rich had overcome her reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"eyzdp\">“Those questions concerning scope and waiver of the privilege have constitutional dimension, as well as implications for journalists beyond the confines of this dispute, and they should not be decided unless it is necessary for the Court to do so,” the motion reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"qfvy1\">As of this writing, no decision has been reached on this latest motion.</p><p data-block-key=\"p83cr\">The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Tracker partner organization, <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/seth-rich-lawsuit-implications/\">wrote</a> that the ruling could pose significant First Amendment issues if not rolled back.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lj1g\">“Far from not being part of the editorial process in newsgathering, as the district court found, the decision to retract a story is perhaps the most ‘weighty’ exercise of editorial judgment there is,” writes Gabe Rottman, director of RCFP’s Technology and Press Freedom Project.</p><p data-block-key=\"uchrk\">“To allow that holding to stand would discourage all news organizations from having these discussions, which would harm newsgathering and the free flow of true information to the public.”</p></div>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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"updates": [
"(2020-09-28 11:54:00+00:00) Fox News journalist withdraws opposition to subpoena in defamation lawsuit"
],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Malia Zimmerman (Fox News)"
],
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"upheld"
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},
{
"title": "Court upholds subpoena of Richmond Times-Dispatch in civil lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/court-upholds-subpoena-of-richmond-times-dispatch-in-civil-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-29T18:38:29.979290Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-14T13:34:01.798104Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-14T13:34:01.636829Z",
"date": "2020-01-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Richmond",
"longitude": -77.46026,
"latitude": 37.55376,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1v83a\">On Jan. 7, 2020, a subpoena was issued to the BH Media Group, owner of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, seeking published and source material from any interviews the newspaper had done with Jason Kamras, superintendent of Richmond Public Schools and one of the defendants in a lawsuit concerning an alleged cheating scandal at a local elementary school.</p><p data-block-key=\"ah1ec\">In July 2019, three of the school’s former teachers sued Kamras, the Richmond City School Board and Richmond Public Schools for “defamation and violation of their right to due process,” according to <a href=\"https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/former-teachers-sue-rps-superintendent-after-carver-sol-cheating-scandal/\">WRIC</a>, the ABC affiliate station in Richmond. The teachers had proctored Standards of Learning tests in 2018 and were later cited in a <a href=\"http://richmondfreepress.com/documents/2018/aug/07/carver-elementary-vdoe-report/\">Virginia Department of Education report</a> that summarized testing irregularities and noted that “inappropriate assistance” had been provided by some school employees to help students pass their tests.</p><p data-block-key=\"xjgnz\">The Times-Dispatch <a href=\"https://richmond.com/news/local/carver-principal-and-5-others-resign-from-richmond-public-schools-after-test-cheating-investigation/article_f7ee4f6e-61d2-56f8-a019-3465f21017c8.html\">covered</a> the scandal throughout the summer of 2018. During pretrial discovery in the case, the plaintiffs subpoenaed the Times-Dispatch to produce published and unpublished material regarding the coverage of the scandal by the newspaper. The parties resolved most of the requests made in the subpoena with the exception of certain unpublished material, including the recording of an interview conducted between reporter Justin Mattingly and Kamras. In the motion to quash the subpoena, the newspaper argued that the First Amendment extends protection to all unpublished material obtained in the process of news-gathering and that the recording of the interview was irrelevant, since the plaintiff’s defamation claims were based on Kamras’ public statements.</p><p data-block-key=\"x69l9\">On May 22, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia <a href=\"https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5ed688734653d00b844931a6\">denied the motion to quash</a> the subpoena, noting that the recording of the interview was testament to Kamras’ state of mind and deemed it plausible that Kamras made other similar, possibly defamatory statements during the course of the interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"znzxr\">The court held that the newspaper’s claim that the information could be obtained from other sources, including cross-examination of the defendant, was nonviable, since the defendant’s recollection could raise concerns of credibility during the trial. It also acknowledged that the newspaper had diminished interest in protecting the source, since Kamras was not a confidential source, and ruled “that the interest in disclosure outweighs the Reporter's interest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9bclf\">When reached for comment, Richmond Times-Dispatch executive editor Paige Mudd told the Tracker that the newspaper “won’t have any comment on this matter.” David B. Lacy, an attorney for BH Media Group, did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ej3g\">BH Media group was <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.450232/gov.uscourts.vaed.450232.32.0.pdf\">ordered</a> to produce the recording by May 29. With no further information available, the status of the subpoena is classified as “carried out.”</p><p data-block-key=\"g8sb\"><i>Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include details of the May 22, 2020, order and to modify the subpoena status.</i></p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Richmond Times-Dispatch"
],
"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"upheld"
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},
{
"title": "Trump Justice Department secretly obtained records of 4 New York Times reporters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-justice-department-secretly-obtained-phone-records-of-four-new-york-times-reporters/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-21T15:56:37.518168Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:48:19.014597Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:48:18.914656Z",
"date": "2020-01-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vhprs\">The U.S. Department of Justice informed The New York Times on June 2, 2021, that the agency secretly obtained phone records of four of the newspaper’s reporters during the Trump administration, the Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/us/trump-administration-phone-records-times-reporters.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"78t3a\">The Justice Department, now under President Joe Biden, sent a letter to the Times saying that in 2020 it had obtained phone logs spanning nearly four months of 2017 for multiple Times reporters — Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eric Lichtblau and Michael S. Schmidt — as part of a leak investigation. While the letter didn’t specify the subject of the investigation, according to the Times the four reporters were <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/us/politics/james-comey-election.html\">covering</a> then-FBI Director James Comey’s handling of investigations into the 2016 election, and had published classified information.