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{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist arrested at anti-deportation protest in Indiana",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-arrested-at-anti-deportation-protest-in-indiana/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-21T22:13:07.630584Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-29T16:52:52.069802Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-29T16:52:51.952246Z",
"date": "2025-01-18",
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"city": "Gary",
"longitude": -87.34643,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sw9mj\">Freelance photojournalist Matthew Kaplan was arrested in Gary, Indiana, on Jan. 18, 2025, while reporting on a pre-inauguration protest against large-scale deportations planned by Donald Trump’s incoming administration.</p><p data-block-key=\"7sotd\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mkaplanphoto/p/DE_ozY8Oo4d/11825-gary-indiana-i-was-arrested-by-the-gary-police-today-while-documenting-a-p/?img_index=7\">post on social media</a>, Kaplan wrote that protesters had gathered at the Gary/Chicago International Airport to demonstrate against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Regular protests have been held there since 2017 to object to its long-standing use by ICE for deportation flights, The Times of Northwest Indiana <a href=\"https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/arrests-deportation-protest-gary-airport/article_109df45c-d5da-11ef-87e9-bbc3934461d0.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ijv0\">The demonstrators marched toward the airport from a nearby train station while chanting and carrying signs, including “Abolish ICE” and “No Human is Illegal,” Kaplan wrote. After spending around 10 minutes protesting near the airport, they began the walk back to the train.</p><p data-block-key=\"23ktl\">“Soon some 10-15 police cars were tailing the group and ordered them to get off the active highway,” Kaplan wrote. “This order was eventually obeyed, but almost immediately after the marchers were on the grassy shoulder, police began to push people down and make arrests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"busb8\">Lisa Kiselevich, another freelance photojournalist covering the demonstration, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that both she and Kaplan were photographing as police carried one of the arrested protesters to a police vehicle. She said she remembered thinking Kaplan was standing in the better position.</p><p data-block-key=\"3sco4\">“I’m like, ‘Oh, he got the best spot there for his shots, because then he can see the person and the police car door open and everything. He’s in the perfect spot there,” Kiselevich said. “It turned out that the spot was not so lucky, because the (my) next shot shows the policeman grabbing him from the back.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b29ql\">Kiselevich said she didn’t hear the Gary Police Department officer issue a warning before arresting Kaplan, adding that while the scene was chaotic it was clear that both she and Kaplan were only photographing the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"aenal\">She said Kaplan gave her his two cameras, along with his tripod and camera bag, because he was concerned the officers might wipe his memory cards. The officer allowed the handoff but repeatedly threatened Kiselevich with arrest if she didn’t leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"8epfv\">“I said, ‘Well yeah, I’ll be out of here. Just let me grab his camera,’” Kiselevich said. “I did it and was walking, and then he walked behind me, the policeman, and he kept saying, ‘I will arrest you’ or ‘I’m going to arrest you’ or something like that. And not very loudly either.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9cvvh\">The Gary Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2l5v\">Kaplan wrote in his account that he was taken to the Gary Police Station and held for around two hours before he was released on charges of disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and resisting law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fum1\">“I don’t really like myself being the story, because there were two protesters who were arrested too,” Kaplan told the Tracker. “That’s what I thought I was covering. I thought I was just covering a march. I didn’t think I was going to be covering police action or my own arrest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q659\">Kaplan declined to comment further, following legal advice, before his initial appearance hearing Jan. 22.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2nbn4\">Freelance photojournalist Matthew Kaplan, at center left in green, was arrested while covering an anti-deportation protest in Gary, Indiana, on Jan. 18, 2025. He was charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Gary Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2025-01-18",
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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"Matthew Kaplan (Freelance)"
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},
{
"title": "Two journalists removed from briefing after interrupting Blinken",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-removed-from-briefing-after-interrupting-blinken/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-17T22:04:41.153225Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-17T22:04:41.153225Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-17T22:00:18.404608Z",
"date": "2025-01-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gxq5a\">Two credentialed journalists were removed from Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final news briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16, 2025, after they interrupted his remarks with questions and comments concerning the Biden administration’s role in the Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"95ijb\">In a PBS News <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUjxnGQsEI4\">livestream</a> of the briefing, Blinken is heard starting his remarks by thanking the press corps for the work that they’ve done and their professionalism.<br/><br/> “I have even greater respect, even greater appreciation for you asking the tough questions, for you holding us to account,” he said. “Being on the receiving end, sometimes that’s not always the most comfortable thing, not always the most enjoyable thing, but it is the most necessary thing in our democracy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4jegq\">As Blinken finished those comments, Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal can be heard calling out about the number of journalists in Gaza who were “on the receiving end of your bombs.” Blumenthal <a href=\"https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1879926469633487204\">continued</a> making statements and asking questions about the administration’s actions around the war, and Blinken responded only by saying that he would address questions after he had completed his remarks.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">MUST SEE: Journalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MaxBlumenthal</a> confronts Antony Blinken about Israel's genocide<br><br>“300 reporters in Gaza were on the receiving end of your bombs…”<br><br>“Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?…”<br><br>“Why did you allow the holocaust of our time to happen??