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{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed by DC construction company after libel claims dismissed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-by-dc-construction-company-after-libel-claims-dismissed/",
"first_published_at": "2023-05-12T13:06:33.843022Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-13T22:26:24.072956Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-13T22:26:23.957065Z",
"date": "2023-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yv364\">Natalie Delgadillo, the managing editor of DCist, was issued a subpoena on Jan. 20, 2023, in connection with a protracted legal dispute involving a Washington, D.C.-based construction company. The subpoena was subsequently quashed and the company sanctioned by the court.</p><p data-block-key=\"clj3t\">The dispute began after the district’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against Precision Contracting Solutions, LLC, owner Derrick Sieber and his father, Stephen Sieber, in July 2019, alleging violations of consumer protection and construction codes. Delgadillo <a href=\"https://dcist.com/story/19/07/31/d-c-attorney-general-sues-home-contractor-over-shoddy-and-destructive-work/\">reported</a> on the suit and a press release from the attorney general, and subsequently updated the article with comments from the Siebers and a customer to whom Stephen Sieber had referred her.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ib7k\">According to a court filing from Delgadillo’s attorney, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Stephen Sieber began leaving “disturbing” voicemail messages for Delgadillo in January 2020. That March, the Siebers filed a defamation lawsuit against her and American University, which owns DCist through its NPR affiliate radio station WAMU. The Siebers attempted to force Delgadillo to testify in court multiple times throughout the defamation proceedings, but the judge consistently denied their requests.</p><p data-block-key=\"fvm33\">Though the judge dismissed the libel claims against Delgadillo and AU under the district’s Anti-SLAPP Act in June 2020, he reversed the decision on procedural grounds more than a year later in July 2021. The claims were again dismissed in February 2022, and later that year Delgadillo and AU were awarded nearly $116,000 in attorneys fees and costs.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ib57\">As the attorney general’s lawsuit against the company progressed, Precision Contracting Solutions indicated an interest in subpoenaing Delgadillo and other journalists at DCist multiple times in the fall of 2020, but did not do so until January 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"c7bgl\">Stephen Sieber issued a subpoena to Delgadillo on Jan. 20, ordering her to appear to testify in May when the trial was scheduled to begin. Charles Tobin, an attorney representing the journalist, filed a motion to quash the subpoena on Feb. 16, arguing that the Siebers had harassed her and her colleagues for nearly three years.</p><p data-block-key=\"796cl\">Tobin also requested that the court issue sanctions against the Siebers and grant a protective order to prevent Delgadillo or any of her DCist colleagues from being forced to testify at the trial.</p><p data-block-key=\"5c5d9\">Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna <a href=\"https://medialaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/05.03.23sieber.pdf\">granted</a> all three requests on March 30, ruling that Stephen Sieber had acted in bad faith and had been repeatedly instructed that any testimony from Delgadillo was protected under reporter’s privilege. On May 2, McKenna awarded Delgadillo more than $20,800 in attorneys fees and costs.</p><p data-block-key=\"lpq6\">Delgadillo, when contacted by the Tracker, said that she’s still not sure whether the years-long saga has truly ended, but otherwise declined to comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jbiua\">A portion of the subpoena issued to DCist Managing Editor Natalie Delgadillo on Jan. 20, 2023, by a construction company after she reported on a lawsuit against it. A judge quashed the subpoena and ordered sanctions against the company.</p>",
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"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Natalie Delgadillo (DCist)"
],
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"quashed"
],
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},
{
"title": "SC reporter arrested, banned from tribal lands",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sc-reporter-arrested-banned-from-tribal-lands/",
"first_published_at": "2023-01-19T15:41:37.800666Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-31T20:42:56.195050Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-31T20:42:56.073192Z",
"date": "2023-01-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Rock Hill",
"longitude": -81.02508,
"latitude": 34.92487,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wd2vz\">Post and Courier reporter Maggie Brown was arrested and charged with trespassing after being removed from a Catawba Nation general council meeting near Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Jan. 14, 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"ckvvi\">The Post and Courier, which originally reported the arrest in a since-deleted article, wrote that Brown was in attendance to cover discussions around whether to cut ties with the operators of a Catawba-owned casino that is under federal scrutiny. That article is available for reference from an <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20230115033242/https://www.postandcourier.com/news/post-and-courier-reporter-charged-with-trespassing-while-covering-catawba-nation-meeting/article_9e710eae-9473-11ed-86d0-d3f103e0676c.html\">internet archive</a>. Brown and Managing Editor Andy Shain declined to comment when reached by email.</p><p data-block-key=\"94tds\">Queen City News <a href=\"https://www.qcnews.com/news/u-s/york-county/reporter-removed-from-catawba-nation-meeting-cited-for-trespassing-sheriff/\">reported</a> that tribal administrators denied Brown’s request to attend the meeting — which was only open to tribal members and invited guests — in the days leading up to the event. The News reported that approximately 200 people were in attendance.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tmds\">The York County Sheriff’s Office told the outlet that a deputy gave Brown a citation for trespassing, a misdemeanor <a href=\"https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t16c011.php\">punishable</a> by up to 30 days in jail or a $200 fine, and released her. Brown left the Catawba reservation under a police escort.</p><p data-block-key=\"8kfjv\">The Catawba Nation condemned her actions in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/officialcatawba/status/1614664932837949440\">statement</a> released on Twitter after the incident, referring to her as Maggie Brown Driggers. The statement said that she had flaunted tribal sovereignty and disrespected their boundaries.</p><p data-block-key=\"3q3hu\">“Catawba General Council meetings are gatherings of Catawba citizens to discuss, debate, and ultimately vote on issues facing the Nation,” the statement said. “We are a sovereign nation with the power to set boundaries and laws on our land to protect and serve our people. This includes restricting those who are allowed and not allowed in our meetings.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cgc06\">According to the statement, Brown has been banned from tribal lands.</p><p data-block-key=\"15ev3\">The York County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a voicemail requesting further information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": "York County Sheriff's Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"state": {
"name": "South Carolina",
"abbreviation": "SC"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-07-17 16:31:00+00:00) Trespassing charge against reporter dropped"
],
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"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Maggie Brown (The Post and Courier)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Texas judge vacates order limiting murder trial coverage",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/texas-judge-vacates-order-limiting-murder-trial-coverage/",
"first_published_at": "2023-01-17T16:56:48.597929Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-01-17T16:56:48.597929Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-01-17T16:56:48.471282Z",
"date": "2023-01-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Waco",
"longitude": -97.14667,
"latitude": 31.54933,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0uwcn\">A judge in Waco, Texas, issued a sweeping gag order on Jan. 9, 2023, restricting media coverage ahead of a retrial in a murder case. The order was vacated two days later after attorneys for local broadcaster KWTX successfully argued that it amounted to an unconstitutional prior restraint, the outlet <a href=\"https://www.kwtx.com/2023/01/11/waco-judge-vacates-portion-gag-order-upcoming-retrial-ex-daycare-owner-charged-childs-overdose-death/?outputType=amp\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"j97k\">Judge David Hodges’ order prohibited the press from reporting on basic facts about the case, including testimony or evidence from the initial trial in 2015, that it resulted in a conviction, the fact that the case was reversed or the reason behind the reversal. It also barred any reporting on any pretrial rulings in the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"bru49\">The case — which was set to begin on Jan. 9 — was postponed citing concerns that there would not be insufficient jurors from which to select a jury, according to KWTX.</p><p data-block-key=\"4jnfv\">The Waco Tribune-Herald <a href=\"https://wacotrib.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mclennan-county-judge-backtracks-on-muzzling-press-in-fraser-murder-retrial/article_6b7c8af2-91c9-11ed-ad3f-5f5b399051ab.html\">reported</a> that the gag order forced it to hold its reporting on the postponement.</p><p data-block-key=\"5u8sm\">Attorneys for CBS-affiliate KWTX sent a three-page letter to the court arguing against the order the same day it was issued, according to the outlet. KWTX Vice President and General Manager Josh Young declined to comment when reached by email.</p><p data-block-key=\"carv\">Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, told the outlet that the order would have infringed on First Amendment rights and Hodges was right to lift the restrictions on the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"7avgh\">“Journalists have a right — and a duty — to cover what’s going on at the courthouse to keep the public informed,” Shannon said. “It’s understandable that the judge wants to ensure a fair trial and try to select a local jury, but attempting to restrain what the news media reports is not the answer.”</p></div>",
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"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
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"KWTX-TV",
"Media",
"Waco Tribune-Herald"
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{
"title": "Texas Senate extends barring reporters from floor",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/texas-upholds-covid-era-policy-barring-reporters-from-senate-floor/",
"first_published_at": "2023-01-11T21:02:18.365294Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T20:42:20.289095Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T20:42:20.202123Z",
"date": "2023-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Austin",
"longitude": -97.74306,
"latitude": 30.26715,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vxbw7\">The Texas Senate secretary confirmed to a reporter that a COVID-19 policy implemented two years ago barring reporters from the chamber floor will continue into the new legislative session.</p><p data-block-key=\"24nub\">On Jan. 6, 2023, Dallas Morning News reporter Lauren McGaughy <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lmcgaughy/status/1611403879501168640\">tweeted</a> a portion of an email from Senate Secretary Patsy Spaw stating to her that the policy was still in effect.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Member of the press will not be allowed onto the Texas Senate floor during the upcoming session, the secretary of the senate confirm to me. <br><br>The policy was implemented during COVID and is not being lifted even though most other pandemic restrictions are gone. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/txlege?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#txlege</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/Z9RLFCCc6P\">pic.twitter.com/Z9RLFCCc6P</a></p>— 🌟 Lauren McGaughy (@lmcgaughy) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lmcgaughy/status/1611403879501168640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2023</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vxbw7\">“There is no floor seating for the press,” Spaw wrote. “The reserved area for the press was moved to the Senate Gallery in the southwest corner. The press is not restricted to that area, but may sit in any open seat in the gallery.”</p><p data-block-key=\"96nsc\">Spaw did not respond to a request for further comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"67rrj\">The <a href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2023/01/06/texas-senate-reporters-banned/\">Texas Tribune</a> reported that media members were moved to the third floor of the Senate gallery in 2021 to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, while senators occupied the second floor. Donnis Baggett, executive vice president of the Texas Press Association, told the Tracker via email that the decision to continue the policy was a disservice to both reporters and senators.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9u2g\">“Many legislative procedures were changed during the height of COVID restrictions, but most of those have been dissolved since. Unfortunately, this rule was left in place. The result: reporters are still restricted to the Senate gallery, which is a floor above the senators themselves. That works to the detriment of timely and mutually beneficial conversations between senators and reporters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b4hrc\">Baggett said that he hopes Senate leadership will reconsider the decision for the benefit of voters.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ia83\">Press freedom advocacy groups said the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/pressfreedom/status/1612920680793755651\">decision was concerning</a>, and lacked sufficient explanation.</p><p data-block-key=\"4j2vm\">“The Texas Senate is not even claiming any legitimate justification to limit press access,” said Seth Stern, advocacy director for Freedom of the Press Foundation. “Officials hope that press restrictions will fly under the radar when they quietly make temporary COVID policies permanent. Hopefully Texas won’t fall for it.” FPF co-founded and maintains the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"302dt\">In early 2022, the Tracker reported how <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-removed-from-iowa-senate-floor-overturning-a-century-old-practice/\">Iowa</a>, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-moved-from-kansas-senate-floor-to-public-gallery-for-new-legislative-session/\">Kansas</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/utah-senate-becomes-third-state-legislature-this-year-to-limit-journalists-access/\">Utah</a> senates enacted similar policies or changes to practice restricting reporter access.</p><p data-block-key=\"5kmcu\"><i>Editor's note: The article was updated to include comment from Texas Press Association Executive Vice President Donnis Baggett.</i></p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kkzmv\">The Texas state capitol building in downtown Austin.</p>",