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0lek\">Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet told the newspaper in a statement: “President Biden has said this sort of interference with a free press will not be tolerated in his administration. We expect the Department of Justice to explain why this action was taken and what steps are being taken to make certain it does not happen again in the future.”</p><p data-block-key=\"snte9\">Goldman’s phone records also were seized in 2013 while he was reporting for The Associated Press, which helped <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/us/trump-administration-phone-records-times-reporters.html\">spur reforms to the department’s policies</a> on obtaining journalists’ records. Goldman didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I don’t care who is president - Republican or Democrat - I will always try to inform the public.</p>— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/adamgoldmanNYT/status/1400250593936134149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 3, 2021</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oxhiy\">“I don’t care who is president—Republican or Democrat—I will always try to inform the public,” Goldman <a href=\"https://twitter.com/adamgoldmanNYT/status/1400250593936134149\">wrote</a> in a June 2 tweet.</p><p data-block-key=\"94yoc\">CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/20/politics/trump-secretly-obtained-cnn-reporter-records/index.html\">reported</a> that DOJ regulations for issuing media subpoenas were changed under the Obama administration in 2015 to require that the attorney general authorize any such legal orders related to journalists’ communications or work products. While the regulations mandated that the journalist and outlet be notified of the seizures, the policy set no clear timetable for notification.</p><p data-block-key=\"3wc0b\">The revelation about the Times reporters’ phone records was the latest in a series of recent disclosures about the Trump administration’s efforts to use the seizure of journalists’ communications to identify leakers or critics of the administration. On June 4, a gag order was lifted, allowing Times attorney Dave McCraw to reveal that the DOJ also had <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-attempts-to-seize-email-records-of-four-new-york-times-reporters/\">attempted to obtain the four reporters’ email records</a> in an effort that began in January 2021 and continued under the Biden administration.</p><p data-block-key=\"owsnp\">On May 21, President Joe Biden condemned such seizures as “simply, simply wrong,” the AP <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/arts-and-entertainment-government-and-politics-27a0ab87662217be1989a2d5a7465610\">reported</a>. In keeping with Biden’s sentiments, the DOJ announced on June 5 that it would no longer seize journalists’ records during leak investigations, <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-business-government-and-politics-67ac2f4f96b2dfd7f47446662e59ec6e\">according to the AP</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"nnfpf\">“This announcement is a potential sea change for press freedom rights in the United States,” Trevor Timm, executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/in-a-sea-change-for-press-freedom-biden-justice-department-vows-not-to-spy-on-reporters-doing-their-job/\">said in a statement</a>. “While we’re encouraged to see this announcement ending this invasive and disturbing tactic, the devil is—of course—in the details. The Justice Department must now write this categorical bar of journalist surveillance into its official ‘media guidelines,’ and Congress should also immediately enshrine the rules into law to ensure no administration can abuse its power again.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ldns8\">FPF is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker and manages its day-to-day operations.</p><p data-block-key=\"nklvj\">When reached for comment concerning the newspaper’s push for an explanation from the Justice Department, Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha confirmed to the Tracker that publisher A.G. Sulzberger would be meeting with the attorney general and shared a statement from him ahead of that meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"57o20\">“We’re pleased that Attorney General [Merrick] Garland has agreed to this meeting. We hope to use the meeting to learn more about how this seizure of records happened and to seek a commitment that the Department of Justice will no longer seize journalists’ records during leak investigations,” Sulzberger said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ym9kh\">Garland met with executives from The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN on June 14, and <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/us/politics/leak-investigations-justice-department.html\">affirmed</a> the planned policy changes. While Garland’s comments during the meeting were off the record, The Times reported that Sulzberger was encouraged by Garland’s statements but said he would continue to push the department until the outlets’ concerns are fully addressed.</p></div>",
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": "Unknown",
"third_party_business": "telecom company",
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Matt Apuzzo (The New York Times)",
"Adam Goldman (The New York Times)",
"Eric Lichtblau (The New York Times)",
"Michael S. Schmidt (The New York Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"carried out"
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},
{
"title": "Trump Justice Department secretly obtained CNN Pentagon reporter’s email, phone records",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-justice-department-secretly-obtained-cnn-pentagon-reporters-email-phone-records/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-16T13:43:27.367253Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:47:37.752546Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:47:37.672102Z",
"date": "2020-01-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eb2h4\">The U.S. Department of Justice informed CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr on May 13, 2021, that under the Trump administration, the agency secretly obtained her work and personal phone and email records, CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/20/politics/trump-secretly-obtained-cnn-reporter-records/index.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"59n7k\">According to CNN, prosecutors obtained Starr’s records from June 1 to July 31, 2017, including records from her phone extension at the Pentagon, the CNN Pentagon booth phone, Starr’s home and work numbers, and both her work and personal email accounts.</p><p data-block-key=\"anqc1\">The phone information obtained included “toll records” for each number, which detail the numbers of calls to and from the line and the duration of each. Similarly, prosecutors obtained “non-content information” for Starr’s email addresses: the recipient, sender and timestamp of each email but not the contents, the outlet reported. CNN said the records were obtained without notifying Starr or her employer.</p><p data-block-key=\"qfg9w\">It is unclear what investigators were looking for, CNN reported, as well as when the investigation was opened and whether it was by Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Attorney General William Barr, both appointed by former President Trump. Neither Starr nor CNN responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"nm37n\">Anthony Coley, DOJ’s director of public affairs and a senior advisor to Attorney General Merrick Garland, said in a statement to CNN that the decision to subpoena Starr’s communications was approved by the Trump administration in 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"2qs4a\">“Department leadership will soon meet with reporters to hear their concerns about recent notices and further convey Attorney General Garland’s staunch support of and commitment to a free and independent press,” Coley said.