…” <a href=\"https://t.co/wqpRDGEWCd\">pic.twitter.com/wqpRDGEWCd</a></p>— Decensored News (@decensorednews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/decensorednews/status/1879944242099101974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2025</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=\"gxq5a\">Blumenthal was ultimately directed out of the briefing room by a department employee. In a <a href=\"https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1880054714836070672\">post on the social platform X</a>, he wrote in part that he is “grateful to have finally gotten a conversation going on how America’s outgoing top diplomat repeatedly proclaimed his ethnoreligious and familial loyalty to a foreign apartheid state.”</p><p data-block-key=\"58rdg\">Approximately five minutes after Blumenthal was escorted out, independent journalist Sam Husseini also <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUjxnGQsEI4\">interrupted</a> Blinken. “Will you recognize the Geneva Conventions apply to the Palestinians?” Husseini asked.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2g70\">Blinken again responded that he would answer questions soon, and continued with the briefing.</p><p data-block-key=\"a6g8i\">After another five minutes passed, Husseini interrupted with another question, after which he could be heard having a back-and-forth with a department official and saying that he wanted Blinken to answer some questions. He added, “I’m a journalist. I’m not a potted plant.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bamk2\">Husseini also stated that State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told him that his questions would not be answered and so he was justified in interrupting the briefing.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ob7o\">In <a href=\"https://x.com/ryangrim/status/1879931954201870410\">footage</a> captured by Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim, multiple security officers then approached Husseini, pulling him out of his chair and ultimately lifting him off the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"49ish\">“I was sitting here quietly and now I’m being manhandled by two or three people,” Husseini said. “You pontificate about a free press?”</p><p data-block-key=\"433ea\">Blinken again responded that he would answer questions after his remarks and asked that Husseini “respect the process.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8l35v\">As he was carried out of the room, Husseini called out, “Everybody from Amnesty International to the ICJ (International Court of Justice) is saying that Israel’s doing genocide and extermination, and you’re telling me to ‘respect the process’? Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NEW: We reconstructed <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samhusseini?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@samhusseini</a>'s viral confrontation with Antony Blinken by combining footage from multiple sources, including <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AmrHSayed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@amrhsayed</a> & <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ryangrim?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ryangrim</a>. A must-see.<br><br>This was the culmination of months of State Dept stonewalling.<br><br>“Why aren't you in The Hague??” <a href=\"https://t.co/QRWQ1xz4Rv\">pic.twitter.com/QRWQ1xz4Rv</a></p>— Decensored News (@decensorednews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/decensorednews/status/1880230957070029141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 17, 2025</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=\"gxq5a\">Blinken began taking questions a few minutes after Husseini was removed from the briefing room, <a href=\"https://www.state.gov/office-of-the-spokesperson/releases/2025/01/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-a-press-availability\">answering questions</a> that were overwhelmingly about the administration’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war and ceasefire negotiations for approximately 45 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"dd9nt\">Husseini was ultimately <a href=\"https://x.com/samhusseini/status/1879931817253617798\">handcuffed</a> but later released without charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hu4\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/samhusseini/status/1880259181925544426\">post on social media</a>, Husseini wrote, “As I said, Miller told me they will not take my questions. I went to other staffers and journalists to complain. No one offered any remedy. I am not a stenographer. I am not a potted plant. I am not going to be complicit in my own silencing and the silencing of so many who depend on people like me.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Husseini_other.bf641d81.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"txm2g\">Independent journalist Sam Husseini, at center in gray, was forcibly carried out of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final news conference by State Department security on Jan. 16, 2025, after he interrupted Blinken’s remarks.</p>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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],
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"Other Incident"
],
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"Sam Husseini (Independent)",
"Max Blumenthal (The Grayzone)"
],
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{
"title": "Kansas House bans reporting from floor, mirroring move in Senate",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-house-bans-reporting-from-floor-mirroring-move-in-senate/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-16T22:21:17.264567Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-16T22:21:17.264567Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-16T22:17:26.031571Z",
"date": "2025-01-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Topeka",
"longitude": -95.67804,
"latitude": 39.04833,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"biywr\">Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins banned reporting from the chamber’s floor at the Statehouse in Topeka on Jan. 10, 2025, overturning longstanding practice in a move that journalists in the state said was retaliatory.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dgk\">Payton Lacey, director of communications for Hawkins, sent the revised rules to reporters three days before the legislative session was scheduled to begin Jan. 13. In a copy of the email shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Lacey directed members of the press to “review this document carefully as there have been significant changes made compared to past sessions’ rules.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eth2r\">During the 2024 session, journalists were generally advised to remain in the “press box” — a table with six chairs in a corner of the chamber — during the session, according to rules reviewed by the Tracker. Photographs were only to be taken from the back wall of the chamber or the press box.</p><p data-block-key=\"5l87l\">The new rules, however, eliminate press box access, instead directing members of the press to remain in a gallery above the back of the chamber. Photographs may still be taken from along the back and side walls, with filming allowed only from the back wall or the gallery above.</p><p data-block-key=\"9v2rf\">Hawkins, who did not respond to a request for comment, <a href=\"https://x.com/DanHawkinsKS/status/1879171220152983904\">posted a copy of the new rules</a> on the social platform X, adding, “As you can see, despite false reports, reporters are still allowed on the North, East, and South walls on the floor of the House.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fu998\">Sherman Smith, editor of the Kansas Reflector, told the Tracker that there has already been confusion with the new rules concerning whether journalists are allowed to take notes from the floor and if there are any limits on how long they can be in the chamber.