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{
"title": "Social media journalist shoved by police at Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/social-media-journalist-shoved-by-police-at-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-23T17:00:15.724839Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-07-29T23:23:27.427854Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-07-29T23:23:27.346808Z",
"date": "2021-06-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eem45\">Kevin Gilman, a journalist for the Minnesota-based social media outlet Watchdog Citizen News, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was shoved by a police officer while reporting on a protest in Minneapolis that started the night of June 3, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"bqil3\">The demonstration in the city’s Uptown neighborhood began after officers with a U.S. Marshals task force shot and killed Winston Boogie Smith Jr., a Black man, on June 3, <a href=\"https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/06/04/unrest-erupts-after-man-dies-in-minneapolis-arrest-attempt\">Minnesota Public Radio</a> reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"tt5ji\">Gilman told the Tracker he was using his phone to record video as a police line was pushing protesters back on West Lake Street at around midnight.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7gfj\">Suddenly, Gilman said, an officer ran forward and, holding a baton with both hands, used it to shove Gilman in his left arm.</p><p data-block-key=\"u0lu1\">“All of a sudden, an officer came running out of the formation at me and cross-checked me with his baton,” Gilman said.</p><p data-block-key=\"p3zsv\">Gilman said he dropped his phone, which he was using to film, when the officer shoved him.</p><p data-block-key=\"xdi79\">Video Gilman<a href=\"https://twitter.com/kevgilman/status/1400763936056741889\"> posted on Twitter</a> shows police detaining a woman with a bicycle nearby while more officers in blue uniforms holding long sticks move up the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"g93y7\">One officer, who Gilman said was with the Minneapolis Police Department, runs toward the camera, and Gilman can be heard shouting “I’m press!”</p><p data-block-key=\"ftz8j\">Then the camera shakes and appears to fall to the ground, pointing up.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protests erupted today in Minneapolis after another black man was killed in pursuant of a warrant by Minneapolis police. They were making unreasonable arrests with no dispersement orders and attacking press. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BLM?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BLM</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/DefundThePolice?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DefundThePolice</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/JournalismIsNotCrime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#JournalismIsNotCrime</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/HXx4PG2eps\">pic.twitter.com/HXx4PG2eps</a></p>— KG (@kevgilman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kevgilman/status/1400763936056741889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 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=\"1dxlo\">Gilman told the Tracker he had a large bruise on his left arm where the officer’s baton struck him. He said his phone’s screen had minor scratches, though it was still operable and he didn’t need to get it repaired.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hkvb\">In addition to shouting to identify himself as a journalist, Gilman said he was wearing a vest marked “PRESS” and displaying press credentials made by Watchdog Citizen News.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2j0b\">Gilman said he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist. “He went out of his way to go after me,” he said of the officer who shoved him.</p><p data-block-key=\"dszbf\">A Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson said the journalist could file a complaint if they feel they have been treated improperly by a member of the department. Gilman said he does not plan to file a complaint.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Kevin Gilman (Watchdog Citizen News)"
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{
"title": "Apparent ransomware attack forces local Cox TV stations offline in 3 states",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/apparent-ransomware-attack-forces-local-tv-stations-offline-in-florida-north-carolina-and-pennsylvania/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-23T16:25:10.270100Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-28T16:11:58.292206Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-28T16:11:58.241897Z",
"date": "2021-06-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pat2h\">TV and radio stations owned by the Cox Media Group were forced offline by what was believed to be a ransomware attack starting on June 2, 2021, according to several media reports.</p><p data-block-key=\"t308f\">The attack affected ABC affiliates WFTV in Orlando, Florida, and WSOC in Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as NBC affiliate WPXI in Pittsburgh, according to an <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/tv-news-stations-become-apparent-target-next-cyberattack-n1269662?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=49ba807488-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_06_07_01_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3e953b9b70-49ba807488-400968910\">NBC report</a>. NBC’s June 4 report said the stations had been able to produce some broadcasts for their local audiences.</p><p data-block-key=\"8jkrl\">The three stations are part of the <a href=\"https://www.coxmediagroup.com/\">Cox Media Group</a>, which owns more than 100 news outlets in 20 media markets. Radio stations owned by Cox were also affected by the apparent attack, a report from <a href=\"http://www.insideradio.com/free/cox-media-group-stations-still-offline-a-day-after-apparent-malware-attack/article_7c619380-c506-11eb-9b7b-4f6576d00aa0.html\">Inside Radio</a> said. It found most news radio stations were back on air on June 4, but not the music stations.</p><p data-block-key=\"wsavs\">In ransomware attacks an outside individual or group of hackers takes control of a company’s IT and digital services, and then demands ransom money from the company to “release” them.</p><p data-block-key=\"0iwis\">"We are only able to communicate with each other over personal phones and text messages," a WFTV employee told NBC.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0hag\">"They wouldn't let us say anything on social media about why we weren't on the air," <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/tv-news-stations-become-apparent-target-next-cyberattack-n1269662?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=49ba807488-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_06_07_01_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3e953b9b70-49ba807488-400968910\">a WFTV employee told NBC</a>. "We feel a need to let our viewers know."</p><p data-block-key=\"xt8qv\">In Pittsburgh, the IT network staff began shutting down company servers as a precaution on June 3, an employee told NBC. "Since then we've been locked out," leaving staff unable to access emails and internal programs used for their broadcasts, the employee <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/tv-news-stations-become-apparent-target-next-cyberattack-n1269662?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=49ba807488-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_06_07_01_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3e953b9b70-49ba807488-400968910\">told NBC</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"n6n0q\">The attack meant some systems were still down the following week, including access to some stations’ digital video libraries, according to media reports. Weather computers were also not working for at least two stations, <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/09/politics/cox-media-group-cyberattack/index.html\">said CNN sources</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"b7tgw\">Some <a href=\"https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/09/politics/cox-media-group-cyberattack/index.html\">reports said</a> that journalists were told not to open emails on their phones, and that broadcast software was not working.</p><p data-block-key=\"19jng\">Inside Radio reported that two weeks after the attack, Cox music stations were still not back to full service.</p><p data-block-key=\"i1wod\">It said<b>: “</b>More than a dozen CMG music stations found ... are still offline as the company enters a third week since the hack. Major music brands – like hip-hop/R&B “99 Jamz” WEDR Miami, AC “B98.5’ WSB-FM Atlanta, country “93Q” KKBQ Houston, CHR “The Big Ape” WAPE Jacksonville, soft AC “105.5 The Dove” WDUV Tampa and scores more – are playing this message when listeners attempt to access their stream: ‘This stream is currently unavailable and we are working diligently to bring it back online. Our radio stations continue to broadcast 24/7 and you can listen to us over the air. Thanks for your patience.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"4dqfs\">The Cox Media Group has not confirmed any information about the attack, and it did not respond to a request for a comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
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{
"title": "Independent journalist assaulted while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-assaulted-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-15T16:27:47.567829Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-08-31T20:57:50.251705Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-08-31T20:57:50.138363Z",
"date": "2021-05-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p42q4\">Andy Ngo, who identifies as an independent journalist and photographer and is an editor-at-large for the conservative news site The Post Millennial, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was assaulted while observing a protest in Portland, Oregon, on May 28, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"ls1y2\">Ngo is an out-spoken critic of antifa and has covered antifa demonstrations and protests since 2016, primarily publishing the videos taken on his GoPro to Twitter and YouTube. Ngo told the Tracker he does not wear press identification or badges while covering protests, and on the day of the assault was deliberately wearing clothing and ski goggles that would obscure his identity, citing his infamy in Portland’s “antifa community.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a5mzh\">Protesters had gathered in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland on May 28 shortly before 9 p.m. to mark the one-year anniversary of racial justice protests in Portland, The Oregonian <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/05/on-the-1-year-anniversary-of-portland-protests-crowd-gathers-to-memorialize-george-floyd.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"28jtg\">Shortly before midnight, Ngo said, an individual at the demonstration approached him and began asking him questions. When he did not respond and walked approximately a block away, Ngo said, multiple others again approached and questioned him, including asking why he looked so nervous. One of the individuals then pulled off his goggles and mask, revealing his identity.</p><p data-block-key=\"o2w70\">Ngo said he attempted to leave, but some of the individuals chased him, knocked him to the ground and punched him repeatedly. Ngo said he then took refuge in The Nines, a nearby hotel. The crowd attempted to follow Ngo into the hotel, Willamette Week <a href=\"https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/05/29/portland-protesters-chase-tackle-and-punch-someone-they-believe-to-be-andy-ngo-until-he-hides-in-the-nines-hotel/\">reported</a>, and pulled on the front doors shouting, “You wanna kill us? You wanna kill us, Andy?”</p><p data-block-key=\"edrgk\">In his statement on Twitter, Ngo wrote, “No journalist in America should ever face violence for doing his or her job. Yet on Friday, May 28, Antifa tried to kill me again while I was reporting on the ongoing protests and riots in Portland, Ore. for a new chapter of my book.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3w0kz\">Ngo wrote that a medic from Portland Fire and Rescue escorted him through a back entrance of the hotel to an ambulance. He was then taken to a hospital, where he was treated for multiple injuries; Ngo told the Tracker he received injuries to his left leg, right hand, hip and a burst blood vessel in his eye. Ngo said he has a follow up appointment to check whether a bone in his wrist was fractured. He said he filed a police report about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ci0b\">The Portland Police Bureau told the Tracker via email that the department does not release information about crime victims, and did not respond to a request for an update on the status of the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2otn\">A 2019 <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/3/20677645/antifa-portland-andy-ngo-proud-boys\">Vox explainer article</a> outlines the history between Ngo, The Proud Boys and antifa, and how Ngo is considered by some to be more of a provocateur than journalist. Ngo has faced <a href=\"https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/09/16/portland-protesters-say-their-lives-were-upended-by-the-posting-of-their-mug-shots-on-a-conservative-twitter-account/\">significant criticism</a> from activists over the past year, who say that his coverage — particularly his posting of the arrestees’ mugshots to Twitter — spurs death threats and harassment.</p><p data-block-key=\"gxod8\">For the purposes of the Tracker, Ngo identifies as a journalist, has a track record of publication and said he was in the process of documenting a public event when he was attacked. For more about how the Tracker counts incidents, see our <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\">frequently asked questions</a> page.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"(2023-08-21 16:34:00+00:00) Writer awarded $300,000 in lawsuit alleging assault, intimidation campaign"
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{
"title": "AP reporter subpoenaed for second time in Idaho criminal case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-reporter-subpoenaed-for-second-time-in-idaho-criminal-case/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-08T16:43:22.089841Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-06T15:01:08.435549Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-06T15:01:08.379599Z",
"date": "2021-05-27",
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"city": "Boise",
"longitude": -116.20345,