</p><p data-block-key=\"pkbf6\">“CNN strongly condemns the secret collection of any aspect of a journalist’s correspondence, which is clearly protected by the First Amendment,” said CNN President Jeff Zucker in a statement to the outlet. “We are asking for an immediate meeting with the Justice Department for an explanation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qo32j\">The revelation about Starr’s records was one in a series of recent disclosures about the Trump administration’s efforts to use the seizure of journalists’ communications to identify leakers or critics of the administration.</p><p data-block-key=\"etwjc\">CNN reported that DOJ regulations for issuing media subpoenas were changed under the Obama administration in 2015, to require that the attorney general authorize any such legal orders related to journalists’ communications or work product. While the regulations mandated that the journalist and outlet be notified of the seizures, the policy set no clear timetable for notification.</p><p data-block-key=\"h9wx6\">On May 21, 2021, President Joe Biden condemned such seizures as “simply, simply wrong” following the revelations about Starr’s records, The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/arts-and-entertainment-government-and-politics-27a0ab87662217be1989a2d5a7465610\">reported</a>. In keeping with Biden’s sentiments, the DOJ announced on June 5 that it will no longer seize journalists’ records during leak investigations, <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-business-government-and-politics-67ac2f4f96b2dfd7f47446662e59ec6e\">according to the AP</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"frzto\">“This announcement is a potential sea change for press freedom rights in the United States,” Trevor Timm, executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/in-a-sea-change-for-press-freedom-biden-justice-department-vows-not-to-spy-on-reporters-doing-their-job/\">said in a statement</a>. “While we’re encouraged to see this announcement ending this invasive and disturbing tactic, the devil is — of course — in the details. The Justice Department must now write this categorical bar of journalist surveillance into its official ‘media guidelines,’ and Congress should also immediately enshrine the rules into law to ensure no administration can abuse its power again.”</p><p data-block-key=\"zt0jr\">Attorney General Merrick Garland met with executives from CNN as well as those from The New York Times and The Washington Post on June 14, and <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/us/politics/leak-investigations-justice-department.html\">affirmed</a> the planned policy changes.</p></div>",
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"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": "Unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
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"categories": [
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"Barbara Starr (CNN)"
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{
"title": "Trump DOJ obtained 2017 phone records of 3 Washington Post reporters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-doj-seized-2017-phone-records-of-three-washington-post-reporters/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-08T21:08:48.142452Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-25T22:33:38.499508Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-25T22:33:38.228064Z",
"date": "2020-01-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f598k\">The U.S. Department of Justice on May 3, 2021, notified Washington Post reporters Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller, and former Post reporter Adam Entous, that it had obtained their phone records from 2017 over reporting on the Trump administration's communications with Russia during the 2016 election, <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-justice-dept-seized-post-reporters-phone-records/2021/05/07/933cdfc6-af5b-11eb-b476-c3b287e52a01_story.html\">the Post reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3clrc\">The Justice Department wrote in three separate letters that they obtained the reporters' phone records from April 15, 2017 to July 31, 2017, the Post reported. The article said the letters don’t state the purpose of this seizure, but noted that “toward the end of the time period mentioned in the letters, those reporters wrote<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-discussed-trump-campaign-related-matters-with-russian-ambassador-us-intelligence-intercepts-show/2017/07/21/3e704692-6e44-11e7-9c15-177740635e83_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_18\"> a story about classified U.S. intelligence intercepts</a> indicating that in 2016, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) had discussed the Trump campaign with Sergey Kislyak, who was Russia’s ambassador to the United States.”</p><p data-block-key=\"07u3w\">The letters received at the Post were signed by Channing D. Phillips, the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and John C. Demers, the head of the Justice Department’s national security division, the paper reported. Records from five phones had been seized. These were Nakashima’s work, cell and home phones; Miller’s work and cellphones; and Entous’ cellphone.</p><p data-block-key=\"uy5eq\">"We are deeply troubled by this use of government power to seek access to the communications of journalists,” the Post’s acting executive editor, Cameron Barr, said in the article. “The Department of Justice should immediately make clear its reasons for this intrusion into the activities of reporters doing their jobs, an activity protected under the First Amendment."</p><p data-block-key=\"ecj7b\">A Justice Department spokesman told the Post that the decision to obtain those records came in 2020, during the Trump Administration. A specific date or the name of the telecom company in possession of the records was not disclosed. The letters, according to the article, also indicated a court order to take “non content communication records” for the reporters’ work email accounts, but the Justice Department didn’t do so. The Post said the timeline of the leak investigation was unclear, but the Justice Department is typically required to tell the news organization that it took action to obtain media records, which explains the notification of the reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"mf8xr\">The Department of Justice, The Washington Post and the reporters didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>",
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"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Adam Entous (The Washington Post)",
"Greg Miller (The Washington Post)",
"Ellen Nakashima (The Washington Post)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"carried out"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Former Fox News reporter subpoenaed in defamation lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-fox-news-reporter-subpoenaed-in-defamation-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-15T17:22:48.060847Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-06-28T20:02:01.678446Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-06-28T20:02:01.552521Z",
