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{
"title": "AP photojournalist’s cameras seized outside Indiana courthouse",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-photojournalists-cameras-seized-outside-indiana-courthouse/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-24T21:10:27.408361Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-30T21:06:54.553747Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-30T21:06:54.355961Z",
"date": "2024-10-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Delphi",
"longitude": -86.67501,
"latitude": 40.58754,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9980q\">A photojournalist for The Associated Press was one of several journalists whose cameras were seized outside a courthouse in Delphi, Indiana, on Oct. 18, 2024, ahead of a murder trial with <a href=\"https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2024/10/17/opening-statements-friday-in-delphi-murder-suspect-richard-allens-trial/75721633007/\">strict media</a> access restrictions.</p><p data-block-key=\"22vf1\">In a ruling in June ahead of the trial for Richard Allen in the alleged murder of two teens in 2017, Special Judge Frances Gull wrote that “the court has lost confidence in the ability of the media to cover hearings appropriately.” Gull then gave a media orientation Oct. 17, the Indianapolis Star <a href=\"https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2024/10/18/delphi-murders-trial-update-photographers-cameras-media-court-rules-carroll-county-judge-gull/75731723007/\">reported</a>, specifying that photographs or video of jurors was forbidden, and that no electronic devices would be permitted in the courtroom.</p><p data-block-key=\"fkgta\">Journal & Courier photojournalist Alex Martin told the Star that the following morning he saw two vans approaching the Carroll County Courthouse where tarps had been placed over the fences. Martin said he lowered one camera to his hip and placed a second on the ground.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">8. The judge reminded media of her order that jurors are NOT to be photographed. She said new fencing/tarps on the west side of the courthouse—where jurors will enter & exit—is intentional to protect their privacy & safety. Thats where Gull & Allen will also enter/exit. 10/ <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/wthr?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#wthr</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/YsFG5GLXMc\">pic.twitter.com/YsFG5GLXMc</a></p>— Bob Segall (@BobSegallWTHR) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BobSegallWTHR/status/1847121468766691379?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 18, 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=\"9980q\">After the passengers disembarked, officers arrived and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indiana-photojournalists-cameras-confiscated-outside-courthouse/\">confiscated his cameras</a>, as well as a broadcast camera belonging to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nbc-news-broadcast-camera-seized-outside-indiana-courthouse/\">NBC News</a> and a still camera belonging to an unidentified photojournalist, according to multiple <a href=\"https://www.wrtv.com/news/delphi/day-one-in-court-delphi-murders-trial\">media</a> <a href=\"https://www.21alivenews.com/2024/10/18/watch-live-first-day-delphi-murders-trial-underway-carroll-county/\">reports</a>. The AP <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/abby-libby-delphi-indiana-richard-allen-trial-9d9756a1e076edaa2f0694a2b54ab3da\">reported</a> that two cameras were also seized from one of its photojournalists, believed to be Michael Conroy.</p><p data-block-key=\"623gb\">Conroy did not respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"mq7q\">Martin told the Star that he and the other visual journalists had been standing in an approved area outside the courthouse. It has yet to be determined if and when the cameras will be returned, but the trial is expected to last four weeks.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP24292480958665.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7z1m3\">Associated Press photojournalist Michael Conroy photographed spectators lined up at Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi, Indiana, for a murder trial starting on Oct. 18, 2024. His cameras were believed to have been seized by authorities shortly after.</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": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"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": 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": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "storage device"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "work product"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-10-21 16:51:00+00:00) AP photojournalist’s cameras returned after they were seized outside courthouse"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Conroy (The Associated Press)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Broadcast photographer struck with cane amid attempted robbery",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-photographer-struck-with-cane-amid-attempted-robbery/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-29T16:45:38.820578Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-29T16:46:32.981853Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-29T16:46:32.895626Z",
"date": "2024-10-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Dayton",
"longitude": -84.19161,
"latitude": 39.75895,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mt25l\">A broadcaster photographer for NBC television affiliate WDTN was injured when a man struck him with a cane during an attempted robbery in Dayton, Ohio, on Oct. 17, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qs48\">The station <a href=\"https://www.wdtn.com/news/crime/suspects-charged-with-robbery-of-2-news-crew/\">reported</a> that a photographer and reporter were <a href=\"https://www.wdtn.com/as-seen-on-2-news/reibold-building-resumes-business-following-underground-fire/\">covering the aftermath</a> of an underground fire downtown at approximately 5:15 p.m. when two men attempted to steal their video camera and tripod.</p><p data-block-key=\"79vgt\">The photographer was struggling with one of the assailants when the second struck him with a cane, according to WDTN. The assailants fled a short while later without the equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"a7tc4\">On Oct. 25, Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney Mat Heck Jr. <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=854497653522569&set=pcb.854497696855898\">announced</a> the arrest and indictment of two men — Billith Lane and Christian Morrow — on charges of robbery with physical harm.</p><p data-block-key=\"9lqha\">“These defendants outrageously robbed a TV news cameraman in broad daylight,” Heck said in a statement. “They needlessly attacked the victim, sending him to the hospital. Such acts of violence demands they be held accountable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1vm39\">Both Lane and Morrow are being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $10,000 bonds, and their arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 29, the news release said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5cj78\">WDTN did not respond to a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/WDTN_assault_robbery.6a764a56.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"90u20\">A news crew with TV station WDTN was the target of a robbery attempt on Oct. 17, 2024, while covering the aftermath of a fire in downtown Dayton, Ohio. An unidentified videographer suffered minor injuries; two suspects were later arrested.</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": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
"abbreviation": "OH"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 33 (WDTN)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter detained while reporting on LA encampment sweep",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-detained-while-reporting-on-la-encampment-sweep/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-18T17:02:27.350005Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-18T17:02:27.350005Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-18T16:20:26.245779Z",
"date": "2024-10-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qvnl9\">Lexis-Olivier Ray, an investigative reporter for L.A. Taco, was detained and released without charges while reporting on a homeless encampment cleanup operation in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 17, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"2rklk\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has been covering such operations for months. California has ratcheted up encampment sweeps as <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-homeless-encampment-newsom-7d4478801de6e9f8a708c7c7c6ef3e5f\">part of a campaign</a> by Gov. Gavin Newsom directing cities and state agencies to stop people from sleeping in public spaces.</p><p data-block-key=\"9g432\">Ray arrived to report on a sweep in downtown L.A.’s Skid Row neighborhood at around 10:30 a.m. that day. He said multiple LA Sanitation employees directed him to leave the designated “work zone” when the cleaning began. He was able to continue reporting, however, until just after 11 a.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"9c2q7\">In <a href=\"https://x.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1847013034650488931\">footage</a> Ray captured in the moments before his arrest, the journalist tells a sanitation worker, “I’ll stay out of your way, man, I’m not going to get close.” The worker then tells a pair of Los Angeles Police Department officers, “At this point he’s interfering. I just need him behind the yellow tape that’s up.”</p><p data-block-key=\"47ja2\">An officer then tells Ray that he is under arrest and the clip ends with the reporter’s hands being pulled behind his back.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">While reporting on a sanitation sweep this morning, LAPD officers handcuffed and searched me, confiscated my belongings and put me in the back of a patrol car for about 45 mins. They said they were going to take me "to the station" but a sergeant let me go w/o any charges.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/LATACO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LATACO</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/V1uCHxFsBb\">pic.twitter.com/V1uCHxFsBb</a></p>— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1847013034650488931?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 17, 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=\"qvnl9\">Ray told the Tracker that he was held in the back of a police vehicle for approximately 45 minutes before he was released without a citation. He said he didn’t see officers search his equipment after it was taken from him, and all of his belongings were returned to him upon his release.</p><p data-block-key=\"em2kr\">Ray had been threatened with arrest while documenting similar homeless encampment sweeps nearly half a dozen times in recent months, including on <a href=\"https://x.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1828918641812975978\">Aug. 28</a>, <a href=\"https://x.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1836496730902368609\">Sept. 18</a> and <a href=\"https://x.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1844435110432780515\">Oct. 10</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"85k99\">“Threats of arrests definitely have a chilling effect,” Ray wrote. “And I can’t do my job to the best of my ability if I’m in handcuffs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"52vu\">Attorneys with the ACLU of Southern California and First Amendment Coalition <a href=\"https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-10-08-Ray-Letter.pdf\">sent a letter</a> on Oct. 8 to LAPD Chief Dominic Choi, asking that he take action to ensure that such threats cease.</p><p data-block-key=\"c9bma\">“Mr. Ray was not obstructing any city employees when he was threatened with arrest, and his presence at the encampment sites did not present any safety risk,” the letter stated. “The arrest threats therefore infringed on Mr. Ray’s First Amendment rights to observe and document these operations, which are of immense public concern.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b3maa\">Journalists from <a href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article291551465.html\">Sacramento</a> to Los Angeles have had their access restricted or been forced to leave cleanup operations under threat of arrest. On the day of Ray’s arrest, a second journalist, <a href=\"https://x.com/johngreenla/status/1847073745539625174\">Jonathan Green</a>, was also ordered to leave the Skid Row site, and reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-while-covering-oakland-encampment-cleanup/\">Yesica Prado</a> was arrested on Sept. 17 while covering an operation in Oakland.</p><p data-block-key=\"cu41m\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project, and a coalition of press freedom and transparency organizations <a href=\"https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/2024/09/coalition-demands-california-officials-respect-role-of-press-at-homeless-encampment-sweeps/\">warned authorities across California</a> that journalists have a right under state law to access restricted areas to document newsworthy events. They urged local governments to operate transparently and respect the role of the press in observing encampment sweeps.</p><p data-block-key=\"dv2ui\">“Homelessness is one of the biggest stories across the state. With recent legal and political developments triggering a new wave of sweeps, Californians are counting on journalists to cover the story,” the Sept. 10 letter said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8jm8\">A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told the Tracker via email that they could not provide any information on the incident because Ray was detained, not arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"5il2o\">An officer at the scene <a href=\"https://x.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1847081216798855569\">made the same distinction</a> to Ray, and told the journalist he was being released because the officer had determined that there wasn’t a violation of the Los Angeles municipal code “due to your media First Amendment status.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">After I was handcuffed and held in an LAPD patrol car for around 40 minutes for filming a sweep, Sgt. Hutchins explained that I was "detained" and not "arrested" because he determined "there wasn't a violation of the LMC code" due to my "media 1st Amendment status." <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LATACO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LATACO</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/1DLG2rtc48\">pic.twitter.com/1DLG2rtc48</a></p>— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1847081216798855569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 18, 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=\"qvnl9\">L.A. Taco was <a href=\"https://x.com/LATACO/status/1847004951681421533\">expected to make a statement</a> about the arrest but had not by deadline.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Ray_arrest_10_17.d4f8d0d1.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"fomug\">Lexis-Olivier Ray, an investigative reporter for L.A. Taco, was detained by Los Angeles Police Department officers while reporting on a homeless encampment sweep on Oct. 17, 2024. He was released without charges after approximately 45 minutes.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-10-17",