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"name": "Texas",
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"Denial of Access"
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{
"title": "Bloomberg subpoenaed for reporter communications, quashed by judge",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/bloomberg-subpoenaed-for-reporter-communications-quashed-by-judge/",
"first_published_at": "2023-09-21T18:43:34.303966Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-08T15:25:03.510707Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-08T15:25:03.388522Z",
"date": "2023-01-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9q728\">Bloomberg Television parent Bloomberg LP was issued a subpoena for communications between former anchor Stephanie Ruhle and Under Armour founder Kevin Plank on Jan. 4, 2023, as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the sportswear company. A judge quashed the subpoena more than six months later.</p><p data-block-key=\"c6uqi\">A shareholder suit alleged that Under Armour had artificially inflated its share price, costing a shareholder pension fund millions, <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/media/scottish-city-demands-msnbc-anchor-stephanie-ruhles-emails-with-under-armour-founder-legal-feud.amp\">according to Fox News</a>. Shareholders argued that Ruhle, now a host at MSNBC, advised Plank and did damage control for the company using her platform at Bloomberg Television.</p><p data-block-key=\"hct3\">Shareholders had <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.595712/gov.uscourts.nysd.595712.3.1.pdf\">subpoenaed</a> Bloomberg for Ruhle’s communications with Plank and others, as well as any emails sent or received by her concerning Under Armour. They then filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.595712/gov.uscourts.nysd.595712.1.0.pdf\">motion</a> on March 15 to compel the media company to comply with the requests.</p><p data-block-key=\"7glvh\">Bloomberg argued, however, that shareholders’ allegations that the communications were not protected by reporter’s privilege because Ruhle’s journalistic independence was compromised were false and unfounded.</p><p data-block-key=\"co9c5\">Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein ruled in favor of Bloomberg, quashing the subpoena on Aug. 25. “The personal relationship between Ruhle and Plank did not mean that Ruhle was not acting as a journalist with respect to her dealings with Under Armour,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"9rud9\">According to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.595712/gov.uscourts.nysd.595712.27.0.pdf\">court filings</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Ruhle gave a deposition in the underlying suit in early 2023. The Tracker was unable to determine whether Ruhle was compelled or voluntarily gave testimony. But Gorenstein said no efforts were made to question Ruhle during her deposition about who she communicated with about Under Armour.</p><p data-block-key=\"ci546\">“We will thus not rely on speculation that documents may exist at Bloomberg to justify piercing the journalist privilege,” Gorenstein wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6fog\">Ruhle did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"70u91\">In a <a href=\"https://puck.news/ruhles-of-the-game/\">statement to Puck</a>, a Bloomberg News spokesperson said: “The reporter’s privilege offers essential protections for all newsrooms. It allows journalists to engage in newsgathering without outside interference or pressure, and we think it’s worth fighting for.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7rq2n\">A Bloomberg spokesperson declined to comment further when reached by the Tracker.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"781v9\">A portion of the Jan. 4, 2023, subpoena ordering media company Bloomberg to turn over communications between its former reporter Stephanie Ruhle and the founder of Under Armour and others as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the retailer.</p>",
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{
"title": "Penn. journalist ordered to destroy, unpublish copies of leaked report",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/penn-journalist-ordered-to-destroy-unpublish-copies-of-leaked-report/",
"first_published_at": "2023-04-18T21:44:08.181833Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-13T22:27:07.949500Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-13T22:27:07.850297Z",
"date": "2022-12-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Exeter Township",
"longitude": null,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9wgte\">Pennsylvania journalist Jerry Geleff, host of The Exeter Underground podcast and publisher of The Exeter Examiner, was ordered on Dec. 15, 2022, to take down reporting on a leaked document and destroy copies of it.</p><p data-block-key=\"ca136\">In July 2022, Geleff filed a <a href=\"https://www.openrecords.pa.gov/RTKL/About.cfm\">public records request</a> for a report from an investigation into allegations of harassment against a Township Supervisor. His request and subsequent appeal were denied. During a Dec. 14 episode of the Underground, Geleff announced that he had obtained excerpts of the report and read sections aloud. He also published images of the first page and the last two pages on his local news website, the Examiner, which <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/TheExeterExaminer/\">transitioned to Facebook-only</a> in early 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"1u4tq\">According to court records reviewed by the Tracker, an attorney for the Township emailed Geleff on Dec. 15 at 10:45 a.m., threatening legal action against him unless he immediately agreed to return all physical or electronic copies of the report, and destroy copies and descriptions of it that had been published on his platforms. The attorney said he would bring a lawsuit against Geleff and his media companies, and had plans to present an <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-12-15-Exeter-Township-v.-Geleff-Plaintiffs-emergency-motion-for-preliminary-injunction.pdf\">emergency motion for a preliminary injunction</a>, an order requiring Geleff to destroy and unpublish the report, to a judge at 1:30 p.m. that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebm5u\">Geleff told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he replied he would not comply with the request.</p><p data-block-key=\"227l7\">The judge granted the Township’s motion at 2 p.m., and within two hours Geleff had removed the podcast and the article with images of the report.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5ekm\">“I had no time to get legal representation and how a judge allowed that to happen I can’t understand,” Geleff said.</p><p data-block-key=\"d6tu8\">That evening, Geleff posted on the Examiner’s Facebook page a link to an external website that published photos of the report. Within 15 minutes, he was contacted by the Township’s attorney who alleged posting the link violated the order. Geleff promptly removed that post and mentions of the website from his podcast.</p><p data-block-key=\"5b8a8\">Two days later, Geleff published an article (available through a <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20221220060554/https://exeterexaminer.us/latest-news/f/exeter-township-is-suing-me-and-violating-all-of-our-rights\">web archive</a>) about the emergency order and the lawsuit against him, alleging that it was entirely retaliatory.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0vvf\">“This is nothing but retribution for a very vocal critic who has a media outlet and audience. They are attempting to silence any dissent of their plans. And they must be stopped,” Geleff wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"9hv12\">On Dec. 23, an attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-12-23-Exeter-Township-v.-Geleff-Brief-in-support-of-motion-to-dissolve-injunction.pdf\">motion to dissolve the restraint</a> on Geleff’s behalf. RCFP Local Legal Initiative Attorney Paula Knudsen Burke wrote that the prior restraint “flatly violates” the First Amendment and the state’s constitution.</p><p data-block-key=\"dv7ln\">That same day, the Township’s attorney filed a motion for Geleff to be held in contempt for the Facebook post linking to the external website, asking that the court fine Geleff and order him to pay the Township’s attorneys and court fees.</p><p data-block-key=\"3b080\">In its January 2023 filing of arguments against the lawsuit and the motion to hold Geleff in contempt, RCFP attorney Burke wrote that the Township was asking the court to further punish Geleff without cause.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfe18\">“This behavior would be troubling from a private litigant. From the Township, a local government seeking to punish one of its residents for speech on a matter of public interest, it shocks the conscience,” Burke wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8aql\">On Jan. 10, the Township’s attorney withdrew the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning that it cannot be refiled at a later date. The preliminary injunction barring Geleff from publishing the report was also lifted.</p><p data-block-key=\"1469m\">Geleff republished his article and podcast episode that day, <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/TheExeterExaminer/posts/pfbid02nce9WW5vb1YebvoUMqXdrnnyFGy68LMtSza4Daxd8NGGWDi9eVHRpnbuGyutgoZ7l?__cft__[0]=AZXmKCz4LCTPVn8mCxvZ6MSCbFb7ZUqOTVep0j_p2fLwzoZJ9w846BgDQcQ3ztl9CBw9fLH6Eo5KLRCSGCYFM9IsECKWbuct4dE2qqtKtz5TvyIn6vHhIqgq3ipkDiUPd8Dm4cX0NKrRdGM2m86Z2yBarS45unxUNnAeFs2cG1yfPlE6NFR7JVwh0LDX8z1FrO0&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">writing</a> on the Examiner’s Facebook, “The cowardly Exeter Township Supervisors dropped their lawsuit against me, and I'm able to put this back up. The unconstitutional temporary injunction they were granted no longer applies.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9g20\">On its Facebook page, the Township <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ExeterTWP/posts/pfbid03CukdF8LBqf3LAzJrofXoc4vAdGQYNViJyz7jzP1QGZr1k5naezJK2gRCAeUt3t6l?__cft__[0]=AZX7FqZi-q8c1F572uBwwvSYbLCgXE9i7BOTGoHHJbEYX9JVB8NbD9NLarLa7ytLdvHVQyLS4K9MDgSLrFVMQDkBkZctkpY6W7ELy5lIJU7bllqJuqY_R1BtnheeKTbE7ZOyI42ZGBvd0Fb5kR7elRgGvZ6UkvTgzXG7ODEEJYFJVw&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">acknowledged</a> that portions of the report had continued to be shared online and that continuing the lawsuit would only incur additional expenses for the taxpayers.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Geleff.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"dxp7x\">A portion of the Dec. 15, 2022, order directing journalist Jerry Geleff to destroy all copies of a leaked report from Exeter Township, Pennsylvania, as well as all of his coverage of the report’s contents.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"The Exeter Examiner",
"The Exeter Underground"
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"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
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"Jerry Geleff (Jerry Geleff Media)"
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},
{
"title": "Colorado county settles lawsuit after denying outlet’s bid for legal notices",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-county-settles-lawsuit-after-denying-outlets-bid-for-legal-notices/",
"first_published_at": "2023-07-12T19:32:45.891634Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-01-16T19:47:00.351800Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-01-16T19:47:00.230408Z",
"date": "2022-12-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Westcliffe",
"longitude": -105.46584,