"latitude": 43.6135,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kbvxn\">Associated Press reporter Keith Ridler was subpoenaed on May 27, 2021, by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy, who was seeking Ridler’s reporting materials and testimony in a criminal case against Bundy in Idaho, according to an AP spokesperson. A judge quashed the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ulj6\">The subpoena was filed two months after Ada County Magistrate Judge David Manweiler <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-quashes-subpoena-of-ap-reporter-in-idaho-criminal-case/\">quashed a previous similar subpoena</a> from Bundy.</p><p data-block-key=\"7uudk\">Bundy sought the information in a criminal case against him stemming from protests he led against COVID-19 measures at the Idaho Statehouse<a href=\"https://eu.theledger.com/story/news/2020/08/26/bundy-arrested-idaho-statehouse-second-time-2-days/5636205002/\"> in August</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"xkfcg\">Ridler reported on and photographed Bundy’s arrests, according to the AP. The journalist was one of several people Bundy subpoenaed who were at the Statehouse at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"xjuif\">Bundy was set to go to trial in March, but the case was delayed when he <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trials-coronavirus-pandemic-ammon-bundy-arrests-covid-19-pandemic-63916b8a4ee046aa84cdcf5f38976ede\">missed his trial, and was subsequently arrested</a>, for refusing to comply with court rules to wear a mask due to COVID-19 precautions.</p><p data-block-key=\"ulrx9\">At that time, Manweiler sided with the AP, quashing Bundy’s subpoena for Ridler’s testimony and reporting materials, the <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trials-coronavirus-pandemic-ammon-bundy-arrests-covid-19-pandemic-63916b8a4ee046aa84cdcf5f38976ede\">AP reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"yfka0\">Bundy again filed a subpoena for Ridler’s testimony and reporting materials in late May. The news organization filed a motion to quash on June 8, according to an AP spokesperson. The spokesperson confirmed that the judge quashed the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"fmwrl\">On July 1, Bundy was <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/07/ammon-bundy-convicted-in-idaho-trespassing-trial.html\">found guilty of trespassing</a>. A spokesperson for the AP declined further comment. The Tracker was not able to reach Bundy for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Individuals steal photojournalist’s camera drone ahead of George Floyd anniversary demonstrations",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-steal-photojournalists-camera-drone-ahead-of-george-floyd-anniversary-demonstrations/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-25T19:00:57.097618Z",
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"date": "2021-05-25",
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"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s1oa1\">Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist Mark Vancleave said he was threatened and his camera drone was stolen May 25, 2021, as he covered demonstrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, marking the first anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd.</p><p data-block-key=\"vfzqg\">The death of Floyd, a Black man, sparked months of demonstrations across the country demanding justice and reform of police departments. On April 20, a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of second and third degree murder and second degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.</p><p data-block-key=\"oa1hm\">Vancleave told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after 7 a.m. on the 25th he arrived at East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, the intersection where Floyd was killed and which has been turned into a memorial site, to capture some aerial footage ahead of planned demonstrations in the afternoon.</p><p data-block-key=\"x11d2\">“I flew [the drone] around for maybe 10 minutes or so,” Vancleave said, noting that very few people were in the area at that point. Then, said Vancleave, he returned to where his car was parked, about half a block away, so that he could land the drone and change its batteries and camera lens.</p><p data-block-key=\"tq131\">Immediately after he landed the drone, Vancleave said, a man approached him and began asking about the drone.</p><p data-block-key=\"j79gi\">“Two other dudes walked up behind him and immediately got in my face, saying ‘Who are you? What are you doing here?’” Vancleave said. “They started demanding that I show them the video that I had taken.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3px0a\">Vancleave said they also asked him to show his press credentials and driver’s license.</p><p data-block-key=\"mede3\">“They said they were ‘security.’ And then the first guy who came over just grabbed my drone and started walking away,” Vancleave said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Had my drone taken by three dudes working “security” about a block from 38th and Chicago this morning. Was threatened and told never to come back to George Floyd Square.</p>— Mark Vancleave (@MDVancleave) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MDVancleave/status/1397177403147948032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 25, 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=\"z755m\">Ultimately, Vancleave said, the men took his DJI Inspire 2 drone, threatened him and told him never to return to the area, which has been dubbed George Floyd Square. Vancleave estimated that the equipment, which belongs to the Star Tribune, is valued at approximately $5,000.</p><p data-block-key=\"fvs1g\">“One of the reasons I was there so early is I wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible. As a Minneapolis resident I understand how annoying flying things can be over residential areas, I experienced it over the past year,” Vancleave said. “This was not me being belligerent, ignoring community members. This was guys running up, taking my drone, threatening me and running off.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0tsds\">Vancleave was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-crowd-control-munition-during-brooklyn-center-protest/\">struck in the hand with a rubber bullet</a> in nearby Brooklyn Center on April 12, where demonstrators had gathered to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer. Because of the resulting injury to his hand, Vancleave <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MDVancleave/status/1397180193345785861\">tweeted</a> that using the drone was his only means of covering the demonstrations.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It’s very frustrating. I still can’t bend my finger well enough to grip a camera, so this was my way of making pictures.</p>— Mark Vancleave (@MDVancleave) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MDVancleave/status/1397180193345785861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 25, 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=\"7k1qw\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police-brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
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"tags": [
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"robbery"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "U.S. immigration officials detain Honduran journalist after she requests asylum in Georgia",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/us-immigration-officials-detain-honduran-journalist-after-she-requests-asylum-in-georgia/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-09T19:02:44.153110Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-03T13:45:22.092360Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-03T13:45:21.963340Z",
"date": "2021-05-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uxkgo\">Honduran journalist Thirzia Galeas was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when she requested asylum at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 23, 2021, according to<a href=\"http://www.clibrehonduras.com/index.php/portada-alertas/1368-en-centro-de-detencion-y-sin-medicamentos-se-encuentra-periodista-y-ddhh-hondurena-que-solicita-asilo-politico-en-usa\"> the Committee for Free Expression in Honduras (C-Libre).</a></p><p data-block-key=\"bkjqr\">Galeas is a journalist and human rights activist who worked with C-Libre, a Honduran free expression organization that supports independent journalists. She has also reported in Honduras for the digital news outlet Conexihon.hn and Reporteros de Investigación.</p><p data-block-key=\"l3fqs\">In a written statement, Galeas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that her life was threatened in December 2020 when C-Libre employees were summoned for a security training. Galeas’ statement was translated from Spanish by Dagmar Thiel of Fundamedios, a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"vntr4\">The man who was leading the training identified himself as a government employee who worked in the Public Prosecutor’s Office and in government intelligence, Galeas said. She said he gave his name as Lester Obando.</p><p data-block-key=\"wona1\">Galeas said that Obando threatened her, telling her that there was a price on her head. She said she asked him why, and he told her it was because she knew a lot of information.</p><p data-block-key=\"86p0b\">Obando told her that she had been under surveillance for a while, and told her details of what she did when she was on a recent assignment for C-Libre bringing aid to journalists in the city of San Pedro Sula who had been impacted by storms.</p><p data-block-key=\"l21da\">Galeas said several other incidents also had raised her concerns. In November 2020, the month before the man threatened Galeas, two other journalists who worked with C-Libre were detained and beaten by members of the Honduran National Police, the <a href=\"http://www.clibrehonduras.com/index.php/alertas/detencion-arbitraria/1275-periodistas-de-c-libre-detenidos-ilegalmente-y-torturados-por-la-policia-nacional\">organization reported</a>. When the other journalists working for the organization were standing outside of the police building, a person in a military uniform took a photo of the group, according to Galeas.</p><p data-block-key=\"8e1wy\">According to Galeas, Obando indicated that the journalists were detained in order to “disappear” them, or kill them. However, the two journalists were released.</p><p data-block-key=\"ssue9\">In February 2021, Galeas said there was an assassination attempt on a member of C-Libre, which prompted several C-Libre colleagues to express concerns about their safety to the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras. Galeas said that was the first time she said that she was afraid.</p><p data-block-key=\"yvg6t\">According to C-Libre, Galeas had faced harassment in Honduras since 2011. In that year, the organization said, she was assaulted by the country’s Presidential Honor Guard as the group arrived at a protest against the murders of journalists in the country. The international press freedom group <a href=\"https://ifex.org/members-of-presidential-guard-police-suppress-journalists-protest-two-members-of-c-libre-assaulted/\">IFEX reported</a> at that time that Galeas, who was there to observe events, was punched in the face by a soldier.</p><p data-block-key=\"p6mtl\">According to <a href=\"http://www.fundamedios.us/ice-detained-a-honduran-journalist-who-fled-violence/\">Fundamedios</a>, Galeas entered the United States on a tourist visa and requested asylum because of persecution. She said many journalists have been killed in Honduras.</p><p data-block-key=\"qvyjo\">“I left Honduras for fear of being murdered, of being one more victim,” Galeas wrote in a statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"n22sz\">The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the Tracker, has documented <a href=\"https://cpj.org/data/killed/?status=Killed&motiveConfirmed%5B%5D=Confirmed&type%5B%5D=Journalist&cc_fips%5B%5D=HO&start_year=1992&end_year=2021&group_by=year\">eight journalists in Honduras killed</a> due to their work since 1992. <a href=\"https://rsf.org/es/noticias/asesinato-de-periodista-en-honduras-hay-que-detener-la-espiral-de-violencia\">According to C-Libre</a>, 87 journalists have been killed in the country over the last two decades.</p><p data-block-key=\"1we0e\">Galeas was detained in the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, for 18 days, <a href=\"http://www.fundamedios.us/incidentes/honduran-journalist-thirzia-galeas-waits-for-a-hearing-to-apply-for-asylum-in-the-united-states/\">according to Fundamedios</a>. Her brother told C-Libre that she was held with about 30 other detainees, some of whom were infected with COVID-19.</p><p data-block-key=\"9cil9\">Galeas has been released and is awaiting a hearing on her asylum request, she told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"p5kp0\">ICE did not reply to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"ICE"
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
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"Thirzia Galeas (Independent)"
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{
"title": "Videographer hit with crowd-control munitions while covering viral TikTok gathering",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-hit-with-crowd-control-munitions-while-covering-viral-tiktok-gathering/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-09T17:06:41.401825Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-03-10T20:04:58.099266Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-03-10T20:04:58.044404Z",
"date": "2021-05-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Huntington Beach",
"longitude": -117.99923,