"date": "2020-01-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eycq0\">In the early hours of July 10, 2016, Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee, was <a href=\"https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/man-shot-killed-in-northwest-dc/2074048/\">fatally shot</a> while walking to his home in Washington, D.C. His death, while unsolved, is believed to be the result of a <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/08/08/749392506/conspiracyland-debunks-theories-about-murder-of-dnc-staffer-seth-rich\">robbery gone wrong</a>. It quickly, however, became a <a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-43727858\">flash point</a> for conspiracy theories: that Rich had been behind a DNC email dump to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and that he’d effectively been assassinated because of it. None of the claims have ever been substantiated.</p><p data-block-key=\"h612b\">On March 26, 2018, Rich’s brother, Aaron, <a href=\"https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/27/media/seth-rich-brother-sues-washington-times/index.html\">filed a defamation suit</a> in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against a slew of defendants — Texas businessman and then-frequent Fox News guest Ed Butowsky, the Washington Times, America First Media Group and its founder, Matt Couch — who he’d alleged had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” and falsely linked both himself and his brother to the email leak.</p><p data-block-key=\"m6rzx\">During the course of three years of litigation, attorneys for both sides collectively subpoenaed nearly a dozen news outlets and members of the press. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all subpoena requests individually; Find a complete overview of the known subpoenas for this case in the blog post, “<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/nearly-a-dozen-journalists-outlets-and-third-parties-subpoenaed-in-defamation-suit/\">Nearly a dozen journalists, outlets and third parties subpoenaed in defamation suit</a>.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mtvlv\">In January 2021, both <a href=\"https://thedcpatriot.com/statement-from-matt-couch/\">Couch</a> and <a href=\"https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/i-never-had-physical-proof-to-back-up-any-such-statements-former-fox-news-guest-apologizes-to-seth-richs-brother-for-dnc-conspiracy-theory/\">Butowsky</a> publicly apologized and retracted prior claims made about the Rich brothers, though Butowsky deleted his statement of contrition almost immediately, according to Law & Crime. Couch and Rich reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 19; Butowsky and Rich reached an agreement on March 22. The lawsuit was terminated officially when District Judge Richard Leon granted Rich’s motions to dismiss the charges against the defendants on March 29. The details of the settlement agreements were not made public.</p><h4 data-block-key=\"c6ixs\">Adam Housley | Former Fox News reporter</h4><p data-block-key=\"lh2ma\">In May 2017, Housley was involved in publishing an article with Malia Zimmerman that alleged Seth Rich's connection to stealing and sharing DNC emails with WikiLeaks. Fox News retracted the article a week later. Zimmerman was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-journalist-subpoenaed-testimony-defamation-lawsuit/\">subpoenaed</a> in January 2020.</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"cq7vr\"><b>January 2020:</b> Rich serves Housley with a subpoena sometime around Jan. 7, the date he serves a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fox-news-journalist-subpoenaed-testimony-defamation-lawsuit/\">similar subpoena</a> to Zimmerman. Fox and Zimmerman quickly move for a protective order barring Zimmerman’s deposition on the basis of reporter’s privilege, and the depositions of both Fox reporters are placed on hold until District Judge Richard Leon reaches a ruling on the motion.</li><li data-block-key=\"oivds\"><b>March 25, 2020:</b> Leon denies Fox and Zimmerman’s motion for a protective order.</li><li data-block-key=\"uyq8s\"><b>April 23, 2020:</b> Leon orders that, given his March 25 ruling, the depositions of both Housley and Zimmerman may proceed.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"kj6bq\"><b>Status of Subpoena</b></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"g22eh\">With the case closed, any outstanding subpoenas would become moot. Housley did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment via Twitter direct message, and it is unclear from the court filings alone whether his deposition was completed. Therefore, the Tracker is listing the status of the subpoena as “unknown” until further information is available.</li></ul></div>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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"Adam Housley (Fox News)"
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"unknown"
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},
{
"title": "Wife of Georgia county commissioner dumps drink on reporter’s head, soaking her and her equipment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wife-of-georgia-county-commissioner-dumps-drink-on-reporters-head-soaking-her-and-her-equipment/",
"first_published_at": "2019-12-20T17:08:25.838234Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-27T21:26:58.448084Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-27T21:26:58.323267Z",
"date": "2019-12-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chattooga County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"scxhg\">AllOnGeorgia reporter Casie Bryant was set up to report on a county budget meeting in Chattooga County in the state’s northwest corner on Dec. 13, 2019, when the county commissioner’s wife dumped a soda on her.</p><p data-block-key=\"4xsmh\">According to a Summerville police incident report <a href=\"https://allongeorgia.com/chattooga-local-government/video-commissioners-wife-facing-charges-for-assault-on-allongeorgia-reporter/\">published by AllOnGeorgia</a>, Bryant was sitting at the conference table when Abbey Winters, wife of Sole Commissioner Jason Winters, poured a drink over her head, soaking her hair, clothes, belongings and equipment. In photos of the incident <a href=\"https://www.thesummervillenews.com/2019/12/13/police-called-to-commissioners-office/\">published</a> by The Summerville News, it appears that Bryant’s tablet was covered in the beverage.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The wife of Chattooga County's sole commissioner poured a soda on a reporter's head this morning. The Summerville PD is charging Abbey Winters with simple battery and disorderly conduct. The reporter is Casie Bryant of All On Georgia. Photos courtesy of the Summerville News <a href=\"https://t.co/V3pz6UbWY8\">pic.twitter.com/V3pz6UbWY8</a></p>— Patrick Filbin (@PatrickFilbin) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PatrickFilbin/status/1205612195142344711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 13, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"buyt6\">The incident was witnessed by representatives from the local newspaper and radio station, as well as four others. Several of these witnesses told police that the attack appeared to be completely unprovoked and that they heard Abbey Winters say twice after dumping the drink that Bryant “deserved” it.</p><p data-block-key=\"hdrf9\">In a <a href=\"https://youtu.be/bNrRebVNe-M\">video of the incident</a> taken by Bryant and posted on AllOnGeorgia’s YouTube channel, Jason Winters is seen and heard saying, “Every bit of this has been brought on,” while pointing toward Bryant.</p><p data-block-key=\"s79vt\">According to the incident report, neither of the Winters’ spoke with police at the scene, but after seeking legal counsel Abbey Winters told police that she had tripped and spilled the drink accidentally.</p><p data-block-key=\"i7blu\">AllOnGeorgia reported that following an investigation, police applied for warrants on Abbey Winters for simple battery and disorderly conduct, turning the matter over to the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office.</p><p data-block-key=\"0vzmq\">“What happened at the budget meeting today was completely inappropriate and I’m disappointed to see not only the behavior of those involved, but the excuses made for the behavior after the fact,” AllOnGeorgia owner Delvis Dutton said in the outlet’s report of the incident. “The media plays an integral role in ensuring transparency and these types of antics are dangerous to open government and a disservice to the people it serves.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cr9jw\">The Chattanooga Times Free Press <a href=\"https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2019/dec/16/could-facebook-post-have-spurred-chattoogcoun/510730/\">reported</a> that Winters turned herself in at the Chattooga County Jail that afternoon and was released on a $1,520 bond on both counts.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/bryant_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"m3uxl\">Reporter Casie Bryant sits drenched in liquid after a drink was poured on her head at a Chattooga County, Georgia, budget meeting. The wife of the county commissioner has been charged with simple battery and disorderly conduct for the dousing.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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{