"latitude": 38.13472,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s05ql\">Nearly a year after punitively denying the Wet Mountain Tribune a county contract, Colorado’s Custer County agreed on Dec. 14, 2022, to pay $50,000 to settle a First Amendment lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"3rqo0\">The Tribune has been the county’s newspaper of record, bidding for — and winning — the right to publish the county’s legal notices since 1883, <a href=\"https://www.aspentimes.com/opinion/westcliffe-paper-sues-over-custer-county-steering-advertising-away-because-of-news-coverage/\">according to an op-ed</a> by owner and publisher Jordan Hedberg. The only exceptions were two years wherein it wasn’t the lowest bidder, he wrote, a precedent largely disregarded during the Board of County Commissioners’ Jan. 19 vote.</p><p data-block-key=\"5cc7\">In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW-4V1SxG-Y&t=7536s\">recording</a> of the public meeting, Commissioner Bill Canda made it clear his vote was based on his opinions of the Tribune’s reporting. “I don’t know why I would support a paper that doesn’t support the county,” Canda said.</p><p data-block-key=\"e91t0\">Commissioner Kevin Day expressed his agreement, describing the Tribune as “combative.” The lone dissenter, Commissioner Tom Flower, responded that only the cost and circulation should matter.</p><p data-block-key=\"f79gr\">“I don’t recall the Tribune in 2021 refusing to put any legal notices in his paper and that’s what we’re paying him for,” Flower said. “Whether we agree or disagree with editorials or not doesn’t factor into it. We’re paying a paper to print our legal notices and be the paper of record.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7vgd8\">Another outlet, the Sangre De Cristo Sentinel, was <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cod.217645/gov.uscourts.cod.217645.1.8.pdf\">awarded the contract</a> with the county in a 2-1 vote. It has around half the circulation and bid more than twice what the Tribune did.</p><p data-block-key=\"cgnq2\">Hedberg filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cod.217645/gov.uscourts.cod.217645.1.0.pdf\">lawsuit</a> against Canda, Day and the Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 18, 2022, arguing that they had retaliated against the Tribune because of its critical reporting on the county government and an official.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hq4a\">Neither Hedberg nor the county commissioners responded to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"6nu4q\">“They can call me up and say, ‘Hey, we don’t like what you’ve done, we’re very upset with it,’ and that’s absolutely within their right,” Hedberg <a href=\"https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/next-with-kyle-clark/custer-county-paper-first-amendment-lawsuit-commissioners/73-84f100cd-e508-4061-a80c-25274426fff6\">told a local news station</a>. “But when they start using their power to attempt to punish and harm us, financially particularly in this case, then that crosses the line.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4g464\">Hedberg <a href=\"https://coloradomedia.substack.com/p/a-victory-for-wet-mountain-tribune\">told Inside the News in Colorado</a> in mid-December that the parties had reached a settlement agreement. In exchange for Hedberg dropping the suit, the county would pay the Tribune $50,000 and make it the newspaper of record for the next four years.</p><p data-block-key=\"b7nrt\">“I feel like the justice system upheld our First Amendment rights as newspapers in a pretty blatant case,” Hedberg said.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0k5g\">The case was formally dismissed on Dec. 28, according to <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/64907346/wet-mountain-publishing-company-v-canda/\">court records</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Wet_Mountain_Tribune.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0znpj\">Colorado’s Custer County commissioners denied a public notice contract to the Wet Mountain Tribune during a Jan. 19, 2022, public meeting, citing its reporting. The county later settled a First Amendment lawsuit with the Tribune.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:22-cv-02121",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
"updates": [],
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"settled"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Wet Mountain Tribune"
],
"tags": [],
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"Other Incident"
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"targeted_journalists": [],
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{
"title": "FTC orders Twitter to disclose names of journalists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ftc-orders-twitter-to-disclose-names-of-journalists/",
"first_published_at": "2023-03-23T23:38:50.129811Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-03-23T23:38:50.129811Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-03-23T23:38:50.036230Z",
"date": "2022-12-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7tk9i\">As part of an ongoing investigation, the Federal Trade Commission asked Twitter to disclose the names of journalists who were provided access to some of the social media company’s internal communications, the Wall Street Journal <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/twitter-investigation-ftc-musk-documents-db6b179e\">reported</a> in March 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"a7bbu\">The company has been subject to a consent decree since 2011, following multiple user data breaches, and is required to regularly conduct security audits and inform the FTC how it is handling sensitive data. In May 2022, Twitter agreed to improve its privacy practices as part of a settlement with the agency. According to The New York Times, the commission <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/technology/ftc-twitter-investigation-privacy.html\">intensified its investigation</a> into Twitter’s data and privacy practices following Elon Musk’s October 2022 takeover and subsequent mass reduction of the workforce.</p><p data-block-key=\"9nm6s\">On Dec. 13, the FTC sent a letter to Twitter questioning the decision to give journalists access to internal communications, which Musk dubbed the “Twitter Files.” The agency asked the social media giant to disclose the names of the journalists, to describe the “nature of access granted each person” and whether the information was disclosed in a way that “is consistent with your privacy and information security obligations under the Order.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3i7r0\">A select subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee <a href=\"https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/weaponization-select-subcommittee-releases-staff-report-ftc-harassment-twitter\">released an interim report</a> on March 7, 2023, alleging that the FTC overstepped its authority and has been harassing the company.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ng6r\">“There is no logical reason, for example, why the FTC needs to know the identities of journalists engaging with Twitter,” the report said.</p><p data-block-key=\"b6lfi\">In a statement to the Times, an FTC spokesperson said that the agency is working to protect user privacy, particularly in the wake of mass layoffs and budget cuts.</p><p data-block-key=\"ep5a8\">“Protecting consumers’ privacy is exactly what the FTC is supposed to do,” Douglas Farrar said. “It should come as no surprise that career staff at the commission are conducting a rigorous investigation into Twitter’s compliance with a consent order that came into effect long before Mr. Musk purchased the company.”</p><p data-block-key=\"agalm\">The Freedom of the Press Foundation, which manages the day-to-day operations of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/ftc-overreaches-by-demanding-twitter-identify-journalists/\">decried</a> the request for journalists’ names as an alarming step toward government surveillance.</p><p data-block-key=\"emmce\">“Anyone who cares about the free press should be concerned by the FTC’s demand that Twitter identify journalists who have received information that might embarrass the administration, regardless of what they think of Elon Musk or Twitter,” Advocacy Director Seth Stern said in a statement. “The FTC should not have to violate the privacy of journalists to protect the privacy of Twitter users.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aahib\">Twitter, which has laid off its communications staff, responded to a request for comment with an auto-response of a poop emoji.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSGHCPP2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xs7zp\">The Federal Trade Commission asked Twitter in Dec. 2022 to disclose the names of journalists given access to internal company files, the so-called “Twitter Files.”</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Tennessee photographer pushed, camera grabbed by businessman",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-photographer-pushed-camera-grabbed-by-businessman/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-07T21:31:12.847883Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-07T21:31:12.847883Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-07T21:29:24.505332Z",
"date": "2022-12-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Ashland City",
"longitude": -87.06417,
"latitude": 36.27422,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ygtda\">An unidentified photographer for WSMV-TV was pushed by a man that the news crew for the station was attempting to interview in Ashland City, Tennessee, on Dec. 9, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"ack2\">Reporter Tosin Fakile <a href=\"https://x.com/TosinfaksTV/status/1601278243071414272\">posted on social media</a> about the incident with footage of what followed, writing, “This was after this man pushed my photographer and his camera after I had asked him to do an interview because we are doing a story about his business.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2id9m\">In her footage, the photojournalist can be heard telling the man, “Let go of my camera,” to which the man, who can be seen with his hand on the device, responds “Please leave.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1hbbf\">A woman then asks Fakile why she is filming, to which the reporter responds, “Why is he touching my photographer’s camera?” The woman then accuses the journalists of trespassing and tells them to leave. The unidentified couple ultimately get back into their vehicle and speed away.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">PEOPLE DO NOT EVER LAY HANDS ON TV REPORTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS… EVER‼️<br><br>This was after this man pushed my photographer and his camera after I had asked him to do an interview because we are doing a story about his business. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WSMV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WSMV</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/LF76gnjzko\">pic.twitter.com/LF76gnjzko</a></p>— Tosin Fakile (@TosinfaksTV) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TosinfaksTV/status/1601278243071414272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 9, 2022</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ygtda\">Fakile <a href=\"https://x.com/TosinfaksTV/status/1601293464360345600\">posted</a> again afterwards that the businessman later sent one of his employees to speak with the news crew.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3rj4\">“I don’t appreciate what this man just did. That is rude. That is disrespectful. You cannot lay hands on people or their property,” Fakile tells the employee. “I’ve tweeted that video, it’s out in the public. He’s going to have to be responsible for his actions. Now unless you or him will get in front of my camera and talk about what exactly you guys do here and break it down so people have your side, or you send me a statement, there is no further conversation to be had.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4cu3q\">Fakile did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
},
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"categories": [
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"Unidentified photojournalist 34 (WSMV-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Financial reporter subpoenaed for testimony in securities fraud case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/financial-reporter-subpoenaed-for-testimony-in-securities-fraud-case/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-14T21:19:58.733925Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-14T21:19:58.733925Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-14T21:19:58.648138Z",
"date": "2022-11-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qispx\">Roddy Boyd, editor and founder of the investigative reporting outlet Foundation for Financial Journalism, was subpoenaed for testimony in connection with a California securities fraud lawsuit on Nov. 30, 2022, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"455d1\">Boyd moved to quash the subpoena on Jan. 17, 2023, and it was withdrawn and the case dismissed in February 2023 as part of settlement negotiations in the underlying fraud case.</p><p data-block-key=\"5dkpj\">In January 2019, Boyd published an <a href=\"https://ffj-online.org/2019/01/25/corcept-therapeutics-the-company-that-perfectly-explains-the-health-care-crisis/\">article</a> through his Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation — later <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundation-for-financial-journalism/\">renamed</a> the Foundation for Financial Journalism — alleging that pharmaceutical company Corcept Therapeutics paid doctors to prescribe its drug Korlym for off-label uses.</p><p data-block-key=\"1jn1l\">The revelations in Boyd’s article led to a decline in Corcept’s share price, company shareholders alleged in a securities fraud class-action <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.339504/gov.uscourts.cand.339504.1.0.pdf\">suit</a> filed two months later against the company and its top executives in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.</p><p data-block-key=\"bi414\">As part of its defense, Corcept issued the November 2022 order for Boyd’s testimony about documents that were sought in two <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/investigative-outlet-subpoenaed-for-documents-in-securities-fraud-case/\">separate</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-subpoenaed-for-documents-in-securities-fraud-case/\">subpoenas</a> sent to the reporter and the investigative reporting outlet. Those legal orders directed Boyd and the outlet to turn over a wide range of materials related to his newsgathering activities, his finances and those of his outlet, and any disciplinary actions against him.</p><p data-block-key=\"6dtf1\">The motion to set aside the deposition subpoena, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, argued that the information the defendants asked for was irrelevant to the lawsuit and protected by the First Amendment and the <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-the-reporters-privilege-compendium/\">reporter’s privilege</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vgp1\">It also asserted that all parties to the suit agreed that his article relied entirely on publicly available information, and so the subpoena was merely “a transparent attempt to use the discovery process to chill Mr. Boyd’s speech.”</p><p data-block-key=\"56pqn\">On Feb. 13, Boyd <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927.11.0.pdf\">withdrew</a> his motion after Corcept dropped the deposition subpoena. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz then <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927.12.0.pdf\">dismissed</a> the case Feb. 15.</p><p data-block-key=\"3s35d\">Boyd told the Tracker in an email that the subpoenas “were designed to harass an established, credible, non-profit news organization.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cv8g7\">He also noted that legal actions or threats against small media outlets triggered a requirement to notify their insurer. “This places the press organization in a much higher risk cohort,” Boyd added, “guaranteeing their premiums and deductibles rise the following year.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vjm7f\">A portion of a Nov. 30, 2022, subpoena issued to investigative reporter Roddy Boyd seeking testimony in a California securities fraud lawsuit. The subpoena was withdrawn in February 2023.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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"Roddy Boyd (Foundation for Financial Journalism)"