"latitude": 33.6603,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oeq1o\">Police hit independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel with crowd-control munitions while he was covering an event that went viral on social media and gathered large crowds in Huntington Beach, California, on May 22, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"ubvlt\">According to<a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/viral-tiktok-kickback-beach-parties-broken-california-police-after-huge-n1268266\"> NBC News</a>, the event, promoted as "Adrian's Kickback," began with a TikTok post from user adrian.lopez517 that invited people to "pop out n celebrate my bday." NBC reported that at least 2,500 people responded the night of May 22, gathering in streets and sidewalks in Huntington Beach and eventually drawing police, who declared an unlawful assembly <a href=\"https://twitter.com/HBPD_PIO/status/1396353566550290434\">"due to unruly crowds."</a> The NBC report said police arrested nearly 150 people for vandalism, setting off fireworks, failure to disperse and curfew violations. Police<a href=\"https://twitter.com/HBPD_PIO/status/1396353566550290434?s=20\"> tweeted</a> that an emergency curfew was in effect from 11:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"q92sa\">Beckner-Carmitchel<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1396318743056187393\"> tweeted</a> at 9:15 p.m. that he was in Huntington Beach and reporting on Adrian's Kickback. Two hours later, he<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1396353015150383108\"> tweeted a video</a> of people running along the sidewalk, while police roamed the streets. His tweet said police had fired crowd-control pepper munitions, “enough to where the air is causing people to cough.”</p><p data-block-key=\"jd976\">"Police dropped some pepper bullets. Firework thrown at police," he wrote in another<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1396358596552626177\"> tweet</a> at 11:53 p.m. "I was just hit by less lethal munitions."</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police dropped some pepper bullets. Firework thrown at police. I was just hit by less lethal munitions in bio and… back of head. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/adrianskickback?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#adrianskickback</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/hlwpk1Ah1Z\">pic.twitter.com/hlwpk1Ah1Z</a></p>— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1396358596552626177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 23, 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=\"mgvyl\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he wore National Press Photographers Association credentials around his neck and was near Walnut Ave and 3rd Street when he sustained "very intense bruising on the right hip, as well as a laceration on the back of the head."</p><p data-block-key=\"uone3\">"My hip hurts right now but I can’t get to my car so I guess I’ll be covering for the rest of the night," he wrote in another<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1396358612071579650\"> tweet</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"0fx8i\">Huntington Beach police issued a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/HBPD_PIO/status/1397369485070258180/photo/2\"> press release</a> stating that "Chief Julian Harvey will be meeting with representatives from various social media platforms, including TikTok, to discuss the events that transpired to...minimize the potential for incidents such as this to happen again in the future."</p><p data-block-key=\"20kyw\">Public information officer Jennifer Carey told the Tracker she had no additional comment.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Iowa judge seizes memory card from student photojournalist for violating court rules during murder trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/iowa-judge-seizes-memory-card-from-student-photojournalist-for-violating-court-rules-during-murder-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-24T15:12:32.905944Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-10-11T15:42:15.482856Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-10-11T15:42:15.370282Z",
"date": "2021-05-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Davenport",
"longitude": -90.57764,
"latitude": 41.52364,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"w5b4b\">A district court judge seized a memory card from a photojournalist for The Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa student newspaper, after she photographed jurors in a Davenport, Iowa, murder trial, in violation of court rules, on May 21, 2021, <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-mollie-tibbetts-iowa-student-trial-20210521-5s7o545bnneezd7ebvcictnu2m-story.html\">The Associated Press reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"b31mb\">The photojournalist, whom the judge asked media not to identify, took pictures of jurors as they were being shown photographs of the body of a slain woman during the murder trial of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, according to<a href=\"https://eu.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2021/05/21/mollie-tibbetts-case-judge-threatens-photographer-with-jail-photographs-jurors/5203675001/\"> The Des Moines Register</a>. The Daily Iowan acknowledged in an <a href=\"https://dailyiowan.com/2021/05/22/rivera-trial-blood-found-in-bahena-riveras-car-matches-dna-of-mollie-tibbetts/\">editor’s note</a> that its photographer had been removed from the courtroom because of “photographs involving jurors.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3iwu5\">The Register reported that as the jury was dismissed for a lunch break, one juror brought the photographer to the attention of Judge Joel Yates. After clearing the room of everyone but the photographer and an AP pool reporter, Yates asked the photographer, “What were you thinking?”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ig5a\">According to the Register, the photographer said that her editor told her it was OK to take pictures of the jury, and she was not aware of court rules that prohibit covering jurors.</p><p data-block-key=\"0gqs9\">The photographer deleted the photos from the camera in front of Yates, according to the Register. Yates then took the photographer’s memory card, which he said he believed would make sure no photographs of the jurors would be published, the Register reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"13xhe\">The judge then told the journalist to go home, according to the Register. The paper reported that Yates said she was a young journalist who made a mistake and that the judge asked other members of the media not to identify the journalist because he didn’t want the incident to damage her career.</p><p data-block-key=\"fr1gv\">Multiple requests from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for comment from The Daily Iowan were not answered. The publication acknowledged the incident in an editor’s note at the end of a<a href=\"https://dailyiowan.com/2021/05/22/rivera-trial-blood-found-in-bahena-riveras-car-matches-dna-of-mollie-tibbetts/\"> May 22 article</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"acu8q\">“The DI [Daily Iowan] recognizes the gravity of the mistake and regrets the error,” the note reads. “The DI has been allowed to and will continue to report on trial proceedings. Judge Joel Yates said during proceedings that it was an honest mistake made by a young photographer, and no further action was taken against the photographer.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xg5jh\">Steve Davis, spokesperson for the Iowa judicial branch, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the photographer violated Iowa Court Rules by taking photographs of the jury.</p><p data-block-key=\"2smpg\"><a href=\"https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/ACO/CourtRulesChapter/05-31-2021.25.pdf\">Chapter 25 of the rules</a> bars media from covering jurors, except when they are returning a verdict or unless it is unavoidable in covering other proceedings in the courtroom. Media rules specifically set for the Bahena Rivera trial state that media coverage of jurors is prohibited, according to a<a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20785752-rivera-expanded-media-rules\"> court document posted online by the Register</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"d8mda\">The Tracker documents all instances when journalists’ equipment is seized in the course of their work.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkev9\">Sarah Matthews, senior staff attorney for the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press and a member of the Tracker’s advisory committee, said that rules for photography vary between different courts, and can even vary from one trial to another.</p><p data-block-key=\"rvanh\">“Before reporters go into courts and start taking pictures, they need to be aware that they need to educate themselves and what their rules are for that particular court,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"v4097\">Courts have significant discretion for setting rules for media coverage, and for how those rules are enforced, according to Matthews.</p><p data-block-key=\"gndkk\">Matthews said that the judge’s confiscation of the journalist’s memory card was “troubling” — particularly if there were other photographs on the card besides the ones involving jurors.</p><p data-block-key=\"i2lmi\">“There's any, any number of ways that the judge could have handled it and typically they have a lot of discretion in that area as to how to handle violations of their orders,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"y622v\">One possibility would be for a judge to just give the photographer a warning, Matthews said, though another judge might have taken a harsher approach by holding the journalist in contempt of court. Matthews said the journalist should have had a hearing in order to have an opportunity to object to the judge taking the equipment.</p></div>",
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{
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"state": {
"name": "Iowa",
"abbreviation": "IA"
},
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{
"title": "Spokesman-Review editor subpoenaed for information about agreement with Spokane sheriff",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spokesman-review-editor-subpoenaed-for-information-about-agreement-with-spokane-sheriff/",
"first_published_at": "2023-01-26T20:31:05.017028Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-13T15:15:42.009391Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-13T15:15:41.902475Z",
"date": "2021-05-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Spokane",
"longitude": -117.42908,
"latitude": 47.65966,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"81fxp\">A Washington state Court of Appeals ruled on Jan. 10, 2023, that the state’s shield law protected a Spokesman-Review editor and the outlet from complying with subpoenas seeking testimony and documents as part of a defamation lawsuit. However, the 3-member panel ruled that some information sought from Executive Editor Rob Curley was not protected by reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"6jiqo\">The decision stemmed from a 2019 lawsuit filed by a Spokane sheriff’s deputy who was found to be <a href=\"https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/dec/23/spokane-county-jury-awards-195-million-to-former-s/\">wrongfully terminated</a> after an internal investigation accused him of using a racial slur and harassment while on duty.</p><p data-block-key=\"5mil6\">The Spokesman-Review was <a href=\"https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/384446_pub.pdf\">first subpoenaed</a> on Nov. 25, 2019 for testimony and documents connected to an arrangement between the outlet and the Spokane sheriff’s office to delay coverage of the internal investigation until it was completed. In 2021, the sheriff testified in a deposition about the agreement, naming Executive Editor Curley. The Tracker documented the newspaper’s <a href=\"/all-incidents/spokesman-review-subpoenaed-in-defamation-lawsuit/\">November 2019 subpoena here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"d9ie7\">According <a href=\"https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/jan/11/the-spokesman-review-protected-from-most-of-subpoe/\">to The Spokesman-Review</a>, Curley was subpoenaed on May 21, 2021 for testimony and documents related to the agreement. In June 2021, the outlet filed a motion to quash the subpoenas and for a protective order to prevent any violation of the state’s shield law and protect the newspaper’s First Amendment rights. The trial court partially granted the protective order in September, limiting who would need to respond to the subpoenas while allowing the request for documents and deposition of Curley. The newspaper filed for an emergency stay, or suspension, of the motion, and in November, the Appeals Court agreed to the review.</p><p data-block-key=\"b45pk\">In their 2023 decision to <a href=\"https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/384446_pub.pdf\">uphold the lower court’s</a> partial granting and partial denial of the subpoenas, the three appellate judges wrote that state law protected Curley and the outlet from revealing privileged conversations and documents around any agreements. The court agreed, however, that the dates and times of any agreements made between Curley and the sheriff’s office were not protected by shield law. The ruling did not specify a date for providing information about the agreements.</p><p data-block-key=\"bohh9\">Spokesman-Review Attorney Casey Bruner told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an emailed statement that the newspaper was satisfied with the court’s ruling.</p><p data-block-key=\"76r8m\">Bruner wrote that the decision protected and clarified the state shield law. “We believe the decision is beneficial not just to the Spokesman-Review but to all reporters in the state and is a step in the right direction for protecting the freedom of the press.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ei3fz\">A portion of the subpoena issued to The Spokesman-Review Executive Editor Rob Curley, on May 21, 2021, seeking testimony and documents during a defamation lawsuit in Spokane, Washington.</p>",
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{
"title": "Roanoke-based broadcaster subpoenaed in ongoing defamation suit from ‘Unite the Right’ rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/roanoke-based-broadcaster-subpoenaed-in-ongoing-defamation-suit-from-unite-the-right-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T16:52:23.103169Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-05T17:56:03.143605Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-05T17:56:03.031834Z",
"date": "2021-05-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Charlottesville",
"longitude": -78.47668,
"latitude": 38.02931,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o5tzt\">NBC-affiliate WSLS 10 News was among multiple media outlets and journalists subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"xm3ai\">Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine <a href=\"https://time.com/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-clashes/\">reported in 2017</a>, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.</p><p data-block-key=\"0wcya\">Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress <a href=\"https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-denies-attempts-from-rally-lawsuit-defendant-to-subpoena-reporters/article_04e2b72c-e99f-11eb-8de8-9bcf70b2ba5c.html\">reported</a>. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"57ml4\">Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"feyuv\">WSLS, which didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering it to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4.</p><p data-block-key=\"p18c7\">The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified the broadcast station of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.</p><p data-block-key=\"q8nu0\">The subpoena also commanded WSLS to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications exchanged by any of its employees or agents in connection with its coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields, Jr.</p><p data-block-key=\"67dio\">WSLS reporter Ashley Curtis, NBC4 and its reporter Julie Carey and WVIR-TV <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/subpoena/?categories=6&city=Charlottesville&date_lower=2021-05-20&date_upper=2021-05-20\">received nearly identical subpoenas</a>. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4bsim\">“[The subpoenas] seek virtually <i>every</i> court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from <i>anyone</i>一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gctap\">U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.</p><p data-block-key=\"epg3f\">Walker didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
