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{
"title": "Sacramento Bee columnist detained at pro-Palestinian protest at City Hall",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sacramento-bee-columnist-detained-at-pro-palestinian-protest-at-city-hall/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-25T21:17:02.052277Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-28T19:14:44.142305Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-28T19:14:44.013744Z",
"date": "2024-03-19",
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"city": "Sacramento",
"longitude": -121.4944,
"latitude": 38.58157,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"keydz\">Robin Epley, an opinion columnist for The Sacramento Bee, was briefly detained while documenting a protest that disrupted a Sacramento City Council meeting March 19, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1u7p\">In an <a href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article286982055.html\">account of the incident</a> published by the Bee, Epley wrote that a pro-Palestinian protest in the City Council chambers began after Mayor Darrell Steinberg introduced a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Steinberg recessed the meeting and ordered the chambers to be cleared, but many people initially refused to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"4phti\">After about 90 minutes, by 10:37 p.m., Epley wrote, only a few dozen people remained and she noticed that she was the only journalist still observing the protest. “From experience, I know that’s a rare and potentially important position; I’d never relinquish it unless absolutely necessary,” Epley wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"54som\">Epley told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that more than 50 police officers then entered the chambers, gave a final warning and began arresting the last 12 stragglers. Shortly after 10:50 p.m., Epley saw the officer who was overseeing the arrests point at her.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ndun\">“Surely, I thought, he was motioning to someone behind me?” Epley wrote. “By the time I realized no one was there, a couple of officers had already descended on my back, ripping my cellphone from my hand and locking me in a pair of black metal cuffs.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sac PD just tried to arrest me <a href=\"https://t.co/GvzRQi6fmw\">pic.twitter.com/GvzRQi6fmw</a></p>— Robin Epley (@ByRobinEpley) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ByRobinEpley/status/1770328803564511274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 20, 2024</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=\"keydz\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ByRobinEpley/status/1771211911842935192\">footage</a> Epley shared on social media, she can be heard asking the officers, “Are you really arresting me right now?”</p><p data-block-key=\"5bc\">Epley told the Tracker that she was wearing press credentials issued by the Bee and that she repeatedly identified herself as a journalist. After approximately 25 seconds, the officers uncuffed her and checked her press pass before allowing her to resume documenting the other arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"auppe\">“There is no reason, no action I took, nothing I said nor did that provoked these officers of the Sacramento Police Department to handcuff me,” Epley wrote. “Their actions alone resulted in the illegal detainment of a working and visibly credentialed journalist, no matter how short the duration of my time in their custody.”</p><p data-block-key=\"egavn\">David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, told the Bee that police have no business arresting members of the press, even if only for a few seconds.</p><p data-block-key=\"a6k6s\">“There is a disturbing trend around the country of journalists being arrested and prosecuted simply for being journalists,” Loy said. “Whether the arrest just happened for just a few minutes or someone is prosecuted, these are clear threats to press freedom and the First Amendment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dt6nd\">Epley told the Tracker that she is undaunted by the experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"8lod7\">“I feel fired up,” Epley said. “I try to remind myself that when informed of their mistake they let me out of the cuffs pretty immediately. Ultimately I’m fine, but it’s the meaning of it that is making me upset, what it means to have handcuffed a journalist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"erg7p\">She said that the Sacramento Police Department has reached out to the Bee to set up a meeting with editors.</p><p data-block-key=\"8me62\">The Sacramento Police Department said in an emailed statement that when the chambers were cleared they advised members of the press to stage in the lobby and that officers were instructed to look for city-issued press credentials, which it asserts Epley was not wearing.</p><p data-block-key=\"9kcfi\">Epley said that she wasn’t told the credentials were mandatory and that, when the lightweight pass broke, she stopped wearing it. She also refuted the police’s assertion that media were told to stage in the lobby, saying that no officers spoke with her after the meeting was recessed.</p><p data-block-key=\"78h7c\">In a statement shared with the Tracker, Mayor Steinberg said that there was “some confusion” concerning Epley’s credentials and that she was immediately released once it was cleared up.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gdhk\">“I do not support the arrest of journalists in chambers,” Steinberg said. “It is essential that we uphold and protect the important role that the press plays in our society.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"74br4\">Sacramento Bee columnist Robin Epley was briefly detained while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest that shut down a City Council meeting at Sacramento City Hall on March 19, 2024.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist, newsrooms ordered to delete articles about real estate dispute",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-newsrooms-ordered-to-delete-articles-about-real-estate-dispute/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-05T20:08:53.479199Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-05T20:08:53.479199Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-05T20:08:41.213225Z",
"date": "2024-03-13",
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"city": "Miami",
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"latitude": 25.77427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cuv8d\">Legal journalist Eugene Volokh and multiple newsrooms were targeted in a March 13, 2024, court order to remove articles in connection with a real estate dispute between a former mayor of Miami Beach, Florida, and his daughter. A judge partially vacated the order in October after Volokh challenged it.</p><p data-block-key=\"eejvn\">Alex Daoud, who served as Miami Beach mayor from 1985 to 1991 before being convicted of bribery, was sued in 2012 by his daughter, Kelly Hyman, an attorney and frequent TV commentator. Hyman alleged that Daoud was trying to take away her company and that she was the rightful owner of his residence, which he disputed, the Miami Herald <a href=\"https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article3985285.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"rq4u\">As part of a settlement agreement, Daoud <a href=\"https://lumendatabase.org/file_uploads/files/4698629/004/698/629/original/2020-11-03%20Agreed%20Order-%20websites.pdf?1605809823&access_token=PmqlvB2uV55U65_hZwOt6A\">agreed</a> in November 2020 to remove defamatory statements he had posted online or that had been posted at his behest.</p><p data-block-key=\"6bu58\">Volokh — co-founder of the legal blog The Volokh Conspiracy and retired law professor — <a href=\"https://reason.com/volokh/2020/11/24/overbroad-injunction-used-to-try-to-vanish-articles-about-daughters-property-lawsuit-against-father/\">reported</a> on that initial order, highlighting that Google was asked to deindex (or remove from search result pages) articles by several mainstream media outlets.</p><p data-block-key=\"8u76v\">“My recollection is that Google did not actually remove them,” Volokh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “But I wrote about this attempt to try to get things removed and then I started noticing that there were attempts to deindex that very article. So I write about that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f8dpg\">In a January 2024 filing reviewed by the Tracker, Hyman wrote that more than three years after the initial order she had still come across “disparaging material” that she believed should have been removed in compliance with it. She asked the judge to amend the order to include new web addresses, and Circuit Court Judge Thomas Rebull did so in March 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"8t3gt\">Among the around two dozen URLs that the new order demanded be taken down, deleted or deindexed were Volokh’s <a href=\"https://reason.com/volokh/2023/12/14/attempt-to-vanish-my-article-about-attempt-to-vanish-my-article-about-attempt-to-vanish-other-articles/\">article</a> about the attempt to deindex his previous article and a piece about an <a href=\"https://reason.com/volokh/2020/11/24/an-odd-response-from-one-of-the-lawyers-in-the-kelly-hyman-v-alex-daoud-case/\">“odd” response</a> he received from one of Hyman’s attorneys.</p><p data-block-key=\"39id6\">Reporting published by the Herald, WFOR-TV, the Daily Mail, The Real Deal and Law.com was also targeted, as was a link to an appellate ruling in the lawsuit <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/third-district-court-of-appeal/2016/3d14-2984.html\">published on Justia</a>, a legal information website.</p><p data-block-key=\"5q3mh\">Rebull specified that the website host or service provider must remove or deindex the links within 10 days of receiving a copy of the order, and that “all statements, posts, social media, or videos or documents” directly or indirectly related to the underlying lawsuit must be removed as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"armhd\">At least one article by WFOR-TV appears to have been removed — a review of the Internet Archive shows that it was still available <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20231221105541/https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/notorious-father-faces-eviction-by-daughter/\">as of December 2023</a>, but <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20240405121108/https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/notorious-father-faces-eviction-by-daughter/\">by April 2024</a> it had been removed.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pu15\">Volokh <a href=\"https://reason.com/volokh/2024/10/28/another-attempt-to-vanish-my-posts-about-kelly-hyman-v-alex-daoud-seemingly-backed-by-court-order/\">wrote</a> that he learned of the court order Oct. 17, when he received an email directing him to delete the two articles from his blog. He argued that the order was “unjustified,” adding that he had obtained legal representation who filed a motion Oct. 25 challenging the order.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lg0h\">“The Order, if applied to my posts, would violate the First Amendment,” Volokh wrote. “Those posts consist entirely of statements from public records, other accurate factual statements, and opinion.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sn1d\">Rebull clarified his order Oct. 28, writing specifically that it does not apply to Volokh and clarifying that the order only applies to Daoud, Hyman and those acting in their interests.</p><p data-block-key=\"52d7a\">Volokh told the Tracker it was heartening to see the order corrected so quickly.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t2uo\">“I just think that this was an error of the form that human beings — including ones wearing robes — make. Shouldn’t have. He should have, I think, recognized that they were asking for too much,” Volokh said. “But once he was alerted to it, he very promptly fixed it: blazingly fast by the standards of our legal system.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"afh89\">A portion of an Oct. 28, 2024, court order partially vacating a decision in March that ordered multiple newsrooms and independent legal journalist Eugene Volokh to delete news stories concerning a real estate dispute in Miami, Florida.</p>",
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{
"title": "Court blocks Trump subpoena over Stormy Daniels documentary on NBC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/court-blocks-trump-subpoena-over-stormy-daniels-documentary-on-nbc/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-11T15:29:20.595654Z",
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"city": "New York",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ctteu\">The justice overseeing the hush money criminal trial of former President Donald Trump quashed a subpoena April 5, 2024, that sought material from a recent NBCUniversal documentary about porn actor Stormy Daniels.</p><p data-block-key=\"16jcg\">The subpoena, first issued March 11, was part of an effort by Trump to prove that NBCUniversal and Daniels conspired to release the documentary close to his trial date, according to <a href=\"https://nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/press/pdfs/DecisionOnMotion-Quash4-5-24.pdf\">legal documents</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The documentary was released March 18, a week before the original trial date.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rsbh\">The subpoena requested access to all materials related to the making, promotion, premiere and release of the documentary. But Justice Juan Merchan wrote in the court order that granting the subpoena would give Trump and his legal team “unfettered access to the notes and materials of a media organization,” in violation of New York’s <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/privilege-compendium/new-york/#reporters-privilege-compendium\">shield law</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9lr43\">Trump’s claims were unsupported, he ruled, adding that, “His subpoena and the demands therein are the very definition of a fishing expedition.”</p><p data-block-key=\"al2d3\">In the underlying criminal case, Trump is accused of covering up hush money payments made by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to Daniels after she said she had a sexual encounter with him in 2006. Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records after allegedly misidentifying payments to Cohen, marking them as for legal services when he was repaying him for the hush money given to Daniels.</p><p data-block-key=\"6cd9u\">Trump is currently expected to go on trial for the charges April 15, despite multiple efforts to stall the proceedings.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4soqw\">Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia, in April 2024. The judge overseeing Trump’s hush money criminal trial in New York quashed a subpoena April 5 that sought material from an NBCUniversal documentary about porn actor Stormy Daniels.</p>",