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{
"title": "WSJ reporter detained outside Phoenix bank",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wsj-reporter-detained-outside-phoenix-bank/",
"first_published_at": "2023-01-05T21:39:55.971219Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-10T23:06:23.300428Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-10T23:06:23.210897Z",
"date": "2022-11-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Phoenix",
"longitude": -112.07404,
"latitude": 33.44838,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0945w\">Wall Street Journal reporter Dion Rabouin was detained on alleged trespassing charges while reporting outside of a bank in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 23, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lke4\">ABC15 Arizona <a href=\"https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/phoenix-pd-handcuffed-detained-wall-street-journal-reporter\">reported</a> that Rabouin, who’s based in New York, had traveled to Arizona to visit family during the Thanksgiving holiday. He told the outlet he went to a Chase branch in north Phoenix to interview customers for an ongoing story about savings accounts.</p><p data-block-key=\"1he13\">Rabouin, who declined to comment further, said he was standing on a sidewalk outside the building when a pair of employees asked him what he was doing. According to a <a href=\"https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/be/dc/6211f3bd4e63a889fb991f89d8e8/police-report.pdf\">police report</a> about the incident, bank employees called the Phoenix Police Department to report a suspicious person at approximately 2:45 p.m. and an officer arrived 20 minutes later. The report claims Rabouin told the employees he was a reporter conducting interviews and refused to leave, and that when the officer asked Rabouin to produce his identification, he refused.</p><p data-block-key=\"r1rg\">Rabouin refuted that account in an interview with ABC15. The reporter said that he had told the branch employees that he was there working on a story and at no time did the bank ask him to leave. When the officer arrived at the scene, he identified himself as a reporter for the Journal.</p><p data-block-key=\"88lcd\">When the officer told him he was trespassing, Rabouin said that he was unaware it was private property and attempted to leave, but was physically blocked from doing so.</p><p data-block-key=\"9tpbv\">Rabouin told ABC15 the officer started grabbing his arms and when he drew back, the officer said, “This could get bad for you if you don’t comply and don’t do what I say.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8tid2\">The reporter was then placed in handcuffs. According to ABC15, a bystander saw the situation unfolding and began recording the detainment on her cellphone. The station aired the footage she captured.</p><p data-block-key=\"fi\">“I heard him say he was going to leave,” the woman says in the recording. “This is ridiculous. He’s a reporter.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3t890\">In the footage, the officer led Rabouin to his police car and attempted to place him in the back, but the reporter refused to place his feet inside to allow the officer to close the door. The two talked for several minutes until additional officers arrived, and approximately 15 minutes after he was initially detained, Rabouin was released.</p><p data-block-key=\"dlmek\">According to the police report, the officer informed Rabouin that he was “officially trespassed from the property” and that if he returned he would be arrested and charged.</p><p data-block-key=\"ennj2\">Rabouin told ABC15 that he filed an internal complaint with the Phoenix Police Department in the days that followed. About a week later, he received a call notifying him that it had reviewed the incident and found no wrongdoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahcpk\">In a <a href=\"https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/62/ec/ee6846be4414b56951b8b51fe45b/letter-to-phoenix-police-department-from-matt-murray-2.pdf\">letter</a> shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker by the Journal, Editor-in-Chief Matt Murray called on Chief of Police Michael Sullivan in early December to conduct an internal review.</p><p data-block-key=\"2kr3d\">“I am appalled and concerned that officers at your department would attempt to interfere with Mr. Rabouin’s constitutional right to engage in journalism and purport to limit anyone’s presence in a public location,” Murray wrote. “The Journal and Mr. Rabouin are still determining what further action to take in response to his detention by your officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a3n0d\">When reached for comment by the Tracker via email in January 2023, PhxPD spokesperson Sgt. Melissa Soliz acknowledged the letter and said the department had opened an investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"344vk\">“This letter was shared with our Professional Standard Bureau for review and they are conducting an administrative investigation. Once the administrative investigation is complete, it will be made available as part of a public records request,” Soliz said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7dm0m\">The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the Tracker, condemned Rabouin’s detainment and echoed calls for an internal investigation to ensure that no other journalists are hampered or harassed by police in the course of their work.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ff9h\">“Detaining and handcuffing a journalist — who was gathering news in a public place — is a flagrant violation of his First Amendment rights,” said CPJ U.S. and Canada Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen.</p><p data-block-key=\"a90qj\">The police department is facing ongoing scrutiny from the Department of Justice, which <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-investigation-city-phoenix-and-phoenix-police-department\">announced</a> in August 2021 that it would be assessing, among other things, whether PhxPD officers retaliate against people engaging in activities protected by the First Amendment or carry out discriminatory policing.</p><p data-block-key=\"2m9f9\">Rabouin told ABC15 that while he as a journalist does not want to be the story, it’s important to share his experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"2b1jr\">“This is a department that’s under DOJ investigation for excessive force, under investigation for the way they operate and handle business, and despite that, they continue to operate this way,” Rabouin said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ka51g\">Wall Street Journal reporter Dion Rabouin was handcuffed by a Phoenix Police Department officer and threatened with trespassing charges while conducting interviews outside a Chase Bank in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 23, 2022.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Phoenix Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"detention_date": "2022-11-23",
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"name": "Arizona",
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"Dion Rabouin (Wall Street Journal)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Documentary filmmaker subpoenaed again in DOJ Capitol riots investigation",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentary-filmmaker-subpoenaed-again-in-doj-capitol-riots-investigation/",
"first_published_at": "2022-12-12T16:07:02.529626Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:27:19.418359Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:27:19.325861Z",
"date": "2022-11-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dmqm5\">The Department of Justice subpoenaed documentary filmmaker Alex Holder on Nov. 18, 2022, as part of an investigation related to the Jan. 6, attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.</p><p data-block-key=\"ad23d\">Holder was filming that day at the Capitol for his documentary film “Unprecedented,” of then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. In the <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000184-cc4b-da2c-a3af-ff6f84c30000&nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=0000014e-f0ef-dd93-ad7f-f8ef97380000&nlid=630318\">subpoena</a>, first obtained by Politico, federal prosecutors demanded that Holder testify before a grand jury or turn over all raw footage by the end of November. According to Politico, Holder <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2022/12/01/dems-in-disarray-makes-a-brief-comeback-00071567\">received an extension</a> and now has until Jan. 30, 2023, to comply with the order.</p><p data-block-key=\"bak4v\">Holder’s spokesperson did not provide comment by publication, but <a href=\"https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3757857-doj-subpoenas-filmmaker-for-jan-6-footage/\">told The Hill</a> that the filmmaker would cooperate with the latest DOJ order.</p><p data-block-key=\"cej0r\">“As we did with the other two subpoenas, we will 100 percent comply,” Holder’s spokesperson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8u64\">Holder previously complied with a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-subpoenaed-by-house-committee-investigating-jan-6-riot/\">June 2022 subpoena</a> from the House Committee investigating the Capitol attacks to produce footage from his documentary, including filmed interviews with Trump, his children and former Vice President Mike Pence. In July, Holder appeared before <a href=\"/all-incidents/documentarian-subpoenaed-in-georgia-election-fraud-investigation/\">a special grand jury in Georgia</a> after the Fulton District Attorney subpoenaed him <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000181-abf6-d618-a99d-ebf73a1a0000\">for footage related to the documentary</a> as part of an investigation into election fraud during the 2020 election.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"d9kvj\">A portion of the subpoena issued to filmmaker Alex Holder on Nov. 18, 2022, seeking testimony and raw footage gathered during the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, for his documentary “Unprecedented."<br/></p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"tags": [
"Department of Justice",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"white nationalism"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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"pending"
],
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},
{
"title": "Armed man enters New York Times building, requests to speak with reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-with-sword-ax-enters-times-building-requests-to-speak-with-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2022-11-22T17:45:37.591568Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:09:47.718860Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:09:47.648088Z",
"date": "2022-11-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9ok97\">A man with a sword and an ax entered the New York Times building in Manhattan on Nov. 17, 2022, authorities said.</p><p data-block-key=\"52t5r\"><a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/new-york-manhattan-5a8650b2c857867af5f23fc14e165efb\">According to The Associated Press</a>, New York Police Department officers responded to a call about a man with a knife in the Times’ lobby shortly after noon. Danielle Rhoades Ha, the head of external communications for the Times, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the man asked to speak with “a reporter” at the front desk, but didn’t specify a particular reporter, desk or beat.</p><p data-block-key=\"cjs24\">When building security barred the individual from entering, he calmly handed over the weapons and waited for police to arrive, the AP reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rbj7\">The man also had a bag containing a small folding knife and mace canister, <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2022/11/17/knife-wielding-man-entered-new-york-times-building/\">according to The New York Post</a>. The unidentified man was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.</p><p data-block-key=\"bp3hu\">Rhoades Ha told the Tracker that the incident was resolved quickly and peacefully.</p><p data-block-key=\"cm69k\">The NYPD did not respond to requests for further comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"The New York Times"
],
"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
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},
{
"title": "‘Confidentiality order’ sent to California news outlet attempts to stop newsgathering",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/confidentiality-order-sent-to-california-news-outlet-attempts-to-stop-newsgathering/",
"first_published_at": "2022-12-08T19:51:18.467824Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-05-01T18:51:09.851491Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-05-01T18:51:09.774738Z",