"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": 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": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"encampment"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Ohio county staffer posts attack on local reporter; state AG to investigate",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ohio-county-staffer-posts-attack-on-local-reporter-state-ag-to-investigate/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-08T14:42:02.508155Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-08T14:42:02.508155Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-08T14:41:58.855792Z",
"date": "2024-10-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Tiffin",
"longitude": -83.17797,
"latitude": 41.1145,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qkr17\">Advertiser-Tribune reporter Kayla Trevino and her journalistic integrity were attacked in an article published on the government website for Seneca County, Ohio, on Oct. 14, 2024. Nearly two weeks later, the county prosecutor asked Ohio’s attorney general to investigate the incident for possible misuse of government resources.</p><p data-block-key=\"elehj\">The newspaper <a href=\"https://advertiser-tribune.com/news/545619/county-cries-foul-for-frankart/\">reported</a> that Sheri Trusty, a media relations coordinator for the county, <a href=\"https://tiffinohio.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/seneca_county_kayla_trevino_story.pdf\">authored an article</a> attacking Trevino for her coverage of a child custody dispute involving Seneca County Commissioner Bill Frankart.</p><p data-block-key=\"aa3v3\">The article — which included a photo of Trevino — accused the journalist of going on a “witch hunt,” alleging that she manufactured or failed to verify facts in her reporting and did not provide Frankart sufficient time to respond before publishing.</p><p data-block-key=\"138ff\">“Trevino’s story is a failed exposé marked by faulty journalism and sensationalism and is a little-disguised attempt to destroy the reputation of one of Seneca County’s most respected and dedicated elected officials, Commissioner Bill Frankart,” Trusty wrote. “In the end, Trevino’s lack of integrity in this story may impact the well-being of a child.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cli04\">Trusty’s article was <a href=\"https://tiffinohio.net/2024/10/15/seneca-county-deletes-controversial-post-targeting-local-reporter-following-backlash/\">removed</a> from the county website sometime the following day.</p><p data-block-key=\"813lq\">The Advertiser-Tribune defended Trevino and her article, writing that her report was “entirely based on allegations in police reports and court records.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3m23s\">“Kayla is a hardworking professional. She was very careful with how she approached this news story, and is careful with all stories she covers,” Jeremy Speer, the newspaper’s publisher, said. “A good reporter is a value to a community and Kayla is a good and trusted reporter.”</p><p data-block-key=\"544ub\">Local news website TiffinOhio.net <a href=\"https://tiffinohio.net/2024/10/14/tensions-rise-between-seneca-county-and-advertiser-tribune-over-frankart-coverage/\">reported</a> that the publication of Trusty’s article on the county’s government website — typically reserved for public information and announcements — was alarming and raised questions about whether county resources had been misused developing and publishing it.</p><p data-block-key=\"ag2m\">In an <a href=\"https://advertiser-tribune.com/news/546390/stop-misusing-county-resources/\">editorial</a> published Oct. 19, the Advertiser-Tribune called on Seneca County Prosecutor Derek DeVine to launch or ask for an independent investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"aqulj\">“The article attacking the integrity and motives of the A-T’s reporter was inaccurate and offensive, designed, it seems, to intimidate her and prevent her from doing her job,” the editorial said. “This was entirely inappropriate, in our view, and DeVine and commissioners must take immediate action to ensure that county resources are never again misused in this way to attack anyone, ever.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5r5gp\">On Oct. 23, DeVine asked Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to assign state agents to investigate the issue and for the AG’s office to serve as special prosecutor, in light of DeVine’s conflict of interest as the legal representative for the county’s board of commissioners, the Advertiser-Tribune <a href=\"https://advertiser-tribune.com/news/547400/devine-made-right-decision/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7c2lf\">The newspaper expressed cautious optimism about the decision.</p><p data-block-key=\"ad44n\">“Nobody is looking for the proverbial pound of flesh,” the editorial board said. “But, in our view, it is an important question whether county resources were used to attack a reporter because a county official did not like what was being reported. If that did happen, steps must be taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"du50q\">A portion of an Oct. 14, 2024, article published on the government website for Seneca County, Ohio, which attacked Advertiser-Tribune reporter Kayla Trevino. The state attorney general is investigating whether government resources were misused.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Ohio",
"abbreviation": "OH"
},
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Kayla Trevino (The Advertiser-Tribune)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist briefly detained while covering pro-Palestinian protest on Wall Street",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-briefly-detained-while-covering-pro-palestinian-protest-on-wall-street/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-17T19:13:56.734217Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-17T19:13:56.734217Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-17T19:11:22.232205Z",
"date": "2024-10-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2434j\">Freelance journalist Talia Ben-Ora was briefly detained and handcuffed while reporting on a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York City on Oct. 14, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"27v7d\">Ben-Ora told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the group Jewish Voice for Peace had organized a sit-in before the exchange’s opening bell that day, with demonstrators wearing shirts and carrying banners opposing the U.S. arming of Israel.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ee3i\">“At one point a group of people just kind of rushed into this weird, gated area that’s still on the street outside the New York Stock Exchange but for some reason is fenced off,” she said. “They ran in there and so I followed after them and was documenting — as were two or three other photographers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3pad2\">She said that in addition to filming the crowd, she also captured footage of New York City Police Department officers speaking in a group nearby, noting that she was always around 15 feet away from them.</p><p data-block-key=\"co1t5\">A pair of officers approached her soon after, she said, and one of them, a community affairs officer, asked if she could “go the other way.” When she expressed confusion and said that she was working, he threatened to charge her with trespassing, which she said she brushed off.</p><p data-block-key=\"1orcs\">“That’s not a real thing to ask someone. And I was just like, ‘No, leave me alone. I’m working, I have my press credentials displayed, I have my professional camera out, I’m shooting footage,” Ben-Ora said. “I have already been derailed from doing my reporting by having that threat issued.”</p><p data-block-key=\"41lvs\">She told the Tracker that the pair of officers walked away, but 10 minutes later she was filming the arrival of an NYPD special operations team when she saw a supervisory officer point at her.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vvge\">In Ben-Ora’s <a href=\"https://x.com/taliaotg/status/1845828409890386187\">footage</a>, the officer points directly at her and can be heard saying, in part, “right here filming, get her back.” She identified the officer as John D’Adamo, who is the deputy chief commanding officer of the department’s Strategic Response Group, a heavily armored unit used for crowd control.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Was just detained and released by NYPD. Was filming NYPD ESU arrive to check out the people chained to NYSE.<br><br>White shirt called for my arrest, seemingly for documenting them, then Corbisiero had me released after exiting after telling him I received no clear directive to leave. <a href=\"https://t.co/4iKbI5ZozI\">pic.twitter.com/4iKbI5ZozI</a></p>— Talia Jane ❤️🔥 (@taliaotg) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/taliaotg/status/1845828409890386187?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 14, 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=\"2434j\">“I have a feeling I’m about to get arrested just for filming, but that seems absurd,” she told the Tracker. “So I start to back up and pan across the crowd a little bit like, ‘OK, well, this is going to be my last shot maybe.’ And then I move toward the fence and I hand my phone and camera to a random person.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9roub\">Ben-Ora told the Tracker her main concern was the security of her SD cards and the photos, videos and other data contained on her cellphone, and that she instructed the person to bring her belongings to a specific photographer covering the demonstration.</p><p data-block-key=\"22vfj\">When she turned around, she said officers were coming toward her so she walked toward them and then they grabbed her arms and put them behind her back, placing her in flex cuffs as the crowd is heard chanting “Hands off press!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Someone with a press badge is today’s first arrest <a href=\"https://t.co/fzqORRZFH0\">pic.twitter.com/fzqORRZFH0</a></p>— Sophie Hurwitz (@sophiehurwitz) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/sophiehurwitz/status/1845825748872859865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 14, 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=\"2434j\">She said she asked the officers why she was being detained, but they didn’t seem to know.</p><p data-block-key=\"ee935\">“Then a white shirt comes over as I’m saying this and he says, ‘Well, you didn’t leave when you were told. You were told to leave,’” Ben-Ora said, recounting the arrival of another supervisory officer. “And I was like, ‘No I wasn’t.’ And then I told him verbatim what I was told. And he just goes, ‘All right.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"vo0m\">Moments later an officer told her that they were going to let her go after escorting her out of the gated area, and she was released to much fanfare from the crowd. She said that she was only detained for a minute or two.</p><p data-block-key=\"c8pdm\">“Why did they detain me? Why did they do all of this? If they just wanted me to leave, they could have just said that,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"85pru\">Ben-Ora told the Tracker that after removing the flex cuffs, officers asked her for her ID and photographed it, along with her press credentials. When she asked if she was being issued a citation, she was told the photographs were just “for our records.” She said the officers didn’t elaborate on what those records were.</p><p data-block-key=\"91k08\">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/Ben-Ora_arrest_1014.7a29644b.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"l8ihd\">Freelance journalist Talia Ben-Ora, in green, was briefly detained in zip cuffs while reporting on a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 14, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-10-14",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Talia (Jane) Ben-Ora (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist who published leaked Vance dossier gets visit from FBI",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-who-published-leaked-vance-dossier-gets-visit-from-fbi/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-31T17:49:48.516882Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-31T17:49:48.516882Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-31T17:45:18.486979Z",
"date": "2024-10-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Madison",
"longitude": -89.40123,
"latitude": 43.07305,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"96v72\">Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein was visited at his Madison, Wisconsin, home by an FBI special agent on Oct. 11, 2024, in connection with his publication of a dossier about Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance.</p><p data-block-key=\"4legl\">Klippenstein, who said the bureau visit could be interpreted as an effort to chill his reporting, published the <a href=\"https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/read-the-jd-vance-dossier\">dossier</a> Sept. 26, writing that the vetting document was reportedly hacked from the Trump campaign by the Iranian government and that other journalists had declined to publish it.</p><p data-block-key=\"5o74o\">Two weeks later, Klippenstein told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, an FBI agent from a satellite office in nearby Middleton came to his home to read him a one-paragraph statement notifying him that he “was a target of a foreign influence campaign.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b8r43\">“When he finished reading it, I looked at him and said, ‘Oh, yeah, I know. I put that in the story. I tried to inform readers that this is very likely an Iranian cyberactor trying to propagate these hacked documents. So, given that I wrote that in the article and I know all this, why did you come out here to notify me?’” Klippenstein recounted. “And he didn’t have an answer to that question, he just kind of shrugged.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bjuc2\">The agent wouldn’t allow him to take a picture of the statement or write notes, Klippenstein recounted, but said he’d try to have a copy emailed to the journalist. Klippenstein told the Tracker he never received such an email, and the FBI didn’t respond to his request for comment about the procedure behind such notifications.</p><p data-block-key=\"f608m\">“He said to me, ‘You’re not in trouble.’ And then I’m thinking, ‘OK. Well, why then? What is the point of this? I know I didn’t break any laws here,” he said. “The FBI has a notification system for foreign influence stuff, but I don’t think there’s any public evidence that that had happened to press before.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b3a8i\">In an article Klippenstein <a href=\"https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/the-fbi-knocked-on-my-door\">published on his Substack</a> page, he said the purpose of the visit was clear.</p><p data-block-key=\"3k41d\">“America’s most powerful law enforcement agency wants me to know it was displeased,” he wrote. “It is delivering what many would consider a chilling message: we know where you live, we know what you’ve done, we are watching,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"cs2so\">A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment when reached by the Tracker.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"dzy74\">FBI Director Christopher Wray at an Election Threats Task Force meeting in September 2024. An agent from the bureau went to journalist Ken Klippenstein’s Wisconsin home Oct. 11 to tell him he had been the target of a foreign influence operation.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
},
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"tags": [
"Department of Justice",
"election",
"Election 2024"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ken Klippenstein (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck, pushed with baton amid Israel-Gaza war protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-pushed-with-baton-amid-israel-gaza-war-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-17T17:16:10.155740Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-17T17:16:10.155740Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-17T16:15:08.515115Z",