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct6us\">“Payton Lacey kind of had shifting explanations as to whether we could stand there for long periods of time during a lengthy session,” Smith said, “or whether, as she suggested at one point, ‘Can’t you just take two photos and go back out?’”</p><p data-block-key=\"1b21g\">Lacey <a href=\"https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/13/kansas-house-speaker-bans-reporters-from-chamber-floor-doesnt-say-why/\">told the Reflector</a> that the rule change was based on “congestion” in the area previously allotted to the press. The new rule also mirrors changes made in the Senate, which <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-moved-from-kansas-senate-floor-to-public-gallery-for-new-legislative-session/\">barred journalists</a> from the chamber floor in 2022, citing space concerns. Multiple Republican-controlled state legislatures, including <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-removed-from-iowa-senate-floor-overturning-a-century-old-practice/\">Iowa</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/utah-senate-becomes-third-state-legislature-this-year-to-limit-journalists-access/\">Utah</a>, also limited press access to their chamber floors in 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"5a9k8\">Smith questioned the speaker’s rationale and said that there have been few occasions when the press box was overcrowded.</p><p data-block-key=\"90h8c\">“It’s not about this kind of shifting and incoherent rationale that they’ve given us since that story published,” he said. “It’s really about getting people that they don’t like off the floor because they don’t like what we report.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4rm92\">Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, told the Tracker that the change will have an immediate impact on journalists and the information they’re able to provide the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs35c\">“Reporting from the floor is important because there are a lot of conversations that don’t happen behind the mic,” Bradbury said. “Sometimes we are the only source of information between the people of Kansas and their representatives. And by giving reporters access and being able to overhear those conversations, we’re able to report on what’s happening in real time, which also helps those public servants get their message out accurately.”</p><p data-block-key=\"70qti\">The Reflector’s Smith told the Tracker that he can’t recall how many times a legislator has approached him with a comment or explanation on the floor about why they voted a particular way or their hopes for a particular bill.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffb8i\">“With these changes, it means that we have to work a little bit harder to do this, and we’ll lose some of that context for the stories. We’re just going to have to continue to raise stories that hold people accountable,” Smith said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fimq2\">Bradbury told the Tracker that while the press association was not consulted before the rules were changed, they are ready and willing to discuss solutions with the speaker that would be mutually agreeable.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"w9ay4\">Payton Lacey, spokesperson for Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, stands at the “press box” on the chamber floor in Topeka on Jan. 15, 2025. Journalists were banned from reporting from the House floor at the beginning of the 2025 legislative session.</p>",
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{
"title": "Colorado TV reporter tackled, choked outside station in apparent bias attack",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-tv-reporter-tackled-choked-outside-station-in-apparent-bias-attack/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-07T21:38:04.496606Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-07T21:39:46.397867Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-07T21:39:46.274012Z",
"date": "2024-12-18",
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"city": "Grand Junction",
"longitude": -108.55065,
"latitude": 39.06387,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"upks2\">Ja’Ronn Alex, a news reporter for KKCO/KJCT, was tackled and choked outside the Grand Junction, Colorado, TV station on Dec. 18, 2024, after being followed while driving a news vehicle and challenged over his nationality, according to police records and news reports.</p><p data-block-key=\"9jlq4\">A Colorado man, Patrick Egan, was arrested at the scene and charged with bias-motivated crimes and second-degree assault by strangulation — both felonies — and harassment by following and ethnic intimidation, a misdemeanor.</p><p data-block-key=\"4kunm\">Alex told police that he believed Egan had followed and attacked him because of his ethnicity as a Pacific Islander.</p><p data-block-key=\"3evf8\">The police affidavit said that Alex was driving back to the station from an assignment when Egan began following him in Delta, about 40 miles away. KKCO said in <a href=\"https://www.kkco11news.com/2025/01/02/man-accused-strangling-kkcokjct-reporter-bias-motivated-attack-has-criminal-record-california-according-judge/\">multiple</a> <a href=\"https://www.kkco11news.com/2024/12/23/bail-court-date-set-man-charged-with-strangling-kkcokjct-reporter-bias-related-attack/\">reports</a> that Alex was driving in a news vehicle, and Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel newspaper <a href=\"https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/man-accused-of-strangling-tv-reporter-has-history-of-mental-illness-lawyer-says/article_203fce1a-c94d-11ef-b3a6-b3385f7ea1de.html\">reported</a> that the vehicle had the TV station’s logos, citing KKCO/KJCT.</p><p data-block-key=\"4aeuc\">According to the affidavit, Alex said that Egan, who was driving a taxi, pulled up next to his car at a stoplight in Grand Junction and shouted “something to the effect of: ‘Are you even a U.S. Citizen? This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"2i137\">Alex then called the station’s general manager, Stacey Stewart, who told him to drive straight to the secure station building. Egan continued to follow Alex to the station, where both men parked in front of the building and got out of their cars. Egan chased Alex as he began to run toward the front door of the station, demanding to see his identification and asking him if he was an American, the affidavit said.</p><p data-block-key=\"cgp77\">Egan then tackled Alex to the ground, put him in a headlock and began to strangle him. At that point, several station employees ran outside, pulled Egan away from Alex and held him down until police arrived. The attack was partially captured on surveillance cameras, the affidavit said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dum7g\">Witnesses told police that Egan choked Alex for 45 to 90 seconds, and that his face turned red and he appeared to have difficulty breathing.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dn5n\">Alex, who sustained minor injuries in the attack, declined to comment. Stewart said she could not comment on the attack beyond the stations’ news reports.</p><p data-block-key=\"75tbk\">At Egan’s initial court appearance on Dec. 23, Alex <a href=\"https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/man-accused-of-strangling-tv-reporter-has-history-of-mental-illness-lawyer-says/article_203fce1a-c94d-11ef-b3a6-b3385f7ea1de.html\">said</a> of Egan: “He knows where I work, he knows exactly who I work for, and he still decided to charge at me and put me in a headlock.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bc38j\">Egan appeared in court on Jan. 2, where KKCO reported that the judge kept a protection order in place. Egan <a href=\"https://www.kkco11news.com/2025/01/03/patrick-egan-has-posted-bail-following-charges-bias-motivated-strangulation-attack-kkcokjct-reporter/\">posted</a> $20,000 bail later that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"6aogc\">His lawyer, Ruth Swift, did not return a voicemail requesting comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Alex_screenshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sqeup\">Colorado man Patrick Egan faces two felony charges after following a KKCO/KJCT television reporter, demanding to know his nationality, and tackling and choking him outside the Grand Junction TV station on Dec. 18, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "Colorado",