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{
"title": "Freelancer forcibly removed, press badge taken at Israeli conference in NYC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelancer-forcibly-removed-press-badge-taken-at-israeli-conference-in-nyc/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-13T15:50:29.887146Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ceral\">Freelance reporter Caroline Haskins was asked by a security guard to leave shortly after recording pro-Palestinian protests at an Israeli tech conference in New York City on March 4, 2024, and was then shoved out, her press badge yanked from her neck, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ckc7m\">Haskins, who described the encounter at a midtown Manhattan conference center to the Tracker and in <a href=\"https://hellgatenyc.com/pro-palestine-protest-eric-adams-israeli-tech-conference\">an article</a> for the independent New York outlet Hell Gate, said that the guard came up to her while she was tweeting about the protests. He asked who she was and when Haskins identified herself as a freelance reporter, he told her to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjqd3\">After Haskins asked the security guard why she was being removed, she said the guard responded, “I don’t know, management just told me to remove you,” and advised her to reach out to the event organizers for an explanation.</p><p data-block-key=\"24k57\">She then started filming the encounter, but said that the security guard grabbed her phone out of her hands. Haskins immediately took it back, and he then clutched both of her arms, brought them behind her back, and pushed her out of the conference hall from behind. As he did, she said he reached for her conference pass lanyard, which was caught in the cords of her headphone cord, and yanked it off before shoving her out the door.</p><p data-block-key=\"fp8dr\">Haskins later contacted conference organizers to ask about her ejection. She <a href=\"https://twitter.com/car0linehaskins/status/1767649498803630091?s=42\">tweeted</a> March 12 that she received a response from a spokesman, who said: “I understand there was turmoil during the TED Talk of Google’s CEO, and security took those people out. I guess that they took out everyone who filmed it and thought they might be a part of this.” She wrote that the spokesman apologized for the delay in response and for her experience, and added that he had “asked for details about what really happened.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jzj28\">New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaking March 4, 2024, at a New York City conference on the Israeli high-tech industry. Reporter Caroline Haskins was forcibly removed from the event after tweeting about interruptions by protesters.</p>",
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{
"title": "Former Fox News reporter held in contempt for refusing to comply with subpoena",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-fox-news-reporter-held-in-contempt-for-refusing-to-comply-with-subpoena/",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qeihw\">Journalist Catherine Herridge was held in civil contempt Feb. 29, 2024, for refusing to comply with a subpoena compelling her to reveal a confidential source, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"6q0mt\">The ruling stemmed from a series of Fox News investigative online articles and broadcast reports by then-correspondent Herridge published in early 2017 about a federal investigation into the possible foreign military ties of a Chinese American scientist, Yanping Chen.</p><p data-block-key=\"7q9g1\">The articles cited, and included excerpts of, materials from the investigation, such as FBI interviews, Chen’s immigration forms and photos of her in a Chinese military uniform. The six-year investigation was concluded in 2016.</p><p data-block-key=\"5anlr\">No charges were brought against Chen, and in December 2018 she sued the FBI and the departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security, arguing that investigators violated her rights under the Privacy Act when her personal information was leaked to Herridge.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0vun\">Chen <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-fox-news-journalist-subpoenaed-to-reveal-confidential-source/\">subpoenaed Herridge</a> in June 2022, seeking documents, communications and testimony concerning the federal investigation as well as sufficient information to identify her source. Fox News and producers Pamela K. Browne and Cyd Upson — who were also bylined on the articles — received similar subpoenas for documents and testimony. The Tracker has documented each of the subpoenas <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2022-05-19&date_upper=2022-06-16&city=washington&state=District+of+Columbia&targeted_institutions=Fox+News&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7pbuu\">While U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper quashed the requests for documents, he ruled in August 2023 that the identity of the confidential source was central to the lawsuit’s claim and ordered Herridge to testify about her reporting and any sources. “Chen’s need for the requested evidence overcomes Herridge’s qualified First Amendment privilege,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ab32\">Herridge sat for a deposition in September, but refused to answer any questions about the identity or intent of her sources, according to court filings.</p><p data-block-key=\"1kl2r\">Herridge attempted to appeal the ruling, but <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.163.1.pdf\">was instructed</a> by the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals that the proper procedure required her to refuse to comply and then appeal the resulting contempt order. In November 2023, Chen <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.161.1_1.pdf\">asked the court</a> to hold Herridge in contempt and proposed a graduated fine of $500 a day for the first seven days, $1,000 a day the following week and $5,000 for each day after.</p><p data-block-key=\"53uu7\">The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed an <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.177.1.pdf\">amicus brief</a> in support of Herridge, arguing that holding her in contempt would have a significant chilling effect on national security reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"eoilh\">“The ability of journalists to assure sources that their identities will remain confidential is central to preserving the press’s structural role as a check on government, particularly in the national security sphere,” RCFP wrote. “When sources stop talking to journalists because they fear that their identities cannot be protected, that loss impairs the electorate’s ability to make informed political, social, and economic decisions, and to hold elected officials and others in power accountable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q01i\">Cooper <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751/gov.uscourts.dcd.202751.193.0_3.pdf\">held Herridge in contempt</a> in February 2024. “The Court does not reach this result lightly,” Cooper wrote in his decision. “Herridge and many of her colleagues in the journalism community may disagree with that decision and prefer that a different balance be struck, but she is not permitted to flout a federal court’s order with impunity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"auook\">He ordered that Herridge be fined $800 a day until she complies with the subpoena, but stayed the fine for 30 days or until an appeal of the ruling is completed, whichever comes later.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0j0l\">Neither Herridge nor her attorney were immediately available to comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pm11h\">A portion of the order holding former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge in civil contempt on Feb. 29, 2024, for her refusal to comply with a subpoena seeking testimony about a confidential source.</p>",
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{
"title": "Florida paper says sheriff disinvited it from news conference for second time",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-paper-says-sheriff-disinvited-it-from-news-conference-for-second-time/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-25T21:14:56.544103Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-28T19:17:45.183272Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-28T19:17:45.083841Z",
"date": "2024-02-29",
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"city": "DeLand",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"17gfu\">The Daytona Beach News-Journal was purposefully not invited to a news conference held by Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood on Feb. 29, 2024, according to the Florida news outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"dh7mi\">The Sheriff’s Office had announced via social media on Feb. 28, 2024, that Chitwood would be holding a news conference the following day about a break in a 20-year-old missing persons investigation. But <a href=\"https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2024/03/05/sheriff-chitwood-doesnt-invite-news-journal-to-press-conference/72810435007/?utm_source=Poynter+Institute&utm_campaign=18e7519c4a-03062024+-+The+Poynter+Report&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-03a789e9c7-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D\">the newspaper said</a> Chitwood’s media staff did not send it an announcement with details about the briefing, nor did they reply to emails and texts from reporters.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ca6a\">Two other Florida TV stations, WESH and WOFL, had news crews present at the briefing, but the paper said it was unclear how Chitwood communicated to them the time and place of the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"9o1ok\">It was the second time the News-Journal has been left off the invitation list for a news conference held by Chitwood, <a href=\"https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2024/03/05/sheriff-chitwood-doesnt-invite-news-journal-to-press-conference/72810435007/?utm_source=Poynter+Institute&utm_campaign=18e7519c4a-03062024+-+The+Poynter+Report&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-03a789e9c7-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D\">according to the news outlet</a>. The first time was for a news conference <a href=\"/all-incidents/florida-daily-newspaper-said-feud-led-sheriff-to-disinvite-it-from-news-conference/\">Oct. 2, 2023</a>, where <a href=\"https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/opinion/columns/2023/10/03/sheriff-mike-chitwood-bans-news-journal-from-press-conferences/71041359007/\">the paper said</a> it was not invited although there was a “contingent of media” present.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ecp\">The paper says the missing invitations are the result of a long-standing conflict between the daily paper and Chitwood that has also resulted in the Sheriff’s Office refusing to comment on any News-Journal stories.</p><p data-block-key=\"3oc0g\">After the October news conference, for instance, News-Journal reporter Frank Fernandez <a href=\"https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2024/03/05/sheriff-chitwood-doesnt-invite-news-journal-to-press-conference/72810435007/?utm_source=Poynter+Institute&utm_campaign=18e7519c4a-03062024+-+The+Poynter+Report&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-03a789e9c7-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D\">wrote</a> that when the paper contacted Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Andrew Gant to ask about the oversight, Gant replied, “No oversight, sorry. The Sheriff is no longer inviting the NJ to his news conference or commenting for stories.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5bk8l\">Chitwood, in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/profile/100044203642856/search/?q=news-journal\">series of Facebook posts</a> going back to September, has been highly critical of News-Journal coverage of several high-profile criminal investigations.</p><p data-block-key=\"1otdp\">In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/sheriffchitwood/posts/pfbid0xTg2xH8jFYSMwHKBAhEBYPmaDWE6g15e1XEMrrytKqTZTup2aQVKrPyVoTh915WSl\">Sept. 21 post</a>, Chitwood wrote, “I don’t take Frank Fernandez’s calls or give him quotes for his BS stories anymore,” then added on <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/sheriffchitwood/posts/pfbid0mNY8oGZDV9TKcAHrXksh5kfsqfrVHVUSU3wGrHUSP6EpVDoHbZ2G2kca5bw5oVkpl\">Sept. 26</a>, “This is nothing personal, strictly business, but the only real recourse I have is to unsubscribe from the News-Journal and quit commenting in it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1r3nh\">News-Journal Executive Editor John Dunbar, in an opinion piece after the Sept. 21 Chitwood post, <a href=\"https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/opinion/columns/2023/09/25/chitwood-feeds-reporter-to-the-social-media-wolves-for-doing-his-job/70953403007/\">wrote</a>, “The sheriff’s reaction is disturbing for a number of reasons. First, he’s falsely accusing an enormously dedicated and hard-working reporter of being one-sided and unprofessional. Nothing could be further from the truth. Second, his bullying behavior can lead to a chilling effect on anyone who dares to write something he doesn’t like. And third, he’s creating a scapegoat and invoking his followers to tell him ‘what they think.’ What happens if they respond with more than words?”</p><p data-block-key=\"6be9c\">Chitwood’s derogatory comments continued, however. In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/sheriffchitwood/posts/pfbid0J6r6Co6C53CWSdBhvgbnueyNdeLKJ13AN8gwmhAfKE9FAVuMm6yoX8AZ3HwWJ4dzl\">March 5 post regarding</a> the Feb. 29 news conference, the sheriff wrote, “The Irrelevant Daytona Beach News-Journal smears my deputies, insults the law enforcement community, misleads the 5 readers it has left, and then cries foul when I quit responding. The News-Journal knew exactly when and where this press conference was, and they chose not to show up. If they did, I’d exercise my right to ignore their BS questions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f9ctc\">The same day, <a href=\"https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2024/03/05/sheriff-chitwood-doesnt-invite-news-journal-to-press-conference/72810435007/?utm_source=Poynter+Institute&utm_campaign=18e7519c4a-03062024+-+The+Poynter+Report&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-03a789e9c7-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D\">Fernandez reported</a> that Chitwood opted not to include The News-Journal in the news conference even though Gant <a href=\"https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/10/11/editorial-sheriffs-screed-against-reporter-hurts-everyone-including-himself/\">told the Orlando Sentinel</a> that if a News-Journal reporter shows up to a news event, they won’t be turned away. “The News-Journal has the same access to that as anybody else,” Gant said. “They just don’t have exclusive access.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5cijq\">The sheriff’s office did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3fuvu\">Grace Nezkwesi, legal fellow at the First Amendment Foundation, was reported as saying she did not believe that Chitwood could exclude one media outlet while allowing others to attend the briefings. “It does sound like a chilling effect and a restraint on your organization’s First Amendment Rights,” <a href=\"https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2024/03/05/sheriff-chitwood-doesnt-invite-news-journal-to-press-conference/72810435007/?utm_source=Poynter+Institute&utm_campaign=18e7519c4a-03062024+-+The+Poynter+Report&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-03a789e9c7-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D\">she told the News-Journal</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"e2b92\">“It’s a form of intimidation. I mean, he’s the sheriff. He’s a very powerful man and very popular in the county,” Dunbar told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"bupk7\">Dunbar added that he was concerned that the decision could impact the News-Journal’s access to information regarding the upcoming hurricane season. “This is really an issue of public safety because we’re the newspaper of record,” Dunbar said. “We can’t be at odds.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5fkej\"><i>Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include a comment from News-Journal Executive Editor John Dunbar.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"i1d8k\">Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Volusia County, Florida, during a Feb. 29, 2024 news conference. The Daytona Beach News-Journal said it was purposefully not invited to the event.</p>",