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"WSLS-TV"
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"white nationalism"
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{
"title": "Charlottesville-based broadcaster subpoenaed in defamation suit from ‘Unite the Right’ rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/charlottesville-based-broadcaster-subpoenaed-in-defamation-suit-from-unite-the-right-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T16:47:48.340981Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-13T19:57:49.375399Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-13T19:57:49.251767Z",
"date": "2021-05-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Charlottesville",
"longitude": -78.47668,
"latitude": 38.02931,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"iujlm\">Local NBC and CW+-affiliate WVIR-TV was among multiple media outlets and journalists subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"za0fc\">Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine <a href=\"https://time.com/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-clashes/\">reported in 2017</a>, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.</p><p data-block-key=\"xq9ec\">Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress <a href=\"https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-denies-attempts-from-rally-lawsuit-defendant-to-subpoena-reporters/article_04e2b72c-e99f-11eb-8de8-9bcf70b2ba5c.html\">reported</a>. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"ryw9x\">Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"auakm\">WVIR, which didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering it to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4. Hoft issued an amended subpoena to the broadcaster on May 27.</p><p data-block-key=\"margy\">The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified the broadcast station of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.</p><p data-block-key=\"x7vuu\">The subpoena also commanded WVIR to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications exchanged by any of its employees or agents in connection with its coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields Jr. The amended subpoena contained additional requests for any and all communications and files concerning the rally exchanged between the outlet and past or present employees of the City of Charlottesville, Office of the Commonwealth Attorney for the City of Charlottesville, the Virginia State Police Virginia Fusion Center, or “any person, organization, nonprofit, and/or other entity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wn6lh\">WSLS and its reporter Ashley Curtis, and NBC4 and its reporter Julie Carey <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-05-20&date_upper=2021-05-20&city=Charlottesville&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">received subpoenas</a> that were nearly identical to that initially served to WVIR. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”</p><p data-block-key=\"n0da3\">“[The subpoenas] seek virtually <i>every</i> court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from <i>anyone</i>一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c4g8l\">U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0yi9\">Walker didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
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},
{
"title": "Jersey City Times sues mayor, city after removal from press list",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/jersey-city-times-sues-mayor-city-after-removal-from-press-list/",
"first_published_at": "2024-01-10T21:01:18.198096Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-10T21:01:18.198096Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-10T19:52:06.174286Z",
"date": "2021-05-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Jersey City",
"longitude": -74.07764,
"latitude": 40.72816,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gtsto\">The Jersey City Times was removed from Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s press list after publishing a May 20, 2021, story critical of Fulop’s claims that his administration had reduced crime in the city. As a result, the local news site stopped receiving media advisories, news releases and invitations to news conferences and other official events, the outlet said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ijkc\">The Times and its publisher and editor-in-chief, Aaron Morrill, subsequently <a href=\"https://jcitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/JCT-complaint-with-file-stamp.pdf\">sued</a> the city, Fulop and his press secretary, Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, in federal court on Dec. 18, 2023, alleging that the outlet had been denied access in retaliation for the 2021 <a href=\"https://jcitytimes.com/while-press-says-otherwise-crime-is-up-under-mayor-fulop/\">report</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"54aa1\">Morrill <a href=\"https://jcitytimes.com/the-jersey-city-times-sues-mayor-fulop-press-secretary-and-city/\">told the Times</a>, which has been covering Jersey City news since he founded the site in 2019, that the outlet had a “relatively good relationship” with the mayor’s office until May 2021. “After the story, it was radio silence. We received no media advisories, press releases, nothing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fm9b2\">The Times noted in its suit that in 2019, Wallace-Scalcione had offered to meet with the outlet and said its reporters “are fantastic to work with.” However, after the May 2021 article, both the mayor and his press secretary were critical of the Times’ coverage. Citing emails obtained via public records requests, the suit quoted Fulop describing the Times as “not a real news outlet,” and Wallace-Scalcione alleging that the outlet had a “political agenda against the Mayor.”</p><p data-block-key=\"frus3\">The mayor’s office did not respond to Morrill’s emails asking that the Times be restored to the press list, according to the suit. This continued until Jennifer Borg, a lawyer with Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic who is <a href=\"https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/mfia-clinic-sues-jersey-city-accusing-officials-stonewalling-local-news-site\">representing</a> the outlet, sent a protest letter to the city’s attorneys on April 7, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"ftdn4\">In the months after that letter was sent, the Times said it began to receive news releases again — often about events after they occurred — but still failed to receive media advisories and invitations to official events such as news conferences.</p><p data-block-key=\"14vch\">Attorneys for the Times sent a follow-up letter on July 25, 2023, stating that the city’s actions violated the outlet’s constitutional rights and asking again for it to be restored to the press list. It did not receive a response.</p><p data-block-key=\"2567q\">The Times’ attorneys sent another letter to the city on Nov. 24, 2023. Then, on Dec. 14, the city’s attorneys responded, stating that the Times “is already added to the press list for the City of Jersey City and will receive future press releases and media advisories.” However, according to the suit, the Times did not receive an emailed invitation to a news conference that was sent to other news organizations the next day.</p><p data-block-key=\"8jnfm\">The Times said it continued to receive “only sporadic and belated notices of local events” and did not receive “a single invitation to a press conference or event to which other members of the press have been invited.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1seop\">The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, accused the defendants of violating the First and 14th Amendment rights of both the Times and of Morrill, who wrote the May 2021 story, and of violating their due process rights and their rights under New Jersey’s constitution.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ibaj\">It alleges that the defendants treated the Times differently than other news organizations that retained access to the mayor’s office and that it retaliated against the outlet based on its critical reporting. It also noted that the city did not publish criteria for the press list.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tfsl\">The suit asks for the plaintiffs to be restored to the press list and that they be provided with the same “information and access” as other news organizations and journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"7nsg\">Wallace-Scalcione, in a statement emailed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said the Times “was notified before the lawsuit that they were on the email list to receive all press releases and have been.”</p><p data-block-key=\"54uou\">Morrill told the Tracker in an email that two days after the suit was filed he received his first media advisory from the mayor’s office since May 2021, but that it was “unclear” if this would continue.</p><p data-block-key=\"t059\">Morrill also described the detrimental effects of the outlet’s removal from the press list, saying, “It’s impossible to know how many leads for stories might have come from attending the events we missed or how many contacts we might have made.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ad1f\">He added, “Having to reconstruct a story about the opening of a new homeless shelter or what was said at a press conference from press reports isn’t the kind of journalism we want to do. Being hours and sometimes days behind because you weren’t there hurts us in the eyes of our readers and hurts our site traffic to boot.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"uadas\">Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop delivers the State of the City address on April 5, 2023. The Jersey City Times sued Fulop, his press secretary and the city on Dec. 18, 2023, after the outlet was removed from the press list in May 2021.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New Jersey",
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},
{
"title": "Washington, D.C.-based NBC affiliate subpoenaed in ongoing defamation suit from ‘Unite the Right’ rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/washington-dc-based-nbc-affiliate-subpoenaed-in-ongoing-defamation-suit-from-unite-the-right-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T17:12:27.989097Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vi8qe\">NBC4 Washington was among multiple media outlets and journalists subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"0i92u\">Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine <a href=\"https://time.com/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-clashes/\">reported in 2017</a>, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.</p><p data-block-key=\"clx0d\">Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress <a href=\"https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-denies-attempts-from-rally-lawsuit-defendant-to-subpoena-reporters/article_04e2b72c-e99f-11eb-8de8-9bcf70b2ba5c.html\">reported</a>. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"mq3tt\">Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"t6h9p\">NBC4 Washington, which didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering it to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4.</p><p data-block-key=\"memtd\">The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified the broadcast station of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.</p><p data-block-key=\"a8ern\">The subpoena also commanded the outlet to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications exchanged by any of its employees or agents in connection with its coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields, Jr.</p><p data-block-key=\"x95dx\">WVIR-TV, NBC4 reporter Julie Carey, WSLS-TV and its reporter Ashley Curtis <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/subpoena/?categories=6&city=Charlottesville&date_lower=2021-05-20&date_upper=2021-05-20\">received nearly identical subpoenas</a>. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pdq4j\">“[The subpoenas] seek virtually <i>every</i> court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from <i>anyone</i>一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"76smi\">U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.</p><p data-block-key=\"rv9bz\">Walker didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "NBC-affiliate reporter in DC subpoenaed in ongoing defamation suit from ‘Unite the Right’ rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nbc-affiliate-reporter-in-dc-subpoenaed-in-ongoing-defamation-suit-from-unite-the-right-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T17:24:25.384530Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-13T19:58:31.016709Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qqjrf\">NBC4 Washington reporter Julie Carey was among multiple journalists and media outlets subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"n8o7s\">Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine <a href=\"https://time.com/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-clashes/\">reported in 2017</a>, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.</p><p data-block-key=\"f1fsf\">Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress <a href=\"https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-denies-attempts-from-rally-lawsuit-defendant-to-subpoena-reporters/article_04e2b72c-e99f-11eb-8de8-9bcf70b2ba5c.html\">reported</a>. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ib5o\">Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"yf6ky\">Carey, who declined for comment when reached by email, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering her to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4.</p><p data-block-key=\"fxs51\">The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified Carey of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.</p><p data-block-key=\"9600v\">The subpoena also ordered Carey to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications she exchanged in connection with NBC4’s coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields, Jr.</p><p data-block-key=\"gcwh5\">NBC4, WVIR-TV, WSLS-TV and its reporter Ashley Curtis <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-05-20&date_upper=2021-05-20&city=Charlottesville&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">received nearly identical subpoenas</a>. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kcizi\">“[The subpoenas] seek virtually <i>every</i> court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from <i>anyone</i>一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hc5ms\">U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.</p><p data-block-key=\"07ytt\">Neither NBC4 nor Walker replied to emailed requests for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Roanoke reporter subpoenaed in ongoing defamation suit from ‘Unite the Right’ rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/roanoke-reporter-subpoenaed-in-ongoing-defamation-suit-from-unite-the-right-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T16:55:15.762935Z",