"date": "2024-10-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ze9lc\">Documentary photographer Q. Sakamaki was shoved with a baton and kicked by a New York City police officer on Oct. 7, 2024, while documenting demonstrations marking the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel and the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"pjk1\">Sakamaki told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has covered protests in the city for decades and was <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DA303HnxHrV/?img_index=1\">photographing the protests</a> in Manhattan that day. He said he was in a densely packed crowd with numerous other members of the press, photographing the arrest of a pro-Palestinian protester, when his camera strap suddenly became entangled with an officer’s baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tmji\">“I tried to, you know, pull it out. At the same time, many people also moved,” Sakamaki said. “Then, the officer suddenly lost control of his temper. He got angry, just pushing me and actually kicked me a lot, but I couldn’t go back because there were so many people behind me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d17u7\">In footage captured by <a href=\"https://x.com/lilyridephotos/status/1843683635880440026\">other</a> <a href=\"https://x.com/JP_OTG/status/1843414473178264033\">journalists</a> in the crowd, an officer can be seen first striking and then pushing Sakamaki back with his baton.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">An NYPD officer hits a credentialed press member taking photographs with a baton during a Pro-Palestine march on October 7, 2024. <a href=\"https://t.co/k3ylze0LyO\">pic.twitter.com/k3ylze0LyO</a></p>— Lily Ride Photos (@lilyridephotos) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lilyridephotos/status/1843683635880440026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 8, 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=\"ze9lc\">Sakamaki said that after things had calmed down, he approached the officer and attempted to speak with him, but the officer shouted, “Back! Back! I warned you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"86vho\">The photographer told the Tracker that he was struck in the liver and has “felt sick” since the incident, but that it hasn’t discouraged his coverage. He added that police are responding harshly to large protests and without adequate training or planning.</p><p data-block-key=\"3c416\">“They don’t know how to control their temper, they don’t know how to de-escalate the situation,” Sakamaki said. “In the ‘80s and ‘90s it was bad, but now covering ordinary protests is getting harder, harder, harder.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6c9bq\">The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4eg2m\">Demonstrators gather in New York, New York, on Oct. 7, 2024, to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel. Police struck photojournalist Q. Sakamaki with a baton while he was covering protests against the Israel-Gaza war that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Q. Sakamaki (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "North Dakota TV reporter spat on, dodges punch ahead of live shot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/north-dakota-tv-reporter-spat-on-dodges-punch-ahead-of-live-shot/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-09T19:10:34.500689Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-09T19:10:34.500689Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-09T18:33:37.968996Z",
"date": "2024-10-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fargo",
"longitude": -96.7898,
"latitude": 46.87719,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n38e7\">Tatum Miller, a multimedia reporter for KVLY-TV, was charged at and spat on by a woman as Miller was preparing for an interview in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, early on Oct. 4, 2024, the station <a href=\"https://www.valleynewslive.com/2024/10/04/vnl-crew-threatened-downtown-fargo-friday-morning/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2cepj\">Miller told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and her photographer, Morgan Drake, were covering a downtown market that takes place nearly every week. While setting up shortly before 5:30 a.m. for a live interview with a pair of vendors, a woman began screaming at them.</p><p data-block-key=\"5orp4\">“She started out just yelling across the street,” Miller said. “And then I turn and look and instead of being across the street, down a block, she’s now running at me. She gets up about two inches from my face and tries to throw a punch; I lean back and she doesn’t make contact with me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"119rc\">Miller said the woman then threw a handful of leaves in her face, spat on her hair and coat and ran down the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ucai\">Police arrived at the scene within minutes, Miller said, and she asked that they stay nearby while she conducted the interview to ensure that nothing would happen while they were on-air. After the interview, police found the woman — who they said was under the influence of methamphetamines — and spoke with her.</p><p data-block-key=\"4o5n1\">The station reported that the woman was not detained, and officers instructed her to leave the news crew alone.</p><p data-block-key=\"cpir7\">Under <a href=\"https://casetext.com/statute/north-dakota-century-code/title-121-criminal-code/chapter-121-17-assaults-threats-coercion-harassment/section-121-17-11-contact-by-bodily-fluids-or-excrement\">North Dakota law</a>, spitting on someone can be prosecuted as an assault, but Miller told the Tracker she is still undecided on how to proceed.</p><p data-block-key=\"4u12j\">“My company does want to prosecute to the fullest extent,” Miller said. “They’re leaving it up to me personally, and I’m kind of going through more of her background first.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Miller_ND_assault.6c1acfd8.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"m44lc\">KVLY-TV reporter Tatum Miller is seen in body camera footage speaking with a police officer in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, on Oct. 4, after a woman assaulted her just prior to a live interview.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "North Dakota",
"abbreviation": "ND"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Tatum Miller (KVLY-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Florida broadcasters threatened with criminal charges by state agency",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-broadcasters-threatened-with-criminal-charges-by-state-agency/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-11T17:39:48.037361Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-07T21:19:41.380605Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"thf6t\">At least two Florida broadcast stations were sent cease and desist letters on Oct. 3, 2024, by the state’s Department of Health after airing a campaign ad to overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban.</p><p data-block-key=\"69ese\">The letters to WFLA-TV in Tampa and WCJB-TV in Gainesville threatened to bring criminal charges for “sanitary nuisance” against the outlets for airing an ad entitled “<a href=\"https://youtu.be/7jJiEE_AkPA\">Caroline</a>” that encouraged voters to support an amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, <a href=\"https://floridapolitics.com/archives/700182-department-of-health-sends-cease-and-desist-letter-to-tv-station-over-abortion-ad/\">according to Florida Politics</a>. The South Florida Sun Sentinel <a href=\"https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/10/10/floridas-threat-of-criminal-charges-against-tv-stations-blasted-as-unconstitutional/\">reported</a> that stations in Sarasota and Panama City were also targeted. The ad was being run across the state, and is believed to have been on more than 50 stations.</p><p data-block-key=\"btgnl\"><a href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25194950/fl-doh-letter.pdf\">The letter</a> to WFLA-TV, which was first <a href=\"https://x.com/Jason_Garcia/status/1842646033890746744\">reported</a> by investigative journalist Jason Garcia, read: “While your company enjoys the right to broadcast political advertisements under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, section 4 of the Florida Constitution, that right does not include free rein to disseminate false advertisement which, if believed, would likely have a detrimental effect on the lives and health of pregnant women in Florida.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f3n9k\">According to the letter, maintaining a sanitary nuisance is a second-degree misdemeanor. As such, it would carry a maximum of <a href=\"http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.082.html\">60 days in prison</a>, up to a <a href=\"http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.083.html\">$500 fine</a> or both.</p><p data-block-key=\"dk4m\">Upon hearing of the letters, attorneys representing Floridians Protecting Freedom — which sponsored the abortion rights amendment — <a href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25194336/fpf_caroline_ceasedesist_responseletter_10_4_2024.pdf\">wrote</a> to WCJB-TV on Oct. 4 to insist that the ads continue running.</p><p data-block-key=\"902v3\">“This is not simply an instance where your station has received a baseless cease-and-desist letter in the context of a heated political campaign,” the letter read. “This is not just an unfounded request, it is unconstitutional state action. The Letter is a textbook example of government coercion that violates the First Amendment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7l283\">Jessica Rosenworcel, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, <a href=\"https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-406321A1.pdf\">decried the letters</a> and said that the stations should not be intimidated for airing political ads.</p><p data-block-key=\"6bqnt\">“The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the First Amendment,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4th2k\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, condemned the letters in a statement, calling them the latest effort from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to “censor free speech and punish dissent.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a9jop\">“A governor who is confident in his policies and secure in his leadership would welcome debate and correct statements he believes are misleading rather than trying to weaponize trash disposal laws against the free press,” wrote Director of Advocacy Seth Stern. “But DeSantis is not that governor. His administration’s conduct would be silly if it weren’t such a transparent bully tactic.”</p><p data-block-key=\"125ar\">The Florida Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment. <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/10/09/florida-abortion-tv-ad-caroline/\">According to The Washington Post</a>, both broadcast stations were continuing to air the ads as of Oct. 9.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mvob4\">A portion of a cease and desist letter sent Oct. 3 to Florida broadcaster WFLA-TV by the state’s Department of Health threatening criminal charges if the station continued to air a political ad in support of reproductive rights.</p>",
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"(2024-11-06 00:00:00+00:00) Judge ends restraining order over Florida abortion ban ads",
"(2024-10-17 00:00:00+00:00) Judge says Florida can’t threaten TV stations for airing ad about abortion ban"
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"election",
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{
"title": "City attorney tells journalist to unpublish articles about arrest report",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/city-attorney-tells-journalist-to-unpublish-articles-about-arrest-report/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-20T19:34:54.903224Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-13T18:03:07.539933Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-13T18:03:07.356183Z",
"date": "2024-10-03",
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"city": "San Francisco",
"longitude": -122.41942,
"latitude": 37.77493,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"69qu2\">A San Francisco city attorney, in a letter on Oct. 3, 2024, directed independent journalist Jack Poulson to remove details of a tech CEO’s sealed arrest report from multiple articles and to “refrain” from publishing the materials further. The journalist was later sued for $25 million by the tech executive, <a href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/maury-blackman-lawsuit-19871638.php\">according to the San Francisco Chronicle</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"eql1o\">The Chronicle reported that the executive, Maury Blackman, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in 2021. He was not ultimately charged, and his arrest report was sealed from public view in 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"939l2\">Poulson — who runs the nonprofit <a href=\"https://techinquiry.org/?about=overview\">Tech Inquiry</a> and publishes a newsletter on Substack — wrote an <a href=\"https://jackpoulson.substack.com/p/the-covert-gig-work-surveillance\">article</a> about the arrest on Sept. 14, 2023, and posted a copy of the arrest report itself. He later wrote about <a href=\"https://jackpoulson.substack.com/p/fraudulent-dmca-takedown-submitted\">subsequent</a> <a href=\"https://jackpoulson.substack.com/p/california-based-covert-surveillance\">attempts</a> to pressure him to take down the article and “forensically unmask” his sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"6m4g\">In September 2024, Poulson was sent a “demand for removal of sealed document and information related to sealed document” from David Marek, an attorney representing Blackman. The letter threatened legal action if the journalist didn’t delete the sealed report and the articles about it.</p><p data-block-key=\"3deds\">San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Jennifer Choi then sent letters first to Substack and later to Poulson informing them that <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=851.92.&lawCode=PEN\">under California law</a> it is illegal to share information relating to a sealed arrest, punishable by a fine of $500 to $2,500.</p><p data-block-key=\"besr2\">“We expect that you will immediately remove the Incident Report and its contents from Substack and ensure that the index to postings no longer allows for the Incident Report to be viewed or downloaded,” Choi wrote. “Finally, please refrain from publishing this material in the future.”</p><p data-block-key=\"81l89\">Choi did not respond to a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"6v4t0\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project, told the Chronicle that the Supreme Court has made it clear that the Constitution protects journalists from punishment for publishing legally obtained information.</p><p data-block-key=\"20dnp\">“Journalists are entitled to publish documents that they lawfully obtained, specifically government documents,” FPF Advocacy Director Seth Stern said. “Unless the city wants to take the position that a sealed arrest report is more sensitive than national security or (identifying) victims of terrible crimes, I don’t think they are in good standing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3n4f3\">The city has not taken legal action against Poulson, the Chronicle reported. But Marek filed a lawsuit against the journalist, Tech Inquiry, Substack and Amazon Web Services, believed to be on Blackman’s behalf. The suit alleges Poulson’s articles damaged the unnamed plaintiff’s employment prospects and reputation among family, friends and business associates.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ru7p7\">A portion of an Oct. 3, 2024, letter from a San Francisco city attorney directing independent journalist Jack Poulson to remove details about a sealed arrest report from multiple articles and to “refrain” from publishing them further.</p>",