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{
"title": "Police agree to pay Las Vegas paper’s legal fees in public records lawsuits",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-agree-to-pay-las-vegas-papers-legal-fees-in-public-records-lawsuits/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-18T13:34:46.932438Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-18T13:39:45.689888Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-18T13:39:45.607965Z",
"date": "2024-02-29",
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"city": "Las Vegas",
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"latitude": 36.17497,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7dfc1\">The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department agreed on Feb. 29, 2024, to pay the Las Vegas Review-Journal a total of $620,000 to cover the paper’s legal fees, settling two lawsuits against the department for violations of the state’s public records law.</p><p data-block-key=\"67bp9\">The settlement stemmed from two incidents in which the department repeatedly denied the newspaper’s requests for documents or provided heavily redacted files, the Review-Journal <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/metro-approves-600k-in-settlement-payments-to-the-review-journal-3009319/\">reported</a>. The first request sought the case file of a 2018 police investigation into a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who had allegedly asked a confidential informant to harm or kill his wife. The second sought information about a deadly fire at the city’s Alpine Motel Apartments in 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"8g561\">The newspaper filed lawsuits challenging both of the public records denials in February 2020. Immediately after the Review-Journal filed its suit concerning the fire, the department released some records, including a small portion of the body-camera footage, 911 calls and radio traffic records, according to court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"29fb0\">After years of litigation, both lawsuits were appealed to the state Supreme Court, which determined in two <a href=\"https://caseinfo.nvsupremecourt.us/document/view.do?csNameID=60895&csIID=60895&deLinkID=894987&onBaseDocumentNumber=23-09679\">separate</a> <a href=\"https://caseinfo.nvsupremecourt.us/document/view.do?csNameID=61493&csIID=61493&deLinkID=913002&onBaseDocumentNumber=23-26983\">rulings</a> in March and August of 2023 that the police department had violated the Nevada Public Records Act when failing to comply with the Review-Journal’s requests. The court ordered that the records be released with limited redactions and awarded the newspaper attorneys’ fees and costs under the NPRA’s fee-shifting mandate.</p><p data-block-key=\"80scv\">During a public meeting at police headquarters on Feb. 29, 2024, the Metropolitan Police Committee on Fiscal Affairs — which oversees the department’s finances — approved payments of $325,000 and $295,000, the Review-Journal <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/metro-approves-600k-in-settlement-payments-to-the-review-journal-3009319/\">reported</a>. </p><p data-block-key=\"8d205\">An attorney for the Review-Journal told the newspaper that such reimbursements for legal fees are vital after taking the government to court, but lamented the impact they have on the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"eqtmu\">“It is a shame that governmental entities so often spend public money to fight against transparency when in the end it is taxpayers who are forced to foot the bill,” Review-Journal Chief Legal Officer Ben Lipman said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8mepr\">Since January 2023, the Review-Journal has been awarded just under $1 million in attorneys fees following successful public records lawsuits. In addition to the recent settlements, the newspaper received <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/what-are-they-hiding-taxpayers-foot-legal-bills-to-hide-public-records-2933105/\">$337,000</a> in connection with a lawsuit over denied requests for child autopsy reports as part of the Review-Journal’s investigation into how child protective services handled cases in which children died.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mnci\">Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/courts/huge-win-for-public-supreme-court-finds-metro-violated-records-law-2753650/\">told the outlet</a> after the March 2023 ruling that he hopes it will lead to increased police transparency and compliance with the state public records law.</p><p data-block-key=\"9spes\">“The Nevada Supreme Court has very clearly upheld the public’s right to know again and again,” Cook said. “If Metro would stop withholding public records, it would improve public trust, save taxpayer money and spare the courts a lot of wasted time and resources.”</p><p data-block-key=\"duj02\"></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"aj197\">A portion of a 2023 Nevada Supreme Court ruling finding that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department wrongfully withheld records. The department agreed to pay the Las Vegas Review-Journal legal fees in connection with two suits on Feb. 29, 2024.</p>",
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"case_number": "A-20-811063 & A-20-809924",
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{
"title": "Independent journalist arrested at Wall Street protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-arrested-at-wall-street-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-26T14:30:14.786465Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T20:46:48.853500Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T20:46:48.759348Z",
"date": "2024-02-29",
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"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t9n3k\">Independent journalist Ashoka Jegroo was shoved to the ground and arrested by police officers while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on Feb. 29, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"ed9hs\">Jegroo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that demonstrators initially gathered at Union Square in Manhattan before taking the subway downtown en masse to the Financial District to attempt to disrupt Gov. Kathy Hochul’s planned remarks at a Wall Street restaurant. An organizer with the protest group Within Our Lifetime <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/nyregion/wall-street-gaza-protest-hochul.html\">told The New York Times</a> that they targeted Hochul over statements she made that month about the Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"3onhn\">Police closed down the block around the restaurant, Jegroo said, and protesters tried to march around the block before ultimately making their way up to the intersection of Broadway and Vesey Street. As he crossed the street and neared the sidewalk, Jegroo said a bicycle officer suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into the street.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Pro-Palestine protesters in NYC gave NYPD the slip, got on a train to Wall Street where NY Governor Kathy Hochul was speaking at an event, & then marched in Lower Manhattan last nite. NYPD repressed the protest & made multiple arrests (including me). Here’s my video of my arrest: <a href=\"https://t.co/Es0Iy0UMTc\">pic.twitter.com/Es0Iy0UMTc</a></p>— Ash J (@AshAgony) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AshAgony/status/1763628081556697541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 1, 2024</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=\"t9n3k\">“When they grabbed me there were people and other journalists yelling, ‘He’s press! He’s press!’” he told the Tracker. “Even though I wasn’t resisting at all, they pulled both of my arms behind my back aggressively and almost pushed me face-first onto the ground where they'd thrown their bikes.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7aa6c\">Jegroo said that he was able to position himself so he landed on the bicycles on his knees, which caused a gash across his shin. Three or four other people at the demonstration were also arrested, at least two of whom were also injured.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ronv\">Upon arriving at One Police Plaza, Jegroo said he was the last of the arrestees to be processed because of confusion over who his arresting officer was. He was released later that night and charged with disorderly conduct and walking in a roadway when a sidewalk was available. It was his <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-pushed-arrested-at-nyc-pro-palestinian-march/\">second arrest</a> in recent months while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqbcl\">The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"bcr3m\">Gideon Oliver, an attorney representing Jegroo, told the Tracker that a judge dismissed the walking on the roadway charge during a preliminary hearing on March 20. For the disorderly conduct charge, Jegroo accepted an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, under which proceedings are put on hold for six months. After that, the charge is dismissed if there have been no further arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"3h2c6\">“Obviously I have to be a little bit more cautious now: I can’t take as many risks,” Jegroo told the Tracker. “I can’t get as close to the action as I’d like to, but I’m not going to stop. I’m still going to go out there. That’s the only ‘chill’ there will be on my reporting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ddcm7\">When reached via email, a press officer for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said they could not provide further information because the case was sealed, but noted that accepting an ACD is one of the reasons a case may be sealed.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"lgqq9\">Independent journalist Ashoka Jegroo was arrested while reporting on a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York City on Feb. 29, 2024. He was charged with disorderly conduct and walking in a roadway.</p>",
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"name": "New York",
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"(2024-09-20 00:00:00+00:00) Charge dropped against independent journalist arrested at NYC protest"
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"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
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},
{
"title": "Utah AG appeals order to turn over calendar to news outlet and pay court fees",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/utah-ag-appeals-order-to-turn-over-calendar-to-news-outlet-and-pay-court-fees/",
"first_published_at": "2024-06-24T15:15:07.538023Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-24T15:15:07.538023Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-24T15:15:07.438850Z",
"date": "2024-02-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Salt Lake City",
"longitude": -111.89105,
"latitude": 40.76078,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"av28g\">Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes on May 24, 2024, appealed a February court order that he release his official calendar as part of an open records request and reimburse a journalist and her outlet’s attorneys fees.</p><p data-block-key=\"d9eog\">KSL-TV journalist Annie Knox requested Reyes’ official calendar in November 2022. The State Records Committee ruled in May 2023, that the calendar — with personal appointments and locations redacted — should be public. On Feb. 27, 2024, 3rd District Judge Patrick Corum agreed, and ordered the attorney general to pay $132,241 in the journalist’s court fees.</p><p data-block-key=\"bp4g5\">“He’s a public official and all we’re asking for is what his official duties were in his calendar,” Knox’s attorney David C. Reymann told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “Daily calendars are essentially the most basic information about how they do their jobs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5nfrk\">In his summary judgment, Corum noted that six people in the attorney general’s office had access to the calendar as part of their official duties.</p><p data-block-key=\"cu6am\">In a similar case brought by Salt Lake Tribune reporter Jessica Miller that seeks a different time frame of the calendar, the State Records Committee agreed that Reyes’ calendar should be open to the public. Reyes appealed that ruling and it was randomly assigned to Corum, the same judge that heard Knox’s case.</p><p data-block-key=\"2v7ej\">A spokesperson for Reyes didn’t respond to an email from the Tracker seeking comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"evnme\">The fight over calendars is unlikely to be repeated in Utah: The state Legislature passed a law, also on Feb. 27, making <a href=\"https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2024/02/27/utah-ag-sean-reyes-official/\">all calendars of government employees private</a>. But the law change doesn’t apply retroactively to these two cases.</p><p data-block-key=\"bd0m8\">Reyes’ appeal of Knox’s case could take a year or more to resolve, Reymann said, meaning the attorney general would be out of office before the release of his calendar. He is not seeking reelection.</p><p data-block-key=\"86gmo\">Knox “wanted to do some reporting on how he’s been spending his time, and this [case] has prevented her from doing this,” Reymann told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"847c6\">Among the issues in question are ties between Reyes and Tim Ballard, founder of the anti-human trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad, who has been <a href=\"https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2024/02/27/utah-ag-sean-reyes-official/\">accused of sexual misconduct</a>. Reyes’ office has <a href=\"https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/12/08/ag-sean-reyes-launches-criminal/\">opened an investigation into Ballard</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"swae4\">A portion of the order issued on Feb. 27, 2024, by a district court directing Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to release his calendar and pay more than $130,000 in court fees to KSL-TV journalist Annie Knox.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Utah",