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"city": "Charlottesville",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f5zdx\">WSLS 10 News reporter Ashley Curtis was among multiple journalists and media outlets subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"mn47g\">Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine <a href=\"https://time.com/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-clashes/\">reported in 2017</a>, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.</p><p data-block-key=\"5cilz\">Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress <a href=\"https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-denies-attempts-from-rally-lawsuit-defendant-to-subpoena-reporters/article_04e2b72c-e99f-11eb-8de8-9bcf70b2ba5c.html\">reported</a>. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3f62\">Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6qyp\">Curtis, who didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was issued a 19-page subpoena on May 20, 2021, ordering her to provide deposition testimony via Zoom on June 4.</p><p data-block-key=\"mxgcd\">The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, notified Curtis of a broad range of possible subjects for the deposition, including: 1) “the ‘hundreds of top-tier media outlets’ which provided ‘extensive coverage to the Charlottesville residents who were showing up to challenge the spectre of white supremacy;’” 2) the lawsuit and all the topics therein; 3) the KKK and 4) multiple activist organizations and at least 28 named individuals, including former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, both of whom have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories from the far-right.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mnns\">The subpoena also commanded Curtis to turn over documents, videos, photos and communications she exchanged in connection with WSLS’s coverage of the rally, Heyer’s death or the trials of her murderer, James Alex Fields, Jr.</p><p data-block-key=\"146jd\">WSLS, WVIR-TV, NBC4 Washington and its reporter Julie Carey <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/subpoena/?categories=6&city=Charlottesville&date_lower=2021-05-20&date_upper=2021-05-20\">received nearly identical subpoenas</a>. Attorney Leita Walker, representing all five parties, filed a motion to quash the subpoenas on June 14, describing them as “extremely overbroad and unduly burdensome.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5hibv\">“[The subpoenas] seek virtually <i>every</i> court filing, police report, email, press release, video, photo or other document that the Non-Party Journalists received from <i>anyone</i>一government sources, witnesses to the events, social media, fellow journalists, wire services, etc.,” Walker wrote in the motion, which was reviewed by the Tracker. “[Hoft] is clearly engaged in a massive and massively inappropriate fishing expedition that, in the case of the Non-Party Journalists, seeks information they obtained in the course of their newsgathering activities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"v3qml\">U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe ruled in favor of the journalists and outlets, quashing the subpoenas on July 20, citing Hoft’s inadequate pleadings, according to The Daily Progress.</p><p data-block-key=\"ry3wl\">Neither WSLS nor Walker replied to emailed requests for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Former New York Times reporter’s phone records subpoenaed in defamation suit from ‘Unite the Right' rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-new-york-times-reporters-phone-records-subpoenaed-in-defamation-suit-from-unite-the-right-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T17:28:23.685200Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-13T19:58:12.686999Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-13T19:58:12.553438Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3cx62\">Phone records belonging to former New York Times reporter Jessica Bidgood were subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, as part of an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.</p><p data-block-key=\"azw9c\">Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine <a href=\"https://time.com/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-clashes/\">reported in 2017</a>, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.</p><p data-block-key=\"yrcwa\">Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that after witnessing and filming the vehicular murder of anti-racism protester Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally, he was subjected to a series of false articles and conspiracy theories and received numerous death threats against him and his family, The Daily Progress <a href=\"https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-denies-attempts-from-rally-lawsuit-defendant-to-subpoena-reporters/article_04e2b72c-e99f-11eb-8de8-9bcf70b2ba5c.html\">reported</a>. He filed a defamation lawsuit against multiple defendants 一 including Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones and his website InfoWars 一 in March 2018.</p><p data-block-key=\"daw7t\">Hoft, as part of his defense, alleged that coverage of the rally was skewed by a vast conspiracy involving the press and government actors; he issued numerous subpoenas to non-party individuals and government and law enforcement agencies in an apparent effort to uncover the supposed conspiracy. Five additional journalists or media outlets <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/subpoena/?categories=6&city=Charlottesville&date_lower=2021-05-20&date_upper=2021-05-20\">were subpoenaed in the proceedings</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"m7cg2\">On May 20, 2021, Hoft subpoenaed Verizon, ordering the telecommunications company to produce “all phone records, documents, and/or logs, text message documents, phone contacts, phone photos, phone media, phone video, SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION, and CALL DETAILS for the period of March 1, 2017 through March 1, 2018.”</p><p data-block-key=\"nk0k4\">The subpoena, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, listed multiple phone numbers of which at least one belongs or formerly belonged to Bidgood, and ordered Verizon to produce the requested documents by June 4.</p><p data-block-key=\"5130v\">Bidgood, who didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, was working for the Times during the dates specified; she is now a reporter at the Boston Globe.</p><p data-block-key=\"04jg0\">Charles Tobin, an attorney representing Bidgood, told the Tracker that the Times received word of the subpoena for Bidgood’s records on July 14. Tobin filed objections to the subpoena and a motion to quash the same day. According to that filing, by that date Verizon had already mailed records to Hoft’s attorney but Bidgood hoped that the company could take steps to stop their delivery.</p><p data-block-key=\"cp6co\">The following day, however, Tobin filed a motion on Bidgood’s behalf requesting that the court order Hoft’s attorney to destroy the documents that had successfully been delivered.</p><p data-block-key=\"1n423\">“The subpoena did not mention Bidgood by name, however, and it did not otherwise alert Verizon that Bidgood is a journalist and that her telephone records are therefore privileged journalistic work product under the First Amendment,” the motion read.</p><p data-block-key=\"cc9fk\">“The court should therefore order Hoft’s counsel to treat Bidgood’s privileged phone records as ‘Recalled Information’ under the Protective Order and to immediately destroy them, which will preserve the status quo while the Court considers Bidgood’s motion to quash the subpoena and any response and reply thereto,” the motion said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hf5b\">U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia Joel Hoppe granted the motion in part on July 16, directing Hoft’s counsel not to view the records and to secure the records in a sealed receptacle until the motion to quash is resolved.</p><p data-block-key=\"mdng6\">Tobin told the Tracker that they were pleased with how quickly the judge acted to protect Bidgood’s records.</p><p data-block-key=\"dr6a3\">“The Attorney General of the United States just announced that the news media will no longer be subpoenaed for leaks investigations,” Tobin said, referencing <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-01-01&date_upper=2020-01-01\">recent revelations</a> about Department of Justice subpoenas to multiple journalists and news organizations under the Trump administration. “It’s a giant step forward for the protection of reporters’ source materials and the protection of their relationships with sources. And examples like [Bigood’s] in civil litigation point out the need for greater protection under federal law by shield laws and by enforcement of First Amendment rights.”</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Media prevented from reporting on Texas execution for first time for decades",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/media-prevented-from-reporting-on-texas-execution-for-first-time-for-decades/",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r6yts\">For the first time in decades the Texas Department of Criminal Justice failed to let journalists cover an execution, even though two reporters had been cleared to do so and were waiting nearby to be called into the state penitentiary in Huntsville on May 19, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e8uo\">A database maintained by the <a href=\"https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/death_row/dr_media_witness_list.html\">Texas Department of Criminal Justice</a> confirmed that there had been media in attendance at each of the state’s previous 570 executions. Prison officials said “miscommunication” had kept media from witnessing the 571st execution, of Quintin Jones, who was convicted of the 1999 murder of his great-aunt Berthena Bryant, according to <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/us/texas-execution-quintin-jones-reporter.html\">The New York Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"glnjl\">Joseph Brown, editor of The Huntsville Item in Huntsville, Texas, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and Associated Press reporter Michael Graczyk had arrived at around 5 p.m., about an hour ahead of the scheduled time for the execution. The Huntsville Item is one of two news outlets regularly called to attend and report on executions in Texas, and Brown said that he is often the reporter on duty.</p><p data-block-key=\"jamjg\">Brown said the two reporters were sequestered in an office across the street from the penitentiary and were waiting to be told by the prison’s communications director they could be taken over the road.</p><p data-block-key=\"uv13p\">But according to Brown, the call never came.</p><p data-block-key=\"vk98y\">Jones had appealed to <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/texas-executions-lifestyle-747fc8994706df9dee9e64909c464b99\">the U.S. Supreme Court</a> for clemency, but the court declined his appeal and the execution was set to go ahead at around 6:15 pm local time. According to Brown, reporters are usually called in to witness an execution about 10 minutes in advance. “We went 25-30 minutes and still hadn't heard the call. So we started asking questions,” Brown told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"k7gr4\">Brown said that when the communications director called to see what was happening, “he was informed that the warden was already in the room going through the process. It was already ongoing,” said Brown who then realized the reporters were locked out of witnessing the execution.</p><p data-block-key=\"gwzaz\">Jeremy Desel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, told the Tracker: “Normally, upon the final notifications that there is no action pending in any court or from the Office of the Governor of Texas, a phone call is made to the Director of Communications to escort the media witnesses into the unit. As a result of a miscommunication between officials at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, there was never a call made to summon the media witnesses into the unit.”</p><p data-block-key=\"onmnj\">Desel said the department apologized “for this critical error. The agency is investigating to determine exactly what occurred to ensure it does not happen again.”</p><p data-block-key=\"yf9b7\">Editor Brown said he was skeptical about the department’s explanation, based on his experience covering previous executions.</p><p data-block-key=\"5e0ba\">The failure to call in reporters was an “egregious” error he said. “To me, it seems like a pretty big mess up to make. Because stuff like this is very methodical, it's very planned. It's very … to the book,” Brown said. If the department failed to tick one of the boxes in its normal routine this time, “what are the boxes that get missed that we don't know?” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bqxh\">Coverage of executions is a longstanding media oversight tradition. Press advocates say it can be essential for making public issues such as a state’s use of faulty equipment or drugs. Jones was executed by lethal injection.</p><p data-block-key=\"m0qjk\">“It's the same reason why many members [of the media] cover your state legislature and your federal governments, your local councils,” said Brown. “If you don't have that public oversight, then they can almost willy nilly do whatever they want.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c3syg\">Brown said there were a number of procedural changes that were in place for the first time in the execution of Jones, making it even more imperative to have eyewitness media reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"3o3uv\">Graczyk, the AP reporter, did not respond to a request for a comment from the Tracker.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Reporter and colleague arrested during protests in Elizabeth City",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-and-colleague-arrested-during-protests-in-elizabeth-city/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-21T15:32:56.743111Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:09:56.404182Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-05T19:09:56.312180Z",