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"(2025-02-05 00:00:00+00:00) Tech CEO’s suit against journalist dismissed"
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{
"title": "Journalists ordered to reveal sources in harassment suit against eBay",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-ordered-to-reveal-sources-in-harassment-suit-against-ebay/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-01T15:33:03.289508Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-01T15:33:03.289508Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-01T15:33:03.085593Z",
"date": "2024-09-25",
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"city": "Boston",
"longitude": -71.05977,
"latitude": 42.35843,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ocz8h\">The journalists behind an online e-commerce news site were ordered by a federal court on Sept. 25, 2024, to turn over the identities of sources who stopped working with them as a result of a 2019 campaign of harassment and intimidation at the hands of then-eBay employees. An attorney representing the journalists argues there’s nothing to turn over.</p><p data-block-key=\"bo44s\">David and Ina Steiner, a married couple who run the Massachusetts-based news site EcommerceBytes, were targeted by seven employees after publishing an article in August 2019 about litigation involving the online retailer. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/six-former-ebay-employees-arrested-alleged-harassment-campaign-against-journalists/\">The seven were later convicted</a> and eBay was fined $3 million.</p><p data-block-key=\"bjre6\">In July 2021, the Steiners filed a federal lawsuit in Boston against eBay, the former executives and the seven co-conspirators, alleging they suffered emotional, psychological and financial harm as a result of the harassment campaign.</p><p data-block-key=\"vnt8\">As part of discovery in that lawsuit, eBay <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.236568/gov.uscourts.mad.236568.450.0.pdf\">filed a motion</a> in September 2024 asking that the court compel the Steiners to disclose the identities of “would-be sources” who were fearful of working with the journalists following the harassment.</p><p data-block-key=\"d6t07\">The Steiners had <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.236568/gov.uscourts.mad.236568.450.10.pdf\">previously released</a> redacted copies of communications wherein sources asked that their names not be published or advertisers withdrew their business, citing a fear of retaliation from eBay or cyberbullying.</p><p data-block-key=\"53bot\">In a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.236568/gov.uscourts.mad.236568.460.0.pdf\">filing in opposition</a> to eBay’s motion, an attorney representing the Steiners wrote that the request was moot, as there are no potential sources that they could identify. Attorney Todd Garber added that the motion should still be denied, however, as granting it could have a chilling effect on potential confidential sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"5gtp3\">“Sources came forward on the premise of anonymity for fear of retaliation, a very real fear given the facts of this case,” Garber wrote. “eBay’s motion threatens the free flow of information because if granted it would send fear down any confidential sources’ spine that the disclosure of their identities is very much at risk and promises of confidentiality cannot be upheld.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e0mm1\">During a hearing on Sept. 25, <a href=\"https://www.law360.com/media/articles/1882383/bloggers-in-ebay-stalking-case-can-t-pinpoint-lost-sources\">Law360 reported</a>, Garber reiterated that there are no further documents or information to produce in response to the request. Magistrate Judge Paul Levenson expressed frustration during the hearing and largely sidestepped arguments over reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"eugum\">“It sounds like what you’re saying essentially is ‘we can’t identify any particular person who says they will no longer work with us, but that it stands to reason that such people would exist, and we just don’t know who they are,’” Levenson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5u71k\">The judge also asked why that wouldn’t be a correct and full answer to eBay’s request. Garber said it would be and that he would state as much in his response, which Levenson ordered him to provide by the end of the week, Law360 reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"al9bu\">By granting the motion to compel, however, the judge placed an obligation on the Steiners to provide the identities of such “would-be sources” if they learn of them at any point before the case is resolved.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"g0hmi\">A portion of a September 2024 motion by eBay requesting that the editor and publisher of EcommerceBytes be forced to disclose the identities of sources who stopped working with the news site after it was subject to a harassment campaign.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Massachusetts",
"abbreviation": "MA"
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{
"title": "Journalist arrested while covering Oakland encampment cleanup",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-while-covering-oakland-encampment-cleanup/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-18T20:40:35.842950Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-10T21:03:07.823711Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-10T21:03:07.598248Z",
"date": "2024-09-17",
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"city": "Oakland",
"longitude": -122.2708,
"latitude": 37.80437,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uv8kg\">Multimedia journalist Yesica Prado was arrested while reporting on a homeless encampment cleanup operation in Oakland, California, on Sept. 17, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"3jlto\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao <a href=\"https://x.com/MayorShengThao/status/1781457551911198978\">announced</a> in April that the city was awarded $7.2 million by the state to address three “long-standing encampments.” The news release said the funds would be used to provide supportive services, temporary shelter and then permanent housing.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahn0p\">Prado — who was on assignment for Street Spirit, a monthly newspaper in the Bay Area — <a href=\"https://x.com/Prado_Reports/status/1835831755435323533\">wrote</a> on the social platform X Sept. 16 that the city was beginning to clear one of the large encampments, located near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 23rd Street.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4dho\">“Camp residents were supposed to transition to the Jack London Inn, but this hotel is not open yet. Many residents have lost their property and don’t know where to go,” Prado wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"ejnnr\">When she arrived on Sept. 17, she <a href=\"https://x.com/Prado_Reports/status/1836090962864673234\">wrote</a> that day, the operation was being run differently, with more than a dozen officers from both the Oakland Police Department and California Highway Patrol present.</p><p data-block-key=\"18j9f\">Prado reported that a city worker threatened her with arrest for not complying with his request to move elsewhere, despite having already moved outside the caution tape as previously directed. She <a href=\"https://x.com/Prado_Reports/status/1836098781152194844\">added</a> that she was forced to stand on the sidewalk, while others documenting the operation were permitted to remain on the road.</p><p data-block-key=\"99mni\">“From the distance, I can’t hear what city staff is telling my sources, which raises serious questions,” Prado wrote. “A fair assessment of the city’s actions can’t be made without a free press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9kb1u\">In Prado’s <a href=\"https://x.com/Prado_Reports/status/1836145976429670650\">footage</a> of the moments leading up to her arrest, she can be heard questioning officers about why they are ordering her to document from the other side of a fence, stating that she cannot see from that location.</p><p data-block-key=\"bskr\">“If you fully refuse to leave a safe work zone it is a misdemeanor in the Oakland Municipal Code, so start walking and leave the safe work zone or you will be placed under arrest,” an officer tells Prado. When she notes that others are still walking around the area, the officer responds, “Oakland Police Department. Do not resist or force will be used on you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ih4k\">As the officers begin to move toward Prado, she moves to walk away and, after another short exchange, the video cuts out as an officer places her hand behind her back.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was given a cite and release after they held me in their police car for awhile. The citation has a "trespassing" charge for "delaying a public agency."<a href=\"https://twitter.com/FACoalition?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FACoalition</a> <br><br>I was warned that I would be taken to Santa Rita jail if they declare that I am violating their "safe work" code <a href=\"https://t.co/kfn0Xi7R7Y\">pic.twitter.com/kfn0Xi7R7Y</a></p>— Yesica Prado🔎📊 📸 🎧 🎥✨️ (@Prado_Reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Prado_Reports/status/1836151486734295456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 17, 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=\"uv8kg\">Journalist and documentarian Caron Creighton <a href=\"https://x.com/caroncreighton/status/1836131055415496868\">filmed</a> as officers led Prado away in handcuffs, writing that she too was threatened with arrest. Creighton told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that officers held Prado in a police vehicle for approximately 30 minutes before citing and releasing her.</p><p data-block-key=\"fdbcd\">Prado <a href=\"https://x.com/Prado_Reports/status/1836151486734295456\">was charged</a> with interfering with public employees and remaining in an area that had been designated a safe work zone, both misdemeanors. Prado did not respond to emailed requests for comment from the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"sqgh\">The Oakland Police Department confirmed that officers arrested, cited and released an individual for violating the City of Oakland’s Safe Work Zone ordinance after received multiple verbal warnings.</p><p data-block-key=\"3rgcf\">Oakland is the latest city in which journalists covering cleanup sweeps of homeless encampments have faced threats of arrest or criminal charges, according to a <a href=\"https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/2024/09/coalition-demands-california-officials-respect-role-of-press-at-homeless-encampment-sweeps/?mc_cid=eeb1cbd992&mc_eid=297abc34ad\">Sept. 10 letter</a> from 20 press freedom and civil liberties organizations — including the First Amendment Coalition and Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project — to California leaders and law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"470o0\">“We have serious concerns about the recent law enforcement treatment of journalists in Sacramento and Los Angeles,” the letter said, noting four recent incidents. “We urge cities, counties and state agencies to conduct these activities transparently, and ensure workers and officers in the field respect the First Amendment rights of the press to observe and document government actions in public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cm0jn\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include information provided by journalist and documentary filmmaker Caron Creighton and comment from the Oakland Police Department.</i></p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"didh6\">Multimedia journalist Yesica Prado, center, was arrested while reporting on a homeless encampment cleanup operation in Oakland, California, on Sept. 17, 2024. She was detained for 30 minutes and charged with obstructing public employees and trespassing.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-12-04 00:00:00+00:00) DA declines to prosecute journalist arrested at California encampment cleanup"
],
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{
"title": "Local official angered by coverage threatens Texas newspaper on social media",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/local-official-angered-by-coverage-threatens-texas-newspaper-on-social-media/",
"first_published_at": "2025-03-07T19:33:39.025827Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-14T13:23:02.582643Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-14T13:23:02.447773Z",
"date": "2024-09-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Galveston",
"longitude": -94.7977,
"latitude": 29.30135,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3lqjj\">A local Texas councilman shared a social media image of a handgun atop the front page of The Daily News of Galveston County on Sept. 15, 2024, one of a series of what the newspaper’s editor said were attacks over its critical coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2330\">The La Marque council member, Joseph Lowry, has lashed out at the paper and one of its reporters in numerous other posts on the <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/LowryNewsNetwork\">Lowry News Network</a> Facebook page, according to Daily News Editor Michael A. Smith and the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s review of the page.</p><p data-block-key=\"82seh\">Lowry, described by Smith as a “right-wing political operative,” also posts frequently about local politics, often accusing officials of corruption or other misdeeds.</p><p data-block-key=\"5j9i6\">The Sept. 15 <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=122155494458051536&set=pb.61551546081527.-2207520000&type=3\">post</a> showed a photo of the Sept. 14-15 weekend edition of The Daily News with a handgun sitting on top of the paper. That issue’s lead <a href=\"https://www.galvnews.com/news/la-marque-councilmans-claims-about-ethics-might-be-unethical-expert-says/article_eb4bc165-af95-567b-8bbf-e1909a381c22.html\">story</a>, entitled “Councilman’s claims might be unethical, expert says,” detailed Lowry’s alleged harassment of another council member and the steps taken to protect her.</p><p data-block-key=\"4dppr\">The post’s location was tagged as the “Galveston County Daily News.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c64k9\">Smith said he believed that Lowry made the post because of the scrutiny the newspaper had placed him under. “We have been reporting on his antics for several years,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"44cnl\">Smith told the Tracker that Lowry had also made “a lot of veiled threats” against Scott McLendon, the reporter who wrote the story.</p><p data-block-key=\"9dg4n\">According to Smith, one came in a spoken quote for an <a href=\"https://www.galvnews.com/news/la-marque-councilmans-firm-owes-43k-in-back-taxes-court-records-say/article_469c73c4-6c15-56d1-9d5d-904f0c179ff8.html\">article</a> reporting that Lowry owes more than $40,000 in back taxes, in which he said, before hanging up, “I don’t owe anybody any money. But good job. You’re a piece of shit. You’re a fucking maggot. And you’ll get what’s coming to you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9gg38\">In addition, Lowry had said he’d been parked outside McLendon’s house and had mentioned the reporter’s children in a post. However, Smith added, “We never saw him around here and Scott never saw him around his house.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fik3v\">Lowry also posted photos of <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/LowryNewsNetwork/posts/pfbid0ZA4rkUzEVwnyD5akW7wNdDsCL7MeqFzxK9NsaahQzutNAFbGkaqceL69f6rVkeLnl\">Smith</a> and the <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/LowryNewsNetwork/posts/pfbid02Bmf8pbSxV6swdV8KdJwFwzXNU4Z9C6qeGFrNa5aLZjC7auTQNKLz4uqDqyuWJWNMl\">reporter</a> on his Facebook page, using derogatory terms, labeling them “fake news” and tagging the paper’s office location. Smith said that, in addition, Lowry emailed the paper a photo of himself sitting in a car holding what appears to be a semiautomatic pistol.