"date": "2022-11-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Contra Costa",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wh8la\">A California judge <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NateGartrell/status/1592987270394499072\">granted a motion</a> on Nov. 16, 2022, seeking to prohibit reporters from contacting people who filed letters of support for a Contra Costa middle school teacher accused of sexual abuse.</p><p data-block-key=\"cs8d0\">East Bay Times reporter Rachel Heimann Mercader told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she and a colleague attended a bail hearing in October for the teacher, who was arrested the month before <a href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/east-bay/east-bay-teacher-sexual-misconduct/3009552/\">for sexual misconduct with a minor</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qitu\">During the hearing, Public Defender Manisha Daryani submitted 16 letters of support from the teacher’s students, their parents and his family members.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccsd0\">Mercader said she received a copy of the public motion, which had the letters attached, from the clerk’s office after the hearing. “Each letter included the person’s name and email and phone number,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebrai\">As Mercader began contacting the letter writers, she received a call from Daryani who accused her of attempting to influence witnesses and the outcome of the case. Both Mercader and an East Bay Times editor, also contacted by Daryani, refused the requests to stop contacting the supporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"flden\">“To be clear, none of these letter writers are considered witnesses at this point, and all I am asking them is if they would like to speak with me about their letters,” Mercader said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6rb5i\">On Nov. 16, without a hearing or notice to the journalists, the California judge signed and entered the public defender’s motion requesting that “further unwanted contact by the press be ceased.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d9c44\">The order, which included <a href=\"https://twitter.com/racheyy_marie/status/1593484984198737920\">an instruction</a> for the parties to “advise those individuals to whom disclosure of the contact information has been made,” was sent to the East Bay Times by Daryani.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/NEW?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NEW</a>: The lawyer for a cheerleading coach accused of child molestation has filed a motion for a protective order to keep the media from contacting his supporters, whose contact info we got from public records filed by the same attorney: <a href=\"https://t.co/F3W8PzBeGB\">pic.twitter.com/F3W8PzBeGB</a></p>— Nate Gartrell (@NateGartrell) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NateGartrell/status/1592987270394499072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 16, 2022</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=\"wh8la\">Freedom of the Press Foundation’s Advocacy Director Seth Stern <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/california-judge-buries-censorship-order-in-the-fine-print/\">wrote</a> that what seems like an innocuous “confidentiality order” is effectively a prior restraint that attempts to restrict future speech.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfdhb\">“It is elementary that a court cannot tell non-parties what to do especially without notice or a hearing, but the apparent intention was to intimidate the press into compliance despite the order’s invalidity under the First Amendment,” Stern said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mtrj\">FPF oversees the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"588sf\">Attorney Duffy Carolan, who represents the East Bay Times, told the Tracker the outlet did not believe the protective order applied to its reporters and would not alter their newsgathering practices.</p><p data-block-key=\"oug0\">“None were named in the order or even had notice of the motion or an opportunity to be heard on the matter,” Carolan said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ek5tf\">Public Defender Daryani did not respond to requests for comment from the Tracker.</p></div>",
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"name": "California",
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},
{
"title": "Reporter subpoenaed for documents in securities fraud case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-subpoenaed-for-documents-in-securities-fraud-case/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-14T21:13:47.989816Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-14T21:21:29.497038Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-14T21:21:29.387023Z",
"date": "2022-11-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"d9y98\">Roddy Boyd, editor and founder of the investigative reporting outlet Foundation for Financial Journalism, was ordered to turn over documents on Nov. 16, 2022, in connection with a California securities fraud lawsuit, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"8unau\">The case was ultimately dismissed in February 2023 as part of settlement negotiations in the underlying fraud case.</p><p data-block-key=\"4h986\">In January 2019, Boyd published an <a href=\"https://ffj-online.org/2019/01/25/corcept-therapeutics-the-company-that-perfectly-explains-the-health-care-crisis/\">article</a> through his Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation — <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundation-for-financial-journalism/\">renamed</a> the Foundation for Financial Journalism in 2020 — alleging that pharmaceutical company Corcept Therapeutics paid doctors to prescribe its drug Korlym for off-label uses.</p><p data-block-key=\"eq6u0\">The revelations in Boyd’s article led to a decline in Corcept’s share price, company shareholders alleged in a securities fraud class-action <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.339504/gov.uscourts.cand.339504.1.0.pdf\">suit</a> filed two months later against the company and its top executives in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.</p><p data-block-key=\"aj89a\">As part of its defense, Corcept issued the November 2022 order to Boyd, commanding him to turn over a wide range of materials related to his newsgathering activities, his finances and those of his outlet, and any disciplinary actions against him. The subpoena demanded production of the documents by Dec. 12, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"5sr96\">A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/investigative-outlet-subpoenaed-for-documents-in-securities-fraud-case/\">separate subpoena</a> to the Foundation for Financial Journalism on Oct. 27, 2022, asked the outlet to turn over similar information.</p><p data-block-key=\"13tmq\">Corcept also issued a Nov. 30, 2022, order seeking Boyd’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/financial-reporter-subpoenaed-for-testimony-in-securities-fraud-case/\">testimony</a> about topics listed in the two document subpoenas. Boyd filed a motion to quash that subpoena on Jan. 17, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, arguing that the information the defendants asked for was irrelevant to the lawsuit and protected by the First Amendment and the <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-the-reporters-privilege-compendium/\">reporter’s privilege</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7tsnv\">The motion to quash asserted that all parties to the suit agree that his article relied entirely on publicly available information, and that the subpoenas were merely “a transparent attempt to use the discovery process to chill Mr. Boyd’s speech.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1njil\">It also argued that the document subpoenas “make clear that Defendants do not know what they are looking for; rather, they are hoping to find something relevant to their case, while at the same time chilling journalists and others from further examination of Corcept’s business practices.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f8gbh\">On Feb. 13, Boyd <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927.11.0.pdf\">withdrew</a> his motion after Corcept dropped the deposition subpoena. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz then <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927.12.0.pdf\">dismissed</a> the case Feb. 15.</p><p data-block-key=\"54g9u\">Boyd told the Tracker in an email that the subpoenas “were designed to harass an established, credible, non-profit news organization.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1nnuk\">He also noted that legal actions or threats against small media outlets triggered a requirement to notify their insurer. “This places the press organization in a much higher risk cohort,” Boyd added, “guaranteeing their premiums and deductibles rise the following year.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"20smj\">A portion of a subpoena issued on Nov. 16, 2022, to investigative journalist Roddy Boyd commanding him to turn over documents in a California securities fraud lawsuit. The case was dismissed in February 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Roddy Boyd (Foundation for Financial Journalism)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Memphis news photographer, reporter robbed at gunpoint blocks from studio",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/memphis-news-photographer-reporter-robbed-at-gunpoint-blocks-from-studio/",
"first_published_at": "2022-11-21T14:44:19.023475Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T14:10:18.278902Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T14:10:18.167917Z",
"date": "2022-11-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Memphis",
"longitude": -90.04898,
"latitude": 35.14953,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zkkxz\">FOX13 reporter Jeremy Pierre and an unidentified news photographer were robbed at gunpoint half a mile from the station’s studio on Nov. 10, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekon\">Pierre <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/jeremypierrefox/posts/pfbid02CfApNSABBVi5MEAU5bdaXVUk6tGQjycpBVD67FTxdFLnR3W6WLCmYcQbd7fHBmJ4l\">posted on Facebook</a> shortly after 7 a.m. that the crew was robbed at the intersection of Poplar Avenue and Highland Street.</p><p data-block-key=\"e2kcm\">“You know I’ve had my fair share of stories but DAMN!” Pierre wrote. “One of the dudes even showed me the gun in his waistband.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1q6q5\">According to the post, the thieves took the crew’s camera, tripod and LiveU equipment used to broadcast footage.</p><p data-block-key=\"9u4n8\">Pierre did not respond to a request for comment or to confirm the identity of the photojournalist with him. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented Pierre’s assault <a href=\"/all-incidents/memphis-broadcast-reporter-robbed-at-gunpoint-blocks-from-studio/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3g61m\">FOX13 declined to comment when reached for comment. The Memphis Police Department did not respond to a request for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"actor": "private individual",
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"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera equipment"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "live unit"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 27 (WHBQ-TV)"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Memphis broadcaster robbed at gunpoint blocks from studio",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/memphis-broadcast-reporter-robbed-at-gunpoint-blocks-from-studio/",
"first_published_at": "2022-11-21T14:46:28.902544Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-11-30T16:35:25.562537Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-11-30T16:35:25.486163Z",
"date": "2022-11-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Memphis",
"longitude": -90.04898,
"latitude": 35.14953,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u4t3q\">FOX13 reporter Jeremy Pierre and a news photographer were robbed at gunpoint half a mile from the station’s studio on Nov. 10, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"cpj61\">Pierre <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/jeremypierrefox/posts/pfbid02CfApNSABBVi5MEAU5bdaXVUk6tGQjycpBVD67FTxdFLnR3W6WLCmYcQbd7fHBmJ4l\">posted on Facebook</a> shortly after 7 a.m. that the crew was robbed at the intersection of Poplar Avenue and Highland Street.</p><p data-block-key=\"7s1sa\">“You know I’ve had my fair share of stories but DAMN!” Pierre wrote. “One of the dudes even showed me the gun in his waistband.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e374b\">Pierre did not respond to a request for comment or to confirm the identity of the photojournalist with him. FOX13 declined to comment when reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"dktn1\">According to the post, the thieves took the crew’s camera, tripod and LiveU equipment used to broadcast footage. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the assault of the photographer and equipment theft <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/memphis-news-photographer-reporter-robbed-at-gunpoint-blocks-from-studio/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"114ad\">The Memphis Police Department did not respond to a request for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Tennessee",
"abbreviation": "TN"
},
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"tags": [
"robbery"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jeremy Pierre (WHBQ-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Ohio editor charged with wiretapping after publishing obtained court recording",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ohio-editor-charged-with-wiretapping-after-publishing-obtained-court-recording/",
"first_published_at": "2022-11-08T21:27:20.582038Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-12T19:38:13.520375Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-12T19:38:13.407023Z",
"date": "2022-10-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Waverly",
"longitude": -82.98546,