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}
],
"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-07-10 13:59:00+00:00) Case against commissioner’s wife who doused reporter is closed"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Casie Bryant (AllOnGeorgia)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Subpoena issued for journalist’s Twitter communication",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/subpoena-issued-twitter-communication-journalist-others/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-10T16:43:52.073358Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T18:48:08.686485Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T18:48:08.589616Z",
"date": "2019-12-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Charlottesville",
"longitude": -78.47668,
"latitude": 38.02931,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f5bw2\">As part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit, an attorney representing public relations and communications strategist Trevor FitzGibbon subpoenaed Twitter to compel the social media company to produce information on nearly two dozen accounts, at least one of which belongs to a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"mlvjl\">Filed in Virginia on Dec. 12, 2019, the subpoena requested all direct messages, private messages and group messages between the defendant — high-profile attorney Jesselyn Radack — and 22 Twitter accounts, among other things.</p><p data-block-key=\"ec8vx\">The Twitter account of freelance reporter Charles Davis is among those identified in the subpoena. After receiving an email from Twitter notifying him that his account was implicated, Davis <a href=\"https://twitter.com/charliearchy/status/1220880468695908352\">tweeted</a> that he was named in retaliation for <a href=\"https://medium.com/@charlesdavis/trevor-fitzgibbon-used-to-run-a-major-progressive-public-relations-firm-representing-clients-from-25e93256217f\">his reporting</a> on FitzGibbon in 2017. Davis shared a copy of the subpoena with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker and said that he sent a statement to Twitter noting that he objected to the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"i26gr\">“It is legal harassment,” Davis said. “And while Twitter seems committed to defending its users, it also makes me think it might be time to switch to encrypted messaging apps like Signal for any conversation, sensitive or not.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3lg9k\">Other accounts named in the subpoena include those of numerous satirists, activists and lawyers as well as Andrew Stepanian of Sparrow Media. Stepanian told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he does not identify as a journalist. A blogger who did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment was also named.</p><p data-block-key=\"g69bp\">Twitter filed <a href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QM3QgyGMAB1rkOKv5fDdLBknWoQYZW5N/view\">a memorandum in support</a> of quashing the subpoena on Feb. 4, 2020, stating, “The Subpoena suffers from a litany of substantive defects and must be quashed.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hdlft\">In reference to the request for direct communications, Twitter argued FitzGibbon’s lawyer Steven Biss both sought irrelevant information or information that should be obtained from Radack, and placed an undue burden on the company.</p><p data-block-key=\"uctuh\">In its memorandum, Twitter mentions that its counsel met with Biss twice, raising issues with the subpoena and requesting that he withdraw it. According to Twitter, Biss refused. In an email exchange following the second meeting, FitzGibbon’s counsel again refused to withdraw the subpoena, but narrowed the request to Radack’s communications with 17 accounts.</p><p data-block-key=\"cr3fx\">It is unclear whether reporter Davis’ Twitter account is still listed in the revised subpoena. Biss did not return the Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"a6nnu\">FitzGibbon’s underlying case against Radack is scheduled to go to trial on July 13, and all evidence must be finalized by June 29, including information gained from discovery subpoenas.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/FitzGibbon.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bamn7\">A portion of the subpoena seeking, among other things, private Twitter messages between nearly two dozen accounts.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": "Twitter",
"third_party_business": "tech company",
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-06-18 00:00:00+00:00) Subpoena to Twitter seeking journalist’s records dropped"
],
"case_statuses": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Charles Davis (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"pending"
],
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},
{
"title": "Using obscure legal justification, NYPD subpoenas reporter's records",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/using-obscure-legal-justification-nypd-subpoenas-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2020-02-24T20:25:41.440118Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T14:50:49.683916Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T14:50:49.570527Z",
"date": "2019-12-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"svlfx\">The New York Police Department subpoenaed Twitter for the account information of a New York Post journalist on Dec. 9, 2019, as part of a departmental leak investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8od4\">The Post <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2020/02/13/nypd-tried-to-subpoena-ny-post-reporters-twitter-account-citing-anti-terror-law/\">reported</a> that its police bureau chief Tina Moore tweeted out crime scene photos in mid-October that “appear to be at the center of the NYPD subpoena.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f8eq7\">The subpoena, <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6776056-NYPD-Twitter-subpoena.html\">published by the Post</a>, commands Twitter to produce all device and contact information for Moore’s Twitter account, as well as her handle’s IP and internet connection history from Oct. 9 through Oct. 14.</p><p data-block-key=\"bm8zm\">Adam Scott Wandt, an assistant professor at John Jay College who specializes in digital forensics and cybersecurity, told the Post the subpoena appears to focus not on Moore’s communications but “where she is and what equipment was used.”</p><p data-block-key=\"y01pp\">Wandt said the information requested could be used to create a “network trail,” geo-locating Moore’s movements over the requested days.</p><p data-block-key=\"eyy4c\">The subpoena claims legal authority under the city’s administrative code and the Patriot Act — a federal law passed following 9/11 which expanded law enforcement authorities. The provision of the act cited pertains to the digital transfer of information and metadata, which the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/nypd-patriot-act-subpoena\">noted</a> is one of the most obscure sections.</p><p data-block-key=\"ac5cc\">NYPD spokesperson Sgt. Jessica McRorie confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the department has an open investigation into the source of the leaked photos.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rrez\">“Tina Moore was never the focus of our investigation,” McRorie said in a statement. McRorie declined to answer further questions on the focus of the subpoena and why the Patriot Act was cited.</p><p data-block-key=\"xguir\">Courtney Radsch, advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement, “Using the Patriot Act to subpoena a journalist’s social media data is not only a gross overstep by the New York Police Department, it is reminiscent of how countries without democratic safeguards use anti-terrorism laws to dampen or retaliate against critical journalism.