"date": "2021-05-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Elizabeth City",
"longitude": -76.25105,
"latitude": 36.2946,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"45yay\">Two reporters for The Staunton News Leader, a USA TODAY network paper, were arrested while covering a social justice protest in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, on May 19, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"t3pll\">The protest <a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2021/05/19/andrew-brown-jr-elizabeth-city-nc-protest-reporters-ayano-nagaishi-alison-cutler-arrested/5176430001/\">was in response</a> to an announcement earlier that day from the prosecutor’s office that the police shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man, on April 21 was justified and that none of the Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies would face charges. The demonstration was the latest in a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ppnr3\">At approximately 9 p.m., law enforcement officers ordered the crowd to disperse under threat of arrest on charges of standing, sitting or lying on a street or roadway, the News Leader <a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2021/05/19/andrew-brown-jr-elizabeth-city-nc-protest-reporters-ayano-nagaishi-alison-cutler-arrested/5176430001/\">reported</a>. Minutes later, as reporters Alison Cutler and Ayano Nagaishi were standing in a crosswalk about a foot away from the curb and filming an arrest across the street, law enforcement officers approached them, asking for the “ladies in the vests,” according to the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"05ee0\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yanonaga98/status/1395174429714419714\">footage</a> captured on Nagaishi’s livestream, both journalists were placed in zip-tie cuffs and led away by officers. When asked on what charge they were being arrested, an officer can be heard responding, “For standing in the middle of the street, in the roadway.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tensions are rising in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElizabethCity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ElizabethCity</a> as protestors for <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/AndrewBrownJr?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AndrewBrownJr</a> are deemed an unlawful assembly ordered to leave the premises in under five minutes. One man has already been arrested. Stay tuned with <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yanonaga98?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@yanonaga98</a> live as we cover the scene on the ground tonight. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/USATODAY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USATODAY</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/JJcnZ962wH\">pic.twitter.com/JJcnZ962wH</a></p>— Alison Cutler (@alisonjc2) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alisonjc2/status/1395176810229477382?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 20, 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=\"sedmv\">Cutler and Nagaishi were both wearing fluorescent yellow vests that said “NEWS MEDIA” and identified themselves as journalists when law enforcement in riot gear detained them, according to a<a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2021/05/19/andrew-brown-jr-elizabeth-city-nc-protest-reporters-ayano-nagaishi-alison-cutler-arrested/5176430001/\"> video on their employer’s website</a> and Casey Blake, the North Carolina Statewide Team Editor, who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"s11c4\">According to the News Leader, a citizen filmed the journalists’ arrests using Nagaishi’s phone, and Cutler was able to call the news outlet from a police van to confirm they’d been arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"lfkbr\">Blake told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that the reporters could not distinguish which law enforcement officials arrested them because the officials were in unmarked riot gear.</p><p data-block-key=\"hwe9p\">Cutler was booked, but was not formally charged; Nagaishi was neither booked nor charged, according to Blake. The reporters were released from police custody at approximately 10:30 p.m., the News Leader reported. The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-colleague-arrested-while-documenting-elizabeth-city-protests/\">Nagaishi’s arrest here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bzmrw\">When reached for comment via phone, an Elizabeth City Police Department officer directed CPJ to Deputy Chief of Police James Avens, who did not immediately respond to CPJ’s voicemail and email requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"vfsna\">The Daily Advance, based in Elizabeth City, <a href=\"https://www.dailyadvance.com/news/local/updated-police-arrest-8-protesters-two-reporters-working-for-usa-today/article_800522dd-c8a8-531a-b5d3-73ab1a0c4726.html\">reported</a> that City Manager Montre Freeman said the two reporters were apart from the main group of protesters when they were arrested and that they had refused to comply with officers’ directives.</p><p data-block-key=\"dosai\">“Reporters have to decide if they’re going to be a protester or a reporter,” Freeman reportedly said. “They can be both, but they have to follow the directives of the officers out there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"iojuu\">While a curfew went into effect at 8 p.m., members of the press were explicitly exempted. The <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yanonaga98/status/1395174429714419714\">livestream footage</a> captured by the Nagaishi also contradicts Freeman’s assertions.</p><p data-block-key=\"l2uy1\">Cutler <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alisonjc2/status/1395233675340652546\">retweeted a post on Twitter</a> following their release that both reporters were safe.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ayano said it all in this tweet. Thank you to everyone who supported us in every way, especially our <a href=\"https://twitter.com/USATODAY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USATODAY</a> family. We were two of many people who were arrested by police this evening. Tonight was an important night to be present here as a journalist in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElizabethCity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ElizabethCity</a>. <a href=\"https://t.co/oaBaUxwkiK\">https://t.co/oaBaUxwkiK</a></p>— Alison Cutler (@alisonjc2) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alisonjc2/status/1395233675340652546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 20, 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=\"i1sig\">“Thank you to everyone who supported us in every way, especially our @USATODAY family,” Cutler wrote. “We were two of many people who were arrested by police this evening. Tonight was an important night to be present here as a journalist in #ElizabethCity.”</p></div>",
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"name": "North Carolina",
"abbreviation": "NC"
},
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"tags": [
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"court verdict",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Reporter, colleague arrested while documenting Elizabeth City protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-colleague-arrested-while-documenting-elizabeth-city-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-21T15:27:13.144756Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-05T19:09:39.959507Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-05T19:09:39.896397Z",
"date": "2021-05-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Elizabeth City",
"longitude": -76.25105,
"latitude": 36.2946,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"53mh3\">Two reporters for The Staunton News Leader, a USA TODAY network paper, were detained while covering a social justice protest in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, on May 19, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0vqu\">The protest <a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2021/05/19/andrew-brown-jr-elizabeth-city-nc-protest-reporters-ayano-nagaishi-alison-cutler-arrested/5176430001/\">was in response</a> to an announcement earlier that day from the prosecutor’s office that the police shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man, on April 21 was justified and that none of the Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies would face charges. The demonstration was the latest in a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"2tqzv\">At approximately 9 p.m., law enforcement officers ordered the crowd to disperse under threat of arrest on charges of standing, sitting or lying on a street or roadway, the News Leader <a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2021/05/19/andrew-brown-jr-elizabeth-city-nc-protest-reporters-ayano-nagaishi-alison-cutler-arrested/5176430001/\">reported</a>. Minutes later, as reporters Ayano Nagaishi and Alison Cutler were standing in a crosswalk about a foot away from the curb and filming an arrest across the street, law enforcement officers approached them, asking for the “ladies in the vests,” according to the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"zc1j1\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yanonaga98/status/1395174429714419714\">footage</a> captured on Nagaishi’s livestream, both journalists were placed in zip-tie cuffs and led away by officers. When asked on what charge they were being arrested, an officer can be heard responding, “For standing in the middle of the street, in the roadway.”</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://twitter.com/hashtag/ElizabethCity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ElizabethCity</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/AndrewBrownJr?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AndrewBrownJr</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/9Gf5DxGJHm\">https://t.co/9Gf5DxGJHm</a></p>— Ayano Nagaishi (@yanonaga98) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yanonaga98/status/1395174429714419714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 20, 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=\"1tlsu\">Nagaishi and Cutler were both wearing fluorescent yellow vests that said “NEWS MEDIA” and identified themselves as journalists when law enforcement in riot gear detained them, according to a<a href=\"https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2021/05/19/andrew-brown-jr-elizabeth-city-nc-protest-reporters-ayano-nagaishi-alison-cutler-arrested/5176430001/\"> video on their employer’s website</a> and Casey Blake, the North Carolina Statewide Team Editor, who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"rp4oy\">According to the News Leader, a citizen filmed the journalists’ arrests using Nagaishi’s phone, and Cutler was able to call the news outlet from a police van to confirm they’d been arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"hvf8b\">Blake told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that the reporters could not distinguish which law enforcement officials arrested them because the officials were in unmarked riot gear.</p><p data-block-key=\"359mf\">Cutler was booked, but was not formally charged; Nagaishi was neither booked nor charged, according to Blake. The reporters were released from police custody at approximately 10:30 p.m., the News Leader reported. The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-and-colleague-arrested-during-protests-in-elizabeth-city/\">Cutler’s arrest here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"y32n0\">When reached for comment via phone, an Elizabeth City Police Department officer directed CPJ to Deputy Chief of Police James Avens, who did not immediately respond to CPJ’s voicemail and email requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"di5oj\">The Daily Advance, based in Elizabeth City, <a href=\"https://www.dailyadvance.com/news/local/updated-police-arrest-8-protesters-two-reporters-working-for-usa-today/article_800522dd-c8a8-531a-b5d3-73ab1a0c4726.html\">reported</a> that City Manager Montre Freeman said the two reporters were apart from the main group of protesters when they were arrested and that they had refused to comply with officers’ directives.</p><p data-block-key=\"0qtjo\">“Reporters have to decide if they’re going to be a protester or a reporter,” Freeman reportedly said. “They can be both, but they have to follow the directives of the officers out there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c93hr\">While a curfew went into effect at 8 p.m., members of the press were explicitly exempted. The <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yanonaga98/status/1395174429714419714\">livestream footage</a> captured by the Nagaishi also contradicts Freeman’s assertions.</p><p data-block-key=\"gs556\">Nagaishi <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yanonaga98/status/1395232591192764424\">posted on Twitter</a> following their release that both reporters were safe.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I just want to say <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alisonjc2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@alisonjc2</a> and I are safe. We truly appreciate the support we got from the local community, friends, family and co-workers from <a href=\"https://twitter.com/USATODAY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USATODAY</a> Network. You can never make assumptions on what happens when reporting from the ground and this situation was one of them.</p>— Ayano Nagaishi (@yanonaga98) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yanonaga98/status/1395232591192764424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 20, 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=\"d8dr8\">“We truly appreciate the support we got from the local community, friends, family and co-workers from @USATODAY Network,” Nagaishi wrote. “You can never make assumptions on what happens when reporting from the ground and this situation was one of them.”</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Independent photographer sues NYC over protest arrest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photographer-sues-nyc-over-protest-arrest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-03T20:44:08.184122Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-03T20:44:08.184122Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-03T20:44:08.088276Z",