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lag7\">Smith added, “Most recently he’s been posting items suggesting the newspaper would go out of business if not for money from public notices” and has been lobbying city leaders across the county to stop putting notices in the paper.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ptvl\">For example, on Sept. 20 Lowry <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/LowryNewsNetwork/posts/pfbid0FrKNpzrjhEoXgvoptCL3oyQL3hjxurXTmsZqQCENnXccpCJMK2ZyRLVvwLJNusFNl\">wrote</a>: “We have got to pass legislation to take millions (annually) in tax dollars away from these fake news outlets like Galveston Daily fake news. Our tax dollars should not go to writing hit pieces on citizens or political opponents of corrupt elected officials.”</p><p data-block-key=\"53m6b\">Smith said the paper had contacted the police, but they said “there was nothing criminal they could act on.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6rb1q\">As a precaution, the paper gave its reception desk Lowry’s photo and instructed them not to let him into the building. In addition, “We circulated his photo among the employees and told them to report to a member of the leadership team if they saw him lurking around.”</p><p data-block-key=\"er8b4\">In response to an emailed request for comment, Lowry denied threatening the outlet or any of its reporters. “Someone misinformed you,” replied Lowry. “I did not know where anybody at the Galveston daily news lives nor do I care. Nor have I ever threatened a reporter. Fake news.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dautv\">Smith said that the outlet hasn’t changed the way it’s covered the story, although another reporter is now covering the beat. “We’ve continued to report the parts of his circus that seem to be news.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ei10n\"><i>Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect additional information about the paper’s coverage of Lowry.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Daily_News.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"h95o5\">A portion of a Sept. 15, 2024, Facebook post on the Lowry News Network page, run by La Marque, Texas, City Councilman Joseph Lowry. The Galveston newspaper in the image said it’s one of a series of attacks by the official.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
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"targeted_institutions": [
"The Daily News"
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"Chilling Statement"
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"Scott McLendon (The Daily News)"
],
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with police bike amid presidential debate protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-police-bike-amid-presidential-debate-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-10T16:21:54.718762Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T16:21:54.718762Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T16:17:02.751367Z",
"date": "2024-09-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Philadelphia",
"longitude": -75.16362,
"latitude": 39.95238,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"b90c6\">Independent photojournalist Cristina Panagi was repeatedly rammed with a bike by police while covering a protest outside the presidential debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 10, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"c264b\">Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the National Constitution Center, where presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were debating, <a href=\"https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/pro-palestinian-protesters-rally-outside-national-constitution-center-during-presidential-debate/3966752/\">WCAU reported</a>. According to the TV station, pro-Palestinian demonstrators made up the bulk of the crowd, calling for a cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"41qto\">Panagi told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that near the end of the protesters’ march, a Philadelphia Police Department officer yelled at her to move back and, despite her efforts to comply, repeatedly slammed his bicycle into her legs.</p><p data-block-key=\"528gc\">“They were actively using the bikes as battering rams to shove people back,” Panagi said. “You can see in my video that I’m with everybody else that also has press credentials. It was, again, very, very crowded. There was nowhere for us to go.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4e0tu\">In footage she <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C_yyKXjOyGl/\">posted to Instagram</a>, an officer can be heard repeating “Get out” and “Step back,” shouting louder each time. Panagi is heard responding, “We’re going,” but the officer continues to lift his bike, pushing it into her.</p><p data-block-key=\"7h2s3\">Panagi said her legs were scratched and bruised from the incident, and that she was frustrated that it had happened at all.</p><p data-block-key=\"vasp\">“It’s like: Dude, I’m here working too. I’m not trying to be in your way,” she told the Tracker. “I’m just trying to take some photos and go home.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8pd8h\">Panagi added that she was wearing press credentials issued by the New York City mayor’s office, as well as from the Freelance Journalists Union, and was clearly identifiable as press.</p><p data-block-key=\"9u5ta\">A public information officer for the Philadelphia Police Department told the Tracker via email that officers regularly use bicycles when responding to protests for their “mobility and flexibility in navigating large crowds.” </p><p data-block-key=\"aq4sr\">Sgt. Eric Gripp added that the department takes allegations of misconduct seriously. “If there is information suggesting that a media member was treated unjustly or deliberately struck by an officer, we strongly encourage the individual to file an official complaint with our Internal Affairs Bureau,” Gripp wrote.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Panagi_PA_assault_910_kr1rlRT.6129a1e6.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2c3zr\">Philadelphia Police Department officers use their bicycles to corral protesters and members of the press outside the presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024. Photojournalist Cristina Panagi was repeatedly pushed with a bike, bruising and cutting her legs.</p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"Assault"
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist arrested covering pre-presidential debate protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-covering-pre-presidential-debate-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-09T18:30:50.337990Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-09T18:50:49.390964Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-09T18:50:49.294849Z",
"date": "2024-09-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3c3ko\">Independent photojournalist Sarah Baum was arrested by a plainclothes New York City police officer while documenting a demonstration on Sept. 10, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"ca5ig\">Baum told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that a small group of demonstrators in “black bloc” — wearing all black and concealing their identities — gathered in Manhattan to protest ahead of the presidential debate that evening. According to a <a href=\"https://x.com/sebs_reports/status/1833995073727414777\">statement</a> shared with Baum, the protest focused on the election, as well as issues ranging from the ongoing Israel-Gaza war to corruption in NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protestors blocked traffic & seemed to target corporate storefronts including Google, whose ties to the IDF are well documented. Their messaging called attention the ongoing genocides in Gaza & Congo. Chants tied these struggles to ongoing efforts against ICE & NYPD violence. <a href=\"https://t.co/4tJClIX8Gn\">pic.twitter.com/4tJClIX8Gn</a></p>— they/them (@sebs_reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/sebs_reports/status/1833995061748470212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 11, 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=\"3c3ko\">After police intercepted the demonstration, Baum said the protesters scattered or were arrested. The photojournalist stayed to document some of the arrests and then began walking home on a sidewalk nearby. That’s when they said a plainclothes officer placed them under arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"en9r9\">“Two officers came up and grabbed me and said, ‘Put your hands behind your back.’ And I said, ‘I’m a member of the press. You can see my big camera! I’m a member of the press,’” Baum recounted. “They said, ‘You know, oh well, you don’t have a badge.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"8j7f1\">Baum told the Tracker that they had only recently moved to the city, and had not yet obtained the six reporting clips <a href=\"https://www.nyc.gov/site/mome/press-card/press-card-application.page\">necessary to qualify</a> for a press credential from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.</p><p data-block-key=\"1e1u\">“To get a press badge in New York City, you need to demonstrate a need for it. In order to demonstrate a need for it, you need to be on the ground for protests, but then when you’re on the ground at protests, you’re at significant risk of being arrested if you don’t have a badge,” Baum said. “So it’s kind of this Sisyphean task.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I had my camera out & ID’d myself as press a billion times. It didn’t matter. NYPD Deputy Police Commissioner Kaz Daughtry personally saw this & let officers arrest me anyway.</p>— they/them (@sebs_reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/sebs_reports/status/1833995068966908032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 11, 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=\"3c3ko\">Baum said they repeatedly asked for the officers’ names and badge numbers, but the officers refused to answer.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gma1\">The photojournalist was transported to New York City Police Department headquarters in lower Manhattan and held for approximately six hours. They were released in the early hours of Sept. 11 with a citation for walking on the roadway.</p><p data-block-key=\"8v3jl\">A second photojournalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-detained-camera-and-bag-damaged-at-nyc-protest/\">Olga Fedorova</a>, was also detained while documenting the demonstration that day, but was released when a supervisory officer recognized her. Her camera and equipment bag, however, were damaged in the course of her detention.</p><p data-block-key=\"21stl\">On Oct. 7, Baum told the Tracker that the paperwork for the charge had been improperly filed, and therefore the charge was functionally dropped; the Tracker confirmed that there are no pending criminal charges against them.</p><p data-block-key=\"aj6sp\">Though Baum said they were relieved not to have to appear in court, they added that the experience has had a chilling effect on them.</p><p data-block-key=\"36o4p\">“I should be documenting all the protests that are happening around the city, but I’ve had to sit on the sidelines while I figure out how physically and legally safe it is for me to go back out there,” Baum said. “I’ve also been experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress since the arrest and everything else that happened that day. So it’s not just a chilling effect in that I have to worry about how simply doing a job could jeopardize my safety, but also that doing your job becomes more challenging when dealing with mental health repercussions in the aftermath.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2031l\">The NYPD did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Baum_arrest.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"m5wzd\">Photojournalist Sarah Baum was arrested by New York City police shortly after officers intercepted a demonstration Baum was documenting before the presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024. The charge for walking in the roadway was later dropped.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2024-09-11",
"detention_date": "2024-09-10",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sarah Baum (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist detained, camera and bag damaged at NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-detained-camera-and-bag-damaged-at-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-04T15:09:09.445104Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-08T21:16:27.474498Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-08T21:16:27.354659Z",
"date": "2024-09-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fjue0\">Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova was detained by New York City police while documenting a protest on Sept. 10, 2024. Officers slammed her against a wall, damaging her camera, and ripped her equipment bag off her back.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bfg3\">Fedorova told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that a small group of demonstrators in “black bloc” — wearing all black and concealing their identities — gathered in Manhattan ahead of the presidential debate that evening. According to a <a href=\"https://x.com/sebs_reports/status/1833995073727414777\">statement</a> shared with journalists, the protest focused on the election, as well as issues ranging from the ongoing Israel-Gaza war to corruption in NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.</p><p data-block-key=\"57l0f\">In her <a href=\"https://x.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/1833664776448205133\">footage</a>, distributed via FreedomNews.TV, demonstrators are seen pulling trash bins and plastic barricades into the street to block traffic and spraying graffiti on a city bus and on a T-Mobile storefront.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NOW: Pro-Palestine protesters in black block tag buildings and MTA Busses in NYC, police arrest multiple demonstrators.<br><br>Video by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/olgafe_images?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@olgafe_images</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FreedomNTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FreedomNTV</a> [email protected] to license <a href=\"https://t.co/ZBXwD069u8\">pic.twitter.com/ZBXwD069u8</a></p>— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/1833664776448205133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 11, 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=\"fjue0\">“Eventually police attempted to intercept them and they all scattered,” Fedorova said. “I saw a few arrests and then I kind of ran after the rest of them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eunok\">When she couldn’t find them, Fedorova said she decided to file her footage.</p><p data-block-key=\"ejb26\">“I’m standing on the sidewalk looking through my video when somebody grabs me from behind, pins my arms completely to my side, slams me into a wall and screams ‘Surprise!’” Fedorova said. “And then the person starts saying ‘Stop resisting.’ So that’s when I understood it was NYPD.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a3hpn\">Fedorova said she identified herself as press, explaining that she had her press credential on her as well as her camera, which was damaged when she was pushed into the wall. The officers ignored her, she said, and placed her in handcuffs and cut or tore her equipment bag off her back.</p><p data-block-key=\"46evm\">“Luckily one of the higher-ups was walking by — who is familiar with me because I cover so many of these protests and other things like pressers that the NYPD has — and he just told them to let me go,” Fedorova said. She added that while they did release her it was still “the most disturbing interaction I’ve had with the NYPD ever.”</p><p data-block-key=\"62jbt\">A couple of days later, the NYPD <a href=\"https://x.com/NYPDDaughtry/status/1834263301158490486\">released a video</a> promoting the police response to the protest using footage from security cameras and drones and set to dramatic music. The video also used the footage Fedorova had captured, still bearing the FreedomNews.TV watermark.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rtii\">“It was weird and kind of darkly funny that they both briefly — thank you very much — arrested me and then also stole my footage,” Fedorova said. </p><p data-block-key=\"9d8lg\">In addition to not paying to license the footage, she added, its use in a promotional video for the NYPD actively endangers her because activists may think she is working with the police and target her for it.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4579\">“It’s the last thing I need,” Fedorova told the Tracker. </p><p data-block-key=\"ek7al\">“NYPD has been doing this interesting thing where they will point out footage or photographs that they have found online to activists, kind of on the spot, saying that, ‘Well, you or your friends are getting arrested because of this video,’” she added. “They’re trying to sort of make it difficult, I think, for journalists to work at these social movement and protest events.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2tlf0\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3uaqg\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include additional information on the focus of the Sept. 10 demonstration.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"t0l84\">In footage released by the New York City Police Department, a group of protesters are seen walking in Manhattan on Sept. 10, 2024. Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova was detained and her equipment damaged while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