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8xaig\">In early February 2020, Twitter notified Moore of the subpoena. The social media company confirmed to the Tracker that it did not comply with the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"lkil5\">The NYPD withdrew the request on Feb. 13, after attorneys for the Post contacted the department, the Post reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"p6kbz\">Moore declined to comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"jw82a\">In a <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/nyregion/patriot-act-subpoena-nypd.html\">statement to The New York Times</a>, Post spokeswoman Iva Benson said the police department’s actions were “antithetical to a free press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4907l\">“The Patriot Act was passed to make it easier to prevent deadly terror attacks, not help the government crack down on people who speak to reporters,” Benson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2q2sd\">New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio <a href=\"https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/inside-city-hall/2020/02/18/mondays-with-the-mayor-bill-de-blasio-trump-sanctuary-cities-slams-deployment-of-border-patrol\">said on NY1</a> show “Inside City Hall” that the subpoena was a mistake.</p><p data-block-key=\"cmtc3\">“I think the effort to ensure that information that is not public is kept confidential — that’s fair. But subpoenaing a reporter in that fashion? I’m not comfortable with that. Freedom of the press really matters,” de Blasio said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Moore_NYPD.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2372y\">A portion of the subpoena for New York Post reporter Tina Moore's Twitter information</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": "Twitter",
"third_party_business": "tech company",
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"New York Post"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"subpoena_statuses": [
"dropped"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "TV stations in Washington state, Montana hit with cyberattack",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-stations-in-washington-state-montana-hit-with-cyberattack/",
"first_published_at": "2025-03-07T22:17:11.972602Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-07T22:17:11.972602Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-07T22:17:11.781195Z",
"date": "2019-12-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hugp2\">At least 10 TV stations in Washington state and Montana belonging to Cowles Co. were affected by a Dec. 8, 2019, cyberattack on the software running their news broadcasts.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ac8q\">Patricia McRae, then president of Cowles-owned station groups KHQ, Inc., and Cowles Montana Media, <a href=\"https://www.krtv.com/news/montana-and-regional-news/several-montana-tv-stations-hit-by-cyberattack\">told KRTV</a> that the attack — which affected seven stations in Montana and three in Washington state — damaged systems and software used by the stations to prepare local newscasts, impacting video feedback, graphics and weather systems.</p><p data-block-key=\"ach6a\">The Spokesman-Review <a href=\"https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/dec/10/khq-tv-part-of-cyber-attack-that-hit-news-stations/\">reported</a> that, to continue broadcasting, journalists were resorting to paper scripts, filing stories through private social media accounts and using fewer on-screen graphics and videos.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3rfr\">KHQ reported the attack to the FBI, McRae told the Spokesman-Review. She declined to tell the newspaper whether an attacker had issued demands connected to the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"27i66\">KHQ-TV Station Manager Jason Ramsey told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email in February 2025, “Since the incident we have strengthened our security measures and continue to conduct internal training to prepare for potential future issues.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8mfvm\">Stacey Cowles, president of the print media division of Cowles, told the Tracker via email that it took months for the 10 stations affected “to rebuild and regain full functionality” after the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"bddf\">“I don’t recall the perpetrator, except they were identified as likely Bulgarian,” he wrote. “We believe the malware was introduced through a server port left unsecure for vendor use.”</p><p data-block-key=\"25o05\">He also said that the company experienced a second cyberattack in April 2023, but that in neither case did the attacker indicate it knew the target was a media business.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/KTVQ_screenshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0dr8z\">At least 10 TV stations in Washington and Montana were affected by a Dec. 8, 2019, cyberattack on the software running their news broadcasts.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": null,
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Cowles Co."
],
"tags": [
"cyberattack"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Man arrested after assaulting reporter during live broadcast",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-arrested-after-assaulting-reporter-during-live-broadcast/",
"first_published_at": "2019-12-17T16:29:07.725816Z",
"last_published_at": "2020-09-08T17:59:29.501666Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2020-09-08T17:59:29.403067Z",
"date": "2019-12-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Savannah",
"longitude": -81.09983,
"latitude": 32.08354,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>While reporting live from a race in Savannah, Georgia, broadcast reporter Alex Bozarjian was assaulted on Dec. 7, 2019.</p><p>NBC-affiliate WSAV published a <a href=\"https://www.wsav.com/news/local-news/wsavs-alex-bozarjian-addresses-bridge-run-incident/\">clip of the incident</a>, which shows Bozarjian reporting during the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run when a man forcefully hits her bottom as he runs past.</p><p>Bozarjian looks shocked and stares off towards the man before regaining her composure and resuming her broadcast. Bozarjian responded to the incident in a tweet later that day, saying that the man “violated, objectified, and embarrassed” her.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">To the man who smacked my butt on live TV this morning: You violated, objectified, and embarrassed me. No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better. <a href=\"https://t.co/PRLXkBY5hn\">https://t.co/PRLXkBY5hn</a></p>— Alex Bozarjian (@wsavalexb) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wsavalexb/status/1203372986948112391?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 7, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>The Savannah Sports Council — which owns and operates the bridge run — identified the man as Thomas Callaway and provided his information to WSAV. The Council also said that Callaway has banned him from registering for any of its future races.</p><p>Following the incident, the station issued a <a href=\"https://www.wsav.com/news/local-news/wsavs-alex-bozarjian-addresses-bridge-run-incident/\">statement</a> and posted a video of Callaway’s apology.</p><p>“The conduct displayed toward Alex Bozarjian during her live coverage of Saturday’s Savannah Bridge Run was reprehensible and completely unacceptable,” the statement said. “No one should ever be disrespected in this manner. The safety and protection of our employees is WSAV’s highest priority.”</p><p>WSAV reported that Bozarjian <a href=\"https://www.wsav.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/75/2019/12/Bridge-Run-incident-report.pdf\">filed a sexual battery report</a> with the Savannah Police Department on Dec. 9. In an appearance on “CBS This Morning” the following day, Bozarjian said that the man slapped her hard enough not only to startle her but physically hurt her.