"abbreviation": "UT"
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"tags": [
"public records"
],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Annie Knox (KSL-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Salman Rushdie subpoenaed for memoir materials by alleged attacker",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/salman-rushdie-subpoenaed-for-memoir-materials-by-alleged-attacker/",
"first_published_at": "2024-12-20T14:01:34.905341Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-20T14:01:34.905341Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-19T22:15:16.749987Z",
"date": "2024-02-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Mayville",
"longitude": -79.50449,
"latitude": 42.25395,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0y4s9\">Author Salman Rushdie was subpoenaed on Feb. 26, 2024, in connection with the criminal case against a man charged with assaulting him during a public lecture in Chautauqua, New York, in 2022. The subpoena — which sought his notes, communications and contracts for a memoir about the incident — was quashed five months later, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pove\">Rushdie was about to begin speaking at a literary festival on Aug. 12, 2022, when a man <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salman-rushdie-attacked-stage-new-york/\">rushed the stage and stabbed the author</a> multiple times. The man, later identified as Hadi Matar of New Jersey, was subsequently <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salman-rushdie-coming-to-terms-with-knife-attack-writing-new-book-60-minutes/\">charged</a> with attempted murder and assault, as well as <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-charged-terrorism-offenses-relating-his-attempted-murder-salman-rushdie\">terrorism-related offenses</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8gj78\">In February 2024, Matar’s attorney subpoenaed Rushdie, seeking all drafts, writings and communications concerning his planned memoir about the attack, “<a href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738826/knife-by-salman-rushdie/\">Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder</a>,” which was later published in April.</p><p data-block-key=\"6rfp\">Penguin Random House, the publisher of the book, was <a href=\"http://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-quashes-subpoena-for-salman-rushdies-memoir-notes-contract\">issued</a> a nearly identical subpoena Feb. 8, according to court records.</p><p data-block-key=\"1fd\">After filing an initial objection March 4, attorneys representing Rushdie filed a joint motion with counsel for Penguin Random House to quash the subpoenas. The April 15 motion argued, in part, that they were protected from disclosing the materials by both New York’s reporter shield law and the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"6lsq0\">The subpoenas include “sprawling requests for editorial material,” according to the motion, and “constitute nothing more than an overbroad fishing expedition” for material to harm Rushdie’s credibility.</p><p data-block-key=\"qsg6\">“These are all highly personal documents concerning the editorial process that would ordinarily never be made public or even privately shared with third parties,” Rushdie wrote in an affidavit supporting the motion. “To have these unpublished materials—or indeed, any of my private documents—become fodder for the Defendant (or his counsel) to sift through would be an extraordinary invasion of my privacy and sense of security.”</p><p data-block-key=\"48n8t\">County Court Judge David Foley quashed both subpoenas following a hearing on July 18, according to court filings. In addition to ruling that the subpoenas were “overbroad and unreasonably burdensome,” Foley also affirmed that Rushdie and Penguin Random House, as well as the memoir, are protected under the shield law.</p><p data-block-key=\"8anbq\">Matar’s trial was scheduled to begin Oct. 15, but was delayed to allow a state appeals court to consider whether to move the case out of Chautauqua County, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/11/nyregion/salman-rushdie-stabbing-trial-testify.html\">reported</a>. Rushdie is expected to testify when the trial moves forward.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Rushdie_subpoena.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1khug\">A portion of the subpoena served on author Salman Rushdie on Feb. 26, 2024, in connection with the criminal case against a man accused of attacking him in 2022. A judge quashed the subpoena, ruling that Rushdie is protected by New York’s shield law.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "State",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"categories": [
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},
{
"title": "Student journalists, adviser sue school, alleging intimidation",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalists-adviser-sue-school-alleging-intimidation/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-29T16:19:57.942906Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T16:45:12.335647Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T16:45:12.210026Z",
"date": "2024-02-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Mountain View",
"longitude": -122.11746,
"latitude": 38.00881,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n8x06\">Student journalists and the former adviser of a high school newspaper in California filed a lawsuit against the school district and administrators on Feb. 22, 2024, alleging intimidation and retaliation in violation of the state’s student press freedom law.</p><p data-block-key=\"88vku\">According to the <a href=\"https://splc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Mountain-View-Complaint-Feb2024.pdf\">complaint</a>, the Oracle newspaper at Mountain View High School is entirely student-run, with the young journalists choosing, writing and editing their own articles. Former faculty adviser Carla Gomez would review articles before publication and provide guidance on journalistic standards and techniques.</p><p data-block-key=\"5tll4\">In early 2023, students on the newspaper’s In-Depth team — which produces long-form investigative articles — began reporting on allegations of student-on-student sexual harassment at the school. Administrators learned of the article when students contacted them for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"79pep\">Principal Kip Glazer spoke to the students on March 27, telling them that the planned article would lead to “catastrophic consequences” if published and that the newspaper should only present the school in a “positive light,” according to the suit. She also asserted that she could censor the article, but that she did not want to, and asked to review the piece before publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"8jdjd\">The students <a href=\"https://lahstalon.org/editor-and-former-adviser-of-mvhs-newspaper-threaten-to-sue-over-alleged-censorship/\">told reporters for The Talon</a>, a student newspaper at a nearby high school, that following Glazer’s review they made some changes for journalistic reasons, but made many more because they were afraid of upsetting her.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ei8s\">“We were kind of confused and kind of scared of what her implications were,” Assistant In-Depth Editor Renuka Mungee said of Glazer’s mandate. “Was the entire Oracle going to get in trouble? Were we individually going to get in trouble for publishing it? I think we felt compelled to remove certain details because we were scared of what her reaction would be or what the consequences would be.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ps73\">Mungee and In-Depth Editor Myesha Phukan told the Talon that though they had followed journalistic and ethical best practices when reporting the piece, they ultimately self-censored: a decision they said they’ve come to regret</p><p data-block-key=\"k2bh\">A <a href=\"https://mvhsoracle.com/32614/features/i-just-felt-like-nobody-cared-students-open-up-about-their-experiences-with-sexual-harassment/\">modified version of the article</a> was published on March 31, but without descriptions of some of the harassment, details of one of the accused harasser’s participation in the choir program or other contextual information, according to the suit. Less than a month later, Glazer announced that the school’s Introduction to Journalism course was being cut and that Gomez was being replaced as the newspaper’s adviser.</p><p data-block-key=\"f4aki\">Glazer, who did not respond to requests for comment, <a href=\"https://lahstalon.org/mvhs-journalism-program-to-undergo-major-changes-next-school-year/\">told the Talon</a> in May that she is a staunch supporter of the First Amendment and student journalism.</p><p data-block-key=\"30ufl\">“I believe that the purpose of public education is to create an educated populace for the protection of democracy, and I believe that the role of the press is extremely important,” Glazer said. “Democracy doesn’t exist without a robust and free press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b80lk\">Attorney Jean-Paul Jassy <a href=\"https://splc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Jassy-Letter-to-MVHS-09-27-23.pdf\">sent a letter</a> on behalf of Gomez and Hanna Olson, co-editor-in-chief, to the superintendent, board of trustees and Glazer on Sept. 27 detailing the alleged intimidation and retaliation, and requested the release of communications surrounding the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"7nd9b\">The letter also asked for a written acknowledgement that Glazer’s actions amounted to censorship in violation of <a href=\"https://splc.org/1977/02/california-student-free-expression-law-includes-adviser-protection-provision/\">California Education Code 48907</a>, a reinstatement of the introductory course with Gomez as the adviser and a written commitment that there would be no further attempts at censorship.</p><p data-block-key=\"831mt\">When those requests were not met, Jassy filed the lawsuit making similar requests on behalf of Gomez, Olson and Hayes Duenow, one of the authors of the article.</p><p data-block-key=\"5uhjh\">“The ideas and the principles that underlie the First Amendment are first experienced and first taught to students when they’re in high school or college,” Jassy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “So it’s really important that they have the liberty to do investigative journalism, to do research and to report on issues in their communities, just like the professional or mainstream media do.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5533f\">Gomez told the Tracker that she hopes the lawsuit will ensure the independence of the Oracle and that students have a voice in the direction the newspaper takes. “If you don’t have the student-run aspect and the independence, it’s very hard to have a strong journalism program. If they’re worried about writing a story that offends somebody in power, that it’s going to affect the program, then it’s going to have a chilling effect,” Gomez said.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7crd\">In a <a href=\"https://splc.org/2024/02/lawsuit-alleges-california-principal-bullied-retaliated-against-student-newspaper/\">statement</a> to the Student Press Law Center, Olson said that she joined the lawsuit to ensure the spirit of the Oracle carries on.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bl8\">“This case matters to me because I want to ensure the long term stability and prosperity of my school’s journalism program,” Olson said, “and I want student journalists at my school to be empowered to stand by their rights to publish stories that need to be told.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hkwcz\">Two student journalists and the former adviser for a California high school sued the district and administrators on Feb. 22, 2024, alleging that the principal intimidated and retaliated against them over an article on sexual harassment at the school.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "24CV431640",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"ongoing"
],
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"tags": [
"student journalism"
],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Hanna Olson (Mountain View High School Oracle)",
"Hayes Duenow (Mountain View High School Oracle)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "New York courts grant, then overturn prior restraint on documentary release",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-courts-grant-then-overturn-prior-restraint-on-documentary-release/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-27T17:50:34.182479Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-27T17:50:34.182479Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-27T17:50:29.738541Z",