"latitude": 39.12673,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3dagt\">Scioto Valley Guardian Editor-in-Chief Derek Myers was charged with felony wiretapping on Oct. 31, 2022, after publishing a recording of witness testimony from an ongoing trial in Waverly, Ohio.</p><p data-block-key=\"21tb1\">Myers told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he has been covering the murder trial of George Wagner IV, which began in September. As part of that coverage, the newspaper was using a laptop to livestream witness testimony and exhibits. Judge Randy Deering issued an order before the trial began allowing anyone testifying in the case to “opt out” of being filmed by the media. The Fourth District Court of Appeals <a href=\"https://sciotovalleyguardian.com/2022/10/25/media-wins-temproary-order-in-wagner-trial-again/\">issued an emergency order</a> overruling him partway through the testimony of Wagner’s brother, Jake, who was indicted alongside Wagner and their parents for the 2016 killings of eight members of the Rhoden family.</p><p data-block-key=\"acfc0\">The court ordered that media be allowed to film unless Deering was able to show cause that it could jeopardize the fairness of the trial. Deering ruled that if Jake were to appear on camera he might be “nervous” and untruthful, again barring media from recording video or audio of him.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvko5\">Myers told the Tracker that he was out of the country when Jake took the stand, but that someone in the courtroom surreptitiously recorded his testimony and provided it to the Guardian. After deliberation, Myers published a <a href=\"https://sciotovalleyguardian.com/2022/10/28/exclusive-listen-to-jake-wagner-describe-how-he-killed-the-rhoden-family/\">condensed version of the audio</a> on Oct. 28.</p><p data-block-key=\"867tg\">According to files reviewed by the Tracker, Judge Anthony Moraleja approved a search warrant that day for a Guardian laptop being used to livestream the trial. The Tracker documented the laptop seizure and the illegal seizure of Myers’ cellphone <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/editors-laptop-cellphone-seized-following-publication-of-courtroom-recording/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9n7d4\">The Pike County Sheriff’s Office subsequently charged Myers with interception of wire, electronic or oral communications, a fourth degree felony. According to court records, he was charged under <a href=\"https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2933.52\">Ohio Revised Code Section 2933.52 (A)(3)</a>, which forbids the use of a recording that one knows or has reason to believe was illegally obtained.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1l91\">Myers turned himself into custody on Nov. 1 and was released after paying a $20,000 bond. He told the Tracker that he pleaded not guilty at a hearing the following day. He also waived his right to a preliminary hearing, where evidence is presented before a judge who decides whether the case should advance to trial. Instead, his case will be heard by a grand jury, which will determine whether to indict him on the charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rpou\">When reached for comment, the Pike County Prosecutor’s Office told the Tracker that the next grand jury session is scheduled to begin in February 2023, when the new prosecutor takes office.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9thi\">One of Myers’ attorneys, John Greiner, highlighted the Supreme Court ruling in <a href=\"https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/575/bartnicki-v-vopper\">Bartnicki v. Vopper</a>, which ruled that the media cannot be held liable for publishing information that was obtained illegally by a source.</p><p data-block-key=\"75q5l\">The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the Tracker, condemned the equipment seizure and the charges against Myers in a <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2022/11/cpj-alarmed-by-wiretapping-charges-against-ohio-newspaper-editor/\">statement</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"78fjl\">“The incompetency of local law enforcement to abide by basic legal proceedings would be comical if it were not so concerning,” said CPJ U.S. and Canada Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Not only have Pike County authorities confiscated journalist Derek Myers’ cellphone and the Scioto Valley Guardian’s laptop without presenting a valid warrant, but they have also lobbed wiretapping charges against Myers for keeping the community informed about an ongoing murder trial. Retaliating against a news outlet, especially a small local publication, for doing their jobs in matters of public interest is completely unacceptable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"478r4\">Myers told the Tracker he hasn’t been able to cover the trial since his arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"18n3h\">“I tasked myself with covering this eight-week trial and I should be there covering it, but I can’t because I don’t have the equipment,” Myers said. “And, frankly, I don’t feel safe in that courthouse. If I take another cellphone down there they’ll probably seize that too.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vtosv\">Scioto Valley Guardian Editor-in-Chief Derek Myers was charged with felony wiretapping on Oct. 31, 2022, after publishing an obtained recording of testimony from an ongoing murder trial in Waverly, Ohio.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Pike County Sheriff's Office",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2022-11-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "2:23-cv-04102",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "State",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
"abbreviation": "OH"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-08-14 13:11:00+00:00) Wiretapping charge against Ohio editor dropped after more than nine months",
"(2023-12-14 00:00:00+00:00) Ohio journalist sues for constitutional violations during courthouse arrest"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
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"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
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],
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"Derek Myers (Scioto Valley Guardian)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Editor’s laptop, cellphone seized following publication of courtroom recording",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/editors-laptop-cellphone-seized-following-publication-of-courtroom-recording/",
"first_published_at": "2022-11-08T20:51:03.315316Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-05T19:55:31.537336Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-05T19:55:31.266169Z",
"date": "2022-10-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Waverly",
"longitude": -82.98546,
"latitude": 39.12673,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ro9gy\">An Ohio judge authorized the search and seizure of a laptop belonging to the Scioto Valley Guardian on Oct. 28, 2022. An officer with the Pike County Sheriff’s Office also seized the cellphone of the outlet’s top editor — without a warrant — a few days later.</p><p data-block-key=\"e1706\">Guardian Editor-in-Chief Derek Myers told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he has been covering the ongoing murder trial of George Wagner IV, which began in September. As part of that coverage, the newspaper was using a laptop to livestream witness testimony and exhibits. Judge Randy Deering issued an order before the trial began allowing anyone testifying in the case to “opt out” of being filmed by the media. The Fourth District Court of Appeals <a href=\"https://sciotovalleyguardian.com/2022/10/25/media-wins-temproary-order-in-wagner-trial-again/\">issued an emergency order</a> overruling him partway through the testimony of Wagner’s brother, Jake, who was indicted alongside Wagner and their parents for the 2016 killings of eight members of the Rhoden family.</p><p data-block-key=\"f540\">The court ordered that media be allowed to film unless Deering was able to show cause that it could jeopardize the fairness of the trial. Deering ruled that if Jake were to appear on camera he might be “nervous” and untruthful, again barring media from recording video or audio of him.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfid0\">Myers told the Tracker that he was out of the country when Jake took the stand, but that someone in the courtroom surreptitiously recorded his testimony and provided it to the Guardian. After deliberation, Myers said he elected to move forward with publishing a <a href=\"https://sciotovalleyguardian.com/2022/10/28/exclusive-listen-to-jake-wagner-describe-how-he-killed-the-rhoden-family/\">condensed version of the audio</a> on Oct. 28.</p><p data-block-key=\"bt687\">According to files reviewed by the Tracker, county court Judge Anthony Moraleja approved a search warrant for the Guardian laptop that same day, authorizing the search of the MacBook Pro and any computer software or communications contained on its hard drive. Myers told the Tracker someone from the court then seized the laptop, causing the outlet’s livestream to go down.</p><p data-block-key=\"52a\">One of Myers’ attorneys, Greg Barwell, sent a letter on Oct. 31 asking the sheriff, prosecutor and the court to return the equipment, as the Guardian had not been presented with a subpoena or search warrant.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ghii\">Myers went to the Pike County Courthouse on Nov. 2 to ask for the return of the laptop in person, as he still believed it had been seized by someone from the court. Unbeknownst to the Guardian, the laptop had been taken into custody by the sheriff’s office the previous day.</p><p data-block-key=\"eug4l\">Myers told the Tracker that when he passed through the metal detector, a captain from the sheriff’s department told him he would have to take his cellphone back outside. He responded that he wouldn’t be going into the courtroom — where cellphones and laptops are prohibited — but would be remaining on the first floor.</p><p data-block-key=\"aaog\">Myers said the officer then kept his cellphone, claiming, “On second thought, I think I have a search warrant for that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5u35j\">The officer also told Myers that they had a search warrant for the laptop. The item seizure report reviewed by the Tracker has “Black I-Phone” written below the MacBook, confirming that it was seized at 10:29 a.m. on Nov. 2.</p><p data-block-key=\"39a8l\">One of Myers’ attorneys, John Greiner, told the Tracker that the seizure of the devices likely violated Ohio’s shield law and the federal Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits searching or seizing journalistic work products with few exceptions.</p><p data-block-key=\"4jhj2\">In connection with the publication of the testimony recording, Myers was charged with intercepting wire, oral or electronic communications — a fourth degree felony — on Oct. 31. The Tracker has documented those charges <a href=\"/all-incidents/ohio-editor-charged-with-wiretapping-after-publishing-obtained-court-recording/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"e23eq\">The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the Tracker, condemned the equipment seizure and the charges against Myers in a <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2022/11/cpj-alarmed-by-wiretapping-charges-against-ohio-newspaper-editor/\">statement</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"82itq\">“The incompetency of local law enforcement to abide by basic legal proceedings would be comical if it were not so concerning,” said CPJ U.S. and Canada Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Not only have Pike County authorities confiscated journalist Derek Myers’ cellphone and the Scioto Valley Guardian’s laptop without presenting a valid warrant, but they have also lobbed wiretapping charges against Myers for keeping the community informed about an ongoing murder trial. Retaliating against a news outlet, especially a small local publication, for doing their jobs in matters of public interest is completely unacceptable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4gavo\">Myers told the Tracker that he was able to regain control over his cellphone number on Nov. 4, but having the devices returned remains his and his attorneys’ first priority. He said he was extremely concerned about the potential search of the devices as they contain sensitive work product and source communications</p><p data-block-key=\"9ed0j\">“I can’t effectively do my job because I’m so focused and scared and worried about all these other people and their livelihoods are now on the line,” Myers said. “And I can’t cover the trial because I don’t have the equipment.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mlj5w\">On Oct. 28, 2022, an Ohio judge authorized the search and seizure of a Scioto Valley Guardian laptop, shown here in a screenshot from the search warrant, that the outlet was using to livestream a Waverly murder trial.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
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"equipment": "cellphone"
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{
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"equipment": "computer"
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"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
"abbreviation": "OH"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-02-14 00:00:00+00:00) Files deleted from editor’s murder trial laptop",
"(2023-12-14 00:00:00+00:00) Ohio journalist sues for constitutional violations during courthouse equipment seizure"
],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Derek Myers (Scioto Valley Guardian)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Investigative outlet subpoenaed for documents in securities fraud case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/investigative-outlet-subpoenaed-for-documents-in-securities-fraud-case/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-14T21:07:56.140819Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-14T21:07:56.140819Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-14T21:07:56.052768Z",