</p><p>“He took my power, and I'm trying to take that back,” Bozarjian said. “I think what it really comes down to is that he helped himself to a part of my body.”</p><p>Callaway was arrested on Dec. 13 on a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery, The Guardian <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/14/man-slapped-female-reporter-bottom-live-tv-arrested\">reported</a>. State law <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-16/chapter-6/16-6-22-1/\">defines the crime</a> as “intentionally mak[ing] physical contact with the intimate parts of the body of another person without the consent of that person.” The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail.</p><p>A statement posted on Bozarjian’s Twitter account from high-profile attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Bozarjian, says the reporter will not comment on the incident further in case there is a trial.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://t.co/2kcCAKi5Oj\">pic.twitter.com/2kcCAKi5Oj</a></p>— Alex Bozarjian (@wsavalexb) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wsavalexb/status/1205897903782412288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 14, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Bozarjian_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p>Reporter Alex Bozarjian pauses her on-air broadcast after being hit and grabbed on her backside. A man was later arrested on sexual battery charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-09-01 13:58:00+00:00) Georgia man pleads guilty to sexual battery after assaulting journalist during live broadcast"
],
"case_statuses": null,
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"sexual assault"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alex Bozarjian (WSAV-TV)"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Police officer charged with leaking information to Florida newspaper",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-officer-charged-with-leaking-information-to-florida-newspaper/",
"first_published_at": "2022-06-08T19:03:46.762284Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-18T18:40:25.857774Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-18T18:40:25.772324Z",
"date": "2019-12-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Sunrise",
"longitude": -80.1131,
"latitude": 26.13397,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"df0ru\">Roger Krege, a sergeant with the Sunrise Police Department, was arrested on multiple charges on Dec. 6, 2019, stemming from his alleged leak of sensitive information to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.</p><p data-block-key=\"8i788\"><a href=\"https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/sunrise/fl-ne-sunrise-police-ia-roger-krege-20191030-r7uv4xkqjrfi5d7ku5hw23yw6y-story.html\">According to the Sun-Sentinel</a>, law enforcement executed search warrants against Krege in August on the suspicion that in 2014 he provided the newspaper with a list of confidential informants used in dozens of drug cases, among other things.</p><p data-block-key=\"6arid\">In September 2014, the Sun-Sentinel published <a href=\"https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/interactive/sfl-cops-cash-cocaine-htmlstory.html\">an investigation</a> into police’s use of informants to lure “big-money” drug buyers into the city from across the country in order for officers to seize their money and vehicles once they were arrested. The report did not disclose the names of any informants, but did demonstrate that the newspaper knew the location of the department’s “Vice, Intelligence and Narcotics” unit, prompting the SPD to relocate the office.</p><p data-block-key=\"8uvmc\">Lt. Brian Katz <a href=\"https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/sunrise/fl-ne-sunrise-police-ia-roger-krege-20191030-r7uv4xkqjrfi5d7ku5hw23yw6y-story.html\">told the Sun-Sentinel</a> that this leak was particularly egregious because it jeopardized the safety of all involved.</p><p data-block-key=\"bodr3\">“The exposure and illegal copying of the [list] put every confidential informant in grave danger and threatened the personal safety of every detective working in the Vice, Intelligence and Narcotics unit and working with the confidential informants,” Katz wrote in a statement to the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"2j15j\">Krege was placed on unpaid administrative leave on Sept. 12, 2019, and charged on Dec. 6 with 10 counts, including disclosing confidential information, unlawful copying of an article containing trade secrets, theft and multiple counts of official misconduct, according to the <a href=\"https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/sunrise/fl-ne-sunrise-racketeering-arrest-20191207-ipgfdkzh3rfgdl6kwtjemf32xu-story.html\">Sun-Sentinel</a> and <a href=\"https://www.local10.com/news/local/2019/12/07/sunrise-police-sergeant-arrested-on-multiple-charges-officials-say/\">WPLG Local 10 News</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"d9hsg\">According to the Sun-Sentinel, the department’s press release about the arrest did not mention the newspaper, but did state that Krege is accused of obtaining and trading information on confidential informants using two email accounts.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kbi6\">Under Florida law, both “disclosure or use of confidential criminal justice information” and “theft of or trafficking in trade secrets” are third-degree felonies, punishable by a maximum of five years in prison. If convicted on all charges, Krege would face a maximum prison sentence of more than 50 years.</p><p data-block-key=\"bh48\">On March 3, 2021, prosecutors <a href=\"https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/crime/fl-ne-roger-krege-no-prosecution-20210304-ewceigwmvzacrlm6z6acf5mxoa-story.html\">confirmed to the Sun-Sentinel</a> that Krege agreed to plead no contest to a single charge of making a false official statement and six months’ probation in exchange for the other charges being dropped. As part of the deal, the charges will not show up as a conviction on Krege’s criminal record and allows him to keep his pension.</p><p data-block-key=\"e8boe\">The 2018 police investigation into the media leak determined that Krege disclosed the identity of a confidential informant to his then-wife, Elizabeth Krege, in order for her to provide the information to a reporter, the Sun-Sentinel <a href=\"https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/sunrise/fl-ne-krege-arrest-paperwork-20191226-auxcyxbpobcspptxbxm4gemxsa-story.html\">reported</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Roger-Krege-Mugshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"x8x5f\">Sunrise Police Department Sgt. Roger Krege was arrested on multiple charges on Dec. 6, 2019, stemming from his alleged leak of sensitive information to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2014.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"actor": null,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [
"South Florida Sun-Sentinel"
],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Leak Case"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Restauranteur steals reporter’s cellphones during interview",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/restauranteur-steals-reporters-cellphones-during-interview/",
"first_published_at": "2019-12-19T15:02:07.930585Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-02T19:08:19.086834Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-02T19:08:18.942973Z",
"date": "2019-12-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Phoenix",
"longitude": -112.07404,