"date": "2024-02-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xddzx\">A&E Television Networks was briefly barred from distributing its new documentary, “Where Is Wendy Williams?”, after a New York justice granted a temporary restraining order against the company on Feb. 22, 2024. The order was reversed the following day.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ckl3\">According to <a href=\"https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Morrissey-v.-AETN-AETN-Appeal-Papers111.pdf\">court filings</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, A&E worked with former TV host Williams and her family to chronicle her life for nearly two years following the end of her talk show, including her subsequent health issues and placement under guardianship. Williams is credited as an executive producer on the documentary.</p><p data-block-key=\"m71d\">A <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjJDhf5ll70\">trailer</a> for the four-episode documentary aired on Feb. 2. Nearly three weeks later, Williams’ court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, filed a lawsuit against A&E seeking a temporary restraining order to halt its planned release and requesting that the case proceed under seal. A New York Supreme Court justice granted both requests on Feb. 22 without providing A&E the opportunity to argue against them.</p><p data-block-key=\"fl3np\">Morrissey argued that Williams — who has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia — was not competent to sign a talent agreement with producer Entertainment One and that the documentary was exploitative and could permanently damage Williams’ reputation.</p><p data-block-key=\"9a4rf\">The order forbade A&E from releasing the documentary or any further footage, trailers, dialogue or communications to anyone other than Morrissey or their respective attorneys without court approval.</p><p data-block-key=\"ek75a\">An attorney representing A&E filed an appeal with the Appellate Division of the court the following day, arguing that the restraining order constituted a prior restraint and that Morrissey sought to prevent the airing of criticisms of her and the guardianship process.</p><p data-block-key=\"fuuj9\">“At a time when guardianship proceedings are being debated in our own State legislature and through headlines across the nation, the Order impermissibly gags Defendants from publishing speech that is unquestionably a matter of public concern,” attorney Rachel Strom wrote. She added that the restraint also deprived Williams and her family of “their right to speak out about her experiences, including and especially to criticize her care and treatment under a guardianship regime—the same regime which seeks to silence her now.”</p><p data-block-key=\"br71b\">Strom argued that Williams, her family and her manager were actively involved in the production of the documentary and that Morrissey had been aware of the documentary for more than a year. She also noted that, without an emergency reversal, A&E would be unable to proceed with the documentary’s planned release on Feb. 24, at great financial and reputational cost.</p><p data-block-key=\"7m7ja\">Appellate Justice Peter Moulton lifted the restraining order on Feb. 23, writing in a decision that was <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20240224010943/https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=p35y9WMvbEcX7iHDEWmN5A==\">briefly made public</a> that the restraining order was “an impermissible prior restraint on speech that violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” Moulton, however, upheld the decision to keep the court proceedings under seal.</p><p data-block-key=\"1b3qd\">The documentary was released on A&E’s Lifetime channel as planned on Feb. 24 and 25, but the lawsuit remains ongoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"elnie\">Attorneys for Morrissey and A&E did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1trfn\">A new A&E Television Networks documentary about former TV host Wendy Williams, pictured above at a premiere in 2019, was briefly barred from airing after a New York judge granted a temporary restraining order on Feb. 22, 2024.</p>",
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{
"title": "Florida photojournalist struck by rock thrown by rapper",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-photojournalist-struck-by-rock-thrown-by-rapper/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-28T19:55:13.516818Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-28T21:56:44.977399Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-28T21:56:44.897023Z",
"date": "2024-02-21",
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"city": "Fort Lauderdale",
"longitude": -80.14338,
"latitude": 26.12231,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"a05ka\">Photojournalist Bryan Murphy of Florida television station WPLG was struck in the ribs with a rock thrown by rapper Kodak Black in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 21, 2024, the broadcast outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"dco4d\">WPLG reporter Rosh Lowe <a href=\"/all-incidents/florida-reporter-threatened-after-questioning-rapper-kodak-black/\">was also threatened</a> by the rapper, who was being questioned by the news crew following his release from a Broward County jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7oho\">WPLG <a href=\"https://www.local10.com/news/local/2024/02/23/kodak-black-fans-defend-him-for-throwing-rocks-at-photojournalist-outside-broward-jail/\">said</a> that a police report was filed but that Murphy decided not to press charges. Murphy and Lowe did not respond to a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"cae3v\">In <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qM748M9BPg\">video</a> captured by Murphy, the rapper begins throwing rocks at the crew, as Murphy tells Lowe to “call the cops.” The rapper’s threat to punch Lowe was not shown on camera, but he acknowledged it later in the video. “You threatened to punch me,” Lowe said on camera. “I did,” replied the rapper.</p><p data-block-key=\"2o4nh\">Lowe reported later that some of the rapper’s fans have since come to his defense and issued threats, including one posted on Instagram that read “next rock to ya Head big Z.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3nvp2\">But in Lowe’s earlier account, the reporter noted: “It is very usual in our profession to interview people coming out of jail, especially noteworthy people. What is unusual is what happened here today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"95gcc\">The legal representative for Kodak Black did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"an0ki\">Frame from a WPLG video showing rapper Kodak Black throwing rocks at photojournalist Bryan Murphy, hitting him in the ribs.</p>",
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{
"title": "Florida journalist indicted on allegations of conspiracy, computer fraud, wiretapping",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-journalist-indicted-on-allegations-of-conspiracy-computer-fraud-wiretapping/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-22T22:14:33.633823Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-22T22:17:50.549030Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-22T22:17:50.336689Z",
"date": "2024-02-21",
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"city": "Tampa",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"id0tz\">Florida-based independent journalist Tim Burke was charged by the Justice Department with 14 felony counts alleging conspiracy, wiretapping and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, in an indictment unsealed on Feb. 21, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l3sc\">FBI agents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-raids-home-office-of-independent-journalist-on-hacking-allegations/\">raided Burke’s home and office</a> in May 2023 in connection to a criminal probe into “alleged computer intrusions and intercepted communications at the Fox News Network,” according to reports at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"83qlb\">In total, federal agents seized nine computers, seven hard drives, four cellphones and four notebooks from Burke’s home and the guesthouse that serves as his office. More than nine months after the raid, only a small portion of the electronic devices and files seized by law enforcement has been returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"39d6q\">The <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24438752-burke-indictment\">indictment</a>, which was filed on Feb. 15 but unsealed just under a week later, alleges that Burke and an unnamed co-conspirator used “compromised credentials” to gain access to websites with the live feeds of two New York City-based media companies, and to download files and disseminate them.</p><p data-block-key=\"29r32\">Burke is charged with:</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"rqbu\">One count of conspiracy;</li><li data-block-key=\"adui7\">Six counts of accessing a protected computer without authorization;</li><li data-block-key=\"3ervs\">Five counts of wiretapping; and</li><li data-block-key=\"5ihdb\">Two counts of disclosing communications obtained through illegal wiretapping.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"fkkjc\">Attorney Mark Rasch, who is representing Burke and who <a href=\"https://kjk.com/professionals/mark-rasch/\">created</a> the Justice Department’s Computer Crime Unit, denied any criminal behavior by Burke and warned that the charges could set a precedent that could make routine investigative journalism techniques a felony.</p><p data-block-key=\"cnpkd\">“Timothy Burke committed the crime of journalism, and that’s it. He didn’t hack anything, he didn’t steal anything, he simply reported,” Rasch told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “The analogies that the government uses about breaking in fundamentally misunderstand how the internet works and what the norms of behavior are on the internet.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f4n93\">Rasch said that Burke appeared at a courthouse in Tampa on Feb. 22 for an initial hearing on the charges, and that first the raid and now the indictment have had a serious impact on the journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"5hoah\">“He’s financially ruined and professionally devastated, and it has taken an emotional toll as well,” Rasch said.</p><p data-block-key=\"frni6\">Burke did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q7was\">A portion of the indictment charging Florida-based independent journalist Tim Burke on Feb. 21, 2024, with 14 counts for allegedly violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, wiretapping and conspiracy.</p>",
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{
"title": "Florida reporter threatened after questioning rapper Kodak Black",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-reporter-threatened-after-questioning-rapper-kodak-black/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-28T19:53:09.403797Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-28T21:58:38.522457Z",
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"date": "2024-02-21",
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"city": "Fort Lauderdale",
"longitude": -80.14338,
"latitude": 26.12231,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pnkin\">Reporter Rosh Lowe of Florida television station WPLG was threatened by rapper Kodak Black in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 21, 2024, the broadcast outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"g2nf\">Photojournalist Bryan Murphy, also of WPLG, <a href=\"/all-incidents/florida-photojournalist-struck-by-rock-thrown-by-rapper/\">was struck in the ribs</a> with a rock thrown by the rapper. Murphy and Lowe were questioning the rapper following his release from a Broward County jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"apm42\">WPLG <a href=\"https://www.local10.com/news/local/2024/02/23/kodak-black-fans-defend-him-for-throwing-rocks-at-photojournalist-outside-broward-jail/\">said</a> that a police report was filed but that Murphy decided not to press charges. Murphy and Lowe did not respond to a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"8r1ib\">In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qM748M9BPg\">video</a> captured by Murphy, the rapper begins throwing rocks at the crew, as Murphy tells Lowe to “call the cops.” The rapper’s threat to punch Lowe was not shown on camera, but he acknowledged it later in the video. “You threatened to punch me,” Lowe said on camera. “I did,” replied the rapper.</p><p data-block-key=\"babf2\">Lowe reported later that some of the rapper’s fans have since come to his defense and issued threats, including one posted on Instagram that read “next rock to ya Head big Z.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4s2rr\">But in Lowe’s earlier account, the reporter noted: “It is very usual in our profession to interview people coming out of jail, especially noteworthy people. What is unusual is what happened here today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eimmt\">The legal representative for Kodak Black did not respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"gjnb7\">WPLG reporter Rosh Lowe was threatened by rapper Kodak Black when Lowe and a WPLG photojournalist questioned the rapper following his release from jail.</p>",
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{
"title": "Two journalists in different states say police called on them while reporting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-in-different-states-say-police-called-on-them-while-reporting/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-15T18:24:05.055521Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-15T18:34:59.781042Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-15T18:34:59.694217Z",
"date": "2024-02-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zetvc\">In February and March 2024, two reporters in separate states said they had the police called on them while they were conducting everyday reporting duties.</p><p data-block-key=\"6i73j\">Tampa Bay Times reporter Justin Garcia had the police called on him on Feb. 20, 2024, by the city’s fire chief after he showed up at the Tampa Fire Rescue department headquarters, looking for documents about a firefighter who had recently been fired, according to Garcia, who spoke to the U.S Press Freedom Tracker, and the <a href=\"https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2024/03/07/tampa-fire-chief-ordered-police-called-local-journalist-asking-records/\">newspaper</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"161cd\">Garcia told the Tracker that he was informed that he needed to submit the request through an online portal, which he had already done. According to Garcia, he also cited Florida's <a href=\"http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0119/0119.html\">Chapter 119</a>, which states that “all state, county and municipal records are open for personal inspection and copying by any person.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ohfi\">After going back and forth with Personnel Chief Robbie Northrop, who is not a public records custodian, the police were called, even though Garcia was acting within his capacity as a reporter, he told the Tracker. Garcia left before police arrived and was not arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"ipva\">According to records obtained by the Times, Northrop first asked a lower-level employee to call the police, who said she did not have time to make the call. Fire Chief Barbara Tripp eventually called the police on Garcia, the Times reported, adding that it was unknown who asked Tripp to call the police.</p><p data-block-key=\"78pio\">“No one ever should call the police on a reporter even if that reporter is being belligerent, obnoxious and aggressive,” Adam Smith, spokesperson for Mayor Jane Castor, told the Times. Both the Times and Garcia maintain that he never raised his voice or was disruptive in any way.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3ufc\">In the second incident, WTIC-TV news reporter Matt Caron said in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mattcarontv/status/1766304329370067012\">tweet</a> on March 8 that Connecticut public school officials had called police while he was reporting live about “racism and bullying” that his outlet’s reporting had exposed.</p><p data-block-key=\"96jtm\">“I was standing on public property,” Caron wrote. He added that he would use the Freedom of Information Act to request the bodycam footage “to see what was said.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dqq77\">Caron did not reply to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist briefly detained at pro-Palestinian march in NYC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-briefly-detained-at-pro-palestinian-march-in-nyc/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-28T20:34:59.037791Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-28T20:34:59.037791Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-28T20:33:00.758706Z",