"date": "2022-10-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0x5dz\">Investigative reporting outlet Foundation for Financial Journalism was subpoenaed to turn over documents on Oct. 27, 2022, in connection with a California securities fraud lawsuit, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"3640p\">The case was ultimately dismissed in February 2023 as part of settlement negotiations in the underlying fraud case.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4aaf\">In January 2019, founder and editor Roddy Boyd published an <a href=\"https://ffj-online.org/2019/01/25/corcept-therapeutics-the-company-that-perfectly-explains-the-health-care-crisis/\">article</a> through his Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation — <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundation-for-financial-journalism/\">renamed</a> the Foundation for Financial Journalism in 2020 — alleging that pharmaceutical company Corcept Therapeutics paid doctors to prescribe its drug Korlym for off-label uses.</p><p data-block-key=\"4keq9\">The revelations in Boyd’s article led to a decline in Corcept’s share price, company shareholders alleged in a securities fraud class-action <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.339504/gov.uscourts.cand.339504.1.0.pdf\">suit</a> filed two months later against the company and its top executives in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.</p><p data-block-key=\"c8pu1\">As part of its defense, Corcept subpoenaed the outlet in October 2022 — and Boyd on Nov. 16, 2022 — commanding the journalist to turn over a wide range of materials related to his newsgathering activities, his finances and those of his outlet, and any disciplinary actions against him. The outlet’s subpoena demanded production of the documents by Nov. 25, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"8nlkv\">Corcept also issued a Nov. 30, 2022, order seeking Boyd’s testimony about topics listed in the two document subpoenas. Boyd filed a motion to quash that subpoena on Jan. 17, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, arguing that the information the defendants asked for was irrelevant to the lawsuit and protected by the First Amendment and the <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-the-reporters-privilege-compendium/\">reporter’s privilege</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2b6fo\">The motion to quash asserted that all parties to the suit agree that his article relied entirely on publicly available information, and that the subpoenas were merely “a transparent attempt to use the discovery process to chill Mr. Boyd’s speech.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9j181\">It also argued that the document subpoenas “make clear that Defendants do not know what they are looking for; rather, they are hoping to find something relevant to their case, while at the same time chilling journalists and others from further examination of Corcept’s business practices.”</p><p data-block-key=\"42jek\">On Feb. 13, Boyd <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927.11.0.pdf\">withdrew</a> his motion after Corcept dropped the deposition subpoena. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz then <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927/gov.uscourts.flsd.626927.12.0.pdf\">dismissed</a> the case Feb. 15.</p><p data-block-key=\"72hgg\">Boyd told the Tracker in an email that the subpoenas “were designed to harass an established, credible, non-profit news organization.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b3d9i\">He also noted that legal actions or threats against small media outlets triggered a requirement to notify their insurer. “This places the press organization in a much higher risk cohort,” Boyd added, “guaranteeing their premiums and deductibles rise the following year.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3kdyt\">A portion of a subpoena issued to investigative outlet Foundation for Financial Journalism on Oct. 27, 2022, commanding it to turn over documents in a California securities fraud lawsuit. The case was dismissed in February 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Foundation for Financial Journalism"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "KC broadcast station subpoenaed for unaired interview footage",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kc-broadcast-station-subpoenaed-for-unaired-interview-footage/",
"first_published_at": "2022-12-07T20:07:49.626557Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T00:12:43.616723Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T00:12:43.515290Z",
"date": "2022-10-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Topeka",
"longitude": -95.67804,
"latitude": 39.04833,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"i2wbu\">Missouri-based broadcaster KMBC-TV was issued a subpoena on Oct. 26, 2022, seeking all recordings and notes from multiple interviews as part of a lawsuit accusing Kansas Highway Patrol of misconduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"1o8co\">Five women who are current or former highway patrol employees filed a lawsuit against the agency’s superintendent and assistant superintendent, as well as the state of Kansas, in February 2021. The Kansas City Star <a href=\"https://amp.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article269074932.html\">reported</a> that the women allege the agency had a hostile work environment, with a culture of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.</p><p data-block-key=\"97tip\">According to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the subpoena orders KMBC to produce any notes or audio or video recordings of interviews conducted with the plaintiffs, including outtakes and other unaired footage, by Nov. 14.</p><p data-block-key=\"cm88b\">It is unclear if KMBC, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment, has or intends to comply with the order. No motion to quash the subpoena had been filed with the court as of Dec. 7.</p><p data-block-key=\"7gare\">Gaye Tibbets, an attorney representing the state and the highway patrol officers, told the Star in mid-November that they were negotiating with KMBC over the subpoena, but did not elaborate on the content of the disputes.</p><p data-block-key=\"cvc09\">Tibbets did not respond to requests for further comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"7oqo0\">First Amendment attorney Max Kautsch, who is the president of the Kansas Coalition for Open Government, told the Star he was perplexed by the subpoena as it seeks documents that are explicitly protected by the state’s <a href=\"http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/statute/060_000_0000_chapter/060_004_0000_article/060_004_0082_section/060_004_0082_k/\">shield law</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"1nd1b\">“The Legislature passed this law almost 15 years ago for the express purpose of insulating journalists from misguided attempts to bring journalists into court,” Kautsch said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/KMBC_subpoena.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gpjjh\">A portion of the subpoena issued to Kansas City, Missouri, broadcaster KMBC-TV on Oct. 26, 2022, seeking all footage and notes from interviews with five plaintiffs suing the state of Kansas and two highway patrol officers.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Kansas",
"abbreviation": "KS"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"KMBC-TV"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
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"pending"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Documentarian targeted with pepper spray while covering Penn State protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-targeted-with-pepper-spray-while-covering-penn-state-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2022-10-28T17:37:26.656525Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-10-28T17:49:13.757578Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-10-28T17:49:13.701682Z",
"date": "2022-10-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "State College",
"longitude": -77.86,
"latitude": 40.79339,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k3iq7\">Ford Fischer, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, was targeted with a chemical irritant while documenting a protest at Pennsylvania State University in State College on Oct. 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"iobh\">Uncensored America, a recognized student organization, had arranged a <a href=\"http://uncensoredamerica.us/alex-and-gavin-psu/\">“politically provocative comedy night”</a> with Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and comedian and “professional troll” Alex Stein. The Proud Boys are a far-right extremist group, <a href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys\">designated as a hate group</a> by the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose members self-identify as Western chauvinists and are known to instigate street brawls. The show’s title, “Stand Back & Stand By,” echoed the directive then-President Donald Trump gave to members of the Proud Boys during a 2020 presidential debate.</p><p data-block-key=\"crige\">The Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity, which is not a recognized student group, organized a protest to begin at 6 p.m. in opposition to the event, <a href=\"https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/they-did-nothing-penn-state-students-protesters-gather-in-opposition-of-uncensored-america-event/article_53ab3752-540c-11ed-8e6d-87622ca72dd1.html\">according to the university newspaper, The Daily Collegian</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4aorg\">Fischer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that at various points during the student-led protest Proud Boy members arrived to escalate the conflict. Stein also came out of the event venue to antagonize the protesters before ultimately returning inside, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8b786\">Shortly before 7 p.m., about five or six apparent right-wingers were arguing with the protesters around them, Fischer said. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1584904927234719745\">footage of the incident</a>, the men all appear to be wearing dark jackets, khakis and face coverings or balaclavas.</p><p data-block-key=\"5met7\">One of the men unholstered a can of pepper spray and began aiming it at everyone standing nearby, which Fischer said included both student protesters and members of the press. Another member of the group then grabbed the canister and sprayed it in a circular motion.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">SYNCHRONIZED: Footage by both <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FordFischer</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/zdroberts?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@zdroberts</a> shows the moment a right-winger pepper sprayed protesters and press on Penn State’s campus last night before police standing by allowed them to leave. <a href=\"https://t.co/Wzt4q5FNjX\">pic.twitter.com/Wzt4q5FNjX</a></p>— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1584904927234719745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 25, 2022</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=\"k3iq7\">Fischer said that he was one of the last people sprayed and that he believed he was deliberately targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"4evnp\">“I’ve been maced, but I have never, ever ever felt the kind of pain and directness that that had, where it was straight into my eye,” he said. “There’s no way that it wouldn’t have been intentional: He had to have known I was press.”<br/><br/>Fischer said he was wearing press credentials issued by Congress and the National Press Photographers Association and was filming with a conspicuous professional camera with a phone mounted on it.</p><p data-block-key=\"eauju\">“I was completely debilitated. I was in absolute, unbearable pain for about half an hour,” Fischer said. He added that multiple students and other members of the press came to his aid, but the officers who witnessed the attack neither attempted to apprehend the individual nor asked him for a statement.</p><p data-block-key=\"fskev\">At least one other journalist, freelance photojournalist Zach Roberts, was also targeted with the chemical irritant. The Tracker has documented that incident <a href=\"/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-pepper-spray-while-covering-penn-state-protest/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"f5d4c\"><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/10/25/penn-state-gavin-mcinnes-proud-boys-canceled/\">According to The Washington Post</a>, students had petitioned the university ahead of the event to cancel it. In a <a href=\"https://www.psu.edu/news/administration/story/university-critical-upcoming-speakers-repugnant-and-denigrating-rhetoric/\">statement</a> released on Oct. 11, the administration initially said it would allow the event to take place on the basis of upholding freedom of speech. Citing escalating violence, the university ultimately canceled the event less than an hour before its scheduled start time, notifying students through the university’s alert system at 7:19 p.m., <a href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/epzqww/penn-state-proud-boys-gavin-mcinnes\">according to VICE News</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"209tm\">When reached for comment, the university directed the Tracker to various statements released before and after the event was canceled.</p><p data-block-key=\"786tg\">“Tonight, Stein and McInnes will celebrate a victory for being canceled, when in actuality, they contributed to the very violence that compromised their ability to speak,” Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said in a <a href=\"https://www.psu.edu/news/campus-life/story/message-president-neeli-bendapudi-cancellation-campus-event/\">statement</a>. “Tonight, counter-protestors also will celebrate a victory that they forced the University to cancel this event, when in actuality they have furthered the visibility of the very cause they oppose.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2q34o\">A <a href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vc4ut8yR50I7HldweUV3ogTMSE5-Kc4s/view?usp=sharing\">statement</a> released by the event organizers, Uncensored America, the following day condemned the violence.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Fischer.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vlqru\">“I was completely debilitated.” Documentarian Ford Fischer was targeted with a chemical irritant while covering a protest against an event with the Proud Boys founder at Penn State University on Oct. 24, 2022.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"white nationalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ford Fischer (News2Share)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist targeted with pepper spray while covering Penn State protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-pepper-spray-while-covering-penn-state-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2022-10-28T17:48:11.517280Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-10-28T17:48:11.517280Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-10-28T17:48:11.423101Z",
"date": "2022-10-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "State College",
"longitude": -77.86,