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{
"title": "Broadcast reporter robbed at gunpoint in Oakland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-reporter-robbed-at-gunpoint-in-oakland/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-10T15:10:03.066773Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-10T15:10:03.066773Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8j4dr\">A broadcast news crew with ABC affiliate KGO-TV was robbed at gunpoint while reporting in Oakland, California, on Sept. 7, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"cb4jo\">The San Francisco Chronicle <a href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/oakland-tv-news-crew-robbed-19752719.php\">reported</a> that at about 5:30 p.m., multiple armed individuals exited a car and “rushed” the station’s reporter, a crew member and a security guard, as the news team reported in North Oakland. A spokesperson for Oakland’s police union <a href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/09/08/tv-news-crew-security-guard-robbed-at-gunpoint-while-covering-a-story-in-oakland/\">told The Mercury News</a> that the robbers took the crew’s television camera and microphone, as well as the security guard’s firearm.</p><p data-block-key=\"603jg\">KGO-TV declined to comment on the incident. Police have reported no injuries in connection with the robbery and no arrests have been made, according to the News.</p><p data-block-key=\"cn7ck\">More than a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=robbed&state=California&tags=robbery&endpage=2\">dozen journalists</a> — all either photojournalists or members of broadcast news crews — have been robbed at gunpoint in the Bay Area since 2019. A security guard for KPIX-TV was shot in the leg when he exchanged fire with an armed robber in February 2019, and a security guard with KRON-TV died from injuries he suffered during an <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/bay-area-broadcast-security-guard-shot-killed-in-attempted-robbery-of-news-crew/\">attempted robbery</a> of a news crew in November 2021.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Indian journalist assaulted during interview; phone taken, recording deleted",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indian-journalist-assaulted-during-interview-phone-taken-recording-deleted/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-17T19:11:45.521895Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-20T14:58:48.090000Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-20T14:58:47.985948Z",
"date": "2024-09-07",
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"city": "Irving",
"longitude": -96.94889,
"latitude": 32.81402,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wqab0\">Rohit Sharma, a senior journalist for India Today, was physically prevented from leaving an interview he was conducting with an Indian politician in Irving, Texas, on Sept. 7, 2024, after men present intervened to stop the questioning, grabbed his cellphone and ultimately deleted the recording of the conversation, Sharma told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"5sovq\">Sharma said that he had arranged an interview with Sam Pitroda — the overseas head of the Indian National Congress, one of India’s main opposition parties — ahead of the arrival of fellow party member Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, or lower house of India’s Parliament.</p><p data-block-key=\"b7gqq\">Approximately 30 people, a mixture of party members from India and the United States, were in the room with them, Sharma <a href=\"https://www.indiatoday.in/opinion/story/how-i-was-assaulted-by-rahul-gandhi-team-in-dallas-texas-2599165-2024-09-13\">reported</a> for the widely circulated newsweekly. The interview with Pitroda was straightforward, he said, setting the scene ahead of Gandhi’s three-day visit and addressing issues that concern members of the Indian diaspora.</p><p data-block-key=\"38s2m\">“The last question that I asked him was about (nonresident Indians) who’ve protested against the killing of minorities in Bangladesh recently, after the change of government,” Sharma said, referring to the alleged <a href=\"https://www.voanews.com/a/in-bangladesh-religious-minorities-targeted-during-political-unrest/7750077.html\">targeting</a> of the Hindu, Christian and Buddhist populations in the Muslim-majority nation. “He was answering that question when, I think to his surprise and my surprise, one person jumped to his feet and shouted, ‘It’s controversial! Stop recording it!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"4ec48\">Pitroda tried to calm the men down, Sharma said, but another individual attempted to grab Sharma’s microphone while someone else grabbed his phone off the tripod it was set up on. Shortly after, Pitroda was told Gandhi had arrived at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and quickly left the room along with some of those present.</p><p data-block-key=\"bq7ks\">The approximately 15 men who remained continued shouting at one another and at Sharma, the journalist told the Tracker, debating what needed to be done.</p><p data-block-key=\"1eecn\">“I was made to sit on a chair — there were two persons, one on my left side and one on the right — and I couldn’t get up. I tried getting up and they said, ‘No, sit down, sit down. You can’t move,’” Sharma told the Tracker. “My instant fear was: I need to get out of this room.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cc7vc\">Sharma said that the men locked his phone while passing it around, so one of them held it up to his face to unlock it using Face ID. They deleted the recording from Sharma’s Photos app, and once again used his Face ID to access his Recently Deleted folder to permanently delete the recording. He said his phone was in airplane mode, and so the recording was not uploaded to his iCloud.</p><p data-block-key=\"dmsq8\">The men went through the other apps on Sharma’s phone to ensure no copy remained. Once they were sure, Sharma was allowed to stand and everyone began to leave the suite, approximately 30 minutes after halting the interview with Pitroda.</p><p data-block-key=\"81gmr\">“Somebody said, ‘We should keep his phone for the next four days, until Mr. Gandhi leaves the U.S., so that nothing gets out,’” Sharma said. He added that he was able to convince them to return the phone, and once he got to the parking lot he called Pitroda to alert him to what had happened.</p><p data-block-key=\"4973v\">The incident immediately chilled his reporting, Sharma said, as he felt unsafe attending any of Gandhi’s events in Washington, D.C., and he’s concerned about what it will mean for his coverage moving forward.</p><p data-block-key=\"4jtt3\">“Anything I write about him moving forward will be looked at through the lens of, ‘Oh, he’s a disgruntled person.’ Even if I report objectively, people will not think it objective,” he said. “It has left a scar.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dglh6\">The National Press Club, of which Sharma is a member, said in a <a href=\"https://www.press.org/newsroom/press-club-statement-attack-against-club-member-texas\">statement</a> that the men “had no right or standing to take Sharma’s phone from him or delete content,” adding that journalists working in the U.S. are protected by the First Amendment, regardless of their nationality.</p><p data-block-key=\"921sc\">Sharma said that Pitroda called him to apologize for the incident a few days after and told the journalist that he believes in press freedom and that he would investigate and hold the responsible parties accountable.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">First and foremost, I want to extend my deep gratitude to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IndiaToday?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@IndiaToday</a>, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/rahulkanwal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@rahulkanwal</a>, and the entire team for standing strong on this issue. What happened was truly appalling. Mr. Pitroda reached out to apologize for the incident, and I’ve accepted his apology. He assured me that… <a href=\"https://t.co/hwecV6LQlC\">https://t.co/hwecV6LQlC</a></p>— Rohit Sharma 🇺🇸🇮🇳 (@DcWalaDesi) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DcWalaDesi/status/1835693975295992185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 16, 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=\"wqab0\">When reached for comment, Pitroda shared a response to the NPC’s statement in which he denied the incident took place, adding that he did not apologize to Sharma because “the incident never happened.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4v5n4\">Sharma said that while he had been concerned about his physical safety during the incident, he’s more concerned now that the story has been picked up by politicians in India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi <a href=\"https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pm-narendra-modi-doda-rally-slams-congress-india-today-reporter-assault-rohit-sharma-2599760-2024-09-14\">condemned the attack</a>, saying, “Those who claim to be champions of freedom of speech indulged in brutality.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e1jp8\">“I’m scared because this is a very powerful family: Mr. Gandhi and his family are very powerful, they’ve ruled India for more than 60 years. And now that this has created such a big political fervor in India — even the prime minister talked about it — I don’t want to be in the middle of this mess, between both the parties,” he said. “I still am scared for my extended family in India. And I’m also supposed to travel to India the last week of September into October and I’m debating whether I should even go.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ebago\">He added that he went public with what happened not in spite of his fear but because of it.</p><p data-block-key=\"fp6uv\">“I’m speaking up for two reasons: First is I think nobody should get away with this, in the sense that I don’t want them to feel emboldened to come back to the U.S. and do such things with another journalist,” Sharma said. “Second is my fear for my own safety. They know who I am, my face has been flashed all over the media in India. If it’s on the record, then maybe people will be fearful of doing such acts again.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2f31g\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include comment from Sam Pitroda.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"b9aef\">India Today senior reporter Rohit Sharma, center right, was interviewing an Indian politician on Sept. 7, 2024, when men present halted the questioning, prevented Sharma from leaving, grabbed his cellphone and deleted the recording.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
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"tags": [
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{
"title": "Broadcast crew member robbed at gunpoint in Oakland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-crew-member-robbed-at-gunpoint-in-oakland/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-10T15:11:03.622843Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-10T15:11:03.622843Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-10T15:07:36.787662Z",
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"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Oakland",
"longitude": -122.2708,
"latitude": 37.80437,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ghxyj\">A broadcast news crew with ABC affiliate KGO-TV was robbed at gunpoint while reporting in Oakland, California, on Sept. 7, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"5id2s\">The San Francisco Chronicle <a href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/oakland-tv-news-crew-robbed-19752719.php\">reported</a> that at about 5:30 p.m., multiple armed individuals exited a car and “rushed” the station’s reporter, a crew member and a security guard, as the news team reported in North Oakland. A spokesperson for Oakland’s police union <a href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/09/08/tv-news-crew-security-guard-robbed-at-gunpoint-while-covering-a-story-in-oakland/\">told The Mercury News</a> that the robbers took the crew’s television camera and microphone, as well as the security guard’s firearm.</p><p data-block-key=\"3etva\">KGO-TV declined to comment on the incident. Police have reported no injuries in connection with the robbery and no arrests have been made, according to the News.</p><p data-block-key=\"3n80o\">More than a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?search=robbed&state=California&tags=robbery&endpage=2\">dozen journalists</a> — all either photojournalists or members of broadcast news crews — have been robbed at gunpoint in the Bay Area since 2019. A security guard for KPIX-TV was shot in the leg when he exchanged fire with an armed robber in February 2019, and a security guard with KRON-TV died from injuries he suffered during an <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/bay-area-broadcast-security-guard-shot-killed-in-attempted-robbery-of-news-crew/\">attempted robbery</a> of a news crew in November 2021.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "State Department classifies six Russian state-owned news outlets ‘foreign missions’",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-department-classifies-six-russian-state-owned-news-outlets-foreign-missions/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-01T19:22:17.267733Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-01T19:22:17.267733Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-01T19:22:08.612355Z",
"date": "2024-09-04",