"date": "2021-05-18",
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"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4nl4h\">Independent photographer Sean Waltrous, arrested while covering a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York, New York, on May 18, 2021, sued the city and two New York City Police Department officers a year later, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"9icjt\">The <a href=\"https://pix11.com/news/local-news/manhattan/pro-palestinian-protesters-in-manhattan-denounce-israel-airstrikes-on-gaza/\">protest</a> at New York’s Israeli consulate was one of <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/22/us/pro-palestinian-protests-us/index.html\">several</a> demonstrations organized across the U.S. in May 2021 in response to heavy Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.</p><p data-block-key=\"eme2c\">Waltrous said in his May 2022 lawsuit that he was at the protest as a member of the media, and was clearly identifiable by the press pass around his neck and the expensive camera he was carrying. He said he was positioned away from the protesters and police in order to better capture events, and that at times he went into the street to get shots of the protesters on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"3v5el\">At around 6 p.m., he said, the crowds had swelled and “had become too large to be accommodated on the sidewalk.” Sometime after that, Waltrous said he was “pushed and shoved aggressively, initially from the rear” by one of the unnamed NYPD officers designated in the complaint, who was trying to force him onto the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"8a1dp\">The officer then roughly grabbed and pulled Waltrous back, and “dragged/pushed” him toward a police van, where he was zip-tied, the complaint said. After around 20 minutes, he was put in a police transport vehicle, which Waltrous noted was “particularly uncomfortable” due to his size.</p><p data-block-key=\"4cks9\">Waltrous said that the NYPD officers proceeded to talk among themselves about what charges to bring against him and the other detainees. Waltrous recorded the conversation with his phone, which remained on and in his bag.</p><p data-block-key=\"ckv91\">In the recording, which was later <a href=\"https://x.com/taliaotg/status/1394816730946576387\">posted on social media</a>, NYPD officers can be heard discussing their “story” of why they arrested him, with one officer saying that instead of issuing summonses, which were an “inconvenience” for them, he would prefer to “just fucking hit ‘em with a stick.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4pk6d\">Waltrous was brought to an NYPD precinct and released after around three hours with a summons to appear in court on July 16 on a charge of “walking on the roadway with available sidewalk,” a violation that could lead to up to 15 days in jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"41qo2\">After his release, Waltrous added that he sought medical attention for injuries received during his arrest to his right elbow, wrist and hand.</p><p data-block-key=\"61pk8\">Waltrous was later notified that the NYPD had not filed charges, so he did not need to appear.</p><p data-block-key=\"e03kb\">In his lawsuit, Waltrous accused the city and the officers of false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and infliction of emotional distress. He also accused the defendants of negligence in hiring, training and supervising the officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"7tfsb\">Waltrous sought compensatory and punitive damages of $2 million for each of six claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"d83ik\">Waltrous declined to comment while the litigation was in progress.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jfy0j\">Palestinian supporters face off with police during a demonstration near the United Nations headquarters in New York City on May 18, 2021. Independent photographer Sean Waltrous was arrested while covering the protest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2021-05-18",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": "452435/2022",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"ongoing"
],
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"tags": [
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
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"Sean Waltrous (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Talk radio host harassed and attacked at a Seattle demonstration protesting Palestinian evictions",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/talk-radio-host-harassed-and-attacked-at-a-seattle-demonstration-protesting-palestinian-evictions/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-21T17:57:43.116860Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-09T14:44:15.234529Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-09T14:44:15.160767Z",
"date": "2021-05-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Seattle",
"longitude": -122.33207,
"latitude": 47.60621,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lt7u7\">Jason Rantz, host of the talk radio show the Jason Rantz Show show on Seattle’s KTTH 770 AM, said he was harassed and attacked by members of a crowd at a May 16, 2021, demonstration in Seattle, Washington, that was called to protest evictions of Palestinians in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.</p><p data-block-key=\"kz1ps\">According to Falastiniyat, a Seattle-based group and <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COqK6oVMNMw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">organizers</a> of the demonstration, the event at Westlake Park also commemorated the 73rd anniversary of Nakba, the Palestinian term for the displacement of Palestinians from their villages and homeland in 1948.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fuot\">Rantz, whose Twitter account describes him as a conversative and that he writes for the station’s partner website MyNorthwest.com, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the rally in the early afternoon when a member of the crowd recognized him and "alerted people in the crowd to harass me — which they did."</p><p data-block-key=\"3immw\"><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_LNoSz_pJ4\">A Youtube video</a> he posted online shows Rantz's camera blocked by a cardboard sign, beginning at 1:24 into the clip. Rantz continues to record audio as the video on his camera remains blocked by cardboard. At 3:44, Rantz can be heard repeatedly yelling, "Don't touch me," while someone else says, "Fuck off" and "Get the fuck out." He told the Tracker that a woman hit the back of his head with a Palestinian flag and then repeatedly hit him, forcing him to leave the rally. He later <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1394042400842997762?s=20\">tweeted</a> that he was fine.</p><p data-block-key=\"n0ob0\">Rantz also told the Tracker that he filed a report with police. The Seattle Police Department did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Washington",
"abbreviation": "WA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jason Rantz (KTTH)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "CBS4 News photojournalist assaulted, camera damaged as he covered story in Miami Beach",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs4-news-photojournalist-assaulted-camera-damaged-as-he-covered-story-in-miami-beach/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-09T18:02:31.047900Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T14:29:37.418056Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T14:29:37.318054Z",
"date": "2021-05-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vxps6\">Ebenezer Mends, a photojournalist for CBS4 News in Miami, Florida, was attacked and his camera was damaged while he was working on a story about rising crime rates in South Beach on May 12, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"p0kdv\">Mends was with CBS4 <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-reporter-hit-sprayed-with-alcohol-as-she-reported-in-miami-beach/\">reporter Bobeth Yates</a> near Fifth Street and Ocean Drive in South Beach. The journalists were there to report on the Miami Beach City Commission’s passage of a <a href=\"https://cbsloc.al/33EtCug\">resolution to stop alcohol sales past 2 a.m.</a> in the city’s entertainment district as a way to curb unruly behavior, <a href=\"https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/05/15/cbs4-crew-attacked-south-beach/\">the station reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dq1lj\">Mends and Yates were doing research in the busy nightlife area about 9 p.m. when a fight broke out. Mends began recording the fight, but some of the people involved in it came up to him and demanded that he not film them.</p><p data-block-key=\"ppkct\">When they started pushing his camera and hitting Mends, Yates said in the station’s report, she tried to get in the way.</p><p data-block-key=\"79rhx\">“To be honest, I've been reporting for a very long time,” Yates said, according to the report. “I don't want to date myself, but about 20 years and I've never been attacked like this on a story.”</p><p data-block-key=\"imwa9\">She said both she and Mends were hit. “The first hit came when we tried to kind of block the camera and I kind of stood in between everything because they started really coming on to Ebenezer and attacking him.”</p><p data-block-key=\"foudp\">At one point, Yates said, four or five people surrounded Mends. Yates said they hit her and tried to attack Mends and the camera, which was damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"g49ms\">“They also threw a bottle of liquid what I believe is some sort of alcohol because it was literally burning our skin, my eyes,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ma8s\">Yates called police and followed the people who harassed her and Mends, according to the station’s report. Neither Yates nor Mends responded to U.S. Press Freedom Tracker requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"6exs2\">Miami Beach police officers later detained two people near Seventh Street and Ocean Drive. The subjects were arrested for criminal mischief, resisting an officer and battery, the Miami Beach Police Department confirmed to the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"bd62y\">A charge sheet shared by police with the Tracker confirmed that Mends reported he had received a cut on his head during the incident and that Yates had reported being struck on her arms and being targeted when a liquid was thrown at the journalists. The police report also confirmed damage to the CBS4 crew’s Sony PXW-X400 video camera, which has a replacement value of $90,000. A CBS news report confirmed that the <a href=\"https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/05/15/cbs4-crew-attacked-south-beach/\">camera was damaged</a> but did not specify the degree of damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"3rrim\"><i>Editor's Note: The date of the assault is May 12, 2021, not May 15, as originally published.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"actor": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"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": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-08-08 15:22:00+00:00) Charges dropped in attack on Miami photojournalist"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ebenezer Mends (WFOR-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "CBS4 News reporter hit, sprayed with alcohol as she reported in Miami Beach",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-reporter-hit-sprayed-with-alcohol-as-she-reported-in-miami-beach/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-09T17:57:01.944791Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-13T19:57:08.796431Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-13T19:57:08.497840Z",
"date": "2021-05-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami",
"longitude": -80.19366,
"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"l9yrj\">Bobeth Yates, a reporter for CBS4 News in Miami, Florida, was attacked on May 12, 2021, while she was working on a story about rising crime rates in South Beach.</p><p data-block-key=\"cvd5x\">Yates was near Fifth Street and Ocean Drive in South Beach to report on the Miami Beach City Commission passing a <a href=\"https://cbsloc.al/33EtCug\">resolution to stop alcohol sales past 2 a.m.</a> in the city’s entertainment district as a way to curb unruly behavior, <a href=\"https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/05/15/cbs4-crew-attacked-south-beach/\">the station reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ggisr\">Yates was with photojournalist Ebenezer Mends doing research in the busy nightlife area about 9 p.m. when they started recording a fight in front of them. After Mends started filming, some of the people involved in the fight came over and demanded not to be filmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"bocx1\">When they started pushing the camera and hitting Mends, Yates said in the report, she tried to get in the way.</p><p data-block-key=\"w55n6\">“To be honest, I've been reporting for a very long time,” Yates said in the report. “I don't want to date myself, but about 20 years and I've never been attacked like this on a story.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wccty\">She said both she and Mends were hit. “The first hit came when we tried to kind of block the camera and I kind of stood in between everything because they started really coming on to Ebenezer and attacking him.”</p><p data-block-key=\"66ufr\">At one point, Yates said, maybe four or five people surrounded Mends. She said she tried to push them back but they hit her and tried to attack Mends and the camera, which was damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"xmbdp\">“They also threw a bottle of liquid what I believe is some sort of alcohol because it was literally burning our skin, my eyes,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"3hz0a\">Yates, who didn’t respond to U.S. Press Freedom Tracker requests for comment, called police and followed the people who harassed her and Mends, the report said.</p><p data-block-key=\"roawv\">Miami Beach police officers detained two subjects near Seventh Street and Ocean Drive. The subjects were arrested for criminal mischief, resisting an officer and battery, the Miami Beach Police Department confirmed to the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"u00e8\">Police also confirmed damage to the Sony PXW-X400 video camera, belonging to the CBS News crew, and stated damage was estimated at $90,000, if the camera needed to be replaced. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs4-news-photojournalist-assaulted-camera-damaged-as-he-covered-story-in-miami-beach/\">Mends’ assault and the equipment damage is documented by the Tracker here.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"9j8ia\"><i>Editor's Note: The date of the assault is May 12, 2021, not May 15, as originally published.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-08-08 15:20:00+00:00) Charges dropped in attack on Miami reporter"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Bobeth Yates (WFOR-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Reporter subpoenaed for witness testimony in Idaho case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-subpoenaed-for-witness-testimony-in-idaho-case/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-12T17:22:19.487726Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-05T18:02:10.928063Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-05T18:02:10.785339Z",