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},
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},
{
"title": "Reporter denied press credentials by Utah Capitol; files suit for access",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-denied-press-credentials-by-utah-capitol-files-suit-for-access/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-28T21:05:40.316171Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-28T21:05:40.316171Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-28T18:13:25.920817Z",
"date": "2024-12-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Salt Lake City",
"longitude": -111.89105,
"latitude": 40.76078,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2fhg\">Bryan Schott, founder of the news website Utah Political Watch, was denied credentials for the state’s 2025 legislative session on Dec. 17, 2024, a move he characterized in a subsequent lawsuit against officials in the House and Senate as retaliatory.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hm5p\">Schott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has covered the statehouse in Salt Lake City for more than 25 years and received Capitol press credentials without issue since 2013. He left The Salt Lake Tribune in mid-2024 to launch the web outlet and is its sole reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ovsa\">In a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/schotthappens.com/post/3ldhitxcjws2q\">post on social media</a>, Schott wrote that he first asked about receiving credentials for the upcoming session on Nov. 5, but didn’t initially receive a response. The Capitol credentialing policy was changed Nov. 24, Schott reported, and explicitly excludes “blogs, independent media or other freelance media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b89kr\">In a new preamble, the <a href=\"https://le.utah.gov/press/MediaAccessCredentialingPolicy.pdf?ref=utahpoliticalwatch.news\">credentialing policy</a> states that the process is “designed to give professional journalists and media representatives from reputable organizations access to cover the legislature and other significant events at the Utah State Capitol.”</p><p data-block-key=\"338mv\">The policy’s language around why credentials may be denied or revoked also changed from “Applicant does not represent a professional media organization” to “Does not represent an established reputable news organization or publication.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7pjri\">Schott told the Tracker that the changes purposefully excluded him and, according to open records requests he made, he was the only one who had been denied a credential. Meanwhile, Schott added, other new and independent outlets haven’t seen their access change.</p><p data-block-key=\"95iqi\">Attorneys with the Institute for Free Speech, which is representing Schott, argued that the retaliatory aspect was made clear in an official’s response to Schott, after he reported Dec. 12 on allegations that Senate President Stuart Adams had violated campaign disclosure laws.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3qgs\">When Schott reached out for comment to Aundrea Peterson, Utah Senate deputy chief of staff and media liaison designee, she accused him of having a “disregard for accurate reporting and ethical standards” and told him “you aren’t a journalist,” according to the <a href=\"https://www.ifs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2-Complaint-w-Exs-A-D-and-Civil-Cover-Sheet.pdf\">lawsuit</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2nsvh\">In the text exchange included in the suit, Schott wrote to Peterson, “It certainly sounds like you’re going to use your criticism of this story you don’t like to deny me a press credential next week.” She responded, “We will follow our policy when reviewing media credential applications.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5fob\">Adams also derided the article in a <a href=\"https://x.com/JStuartAdams/status/1867404744819716512\">post</a> on the social platform X, referring to it as a “blog post” and to Schott as a “former media member,” accusing him of “neglectful journalism that undermines the profession’s integrity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f9pm8\">Schott applied for Capitol press credentials five days later, on Dec. 17. Although he passed the background check, his request was denied based on the new policy’s exclusion of “blogs, independent, or other freelance journalists.” He appealed the decision, but the chiefs of staff for both the House and Senate upheld it Dec. 26.</p><p data-block-key=\"b56j5\">The Utah legislative session began on Jan. 21, 2025, and Schott filed his lawsuit against the chiefs of staff and media liaisons for both legislative chambers the following day. The suit alleges violations of his First and Fourteenth amendment rights and asks for an order requiring the Capitol to credential independent media, as well as nominal damages totaling $17.91, the year the Bill of Rights was ratified.</p><p data-block-key=\"d5vpf\">Schott told the Tracker on Jan. 27 that in the days since, he has missed multiple media availabilities, news conferences and news releases because of his lack of access to areas of the Capitol and exclusion from the press list.</p><p data-block-key=\"fkoq5\">“It’s dangerous when you allow the people who are the subject of reporting to decide who is and who is not a legitimate media outlet or legitimate journalist and that’s what is happening here,” Schott said. “They are picking and choosing who gets to ask them questions, who gets to cover them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bvhi9\">A Feb. 5 hearing is scheduled on Schott’s request for a temporary restraining order requiring the legislature to grant him credentials for the current session, he told the Tracker. But he added that Utah’s legislative session is the shortest in the country, lasting only 45 days, so even if the order is granted that day he will have already missed a third of the session.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Schott_denial.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q1nzn\">Bryan Schott, founder of the news website Utah Political Watch, has sued officials in the state’s House and Senate after being denied credentials for the 2025 legislative session on Dec. 17, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "2:25-cv-00050",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Utah",
"abbreviation": "UT"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"State government: Legislature"
],
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"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Bryan Schott (Utah Political Watch)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": [
"Change in policy or practice",
"Press credential or media list"
]
},
{
"title": "TV photographer assaulted by manager at Texas used-car lot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-photographer-assaulted-by-manager-at-texas-used-car-lot/",