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"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ul200\">The U.S. State Department is classifying six Russian state-owned media outlets as foreign missions as part of its efforts to counter alleged Russian interference in the 2024 election, it <a href=\"https://www.state.gov/u-s-department-of-state-takes-actions-to-counter-russian-influence-and-interference-in-u-s-elections/\">announced</a> on Sept. 4, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9dea\">The media organizations named were the state media group Rossiya Segodnya and the related news operations RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly and Sputnik. The move makes the outlets subject to the same rules as foreign embassies and consulates located inside the U.S. under the 1982 <a href=\"https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/17842.pdf\">Foreign Missions Act</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2cep8\">To continue operating in the U.S., the outlets would be required to regularly report a list of employees — including their addresses and ages — as well as disclose the property the organizations own within the U.S. and obtain approval from the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions to lease or buy real estate. The State Department is also restricting visas for those it believes are using the media outlets as a cover.</p><p data-block-key=\"db16c\">During a Sept. 13 <a href=\"https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-remarks-to-the-press-29/\">news conference</a>, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the outlets are “no longer merely firehoses of Russian Government propaganda and disinformation; they are engaged in covert influence activities aimed at undermining American elections and democracies, functioning like a de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fpc38\">Blinken emphasized that the United States champions freedom of expression, even when it comes to purveyors of government propaganda. “But we will not stand by as RT and other actors carry out covert activities in support of Russia’s nefarious activities, and we’ll continue to respond forcefully to Moscow’s playbook of aggression and subversion,” Blinken continued.</p><p data-block-key=\"rc4r\">As part of the efforts to address Russian influence on the upcoming election, on Sept. 4 the U.S. Justice Department <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-rt-employees-indicted-covertly-funding-and-directing-us-company-published-thousands\">unsealed an indictment</a> of two Russian employees of RT, while the U.S. Treasury Department <a href=\"https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2559\">imposed sanctions</a> on 10 top RT executives.</p><p data-block-key=\"7d029\">U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-disrupts-covert-russian-government-sponsored-foreign-malign-influence\">also announced</a> that the Justice Department seized 32 web domains that it says the Kremlin used to influence the election, adding that the department’s investigation is ongoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"brfhg\">Russian authorities have consistently denied allegations of U.S. election interference, Al Jazeera <a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/5/us-accuses-russia-of-election-disinformation-campaigns-what-to-know\">reported</a>. When asked how Russia will respond to the sanctions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova <a href=\"https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1968177/\">said</a>: “We warn once again that any attempt to expel Russian journalists from the United States, create unacceptable conditions for their work or hinder their professional operation in any other way, including through visa restrictions, will be regarded as grounds for a symmetric and/or asymmetric action against American media outlets.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c56eg\">Under former President Donald Trump’s administration, the State Department classified <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-department-classifies-five-chinese-state-run-outlets-as-foreign-missions/\">15 Chinese state-run media outlets</a> as foreign missions as part of a series of tit-for-tat reprisals between the U.S. and China, with journalists in the middle.</p><p data-block-key=\"2k9rp\">Russian outlet <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rt-america-compelled-register-foreign-agent-department-justice/\">RT America</a> was similarly ordered to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in 2017, as were Russian outlets <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/us-based-news-outlets-funded-russia-ordered-register-foreign-agents/\">RM Broadcasting and RIA Global LLC</a> in 2019 and Al Jazeera’s U.S.-based social media division, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/al-jazeeras-aj-ordered-to-register-as-foreign-agent/\">AJ+</a>, in 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"bbomj\">Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/declassify-rt-records-so-the-public-can-vet-administrations-claims/\">called on the Biden administration</a> to declassify the records used to justify the sanctions so they can be independently vetted.</p><p data-block-key=\"3c2lk\">“All state media outlets, including our own, seek to advance the interests of the government in some way, and Americans are constitutionally entitled to consume foreign propaganda if they so choose,” wrote Lauren Harper, FPF’s inaugural Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy. “If RT’s alleged conduct is not starkly different from what other government media outlets do, then the investigation puts outlets worldwide at risk of retaliation.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"f80d9\">The Moscow headquarters of Rossiya Segodnya, one of six Russian state-owned news outlets that were classified as foreign missions by the U.S. State Department on Sept. 4, 2024.</p>",
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"RIA Novosti",
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{
"title": "Sheriff’s deputies question reporter at her home",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputies-question-reporter-at-her-home/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-20T15:21:19.902226Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-19T17:44:04.725331Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-19T17:44:04.521522Z",
"date": "2024-08-30",
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"city": "Stockton",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"78dj5\">Aaron Leathley, a reporter for the central California daily newspaper The Stockton Record, was visited at her Stockton home on Aug. 30, 2024, by San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who questioned her about a court document she had reported on months earlier.</p><p data-block-key=\"4llt8\">In November 2023, sheriff’s deputies <a href=\"https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/2023/11/14/search-warrants-served-at-stockton-unified-office-trustees-home/71585337007/\">searched</a> the home of Stockton Unified School District board president AngelAnn Flores and the school board’s headquarters. Later that month, Leathley <a href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2023/11/28/warrant-reveals-why-stockton-unifieds-angelann-flores-was-searched/71627562007/\">reported</a> on various details from the search warrant, a copy of which the paper had obtained from the San Joaquin County Superior Court — including that deputies had searched Flores’ home and vehicles, questioned Flores and seized her phones, iPad and laptop to investigate her alleged misuse of a school district credit card, witness intimidation and other misconduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"eoibt\">A day after the article published, the Record <a href=\"https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/local/2024/09/12/sheriffs-deputies-visit-home-of-stockton-record-reporter-for-unclear-reasons/75076689007/\">reported</a>, a public information officer for the court emailed Leathley to tell her that the warrant had been released accidentally and ask her “to prevent any further dissemination of this document by copying, sharing, or using it for further publication.” The sheriff’s office also said at the time that the warrant should not have been released, according to the Record.</p><p data-block-key=\"cr2p9\">Flores was <a href=\"https://stocktonia.org/news/public-safety/2024/05/07/stockton-unified-trustee-arraigned-for-alleged-fraud-embezzlement-grand-theft/\">charged</a> in May 2024 with making fraudulent insurance claims, embezzlement and theft of school district funds and pleaded not guilty. The criminal case against her is ongoing.</p><p data-block-key=\"bi933\">On Aug. 30, two sheriff’s deputies who identified themselves as members of the Agriculture, Gangs, and Narcotics Enforcement team under the sheriff’s Special Services Division arrived at Leathley’s door. One claimed that Leathley had been emailed a “cease and desist” about the warrant, Leathley confirmed in a phone call with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. AGNET members also conducted the search of Flores’ home, Leathley said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8cfrc\">Leathley told the Tracker that one of the deputies asked her about the “cease and desist,” repeating “What happened with that?” several times.</p><p data-block-key=\"4k1ad\">The Record reported that it has no records of a cease and desist letter and Sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Levin told the paper he wasn’t aware of one. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office would not confirm to the paper whether it had sent a cease and desist letter to Leathley.</p><p data-block-key=\"bb6i6\">Freedom of the Press Foundation Director of Advocacy Seth Stern condemned the deputies’ “shenanigans,” saying, “Officials should never intimidate a journalist for possessing lawfully obtained records, whether through court cases or house calls.” The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project of FPF.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0i0m\">When asked for an explanation of the deputies’ actions, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department told the Tracker, “Because this is an ongoing investigation, I can’t answer those questions.” Leathley told the Tracker she didn’t know whether this “ongoing investigation” was connected to Flores.</p><p data-block-key=\"fcfc1\">“I think, structurally, something like this always could have a chilling effect on reporting,” Leathley said of the deputies’ house call. But, she added, “I would not change how I report on the situation based on intimidation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e4csn\"><i>Editor’s Note: This incident has been updated to include comments from Leathley and to correct the spelling for the name of Sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Levin.</i></p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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},
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"(2024-12-04 12:15:00+00:00) California sheriff investigating reporters as “co-conspirators” in leak case"
],
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"public records"
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"Aaron Leathley (The Stockton Record)",
"Hannah Workman (The Stockton Record)"
],
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{
"title": "Chicago Reader journalist pushed with police baton amid DNC protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-reader-journalist-pushed-with-police-baton-amid-dnc-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-29T16:36:46.393564Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-06T13:47:46.498223Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-06T13:47:46.381986Z",
"date": "2024-08-22",
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"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5qsqb\">Shawn Mulcahy, the news editor for the Chicago Reader, was shoved in the stomach with a baton by Chicago police while documenting a protest coinciding with the nearby Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"c8b08\">The Chicago Tribune <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/08/22/dnc-thursday-protests-chicago/\">reported</a> that more than 2,000 people marched to protest U.S. aid to Israel, advancing through Chicago’s West Side and within blocks of the United Center where Vice President Kamala Harris was accepting the Democratic nomination during the final night of the convention.</p><p data-block-key=\"243m8\">Mulcahy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that late in the evening after the march, a small group of 25 to 50 protesters sat in the street to block traffic. He said a <a href=\"https://x.com/FordFischer/status/1826812151522054351\">large number of press</a> were still around, and that police didn’t seem to know how to handle the journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsgpr\">“There was a rush to arrest someone and they were trying to push people back onto the sidewalk,” Mulcahy said. “I was standing there filming the arrest and they pushed me with a baton into my stomach.” He added that he intends to file a complaint with the city.</p><p data-block-key=\"22c1t\">That night, officers also <a href=\"https://x.com/FordFischer/status/1826870837124767908\">threatened</a> to revoke journalists’ press credentials if they refused to comply with the dispersal order. Mulcahy said that the members of the media raised alarm over the order and the department’s chief of patrol and deputy director of news affairs and communications ultimately walked it back.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mb6l\">When reached by email for comment, the Chicago Police Department directed the Tracker to CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling’s news conferences during the DNC, declining to respond to questions about officers’ aggression toward journalists and attempts to revoke press credentials.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ejn5\">During Snelling’s <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/v/FRs1KLmcBLZrnFKq/\">Aug. 21 news conference</a>, he said that the department wants journalists to be able to do their jobs, but highlighted that the press must comply with police orders and step to the side when officers move in to make arrests. “If you don’t do that, it’s obstructing us and it makes it harder for us to take the people into custody that we’re trying to take into custody. And what we don’t want is for you to get caught in the middle of it and injured and hurt,” Snelling said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9a8ti\">At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-08-20&date_upper=2024-08-20&city=Chicago&categories=Assault\">four journalists</a> were shoved or pulled by officers responding to similar protests on Aug. 20, and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-08-20&date_upper=2024-08-20&city=Chicago&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">at least three</a> were arrested.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xzhyr\">Chicago police officers clash with demonstrators at a protest during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 2024. Police pushed Chicago Reader journalist Shawn Mulcahy in the stomach with a baton while he was covering protests that night.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
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},
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"election",
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"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist arrested, camera damaged by Chicago police during DNC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-camera-damaged-by-chicago-police-during-dnc/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-22T18:35:40.447534Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-05T18:16:36.138552Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-05T18:16:35.996052Z",
"date": "2024-08-20",