"date": "2021-05-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Idaho Falls",
"longitude": -112.03414,
"latitude": 43.46658,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"doudg\">Idaho reporter Nate Eaton was subpoenaed on May 10, 2021, to give witness testimony as part of a conspiracy case relating to the deaths of two children that he’s covered extensively.</p><p data-block-key=\"0ngrs\">The news director at the local website EastIdahoNews.com, Eaton has been covering the case of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, who are on trial for altering evidence in relation to the killings of Vallow's two children whose remains were found on Daybell's property, according to the site’s <a href=\"https://www.eastidahonews.com/2021/03/the-latest-timeline-in-the-lori-and-chad-daybell-case/\">news</a> <a href=\"https://idahonews.com/news/local/journalist-chad-daybells-sister-in-law-subpoenaed-to-appear-in-court\">reports</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"k62x9\">Eaton posted on Twitter<a href=\"https://twitter.com/NateNewsNow/status/1391914412945018881/photo/1\"> an image of a subpoena</a> that requests his testimony in court on June 9. According to the document on <a href=\"https://coi.isc.idaho.gov/?fbclid=IwAR1hhhyHFZ7ytl5kSkZAubmHg3Mvwa235uCXgFVJg3BLIELBvSGFfKj4QZQ\">the website of the Idaho judiciary</a>, the subpoena was filed with the county’s deputy clerk by John Prior, an attorney representing the defendants in the case.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Well... <a href=\"https://t.co/9S2szhKLhl\">pic.twitter.com/9S2szhKLhl</a></p>— Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NateNewsNow/status/1391914412945018881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 11, 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=\"eio2b\">The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, emailed Prior for comment, but did not receive any response.</p><p data-block-key=\"osft0\">The Clerk of District Court who signed the subpoena, Eileen Parker, referred CPJ to Tammie Whyte, the trial court administrator for the Seventh District, who told CPJ that the process for issuing the subpoena was set forth in Idaho’s criminal rule 17. “I can’t speak for the presiding judge as to whether they’re going to enforce the subpoena or not,” she said in a phone interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"oi0p2\">EastIdahoNews.com Managing Editor Nate Sunderland confirmed to CPJ that Eaton was served the subpoena the day after it was filed, on May 11.</p><p data-block-key=\"sa8s8\">“Nate’s been covering this [case] for a year and a half now, and if he was called to the stand, it would really ruin his opportunity to continue covering it,” Sunderland told CPJ. “That’s our biggest concern—our ability to objectively cover this if we’re suddenly part of the story.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hwjxy\">The Tracker<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/subpoena/?categories=6&date_lower=2020-01-01&date_upper=2020-12-31\"> documented 31 subpoenas</a> filed to journalists and news organizations in 2020.</p></div>",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Idaho",
"abbreviation": "ID"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-05-29 17:55:00+00:00) Subpoena for witness testimony dropped against Idaho reporter"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Nate Eaton (EastIdahoNews.com)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"dropped"
],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Florida journalists barred from covering Gov. DeSantis signing of controversial new election law",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-journalists-barred-from-covering-gov-desantis-signing-of-controversial-new-election-law/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-24T13:13:14.758396Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T21:14:35.046863Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T21:14:34.913025Z",
"date": "2021-05-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "West Palm Beach",
"longitude": -80.05337,
"latitude": 26.71534,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"69fbj\">Journalists from multiple Florida news outlets said they were blocked from covering Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of a controversial election bill on May 6, 2021, in West Palm Beach.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m1kg\">Among those denied access to the bill signing event were journalists from The South Florida Sun Sentinel; West Palm Beach TV stations WPEC CBS12 and WPTV Newschannel 5; and WPLG Local 10 News, an ABC affiliate in Miami. The only news outlet allowed in to cover the event was the Fox News program Fox & Friends, according to multiple journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"n2qvq\">Steve Bousquet, a columnist for The Sun Sentinel, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/stevebousquet/status/1390268388493103104\">posted on Twitter</a> that a DeSantis spokesperson told him the signing was a “Fox exclusive.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NEW: News media is barred from entry at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of controversial elections bill, SB 90. DeSantis spokeswoman Taryn Fenske says bill signing is a “Fox exclusive” <a href=\"https://t.co/NAos6kmtQS\">pic.twitter.com/NAos6kmtQS</a></p>— Steve Bousquet (@stevebousquet) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/stevebousquet/status/1390268388493103104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 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=\"abdrt\">Bousquet told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had no advance notice that access to the event would be exclusive for Fox. He said that he and other reporters came to a Hilton Hotel near the West Palm Beach airport, where a public announcement had said the bill signing would take place.</p><p data-block-key=\"x2tha\">Bousquet said the event, held in a hotel conference room, resembled a political rally. Reporters could see part of the event through a window, he said, while some watched on their phones as the Fox News broadcast carried the governor signing the bill.</p><p data-block-key=\"msogo\">Bill signings are not required to be held publicly, and sometimes governors sign legislation behind closed doors. However, Bousquet, a longtime Florida political journalist, said he had never encountered a similar situation for a bill signing, particularly on a piece of very high profile legislation.</p><p data-block-key=\"1balp\">“This was really astonishing because the amount of public interest and public and press attention on that elections bill was among the highest of any piece of legislation, you know, in decades in Tallahassee,” the capital of Florida, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"vkv3n\">Anthony Man, a reporter for the Sun Sentinel, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/browardpolitics/status/1390270455525822466\">posted a series of photos from the hotel on Twitter</a> showing a line of people waiting to enter the event where the “governor will sign new Florida election law on Fox News and demonstrate his conservative bona fides for national Republican audience.” The photos showed a banner and T-shirt supporting a 2024 presidential ticket of Donald Trump and Gov. DeSantis.</p><p data-block-key=\"whgtp\">Almost an hour later, Man tweeted that while outside the venue, he could hear cheering and chants of “Four more years!” from the crowd inside.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">From outside <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GovRonDeSantis</a> bill signing event, can hear him revving up crowd of supporters who will serve as audience for Fox News segment during which he’ll sign new election law. Hundreds of people on their feet, cheering and applauding. Now chanting “four more years!”</p>— Anthony Man (@browardpolitics) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/browardpolitics/status/1390283173033136134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 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=\"nozh2\">Madeline Montgomery, a reporter for CBS12, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MadelineTV/status/1390278019344961536\">tweeted</a> that she had been at the Hilton, where the DeSantis event was planned, since 4 a.m.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It’s an odd situation here in West Palm Beach. The governor is set to speak and sign a bill at the Hilton, but media are not being allowed in. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBS12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBS12</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/hcdsIHpKBM\">pic.twitter.com/hcdsIHpKBM</a></p>— Madeline Montgomery (@MadelineTV) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MadelineTV/status/1390276906088648704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 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=\"xqnkw\">Another CBS12 reporter, Danielle Waugh DeRos tweeted a photograph of journalists waiting outside after the event.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Reporters waiting outside DeSantis event in West Palm. We are being told it’s a Fox News exclusive and private ticketed event. Expecting him to sign controversial elections law today but won’t be able to show you <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBS12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBS12</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/z15QXAE5Cx\">pic.twitter.com/z15QXAE5Cx</a></p>— Danielle Waugh DaRos (@DanielleCBS12) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanielleCBS12/status/1390277403394691076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 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=\"8x6df\">CBS12 reporter Jay O’Brien posted on Twitter at 1:58 p.m. to confirm that his channel’s news team would not be allowed in.</p><p data-block-key=\"3hf0x\">“We were a pool camera, assigned to feed this event to affiliates nationwide,” O’Brien tweeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"pllcp\">“It’s not just us. Not a single reporter is being let in. This in a ‘sunshine’ state that prides itself on open government.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rhlgi\">The Tracker was not able to confirm whether O’Brien was among the journalists denied access to the event.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Confirmed: <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBS12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBS12</a> News is not allowed into the event where <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GovRonDeSantis</a> will sign a controversial elections bill into law, per <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MadelineTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MadelineTV</a> who is outside.<br><br>We were a pool camera, assigned to feed this event to affiliates nationwide. <br><br>Now, the only camera will be Fox News</p>— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jayobtv/status/1390274698370551810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 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=\"684ta\">WPLG Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg was at the event as well, according to a <a href=\"https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/05/06/gov-ron-desantis-expected-to-sign-elections-bill-in-west-palm-beach/\">story published by the outlet</a>. Introducing Milberg for a segment on the bill signing, a Local 10 News anchor said DeSantis signed the bill live on Fox News while “locking out local media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"lttpz\">WPTV journalists were also shut out of the event,<a href=\"https://www.wptv.com/news/political/wptv-other-news-media-not-allowed-inside-desantis-event\"> according to the outlet</a>. Reporter Matt Sczesny said in <a href=\"https://www.wptv.com/news/state/gov-ron-desantis-signs-elections-bill-in-west-palm-beach\">one report</a> that local media was excluded from the event, and reporter Linnie Supall called the exclusive access given to Fox an “unprecedented move” by the governor.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjuf0\">In a WPTV video, DeSantis can be seen walking to his car after signing the bill.</p><p data-block-key=\"2rkra\">“It was on national TV, it wasn’t secret,” DeSantis told reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfsg3\">A spokesperson for DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ub7pa\">Fox News <a href=\"https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/05/06/fox-news-didnt-ask-for-an-exclusive-on-desantis-bill-signing-network-says/\">told The Tampa Bay Times</a> that the network “did not request or mandate that the May 6th event and interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis be exclusive to FOX News Media entities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"nz044\">According to Florida First Amendment Foundation staff attorney Virginia Hamrick, the state’s Sunshine Law, which requires meetings between certain officials to be public, does not apply to the bill signing. However, she said that restricting access to the event raises First Amendment issues. “We're concerned by it,” Hamrick told the Tracker.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX9TLY8.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"il5qe\">Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seen in this file photo, gave exclusive coverage of a bill signing to the Fox News program Fox & Friends on May 6, 2021, blocking all local journalists.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"State government: Governor"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Danielle Waugh DeRos (WPEC)",
"Madeline Montgomery (WPEC)",
"Steve Bousquet (South Florida Sun Sentinel)",
"Anthony Man (South Florida Sun Sentinel)",
"Glenna Milberg (WPLG)",
"Matt Sczesny (WPTV-TV)",
"Linnie Supall (WPTV-TV)"
],
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"type_of_denial": [
"Government event"
]
}
]