"first_published_at": "2024-12-12T16:59:21.236026Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-12T16:59:21.236026Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-12T16:53:42.326246Z",
"date": "2024-12-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Pasadena",
"longitude": -95.2091,
"latitude": 29.69106,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"os54p\">KPRC-TV photojournalist Oscar Chavez was grabbed, pushed and elbowed multiple times while reporting at a Houston-area used-car dealership in Pasadena, Texas, on Dec. 5, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ihsb\">In a <a href=\"https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/12/05/video-kprc-2-reporter-and-photojournalist-assaulted-while-doing-story-on-used-car-lot/\">report for the outlet</a>, reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-reporter-shoved-phone-thrown-by-manager-at-texas-used-car-lot\">Gage Goulding</a> recounted that he and Chavez went to the business to investigate a young woman’s allegations that she was conned out of $1,500 when trying to buy a car.</p><p data-block-key=\"7acqa\">Goulding reportedly went undercover as a potential customer to see whether he’d have a similar experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"19a9h\">“Wearing a microphone, but without a camera, Goulding got the keys to a Jeep and with the salesman, started the engine and talked about test-driving the vehicle,” KPRC-TV reported. “At that point, he informed the salesman who he was and why he was there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8qia4\">In <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GageGouldingTV/videos/2422483971430371\">recordings</a> of the exchange that followed, the salesman is heard inviting Goulding inside to speak with the manager, David Estrada. Goulding — with Chavez following behind with a camera — began asking Estrada about the woman’s experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"2pgq6\">“When we do these stories and confront businesses, we usually are met with one simple answer: Please leave. And we do, we abide by that,” Goulding reported. “But this story was different from the get-go.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dbltl\">Estrada stood and without warning placed his hand on Chavez’s camera and began pushing the photojournalist outside. Outside the office, Estrada continued grabbing the camera while Goulding yelled for him not to touch their equipment and Chavez said that they were leaving.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mfhh\">“Meanwhile, the car salesman is grabbing (Chavez’s) camera, twisting his arm and throwing elbows,” Goulding said in his report.</p><p data-block-key=\"9t3ua\">Estrada also smacked Goulding’s phone “through the air” and pinned Chavez in the journalists’ vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"81t2q\">Neither journalist responded to requests for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"aap7h\">KPRC-TV reported that Estrada was arrested that day on two counts of assault. Estrada is also facing unrelated charges for allegedly embezzling more than $140,000 from another dealership, <a href=\"https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/12/06/pasadena-salesman-arrested-for-assault-on-kprc-news-crew-also-accused-of-stealing-over-144k-from-tomball-dealership/\">according to the station</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ibbd\">The woman whose experience sparked the investigation was contacted by the dealership and told she would be overnighted a check for the full $1,500.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6g31\">“The goal of this story wasn’t to create any drama,” Goulding reported. “It was to get answers for (the woman) and her family. And the good news is: We did get those answers.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Oscar_Chavez_assault.a418535b.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2gvy6\">KPRC-TV photojournalist Oscar Chavez, right, was shoved and grabbed by the manager of a Houston-area used-car dealership in Pasadena, Texas, while he and reporter Gage Goulding were investigating allegations of fraud on Dec. 5, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"name_of_business": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Oscar Chavez (KPRC-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "TV reporter shoved, phone thrown by manager at Texas used-car lot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-reporter-shoved-phone-thrown-by-manager-at-texas-used-car-lot/",
"first_published_at": "2024-12-12T16:59:49.714771Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-12T16:59:49.714771Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-12T16:53:27.169800Z",
"date": "2024-12-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Pasadena",
"longitude": -95.2091,
"latitude": 29.69106,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"izkbz\">KPRC-TV reporter Gage Goulding was shoved and his camera smacked out of his hands while reporting at a Houston-area used-car dealership in Pasadena, Texas, on Dec. 5, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"etkjk\">In a <a href=\"https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/12/05/video-kprc-2-reporter-and-photojournalist-assaulted-while-doing-story-on-used-car-lot/\">report for the outlet</a>, Goulding recounted that he and photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-photographer-assaulted-by-manager-at-texas-used-car-lot\">Oscar Chavez</a> went to the business to investigate a young woman’s allegations that she was conned out of $1,500 when trying to buy a car.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0q6a\">Goulding reportedly went undercover as a potential customer to see whether he’d have a similar experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs9t1\">“Wearing a microphone, but without a camera, Goulding got the keys to a Jeep and with the salesman, started the engine and talked about test-driving the vehicle,” KPRC-TV reported. “At that point, he informed the salesman who he was and why he was there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fv78n\">In <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/GageGouldingTV/videos/2422483971430371\">recordings</a> of the exchange that followed, the salesman is heard inviting Goulding inside to speak with the manager, David Estrada. Goulding — with Chavez following behind with a camera — began asking Estrada about the woman’s experience.</p><p data-block-key=\"14ft1\">“When we do these stories and confront businesses, we usually are met with one simple answer: Please leave. And we do, we abide by that,” Goulding reported. “But this story was different from the get-go.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fig0\">Estrada stood and without warning placed his hand on Chavez’s camera and began pushing the photojournalist outside. Outside the office, Estrada continued grabbing the camera while Goulding yelled for him not to touch their equipment and Chavez said that they were leaving.</p><p data-block-key=\"42f56\">“Meanwhile, the car salesman is grabbing (Chavez’s) camera, twisting his arm and throwing elbows,” Goulding said in his report.</p><p data-block-key=\"egeq5\">Estrada also smacked Goulding’s phone “through the air” and pinned Chavez in the journalists’ vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"2odrt\">Neither journalist responded to requests for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ci4e\">KPRC-TV reported that Estrada was arrested that day on two counts of assault. Estrada is also facing unrelated charges for allegedly embezzling more than $140,000 from another dealership, <a href=\"https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/12/06/pasadena-salesman-arrested-for-assault-on-kprc-news-crew-also-accused-of-stealing-over-144k-from-tomball-dealership/\">according to the station</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"73sl2\">The woman whose experience sparked the investigation was contacted by the dealership and told she would be overnighted a check for the full $1,500.