"date": "2024-02-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jzgxf\">Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco was pulled to the ground and briefly detained by New York City police officers while covering a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Queens on Feb. 19, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"dd3uc\">Hundreds of protesters gathered in the Astoria neighborhood to demand a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war, <a href=\"https://pix11.com/news/local-news/8-people-arrested-during-pro-palestinian-rally-in-queens-nypd/\">WPIX TV reported</a>. Pacheco was documenting the protest march alongside multiple other members of the press when police began ordering everyone to get off the street, the photojournalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"cijdc\">In footage shared with the Tracker, Pacheco can be seen wearing a press credential and holding a professional camera while standing next to a second individual with a camera affixed to a monopod. An officer appears to direct the journalists to move up the street before suddenly grabbing Pacheco by the arm.</p><p data-block-key=\"c7r0\">“He just grabs me, drags me into the street. Another officer helps him try to arrest me, with my press pass just swinging in the wind,” Pacheco told the Tracker. “I’m up and I’m down and I’m up and I’m down, because they’re just pulling me every which way.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2f9d8\">In Pacheco’s <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JP_OTG/status/1759696308091146367\">footage</a>, the journalist can be heard saying, “Yo, yo! What the hell?” to the officer pulling them into the street, as multiple others shout that Pacheco is a member of the press. Moments later, another officer approaches and can be heard asking, “Are you press?” The rest of the exchange cannot be heard over the police’s loudspeaker announcements.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NYPD blitz arrest ACLU legal observers and press as they and protesters exit the roadway. One press member is released upon orders from a supervisor. At least three other arrests of protesters are made. It is speculated that at least one is targeted from prior organizing. <a href=\"https://t.co/UXsDfwICNa\">pic.twitter.com/UXsDfwICNa</a></p>— Josh Pacheco (They/Them) (@JP_OTG) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JP_OTG/status/1759696308091146367?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 19, 2024</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=\"jzgxf\">“It took a captain walking over to say, ‘You can’t do that, they’re press,’ for them to finally let me go,” Pacheco told the Tracker. They said that while they were uninjured and none of their equipment was damaged, “It was jarring.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dfter\">The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSVVXQZ.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vv4eo\">Pro-Palestinian demonstrators call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war during a march in New York City on Feb. 19, 2024. Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco was briefly detained while covering the protest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-02-19",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Josh Pacheco (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist hurled to ground by police at NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hurled-to-ground-by-police-at-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-10T18:10:57.618555Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T18:10:57.618555Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T17:51:18.769911Z",
"date": "2024-02-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3hcn3\">Independent photojournalist Cristina Panagi was thrown to the ground by a New York City police officer while covering a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Queens on Feb. 19, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"2sa0s\">Hundreds of protesters gathered in the Astoria neighborhood to demand a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war, <a href=\"https://pix11.com/news/local-news/8-people-arrested-during-pro-palestinian-rally-in-queens-nypd/\">WPIX TV reported</a>. Panagi told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that after the march had stopped, demonstrators were standing around and police began using a sound cannon to order everyone to get off the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"8tjik\">Panagi said she was standing alongside other members of the press in a parking lane when officers threatened to arrest her if she didn’t move back. In footage she <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3i9NBiua7Y/?img_index=1\">posted to Instagram</a>, an officer can be heard ordering her to get on the sidewalk. Less than a second later, another officer lunges at her.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m29c\">“I go to step back and there’s no room, so I go to walk a bit over so I can actually fit onto the sidewalk, and this other cop — who wasn’t even the one speaking to me — grabs me by the collar of my jacket and throws me backward,” Panagi said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2027k\">She said she landed hard, directly on her hip. The following day, she said she went to an urgent care center to have it checked to ensure she hadn’t been seriously injured but only had a large bruise.</p><p data-block-key=\"3nfda\">The photojournalist had been standing near two legal observers, who told the officer he had assaulted a member of the press and asked him why, to which he didn’t respond. Panagi said that she was wearing press credentials from the Freelance Journalists Union, as she was still in the <a href=\"https://www.nyc.gov/site/mome/press-card/press-card-application.page\">process of obtaining credentials</a> from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.</p><p data-block-key=\"abijn\">Another photojournalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-briefly-detained-at-pro-palestinian-march-in-nyc/\">Josh Pacheco</a>, was pulled to the ground by police and briefly detained while documenting the protest that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"cougn\">Panagi told the Tracker she filed a complaint with the Civilian Complaint Review Board on Feb. 28, and they interviewed her about the incident in March. As of October, she said the board hasn’t followed up with her or disclosed the result of its investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"8d07c\">The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Panagi_NY_assault_219_QcxChU3.a85296d3.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q24k4\">A New York City police officer directs independent photojournalist Cristina Panagi to get on the sidewalk during a pro-Palestinian protest in Queens on Feb. 19, 2024. A second later, another officer grabbed Panagi and threw her onto the ground.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Cristina Panagi (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "NC blogger issued no-contact, no-trespass orders after confronting county attorney",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nc-blogger-issued-no-contact-no-trespass-orders-after-confronting-county-attorney/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-19T12:52:27.513091Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-19T12:52:27.513091Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-19T12:51:03.473219Z",
"date": "2024-02-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Currituck",
"longitude": -76.01548,
"latitude": 36.44988,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ols2e\">Independent blogger Thom Roddy was issued no-contact and no-trespassing orders in Currituck County, North Carolina, on Feb. 16, 2024, after approaching the county attorney to question her following a County Board of Commissioners meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"40ghi\">Roddy, who runs the investigative blog Blackwater Reports, said the orders were imposed following a Feb. 15 encounter in which he attempted to question County Attorney Megan Morgan in a parking lot outside the county courthouse about her role in the censure of one of the elected commissioners.</p><p data-block-key=\"2rbfi\">The next day, Morgan filed a complaint saying that Roddy had pinned her between two vehicles, and was pointing and yelling at her inches from her face. “I was trapped,” Morgan alleged in the complaint. She also said that leading up to the incident, Roddy had made daily posts on his website about her, “with false statements, emails, calls.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6fs2o\">In a statement, Roddy said he had “approached the county attorney in a well-lit parking lot outside the county seat, with many others present, and attempted to ask questions about her involvement” in the censure. A video taken by Roddy after the start of the dispute shows him standing at least several feet away from Morgan.</p><p data-block-key=\"82jah\">“While I stood at a considerable distance from Morgan, as corroborated by video evidence, it’s customary for members of the press to position microphones and cell phones inches away from public officials’ lips in the pursuit of eliciting a response,” Roddy said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dtf7n\">“Morgan’s apprehension wasn’t triggered by my mere physical proximity,” Roddy wrote to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “but rather by the nature of the questions I sought to ask. Subsequently, she mobilized the government’s resources, enlisted a colleague’s assistance, involved the Sheriff’s Office, and manipulated the justice system. … The no-contact and no-trespass orders amounted to little more than Prior Restraint.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e9rh\">The no-contact order, issued by the district court, restricts Roddy from visiting Morgan at her work or residence, or contacting her by phone, in writing or electronically. The order was made permanent by the court after a Feb. 23 hearing, Roddy said.</p><p data-block-key=\"aeso5\">The no-trespassing order, signed by the county manager, restricts Roddy indefinitely from being on the property of the county courthouse or entering the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"1o8kn\">In April, after an email was sent to Morgan from a Blackwater Reports account, she filed a new motion asking that Roddy be held in contempt for violating the no-contact order. A hearing has been scheduled for May 9.</p><p data-block-key=\"cqr2u\">Morgan did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/redacted2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"souy9\">A portion of the temporary no-contact order issued to independent blogger Thom Roddy on Feb. 16, 2024, by a North Carolina county court, limiting access to a county attorney. It was later made permanent.</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,
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": "upheld",
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "North Carolina",
"abbreviation": "NC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Thom Roddy (Blackwater Reports)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "New Yorker reporter subpoenaed by federal government in criminal trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-yorker-reporter-subpoenaed-by-federal-government-in-criminal-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-27T15:46:15.298362Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-07T18:05:39.206859Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-07T18:05:39.093973Z",