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"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h93sj\">Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova was arrested by Chicago Police Department officers on Aug. 20, 2024, while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest planned to coincide with the nearby Democratic National Convention. Law enforcement also confiscated her press credentials and cracked her camera lens.</p><p data-block-key=\"coife\">A small gathering of protesters, <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/democratic-convention-chicago-protests-war-gaza-f064683535bbbe93231d31ecc2dbafc7\">unaffiliated</a> with and more militant than other groups that had organized larger demonstrations earlier in the week, converged around 7 p.m. <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/08/21/72-people-arrested-during-protest-outside-israeli-consulate/\">outside the Israeli Consulate</a> in Chicago’s West Loop section. The demonstrators and police, who far outnumbered them, clashed repeatedly. The protesters were later ordered to leave the area and police began arresting them, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/08/21/72-people-arrested-during-protest-outside-israeli-consulate/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"rlg4\">Other journalists besides Fedorova were among the dozens detained, according to the Chicago chapter of the <a href=\"https://nlgchicago.org/2024/08/21/chicago-police-arrest-dozens-during-palestine-solidarity-protest-at-israeli-consulate-on-second-day-of-democratic-national-convention/\">National Lawyers Guild.</a> CBS News <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/live-updates/chicago-dnc-protest-day-2/\">reported</a> that Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said three journalists were arrested for not complying with officers’ orders when police began moving in to arrest protesters who had attacked police.</p><p data-block-key=\"2eq3v\">Independent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-shoved-by-chicago-police-gear-seized-and-damaged/\">Josh Pacheco</a>, one of those arrested, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the scene was chaotic, with officers issuing conflicting, often inaudible commands to the crowd, and pushing people onto the sidewalk, which was already crowded with police bicycles. Pacheco said that members of the press were caught between protesters and police as officers tried to keep demonstrators out of the roadway and intersections.</p><p data-block-key=\"6bn09\">Amid the chaos, Fedorova was arrested. Journalists <a href=\"https://x.com/taliaotg/status/1826192345349394438\">Talia (Jane) Ben-Ora</a> and <a href=\"https://x.com/ACatWithNews/status/1826192292484411794\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a> both reported on social media that at the time of her arrest Fedorova was wearing Chicago–issued press credentials, which the police confiscated, and that her camera lens was cracked by the police.</p><p data-block-key=\"8idp1\">Fedorova’s attorney Steven Baron confirmed to the Tracker that Fedorova was “swept up in the mass arrest and detained for many hours at the Area 3 Chicago Police headquarters.” She was <a href=\"https://x.com/taliaotg/status/1826191255862157557\">released</a> the following morning and her press credentials were returned to her later in the day.</p><p data-block-key=\"534j7\">Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that Chicago police returned Fedorova’s credentials after NPPA and the journalists’ attorneys notified them “that such seizures were improper.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2qsnd\">Osterreicher also said that in advance of the DNC, he had offered the Chicago Police Department a training on interacting with the press similar to one he gave the Milwaukee Police Department before the Republican National Convention in July.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0h6k\">“They told me that they had been providing First Amendment training and they didn’t need anything from NPPA,” Osterreicher said. “Given the events of last night, I would have to say that that alleged training was an abysmal failure.”</p><p data-block-key=\"53bon\">The DNC’s Public Safety Joint Information Center confirmed that Fedorova had been cited for disorderly conduct — failure to obey police. It did not respond to an additional question about why she was arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"86tqu\">“Olga and the others were charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct for simply doing their jobs as reporters,” Baron told the Tracker. “We are disappointed that the City of Chicago chose to sweep the First Amendment under the rug with its heavy-handed tactics against working journalists.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ofe3c\">Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova, at right, is arrested by Chicago Police Department officers on Aug. 20, 2024, while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest coinciding with the Democratic National Convention.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Chicago Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2024-08-21",
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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],
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],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
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"(2024-11-14 00:00:00+00:00) Charge dropped against photojournalist arrested at DNC"
],
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"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
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],
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],
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},
{
"title": "Chicago journalist struck with police bike while covering protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-journalist-struck-with-police-bike-while-covering-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-06T17:01:50.078106Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-06T17:01:50.078106Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-06T17:01:39.680832Z",
"date": "2024-08-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5e87z\">Raven Geary, who operates the independent outlet Jinx Press, was struck with a bicycle by a Chicago Police Department officer while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest planned to coincide with the nearby Democratic National Convention on Aug. 20, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"1uaeh\">A small gathering of protesters, <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/democratic-convention-chicago-protests-war-gaza-f064683535bbbe93231d31ecc2dbafc7\">unaffiliated</a> with and more militant than other groups that had organized larger demonstrations earlier in the week, converged around 7 p.m. <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/08/21/72-people-arrested-during-protest-outside-israeli-consulate/\">outside the Israeli Consulate</a> in Chicago’s West Loop section. The demonstrators and police, who far outnumbered them, clashed repeatedly. The protesters were later ordered to leave the area and police began arresting them, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/08/21/72-people-arrested-during-protest-outside-israeli-consulate/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6iir9\">Geary told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest “blew up really quickly.”</p><p data-block-key=\"84tou\">“There was such a massive show of police, unlike we normally see, and a lot of just unclear directions — both to protesters and to journalists — about what the police wanted us to do,” she said. “At a certain point I guess they were giving dispersal orders over a megaphone, for example, and where I was situated I never even heard a single audible dispersal order.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4pdq0\">She added that those who said they did hear the orders to disperse reported that police blocked them from doing so.</p><p data-block-key=\"us0o\">Police corralled protesters and press multiple times over the course of several hours, Geary said, and at one point an officer struck her in the leg with a bicycle, bruising her. She told the Tracker that she was clearly identifiable as media and was wearing Jinx Press media credentials, but that given the chaos of the scene, she couldn’t be certain whether she was deliberately targeted.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters stepped off to attempt a march; CPD immediately moves in. Signs and flags being confiscated, huge press scramble. <a href=\"https://t.co/E4QVqoM6Fp\">pic.twitter.com/E4QVqoM6Fp</a></p>— Jinx Press (@JinxPress) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JinxPress/status/1826055103239135570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 21, 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=\"5e87z\">When reached by email for comment, the Chicago Police Department directed the Tracker to CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling’s news conferences during the DNC, declining to respond to questions about officers’ aggression toward journalists and reported attempts to revoke press credentials.</p><p data-block-key=\"borrc\">“We want to allow you to do your jobs. We really do. But there are times when we’re calling a mass arrest or we’re attempting to move in, we need you guys to step to the side,” Snelling said of journalists during the <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/v/FRs1KLmcBLZrnFKq/\">Aug. 21 news conference</a>. “If you don’t do that, it’s obstructing us and it makes it harder for us to take the people into custody that we’re trying to take into custody. And what we don’t want is for you to get caught in the middle of it and injured and hurt.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9vrcj\">At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-08-20&date_upper=2024-08-20&city=Chicago&categories=Assault\">four other journalists</a> were shoved or pulled by officers responding to the protests outside the consulate that day, and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-08-20&date_upper=2024-08-20&city=Chicago&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">at least three</a> were arrested.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"k06mj\">Chicago Police Department officers line up during the first day of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2024. The following day, an officer struck Jinx Press founder Raven Geary’s leg with a bicycle while she covered pro-Palestinian protests.</p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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"Raven Geary (Jinx Press)"
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},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist arrested at pro-Palestinian protest at DNC in Chicago",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-arrested-at-pro-palestinian-protest-at-dnc-in-chicago/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-22T19:03:50.213467Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-14T16:51:25.089639Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-14T16:51:24.887467Z",
"date": "2024-08-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4jdw5\">Freelance photojournalist Sinna Nasseri was arrested by Chicago Police Department officers on Aug. 20, 2024, while on assignment for German news outlet Zeit covering a pro-Palestinian protest planned to coincide with the nearby Democratic National Convention.</p><p data-block-key=\"af9pm\">A small gathering of protesters, <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/democratic-convention-chicago-protests-war-gaza-f064683535bbbe93231d31ecc2dbafc7\">unaffiliated</a> with and more militant than other groups that had organized larger demonstrations earlier in the week, converged around 7 p.m. <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/08/21/72-people-arrested-during-protest-outside-israeli-consulate/\">outside the Israeli Consulate</a> in Chicago’s West Loop section. The demonstrators and police, who far outnumbered them, clashed repeatedly. The protesters were later ordered to leave the area and police began arresting them, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/08/21/72-people-arrested-during-protest-outside-israeli-consulate/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4b25l\">Photojournalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-shoved-by-chicago-police-gear-seized-and-damaged/\">Josh Pacheco</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-camera-damaged-by-chicago-police-during-dnc/\">Olga Fedorova</a> were among the dozens detained. CBS News <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/live-updates/chicago-dnc-protest-day-2/\">reported</a> that Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said three journalists were arrested for not complying with officers’ orders when police began moving in to arrest protesters who had attacked police.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rj92\">Nasseri told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting the protesters as they started marching away from the consulate when the police kettled them, trapping him and a few other journalists on all sides. The officers “were screaming. They were pretty aggressive and started making arrests,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gbdi\">Nasseri said he identified himself as press to the police multiple times, but was handcuffed and then detained at a precinct until 6 a.m. the following morning. He added that his equipment was returned to him upon his release, and that it appeared to be undamaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"agqt4\">Nasseri told the Tracker that the officers’ violent behavior seemed disproportionate to what was happening — that the protesters seemed nonviolent and that he and the journalists he was with took care to stay on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"6df1h\">“I’ve covered many, many protests and this was very strange in that they were very aggressive,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2a8q3\">The DNC’s Public Safety Joint Information Center confirmed that Nasseri had been cited for disorderly conduct — breach of peace. It did not respond to an additional question about why the journalist was arrested. Nasseri told the Tracker an initial hearing on the charge is scheduled for Sept. 27.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rb5o\">Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that in advance of the DNC, he had offered the Chicago Police Department a training on interacting with the press similar to one he gave the Milwaukee Police Department before the Republican National Convention in July.</p><p data-block-key=\"5clu5\">“They told me that they had been providing First Amendment training and they didn’t need anything from NPPA,” Osterreicher said. “Given the events of last night, I would have to say that that alleged training was an abysmal failure.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2uarl\">The three journalists were charged “for simply doing their jobs as reporters,” Nasseri’s attorney Steven Baron told the Tracker. “We are disappointed that the City of Chicago chose to sweep the First Amendment under the rug with its heavy-handed tactics against working journalists.”</p><p data-block-key=\"55aav\"><i>Editor’s note: This article and the incident’s metadata have been updated to include comments and details from Nasseri.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS161LAO_-_Reuters_-_Leah_Millis.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"lwufk\">Chicago police repeatedly clashed with demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian protest coinciding with the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 20, 2024. Photojournalist Sinna Nasseri was arrested while documenting the chaotic scene.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Chicago Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2024-08-21",
"detention_date": "2024-08-20",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-01-07 00:00:00+00:00) Charge dropped against photojournalist arrested at DNC protest"
],
"case_statuses": [],
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sinna Nasseri (Zeit)"
],
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}
]