</p><p data-block-key=\"cmjoa\">“The goal of this story wasn’t to create any drama,” Goulding reported. “It was to get answers for (the woman) and her family. And the good news is: We did get those answers.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Goulding_assault.f21e9435.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1ge1k\">KPRC-TV reporter Gage Goulding, right, reports from the station’s studio on the arrest of a Houston-area man who assaulted him and photojournalist Oscar Chavez at a used-car dealership in Pasadena, Texas, on Dec. 5, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Gage Goulding (KPRC-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist ordered to turn over notes, communications around murder trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-ordered-to-turn-over-notes-communications-around-murder-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2025-02-24T16:30:40.974780Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-24T16:30:40.974780Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-24T16:25:57.804173Z",
"date": "2024-11-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Dedham",
"longitude": -71.16616,
"latitude": 42.24177,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"b7kwg\">Boston magazine contributing editor Gretchen Voss was subpoenaed on Nov. 21, 2024, for confidential newsgathering materials in connection with a murder trial in Dedham, Massachusetts. After initially upholding the motion in December, the judge partially reversed the order almost two months later.</p><p data-block-key=\"cecng\">In June and July 2023, Voss <a href=\"https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2023/09/27/canton-karen-read/\">interviewed Karen Read</a>, who stands accused of the murder of her boyfriend in a case that has captured national attention.</p><p data-block-key=\"670eh\">Prosecutors first attempted in January 2024 to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-turns-over-interview-recordings-in-connection-with-murder-trial\">compel the disclosure</a> of the journalist’s notes and recordings of the interviews. Massachusetts does not have a formally recognized reporter’s shield law protecting journalists from being forced to disclose newsgathering materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"2iorp\">Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone denied the prosecutor’s request for the off-the-record portions of the interviews and notes handwritten by Voss, but ordered her to produce copies of Read’s recorded on-the-record comments. Voss provided the redacted recordings.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ki93\">The case against Read ended in a mistrial in July and was scheduled for a retrial in early 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"4u2c9\">The state renewed its request for the notes and unredacted interview recordings in November 2024, ahead of the second trial. Prosecutors also requested copies of any texts, emails or voicemail communications Voss had with Read.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfpe2\">“The defendant made a tactical decision to be interviewed. There is no legal justification enabling a defendant to pick and choose what statements can and should be disseminated to the public,” the motion said. “The ‘off the record’ promise has no legal import, and this Commonwealth does not recognize the private agreement between the defendant and the news sources.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aiss5\">Cannone granted the government’s request on Dec. 5 and ordered Voss to produce the documents by Jan. 2, 2025. Voss filed a motion for reconsideration regarding her notes, writing in an affidavit that forcing her to turn them over would jeopardize her credibility with sources in the future and her ability to work as an investigative journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"ds41f\">“Obtaining information from sources ‘off the record’ is a normal—and critical—part of my work,” Voss wrote. “Keeping my word on this is critical to maintaining credibility and trust, and thus maintaining source relationships while not intervening with the flow of important information to the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"el3l5\">Robert Bertsche, an attorney representing Voss and Boston magazine, argued in the motion that courts have cautioned against making journalists “discovery agents for the government.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bcifg\">“What is the Commonwealth seeking now from the taped interviews? Exactly what it forswore earlier: the statements made by Karen Read’s attorneys during those interviews,” Bertsche wrote. “The Commonwealth is commandeering a journalist merely in the hopes that the journalist’s records will prove useful to its case.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9iqgh\">Cannone ordered Voss to provide the notes for “in camera review” — where the judge privately views disputed materials to determine relevance — by Jan. 13, and Voss complied.</p><p data-block-key=\"v9rn\">During a Jan. 31 hearing, Cannone partially reversed her decision and ruled that Voss would not be compelled to turn over her off-the-record notes, the Boston Herald <a href=\"https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/02/01/karen-read-judge-rules-in-favor-of-boston-magazine-the-free-flow-of-information/\">reported</a>. “Voss has articulated a compelling argument that requiring disclosure of the notes poses a greater risk to the free flow of information than the other materials produced,” Cannone wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"b3aev\">The judge ruled, however, that the unredacted copies of her on-the-record interviews with Read — which had excluded off-the-record comments from both Read and her attorneys — must be turned over to prosecutors.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3tt9\">Neither Voss nor Bertsche responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Voss_motion.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kwqr6\">A portion of Massachusetts prosecutors’ Nov. 21, 2024, motion to force Boston magazine contributing editor Gretchen Voss to disclose her off-the-record interview notes and communications with Karen Read ahead of Read’s retrial on murder charges.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Massachusetts",
"abbreviation": "MA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Gretchen Voss (Boston magazine)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "FBI arrests man for hate-based threats against New York reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-arrests-man-for-hate-based-threats-against-new-york-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-21T21:47:15.271899Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-21T21:47:15.271899Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-21T21:46:44.901462Z",
"date": "2024-11-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "White Plains",
"longitude": -73.76291,