"date": "2024-02-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k3noa\">Eric Lach, a staff writer for The New Yorker, was subpoenaed by a federal prosecutor on Feb. 15, 2024, to testify about his reporting on a man accused of fraud, extortion and lying to federal law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"1in4u\">Lach began reporting on Brooklyn preacher Lamor Whitehead in 2022, according to an <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591215/gov.uscourts.nysd.591215.147.2.pdf\">affidavit</a>. Whitehead stands accused of stealing a parishioner’s savings and defrauding a businessman with claims that he could leverage his ties to Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials for financial gain, The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-preacher-lamor-miller-whitehead-fraud-trial-7818c32afad40817aad29fdacf534bed\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"fuqoj\">Lach spoke with the preacher several times that December and published an <a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/how-eric-adams-started-mentoring-a-con-man\">article</a> about Whitehead and his relationship with Adams in January 2023.</p><p data-block-key=\"9occ2\">The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York subpoenaed Lach just over a week before the criminal trial was scheduled to begin on Feb. 26. The <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591215/gov.uscourts.nysd.591215.147.1.pdf\">subpoena</a> orders Lach to testify during the trial to authenticate on-the-record statements from Whitehead in the published article.</p><p data-block-key=\"c9m2v\">Attorneys representing Lach filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591215/gov.uscourts.nysd.591215.147.0.pdf\">motion to quash</a> the request on Feb. 19. In his accompanying affidavit, Lach voiced concerns that being forced to testify could impair not only his ability to report on Whitehead’s trial but his journalistic work generally.</p><p data-block-key=\"1gjde\">“The prospect of being forced to testify in court about my news reporting is, frankly, chilling,” Lach said in his affidavit. “I often speak to criminal defendants as part of my reporting, and I am confident that criminal defendants — and other sources — will be less willing to speak to me as part of my reporting if they understand that I may be called to testify against them in their trial.”</p><p data-block-key=\"45alv\">The motion to quash argued that the subpoena is also highly invasive and would subject Lach to a cross-examination that could jeopardize his confidential reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"5dnkd\">“In violation of the Department of Justice’s own guidelines, the Government seeks to compel the testimony of a journalist to authenticate a generic, run-of-the mill denial,” the motion said, noting that the statements were made after Whitehead knew he was the target of a government investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"baf7m\">The day before the subpoena was issued, the Justice Department <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-9-13000-obtaining-evidence#9-13.400\">released new guidelines</a> for federal prosecutors limiting when they can seek journalists’ records: when the information is crucial for the prevention of a serious crime, when the journalist is the target of the investigation and when the records involve information that is already public.</p><p data-block-key=\"8niuj\">To address concerns around the potential breadth of the cross-examination, Lach and his attorneys agreed to appear for a private interview with District Judge Lorna G. Schofield on Feb. 26.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Lach.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q846r\">A portion of a subpoena issued to New Yorker reporter Eric Lach on Feb. 15, 2024, by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, ordering him to testify about his reporting on a criminal defendant with ties to New York City’s mayor.</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,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-03-04 00:00:00+00:00) New Yorker reporter does not have to testify, judge rules"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Justice"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Eric Lach (The New Yorker)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter, public barred from Illinois township board meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-public-barred-from-illinois-township-board-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-05T19:47:04.995937Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-05T19:47:04.995937Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-05T19:21:19.759006Z",
"date": "2024-02-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "South Holland",
"longitude": -87.60699,
"latitude": 41.60087,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6j3qb\">Josh Bootsma, the managing editor at The Lansing Journal, was prevented from attending a Thornton Township Board of Trustees meeting, along with members of the public, on Feb. 13, 2024, in apparent violation of Illinois’ Open Meetings Act.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei1lv\">He <a href=\"https://thelansingjournal.com/2024/02/14/public-denied-access-to-thornton-township-board-meeting/\">reported</a> that upon arriving at the township headquarters, located in the suburban Chicago village of South Holland, they were directed into the basement of the building, though the meeting was being held in the upstairs boardroom.</p><p data-block-key=\"dti8s\">Bootsma told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that an audio feed of the meeting was streaming from the speakers downstairs, but it was too faint to follow what was being said and lasted no longer than 30 seconds before cutting out entirely. He also noted that, while attendees were told someone would collect public comment, the meeting ended after just four minutes without anyone doing so.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu8d6\">Board meetings had previously been held in the larger downstairs room, which can comfortably fit more than 100 people, Bootsma explained. But after the last township supervisor died in 2021, Supervisor Tiffany Henyard has held meetings in an upstairs boardroom that can only seat 10 to 15 members of the public, he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"dqflm\">“There are 17 municipalities represented by Thornton Township. So, if one person from each of those municipalities came to the meeting it would be challenging for all of them to have a seat, and that’s just the normal M.O. for the Henyard administration,” Bootsma said.</p><p data-block-key=\"3q59i\">One of the township trustees, Christopher Gonzalez, told the Tracker that he was also informed he couldn't enter the boardroom until the Feb. 13 meeting was scheduled to begin. When he asked why, Gonzalez was told it was because other trustees were afraid he’d bring members of the press in with him.</p><p data-block-key=\"8sts9\">“It was out of nowhere. I’ve given interviews to the media but never once have I tried to coordinate or march in with the media,” Gonzalez said. “I am asking questions and being vocal, so I’m viewed as an enemy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4i1mu\">At the following board meeting on Feb. 27, Bootsma told the Tracker that he and members of the public were initially informed that they would again only be permitted to observe the meeting via a stream in the basement.</p><p data-block-key=\"784es\">Shortly before the meeting was set to begin, a security guard informed Bootsma, other media and the two members of the public in attendance that they could go up to the main boardroom.</p><p data-block-key=\"d24rl\">Gonzalez told the Tracker that there was a lot of chatter from the other trustees ahead of the announcement and that he heard someone say, “What’s the big deal, just let them in. We’re going to get in trouble and for what? She’s not here, nobody could ask her any questions anyways.”</p><p data-block-key=\"98r1j\">Bootsma <a href=\"https://thelansingjournal.com/2024/02/28/public-eventually-allowed-into-thornton-township-meeting-supervisor-henyard-absent/\">reported</a> that Trustee Gerald “Jerry” Jones, who oversaw the meeting in Henyard’s absence, declined to comment about the decision to allow the press and public into the room and said he did not know why access was denied during the prior meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"fcci5\">Bootsma told the Tracker: “At this most recent meeting, on the video stream all we could see was empty chairs, so why are we being told that we can’t go up? It’s clearly not for overflow. There’s no good reason that I can see why this is happening.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f4ii9\">While members of the press have not previously been barred from public meetings, Bootsma said that Henyard has a “general hostility” toward the media and <a href=\"https://thelansingjournal.com/2023/08/18/thornton-township-passes-walk-of-hope-expenses-as-some-residents-prevented-from-accessing-public-meeting/\">has repeatedly said</a> that the media only covers negative stories. Bootsma noted that a reporter for the Journal was <a href=\"https://thelansingjournal.com/2024/02/26/journal-reporter-denied-entrance-to-thornton-township-black-history-event-told-nda-was-needed/\">told she could not attend</a> a Black History Month event on Feb. 24, for instance, because she had not signed a nondisclosure agreement before the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"25r5l\">Neither Henyard nor Township Special Advisor Keith Freeman responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Bootsma.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"nye8q\">Lansing Journal Managing Editor Josh Bootsma and local residents were barred without explanation from a board of trustees meeting at Thornton Township headquarters, above, in South Holland, Illinois, on Feb. 13, 2024.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"Local government: Legislature"
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"Denial of Access"
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{
"title": "Photographer grabbed by Wyoming state representative on first day of session",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-grabbed-by-wyoming-state-representative-on-first-day-of-session/",
"first_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:06:32.107479Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:06:32.107479Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:05:42.763131Z",
"date": "2024-02-12",
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"city": "Cheyenne",
"longitude": -104.82025,
"latitude": 41.13998,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n8s40\">A photojournalist for WyoFile was threatened and grabbed by a state representative while documenting the first day of the Wyoming legislative session at the Capitol in Cheyenne on Feb. 12, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"4kngc\">Matthew Copeland, the chief executive and editor of WyoFile, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they had contracted the photojournalist to document the first few days of the session to get images of the legislators that could be used alongside the outlet’s coverage the next month.</p><p data-block-key=\"1bjem\">“We had hired him to get a bunch of face shots, action shots, sort of your standard shot list,” Copeland said. “There are hallways that run parallel to the main chamber floors, and reporters are allowed in the hallway and not on the floor itself, and he was in one of the clearly marked areas where photographers can stand and was shooting through an open door.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cppgk\">The photojournalist, who asked to remain anonymous because he is just beginning his career, told the Tracker that while he was working on his shot list, Rep. Clarence Styvar seemed to get upset when he noticed he was being photographed. To avoid a confrontation, the photographer said he moved his focus from the legislator to other representatives on the House floor.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffrjo\">“I could see [Styvar] in the peripheral of the viewfinder, and he continued to shake his head [no],” the photojournalist said. When Styvar began to come toward him, the photojournalist said he sidestepped to allow plenty of space, as he had with other legislators using the doorway that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"d98bd\">When Styvar exited the chamber, he came up close to the photojournalist and asked him what he was doing. The photojournalist recounted that when he said he was taking photos for the media, the representative responded, “If you take another picture of me I’ll break your camera over your fucking head,” and made a motion of breaking the camera lens.</p><p data-block-key=\"b9ed0\">“I was kind of in shock at that moment and just responded with ‘OK,’” the photojournalist told the Tracker. “He then proceeded to tell me that he wasn’t the type of guy that I wanted to mess with and that he was very serious.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4kpib\">When Styvar asked who he worked for, the photojournalist went to pick up the press pass around his neck. “That’s when he grabbed it and pulled,” the photojournalist said. “Not super forcefully, but it definitely made me move forward a little bit.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9ngqi\">According to the photojournalist, when Styvar saw that he was on assignment for WyoFile, the legislator said that he was just messing with him.</p><p data-block-key=\"8gd68\">“I felt alarmed about my safety throughout the entire interaction,” the photojournalist said. “I felt extremely uncomfortable and awkward being that close to him. My entire body was definitely screaming that something needs to stop.”</p><p data-block-key=\"epult\">The photojournalist said he reported the incident to his editor and others in the newsroom, including Copeland. In an email to the director of the legislative service office the following day, Copeland shared the photojournalist’s account of what had happened and said he wanted to initiate a complaint against the representative.</p><p data-block-key=\"3jcok\">“What [the photojournalist] described is an egregious breach of legislative conduct, an assault and an attempted violation of his and WyoFile’s First Amendment rights,” Copeland wrote. “Styvar’s behavior is unacceptable by any reasonable measure and cannot be allowed to go unaddressed.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bpkt2\">The photojournalist said he was called to speak before various House and committee leaders to describe the incident as part of the initial investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"cv851\">The subcommittee investigated the complaint, Copeland told the Tracker, and determined a formal investigation by the full House wasn’t warranted. However, Copeland said, the House leadership wrote in a letter on Feb. 16 that they didn’t condone Styvar’s behavior and had taken steps to ensure it wouldn’t be repeated.</p><p data-block-key=\"3iv3l\">In an emailed statement to the Tracker, Styvar denied that the incident took place: “No incident fitting the description you gave happened therefore I cannot comment on it, however a complaint was made by a media outlet that was investigated and dismissed by the Legislative Service Office and the House Legislative Management Council.”</p><p data-block-key=\"crmv4\">The photojournalist, who is now employed at an outlet in California, told the Tracker that he is undeterred by the experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"cu73i\">“I’m still very dedicated to the Fourth Estate and this is still what I want to do with my life,” he said. “I’m definitely a bit more nervous now in legislative meetings and with political figures, how I handle them.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bevha\">A photojournalist for WyoFile was threatened and grabbed by a state representative on Feb. 12, 2024, while covering the first day of the legislative session at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne, pictured in this 2021 file photo.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "politician",
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"name": "Wyoming",
"abbreviation": "WY"
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"Anonymous photojournalist 4 (WyoFile)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Podcaster arrested, assaulted at NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/podcaster-arrested-assaulted-at-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-14T19:15:58.370624Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-14T16:11:57.370802Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-14T16:11:57.248975Z",