"latitude": 33.44838,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dclc9\">An Arizona Republic reporter had two cellphones stolen by a restaurant operator during an interview on Dec. 5, 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei8tn\">Food and dining reporter Priscilla Totiyapungprasert had arranged to interview Tawny Costa, the operator of a new Italian restaurant in Phoenix. Costa had agreed to the interview being recorded, the Republic <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-investigations/2019/12/06/republic-reporters-cellphones-snatched-interview-tawny-costa/2627498001/\">reported</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9is26\">Totiyapungprasert’s personal and work phones were placed on the table during the interview, which ended abruptly when the reporter asked questions about Costa’s past businesses and her connection to Frank Capri, the father of Costa's two children. Capri, also a restauranteur, had multiple locations fail to open or abruptly close amid allegations of fraud and theft, according to the Republic.</p><p data-block-key=\"3vc2f\">In a statement to the police, Totiyapungprasert said Costa abruptly grabbed her phones, elbowing and pushing her when she attempted to grab them back, the Republic reported. Totiyapungprasert also told police that her knee was injured as she reached for her phones.</p><p data-block-key=\"t1nwl\">Costa left the restaurant with the phones and, as of publication, they have not been recovered. The incident remains under investigation by Phoenix police, the Republic reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ajzz\">“We’re thankful for Phoenix police’s response and their concern for Priscilla,” Republic Executive Editor Greg Burton said in <a href=\"https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-investigations/2019/12/06/republic-reporters-cellphones-snatched-interview-tawny-costa/2627498001/\">the newspaper's report of the incident</a>. “A free press is a courageous press, and her actions are an inspiration.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ide5k\">Totiyapungprasert declined to comment to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Totiya.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qq25b\">Police are investigating the theft of two phones from Arizona Republic reporter Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, which she says were stolen during an interview with a Phoenix restaurant operator.</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,
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{
"title": "Indiana governor sends cease and desist letters to news outlets following investigative report",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indiana-governor-sends-cease-and-desist-letters-news-outlets-following-investigative-report/",
"first_published_at": "2019-12-10T19:34:04.204719Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-11T16:43:07.537810Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-11T16:43:07.424441Z",
"date": "2019-11-29",
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"city": "Indianapolis",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kqwhf\">On Nov. 29, four days after Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting published a lengthy investigative piece into injuries at Amazon's warehouses, the general counsel for Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb sent the news organization a cease and desist letter demanding the story be retracted. The Indianapolis Star, which republished the Reveal investigation in <a href=\"https://www.indystar.com/story/news/investigations/2019/11/25/amazon-indiana-governor-eric-holcomb-warehouse-accident-hq-2/4282653002/\">two</a> <a href=\"https://www.indystar.com/story/news/investigations/2019/11/25/amazon-fulfillment-centers-worker-safety-investigation/4283245002/\">parts</a>, also received a cease and desist letter from the governor.</p><p data-block-key=\"2tgy8\">The Reveal <a href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/article/behind-the-smiles/\">investigation</a> — which looked at injury records for 23 of Amazon's 110 fulfillment centers — alleges that Holcomb personally intervened in the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation into the death of an Amazon worker who had been crushed by a forklift. Indiana was vying for Amazon's HQ2 at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"g9bhz\">In his <a href=\"https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://ipbs.org/projects/assets/Holcomb-cease-desist-letters.pdf\">letter</a> to the Indianapolis Star, Joseph Heerens, general counsel for Gov. Holcomb, claims that the stories contain "serious inaccuracies and falsehoods."</p><p data-block-key=\"bdurl\">"These articles seek to unjustifiably and inexcusably harm the good name and reputation of Governor Holcomb,” Heerens wrote. “But more than that, if these serious inaccuracies and falsehoods are not immediately corrected, they represent a threat to the positive business climate that has been created in our State ... That should not be allowed to happen. You must cease and desist from publishing the articles as currently written and take immediate steps to retract them."</p><p data-block-key=\"orbeh\">In a separate cease and desist <a href=\"https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://ipbs.org/projects/assets/Holcomb-cease-desist-letters.pdf\">letter</a> to Reveal, Heerens goes into further detail about his objections to the story. The news outlets later included a <a href=\"https://www.indystar.com/story/news/investigations/2019/11/25/amazon-fulfillment-centers-worker-safety-investigation/4283245002/\">clarification</a> and update to one of those objections.</p><p data-block-key=\"s284u\">The Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists issued a strongly worded <a href=\"http://www.indyprospj.org/news/2019/12/3/an-open-letter-to-gov-holcomb-denouncing-the-use-of-cease-and-desist\">open letter</a> to Holcomb condemning his cease-and-desist letters, holding they represent a "threat to press freedom."</p><p data-block-key=\"ru95j\">Signed by the chapter’s board of directors, the open letter stated that Holcomb's order is "designed to intimidate reporters and journalists looking into your administration" as well as "add to the overall climate in the nation that looks to undermine the credibility of journalists and media outlets."</p><p data-block-key=\"zawfn\">"Although you might not agree with the contents or conclusions of the report in Reveal and the Indianapolis Star, an unusual call by your office for a cease-and-desist order against the media could chill efforts to report an ongoing story," the letter said. An email to Russell for additional comment was not returned as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"vadpc\">The national branch of the Society of Professional Journalists also weighed in with a tweet, calling the cease and desist letters an effort to intimidate and silence the outlets:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We support <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IndyProSPJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@IndyProSPJ</a> in calling out Gov. Holcomb for trying to intimidate and silence <a href=\"https://twitter.com/indystar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@indystar</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/reveal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@reveal</a> through cease-and-desist letters for their reporting of Amazon worker safety. <a href=\"https://t.co/isKGwSYuYD\">https://t.co/isKGwSYuYD</a></p>— Society of Professional Journalists (@spj_tweets) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/spj_tweets/status/1202267618960379904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 4, 2019</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2019-12-10_at_1.45.32.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"x0547\">A portion of one of two cease and desist letters sent from Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb following the publication of an investigative report by Reveal from the Center of Investigative Reporting.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
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"Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting",
"The Indianapolis Star"
],
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}
]