"latitude": 41.03399,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o93g5\">The FBI arrested a man on Nov. 15, 2024, who was allegedly behind a series of hate-based threats against a reporter in New York’s Hudson Valley.</p><p data-block-key=\"d06dh\">The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/south-carolina-man-arrested-hate-based-threats-kill-news-reporter-and-her-family\">announced</a> that Austin Suman was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after having allegedly made a series of “violent and hate-based threats” to a news reporter in Orange County via Facebook and email a week prior.</p><p data-block-key=\"4rt3j\">“Hiding behind a screen will not prevent the FBI’s pursuit of those who target others with hateful messages of violence and death,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Dennehy said.</p><p data-block-key=\"48bom\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/d9/2024-11/u.s._v._suman_complaint.pdf\">complaint</a>, Suman targeted the reporter over her coverage of his arrest in 2019 for allegedly threatening his roommate with a gun, which resulted in his firearms being seized.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3igt\">Suman’s Nov. 8 messages derided the reporter as a “dumb fuckin cunt,” adding “female journalist what a joke.” He repeatedly used an ethnic slur against people of Hispanic, Latin American or Spanish descent, and asserted, “We are going to deport your family all of them.” Suman then bragged about having “more guns than ever,” and threatened to bomb the reporter’s home and to kill her and her family.</p><p data-block-key=\"iqj2\">Suman was charged with threatening interstate communications, making a threat involving explosives and interstate stalking. His case will be handled in federal court in White Plains, and he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lov7\">The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that addressing such aggressions against journalists is a priority.</p><p data-block-key=\"e2gac\">“The charges against the defendant demonstrate our resolve to work at lightning speed to neutralize threats against the press—which serves a vital role in our democracy,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. “To any individual who dares to cross the line and make hate-based threats against members of our press: you will be found, and you will be held accountable for your actions.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2024-11-19_at_7.18.40P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qn2fg\">A portion of the complaint against Austin Suman, alleging that he sent a series of violent, hate-based threats to a New York reporter on Nov. 8, 2024. Suman was arrested Nov. 15 in South Carolina.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified reporter 8"
],
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{
"title": "FCC commissioner accuses media ratings provider of censorship",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fcc-commissioner-accuses-media-ratings-provider-of-censorship/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-08T14:34:58.015806Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-08T14:34:58.015806Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-08T14:34:57.826523Z",
"date": "2024-11-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"73axa\">FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr accused private company NewsGuard, which uses journalistic methods to generate reliability ratings of media outlets, of participating in a “censorship cartel” in a Nov. 13, 2024, letter to four tech companies.</p><p data-block-key=\"9kpt4\">Carr accused NewsGuard of targeting and censoring certain outlets by giving them low credibility ratings and allowing bias to shape its ratings.</p><p data-block-key=\"bgjuf\">In the <a href=\"https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-407732A1.pdf\">letter</a> to the heads of Microsoft, Apple, Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — and Alphabet — which owns Google — Carr demanded lists of every product or service that relies on NewsGuard, information he said would “inform the FCC’s work to promote free speech and a diversity of viewpoints.”</p><p data-block-key=\"54thf\">Carr posted the letter on X, writing, “The Orwellian named NewsGuard along with ‘fact checking’ groups & ad agencies helped enforce one-sided narratives.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft & others have played central roles in the censorship cartel.<br><br>The Orwellian named NewsGuard along with “fact checking” groups & ad agencies helped enforce one-sided narratives.<br><br>The censorship cartel must be dismantled. <a href=\"https://t.co/Xf0sEYOUfv\">pic.twitter.com/Xf0sEYOUfv</a></p>— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1857419658812440927?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 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=\"73axa\">According to <a href=\"https://www.newsguardtech.com/\">NewsGuard’s website</a>, it employs “a team of journalists and experienced editors” to produce reliability ratings for online publishers using “journalistic criteria.” In a <a href=\"https://www.newsguardtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/NewsGuard-Statement-on-Brendan-Carr-Letter.pdf\">statement</a> responding to Carr’s letter, the company argued that the commissioner’s accusations were based on “false reports,” including from conservative outlet Newsmax, which NewsGuard has given a low credibility rating.</p><p data-block-key=\"1i8m9\">“Our journalism is itself speech protected by the First Amendment,” NewsGuard stated. “We’re concerned to see a government official using the powers of his office, however unwittingly after having been misled by Newsmax, to attempt to prevent a private company (NewsGuard) from producing journalistic content.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fjghh\">When reached for comment about NewsGuard’s statement, Carr <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/24/newsguard-disinformation-censorship-free-speech/\">told</a> The Washington Post, “NewsGuard’s response is a jumble of disinformation, deception and sleight of hand. In other words, it mirrors NewsGuard’s business model, in my opinion.”</p><p data-block-key=\"19pbu\">Carr seems to be attempting to punish the company “for doing journalism,” NewsGuard Co-Editor-in-Chief Steven Brill <a href=\"https://deadline.com/2024/12/newsguard-newsmax-trump-fcc-1236202249/\">told</a> Deadline. “It’s like saying I am going to penalize Consumer Reports because it’s giving people information when they are looking to buy a toaster.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1o5qs\">Carr was appointed to the FCC in 2017 by President Donald Trump. On Nov. 17, 2024, after winning reelection, Trump <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-brendan-carr-federal-communications-commission-rcna180567\">announced</a> that he had selected Carr as FCC chair, calling him “a warrior for Free Speech.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2b2tk\">Carr has supported Trump’s calls for <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-calls-nbc-fake-news-and-suggests-fcc-should-challenge-its-broadcast-license/\">NBC</a>, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Oct-10-2024-Trump\">CBS</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Sept-11-2024-Trump\">ABC</a> to lose their broadcast licenses over their alleged mistreatment of him, NPR <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/11/17/nx-s1-5193064/fcc-chair-brendan-carr-trump\">reported</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP23334698592818.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"y0mid\">FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr in 2023. Carr sent a letter to four tech companies on Nov. 13, 2024, demanding information about their work with NewsGuard, a media reliability rater that he accused of participating in a “censorship cartel.”</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"targeted_institutions": [
"NewsGuard"