"date": "2024-02-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6wwqc\">Journalist Reed Dunlea was tackled and arrested while reporting on a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on Feb. 10, 2024. Police officers threw Dunlea to the ground, damaging his equipment, and charged him with resisting arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"cn5dl\">“It was a 1 p.m. protest. I arrived by 1:30 p.m. and I was in a police van by 2:15 p.m.,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"2li1t\">Dunlea said that he was at the protest outside the Brooklyn Museum, which had been planned by the Palestinian-led community organization Within Our Lifetime, to record audio for his podcast, Scene Report. Shortly after arriving, Dunlea saw a small group of protesters in a shouting match with a white-shirted supervisory police officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"detm6\">When he approached to record the interaction, Dunlea said the officer screamed at him to get on the sidewalk. “I showed him my press pass in that moment and he was still bugging out, so I stepped away from that pretty quickly,” Dunlea told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"fkst1\">As New York Police Department officers conducted multiple rounds of arrests — going into the crowd, extracting individuals and handcuffing them — Dunlea said he tried to stay on the edge of the police line.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3v20\">“And then I was somehow in the middle of it,” Dunlea said. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but all of a sudden I had a group of officers throwing me to the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8bmdc\">In footage <a href=\"https://twitter.com/isabelle_leyva/status/1756395017495621977\">captured</a> <a href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@peterhvideo/video/7334379645686631711?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7335246087470990890\">by bystanders</a> and posted to social media, at least three officers can be seen dragging Dunlea into the middle of the street before pinning him on his stomach. Dunlea told the Tracker he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist and told the officers he was wearing a city-issued press credential.</p><p data-block-key=\"5i3s9\">Both Dunlea’s Zoom H6 recorder and Apple headphones were damaged in the course of the arrest, and he said he hadn’t checked whether his microphone was broken as well. He also noted that the audio he was recording during the arrest is missing, but he is unsure whether it was deleted or if it failed to save when the recorder was damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"16qu7\">Dunlea was transferred to One Police Plaza alongside the other individuals detained at the protest and was held until shortly after midnight, when he was released on a charge of resisting arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"2c6im\">“In the last month, NYPD has started to crack down in serious ways on any Palestine protests, because the NYPD was humiliated by the protests on January 8,” Dunlea said, referring to the <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/pro-palestinian-protesters-block-new-york-city-bridges-tunnel-2024-01-08/\">successful blockading</a> of the Holland Tunnel and multiple bridges into Manhattan by pro-Palestinian protesters. “I’m seeing the mayor of New York City and the NYPD making a decision that they no longer accept protests happening, so they are choosing to violently suppress them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"53qbi\">The New York Civil Liberties Union criticized the police response to the protest in a statement <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NYCLU/status/1756466707130925538\">posted to social media</a>. “Flooding peaceful protests with police,” it noted, “seems designed to create tension and provoke arrests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6mg71\">The New York Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"9aok0\">Dunlea was ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing on March 1.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Dunlea.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"uulm5\">Journalist Reed Dunlea was arrested while recording for his podcast, Scene Report, at a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on Feb. 10, 2024. Officers threw him to the ground, breaking his recording equipment, and charged him with resisting arrest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2024-02-11",
"detention_date": "2024-02-10",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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{
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],
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},
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"(2024-03-04 16:42:00+00:00) Charge dropped against podcaster following arrest at NYC protest"
],
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
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],
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},
{
"title": "Judge quashes subpoena for Salman Rushdie’s memoir notes, contract",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-quashes-subpoena-for-salman-rushdies-memoir-notes-contract/",
"first_published_at": "2024-12-20T14:05:18.820609Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-20T14:05:18.820609Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-19T22:15:32.414867Z",
"date": "2024-02-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Mayville",
"longitude": -79.50449,
"latitude": 42.25395,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vdib0\">Penguin Random House was subpoenaed on Feb. 8, 2024, for drafts, edits and communications concerning the Salman Rushdie memoir it was planning to publish. The subpoena — filed in connection with a criminal case against a man charged with the 2022 assault of the author during a public lecture Chautauqua, New York — was quashed in July, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"2cff6\">Rushdie was about to begin speaking at a literary festival on Aug. 12, 2022, when a man <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salman-rushdie-attacked-stage-new-york/\">rushed the stage and stabbed the author</a> multiple times. The man, later identified as Hadi Matar of New Jersey, was subsequently <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salman-rushdie-coming-to-terms-with-knife-attack-writing-new-book-60-minutes/\">charged</a> with attempted murder and assault, as well as <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-charged-terrorism-offenses-relating-his-attempted-murder-salman-rushdie\">terrorism-related offenses</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ge58\">In February 2024, Matar’s attorney subpoenaed Penguin Random House, seeking all drafts, writings and communications concerning Rushdie’s planned memoir about the attack, “<a href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738826/knife-by-salman-rushdie/\">Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder</a>,” which was published in April.</p><p data-block-key=\"97eh9\">Rushdie was <a href=\"http://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/salman-rushdie-subpoenaed-for-memoir-materials-by-alleged-attacker\">issued</a> a nearly identical subpoena Feb. 26, according to court records.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9iia\">After filing an initial objection Feb. 23, attorneys representing Penguin Random House filed a joint motion with counsel for Rushdie to quash the subpoenas. The April 15 motion argued, in part, that they were protected from disclosing the materials by both New York’s reporter shield law and the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mr2l\">The subpoenas include “sprawling requests for editorial material,” according to the motion, and “constitute nothing more than an overbroad fishing expedition” for material to harm Rushdie’s credibility.</p><p data-block-key=\"be98p\">“These are all highly personal documents concerning the editorial process that would ordinarily never be made public or even privately shared with third parties,” Rushdie wrote in an affidavit supporting the motion. “To have these unpublished materials—or indeed, any of my private documents—become fodder for the Defendant (or his counsel) to sift through would be an extraordinary invasion of my privacy and sense of security.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4ifaq\">County Court Judge David Foley quashed both subpoenas following a hearing on July 18, according to court filings. In addition to ruling that the subpoenas were “overbroad and unreasonably burdensome,” Foley also affirmed that Rushdie and Penguin Random House, as well as the memoir, are protected under the shield law.</p><p data-block-key=\"fimvc\">Matar’s trial was scheduled to begin Oct. 15, but was delayed to allow a state appeals court to consider whether to move the case out of Chautauqua County, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/11/nyregion/salman-rushdie-stabbing-trial-testify.html\">reported</a>. Rushdie is expected to testify when the trial moves forward.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/PRH_subpoena.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7a5yj\">Penguin Random House was subpoenaed on Feb. 8, 2024, for materials concerning author Salman Rushdie’s memoir about an attack he suffered in 2022. The subpoena was struck down when a judge ruled that the publisher is protected by New York’s shield law.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"Penguin Random House"
],
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"categories": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Kansas state senator calls for slashing local PBS funding",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-state-senator-calls-for-slashing-local-pbs-funding/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-21T20:13:59.432709Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-21T20:13:59.432709Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-21T20:10:42.733261Z",
"date": "2024-02-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Topeka",
"longitude": -95.67804,
"latitude": 39.04833,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s18to\">A Kansas state senator called on Feb. 8, 2024, for the legislature to eliminate all funding to Kansas PBS stations in retaliation for a documentary broadcast by Topeka’s public TV channel, KTWU. The proposed budget cut was initially reduced and then overturned by another legislative committee.</p><p data-block-key=\"87h2a\">Sen. Caryn Tyson, during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Commerce, sought to have it strike the $500,000 typically allocated for the state’s six PBS stations, citing her outrage over a program that included criticism of the committee’s chairperson, Sen. Renee Erickson. While Tyson did not name the program, the <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/2024/02/12/state-senator-threatened-pbs-funding-over-program-turns-out-it-was-a-film-about-lgbtq-kansans/\">Kansas Reflector identified it</a> as “No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas,” a documentary about the plight of LGBTQ+ Kansans.</p><p data-block-key=\"4c097\">“I just don’t think we can tolerate it and the way we get the message to them is by impacting their purse,” Tyson <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/V9rYlvnOps4?si=b9xJRayidPmHH7aw&t=1834\">said during the meeting</a>. “That’s what the legislature does. We have the hammer, and I’m going to swing this hammer in a large way.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4d4f7\">The committee settled on a 10% reduction. Erickson cast the deciding vote in favor, while stating, “I have not asked for this. I do not make my policy decisions based on personal attacks on me or otherwise.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dfshn\">Maxwell Kautsch, president of the Kansas Coalition for Open Government, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the budget reduction appeared to be textbook governmental retaliation, which was particularly alarming as it came less than six months after a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsroom-personal-equipment-seized-in-kansas-raid/\">police raid on a newsroom</a> in the state.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ir0l\">“What it comes down to is we have these laws, which are well-known in First Amendment circles and clearly established, yet we have people in positions of power or law enforcement that either don’t know or don’t care to know about them,” Kautsch said. “It’s hard to quantify the chilling effect that this kind of request has had.”</p><p data-block-key=\"26n6p\">KTWU General Manager Val VanDerSluis told the Tracker that she took the budget proposal as an opportunity.</p><p data-block-key=\"55ipc\">“I saw it as: I have someone who needs to be educated a bit more on how we program, how we operate, the audiences we serve,” VanDerSluis said. “For me, it wasn’t a threat. I will continue to program our station for our viewing community. I can’t operate off of fear, and it just shows that there are more conversations that need to be had with those that are making decisions about funding.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5i5vi\">VanDerSluis said that she spoke with Tyson after the proposal and, following their meeting, Tyson told VanDerSluis that she would no longer be pursuing cuts to the public broadcasting budget. Tyson did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"a9oju\">Later, when the proposal went before the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 14, committee member Sen. Carolyn McGinn said that she would hate to see the budget cut because of hearsay, the <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/2024/02/15/kansas-senators-cut-pbs-funds-after-lgbtq-documentary-offended-the-money-has-been-put-back/\">Reflector reported</a>. McGinn proposed that that committee not only restore the $50,000 but also increase the overall funding to $700,000. The committee ultimately voted against the budget cut and tabled discussions of an increase.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX5ZFNA.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7z19l\">Kansas State Sen. Caryn Tyson, pictured in the state capital in Topeka in 2018, called for the elimination of state funding for Kansas PBS stations on Feb. 8, 2024, citing her outrage over a program broadcast by KTWU that criticized a fellow senator.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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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,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Kansas",
"abbreviation": "KS"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
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],
"tags": [
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],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
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}
]