"latitude": 40.79339,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u1vgc\">Freelance photojournalist Zach Roberts was targeted with a chemical irritant while documenting a protest at Pennsylvania State University in State College on Oct. 24, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqiuc\">Uncensored America, a recognized student organization, had arranged a <a href=\"http://uncensoredamerica.us/alex-and-gavin-psu/\">“politically provocative comedy night”</a> with Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and comedian and “professional troll” Alex Stein. The Proud Boys are a far-right extremist group, <a href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys\">designated as a hate group</a> by the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose members self-identify as Western chauvinists and are known to instigate street brawls. The show’s title, “Stand Back & Stand By,” echoed the directive then-President Donald Trump gave to members of the Proud Boys during a 2020 presidential debate.</p><p data-block-key=\"o82p\">The Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity, which is not a recognized student group, organized a protest to begin at 6 p.m. in opposition to the event, <a href=\"https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/they-did-nothing-penn-state-students-protesters-gather-in-opposition-of-uncensored-america-event/article_53ab3752-540c-11ed-8e6d-87622ca72dd1.html\">according to the university paper, The Daily Collegian</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"s6lk\">Roberts told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had registered to attend the event but never received additional information about how to enter the venue and was only able to cover the student-led demonstration outside.</p><p data-block-key=\"7drm4\">Shortly before 7 p.m., protesters surrounded about five or six apparent right-wingers and attempted to force them to leave, Roberts said. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1584904927234719745\">footage of the incident</a>, the men all appear to be wearing dark jackets, khakis, face coverings or balaclavas.</p><p data-block-key=\"8gf5h\">“One guy pulled out a can of bear mace and started threatening people with it,” Roberts said. “I moved closer — like an idiot — to where it was happening.”</p><p data-block-key=\"801k\">Roberts said that law enforcement was notified by a protester that someone was threatening people with the pepper spray, but no immediate action was taken.</p><p data-block-key=\"dlmtk\">Less than a minute later, a second man grabbed the canister and sprayed those standing near them, including Roberts, who was wearing a press badge.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Well got peppersprayed by a Proud Boy. Several other media got direct hit. Thankfully it hit my glasses but my face and body is burning like the worst sunburn. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PennState?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PennState</a> campus cops watched and did nothing. <a href=\"https://t.co/d1q0SJKkSL\">pic.twitter.com/d1q0SJKkSL</a></p>— Zach D Roberts - Photojournalist for hire (@zdroberts) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/zdroberts/status/1584683092807020544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 24, 2022</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=\"u1vgc\">“He knew that half the people around him were press, we all had cameras out,” Roberts said. “There’s no way he sprayed Ford [Fischer], with that big video camera and a tripod, and not known that he’s a member of the media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"csl6n\">The Tracker documented the assault of documentarian Ford Fischer <a href=\"/all-incidents/documentarian-targeted-with-pepper-spray-while-covering-penn-state-protest/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"36t8j\">Roberts said that his glasses protected his eyes and he quickly removed everything that was struck by the spray in order to rinse off the chemical irritant. Despite his efforts, his arms burned throughout the evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"91jlm\">“I had to stop talking at times and focus on the pain,” Roberts said. “There were certain moments where it was too painful to pick up my cameras. I could literally see blisters forming where the bear mace hit me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a4ecu\"><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/10/25/penn-state-gavin-mcinnes-proud-boys-canceled/\">According to The Washington Post</a>, students had petitioned the university ahead of the event to cancel it. In a <a href=\"https://www.psu.edu/news/administration/story/university-critical-upcoming-speakers-repugnant-and-denigrating-rhetoric/\">statement</a> released on Oct. 11, the administration initially said it would allow the event to take place on the basis of upholding freedom of speech. Citing escalating violence, the university ultimately canceled the event less than an hour before its scheduled start time, notifying students through the university’s alert system at 7:19 p.m., <a href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/epzqww/penn-state-proud-boys-gavin-mcinnes\">according to VICE News</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3h74\">When reached for comment, the university directed the Tracker to various statements released before and after the event was canceled.</p><p data-block-key=\"4nta3\">“Tonight, Stein and McInnes will celebrate a victory for being canceled, when in actuality, they contributed to the very violence that compromised their ability to speak,” Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said in a <a href=\"https://www.psu.edu/news/campus-life/story/message-president-neeli-bendapudi-cancellation-campus-event/\">statement</a>. “Tonight, counter-protestors also will celebrate a victory that they forced the University to cancel this event, when in actuality they have furthered the visibility of the very cause they oppose.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1fd8o\">A <a href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vc4ut8yR50I7HldweUV3ogTMSE5-Kc4s/view?usp=sharing\">statement</a> released by the event organizers, Uncensored America, the following day condemned the violence.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Roberts.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"b53o9\">Freelance photojournalist Zach Roberts receives treatment after being sprayed with bear mace during a protest against an event at Penn State University featuring the Proud Boys founder on Oct. 24, 2022.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"white nationalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Zach Roberts (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Journalist harassed, shoved while covering protest in Texas",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-harassed-shoved-while-covering-anti-lgbtq-protest-in-texas/",
"first_published_at": "2022-10-28T15:58:38.147471Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-13T21:18:58.328443Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-13T21:18:58.243945Z",
"date": "2022-10-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "University Park",
"longitude": -96.80028,
"latitude": 32.85013,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5i5dm\">Independent journalist Steven Monacelli was assaulted while documenting a protest in University Park, Texas, on Oct. 22, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"crbnq\">Monacelli, who reports on extremism, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest in Coffee Park was organized by a group that often attracts individuals connected to extremist groups and militias. That day’s demonstration was planned against a judge who granted full custody to a Texas mother advocating for her child’s transgender identity.</p><p data-block-key=\"cnomb\">Shortly after he arrived at the park, a protest organizer recognized Monacelli and singled him out by name. The organizer claimed Monacelli, who had his press credentials in his pocket, was an “antifa journalist.” Monacelli told the Tracker another individual called him an antisemitic slur.</p><p data-block-key=\"ceul7\">“They wanted to make me feel unwelcome and in fact, explicitly said so,” Monacelli said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2sbb0\">After deciding the event was unsafe, Monacelli started walking away but noticed a woman following him. In a video he posted on Twitter, Monacelli asks the woman to stop following him when a man comes by and shoves him. Monacelli told the Tracker he recognized the man from a September protest in Plano.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NOW: I've just been assaulted at a Coffee Park in Dallas, Texas, by a man who has previously threatened me at a protest. He came up to me without provocation, pushed me twice, and was escorted away by the police who were less than 10 yards away. I'm safe and unharmed. <a href=\"https://t.co/4Q4dnxOv8y\">pic.twitter.com/4Q4dnxOv8y</a></p>— steven monacelli (@stevanzetti) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/stevanzetti/status/1583893965061099520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 22, 2022</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=\"5i5dm\">“He walked up to me and very quickly got in my face and started threatening me, claiming I had doxxed him,” he said. “I told him not to touch me, but he shoved me again and continued to threaten me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8pre8\">Monacelli said officers from the University Park Police Department who were nearby intervened and escorted the individual away.</p><p data-block-key=\"fc3n5\">University Park Police Chief Bill Mathes told the Tracker the individual had been cited for assault and the case was referred to the municipal court for disposition.</p><p data-block-key=\"74snc\">Monacelli said he later received a call from a detective investigating the case. But the assault made it impossible to continue reporting that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"e516k\">“Within five minutes of arriving, I had been singled out, called an antisemitic slur and assaulted,” Monacelli said. “Unfortunately, the story ended up being that I got assaulted and not anything about the protest itself.”</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-05-17 00:00:00+00:00) Man fined for assaulting independent journalist"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"LGBTQ+ rights",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Steven Monacelli (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Investigative reporter subpoenaed in lawsuit against Maui County, officer",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/investigative-reporter-subpoenaed-in-lawsuit-against-maui-county-officer/",
"first_published_at": "2022-12-12T22:07:28.870034Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-11T17:16:09.114975Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-11T17:16:09.006508Z",
"date": "2022-10-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Honolulu",
"longitude": -157.85833,
"latitude": 21.30694,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uef5w\">Lynn Kawano, the chief investigative reporter for Hawaii News Now, was issued a subpoena on Oct. 13, 2022, seeking communications and testimony in connection with an ongoing lawsuit before the District Court of Hawaii in Honolulu.</p><p data-block-key=\"732um\">Three women filed a lawsuit against a Maui Police Department officer and Maui County alleging the officer abused his position of power to coerce them into having sex with him, <a href=\"https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/11/maui-county-alleges-this-tv-news-reporter-crossed-a-line-in-covering-a-case-of-police-misconduct/\">according to Honolulu Civil Beat</a>. Kawano <a href=\"https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/08/21/maui-officer-under-investigation-inappropriately-reaching-out-woman-he-arrested/\">first</a> <a href=\"https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/08/22/second-woman-comes-forth-alleging-maui-officer-tried-bribe-her-sex/\">reported</a> on the allegations in August 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"1fmus\">According to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the county sent a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.hid.162546/gov.uscourts.hid.162546.1.9.pdf\">letter to Kawano’s attorneys</a> that alleged that Kawano stepped outside of her role as a journalist and acted as an adviser to the women, suggesting they contact attorney Michael Green.</p><p data-block-key=\"6grib\">“It is clear that Ms. Kawano has not confined herself to news gathering, but has become an advisor to the plaintiffs,” the letter stated.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ddm\">Neither Kawano nor Hawaii News Now responded to emailed requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"fvedc\">The county issued Kawano a subpoena for documents and testimony on Oct. 13, but did not serve her the court order until Oct. 25, according to court filings. The subpoena orders Kawano to produce her communications with Green and the three women, as well as any “attorney referral agreement or client referral agreement” between Kawano and Green or his law firm.</p><p data-block-key=\"dh421\">Bruce Voss, Kawano’s attorney, sent an objection letter to the county on Oct. 31 stating that in addition to not serving the subpoena with sufficient time before the deposition date of Nov. 1, that Kawano’s communications are protected by journalist’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"af1v8\">The county <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.hid.162546/gov.uscourts.hid.162546.1.3.pdf\">reissued the subpoena</a> on Nov. 9, ordering Kawano to produce the same collection of documents and to appear for a deposition on Dec. 1. According to court documents, Voss filed a motion to quash the subpoena on Kawano’s behalf on Nov. 26.</p><p data-block-key=\"b6tkk\">“HNN can only surmise that the County of Maui is attempting to establish some nefarious plot (that does not exist) for the purposes of distracting from some very bad facts in this case,” the motion states. “Ms. Kawano, as a journalist, is not a discovery depot for the County of Maui.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2dqbm\">Voss declined to comment when reached by email, citing the pending motion to quash. A hearing on the motion has been scheduled for Jan. 5, 2023.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mfvza\">A portion of the subpoena issued to Hawaii News Now investigative reporter Lynn Kawano as part of an ongoing lawsuit three women brought against Maui County and a Maui police officer alleging coercion and sexual harassment.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "journalist communications or work product",
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Hawaii",
"abbreviation": "HI"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-01-20 14:27:00+00:00) Judge quashes subpoena of Hawaii investigative reporter"
],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Lynn Kawano (Hawaii News Now)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"quashed"
],
"type_of_denial": []
}
]