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "California court clerk charged with providing search warrant to reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-court-clerk-charged-with-providing-search-warrant-to-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-15T19:34:23.392150Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-18T18:37:05.104735Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-18T18:37:04.968757Z",
"date": "2024-11-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Stockton",
"longitude": -121.29078,
"latitude": 37.9577,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"osdzh\">Pamela Edwards — a former clerk for the San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton, California — was charged on Nov. 13, 2024, with allegedly releasing a sealed search warrant to a reporter a year prior.</p><p data-block-key=\"36rlj\">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 the Stockton Unified School District board president and the school board’s headquarters as part of an investigation into the official’s alleged misuse of a school district credit card, witness intimidation and other misconduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"3u1ub\">Later that month, Stockton Record reporter Aaron 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.</p><p data-block-key=\"6t1bm\">A day after the article was 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=\"5v52a\">A <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/SJSheriff/posts/pfbid02CYG9zgTsvyiUiARr92Tag3zHkf9ncz2ShJmmAXM1aqbsvAYZ5nE8wqV51uiR2BrXl\">statement</a> from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office called the warrant “highly sensitive” and said Edwards had violated a court order by releasing it.</p><p data-block-key=\"9j3a3\">“At no time was the warrant ‘unsealed’ and its release may have negatively impacted our investigation,” the statement said. “We consulted with the District Attorney’s Office, and we are in agreement that we could not allow this egregious violation of trust and criminal act by a 27-year veteran of our justice community (who knew better and is held to a higher standard) not to be accountable for her actions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8g275\">Two deputies <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputies-question-reporter-at-her-home/\">visited</a> Leathley at her Stockton home on Aug. 30, 2024, to question her about the release of the search warrant and a “cease and desist” they claimed she was sent. When contacted at the time, a sheriff’s department spokesperson told the Tracker that there was an ongoing investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"bbaei\">Edwards was ultimately arrested in November and charged with <a href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=166.\">willful disobedience of a court order</a>, according to a <a href=\"https://www.sjgov.org/department/da/news/press-release/2024/11/14/court-clerk-arrested-for-violating-court-order\">news release</a> from District Attorney Ronald Freitas.</p><p data-block-key=\"enmqa\">“Violating the sanctity of a Court Order, especially a sealed warrant, is not only an assault on our justice system but puts law enforcement and potential witnesses in harm’s way,” Freitas said. “We will hold all those involved in this case fully responsible for this violation of our courts and our justice system.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6rce0\">Edwards’ arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 4.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Stockton_leak_case.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"h24b2\">In California, a former San Joaquin County Superior Court clerk was charged on Nov. 13, 2024, with violating a court order, above, by releasing a copy of a sealed search warrant to Stockton Record reporter Aaron Leathley in November 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"Aaron Leathley (The Stockton Record)"
],
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"categories": [
"Leak Case"
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},
{
"title": "Indiana student paper says state politician’s posts about outlet threatening",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indiana-student-paper-says-state-politicians-posts-about-outlet-threatening/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-15T13:59:51.215163Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-15T13:59:51.215163Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-15T13:57:38.241858Z",
"date": "2024-11-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Bloomington",
"longitude": -86.52639,
"latitude": 39.16533,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3agm5\">The student newspaper at Indiana University Bloomington was targeted on social media by a state politician on Nov. 12, 2024. The outlet said the posts were intended to chill its reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vu7d\">Micah Beckwith — Indiana’s newly elected lieutenant governor and a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWcRrcvWYds\">self-described Christian nationalist</a> who serves as a pastor in Noblesville — used his official accounts on the social platforms <a href=\"https://x.com/MicahBeckwith/status/1856349131981087004\">X</a> and <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MicahBeckwith4Indiana/posts/pfbid023ABAZHTPH74LRiEZ78EeyP7fmPtc8XppbWoN5P1JvWceXHYsT2oPwDnknMzduZwAl\">Facebook</a> to criticize the Indiana Daily Student’s Nov. 7 front cover. The cover featured an illustration of President-elect Donald Trump overlaid with unfavorable quotes from his former allies.</p><p data-block-key=\"8u20b\">“This is WOKE propaganda at its finest and why most of America looks at higher education indoctrination centers like IU as a complete joke and waste of money,” Beckwith wrote. “This type of elitist leftist propaganda needs to stop or we will be happy to stop it for them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eic1h\">Beckwith also asserted that the publication was “Your tax dollars at work.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9lgeg\">IDS <a href=\"https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/11/beckwith-ids-threatens-iu-indiana-braun\">reported</a> that Beckwith’s posts were meant as a threat to both the newspaper and the university.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Indiana Lieutenant Governor-elect Micah Beckwith threatened the IDS and IU in an X post Tuesday over the IDS’ Nov. 7 front cover, which featured a photo illustration of President-elect Donald Trump with quotes from his former political allies. <a href=\"https://t.co/JYckyhJ3mL\">https://t.co/JYckyhJ3mL</a></p>— Indiana Daily Student (@idsnews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/idsnews/status/1856427001550094464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 12, 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=\"3agm5\">Co-Editor-in-Chief Jacob Spudich defended the newspaper’s cover, telling the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the intention was to engage multiple interpretations.<br/><br/> “If you are somebody who didn’t vote for Trump and are feeling devastated, you can look at and just kind of be, like, ‘Wow, all this stuff happened yet he still won,’” Spudich said. “And if you're a supporter of Trump, you can look at all this, all the quotes and everything that his former allies and advisers were saying, and say, like, ‘Wow, all this was said about him, yet he still triumphed and won the election.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"ntds\">Spudich added that the paper welcomes any criticism of its content, but will staunchly defend the First Amendment and the freedoms it grants the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"38idi\">Beckwith, when reached by phone, told the Tracker that he also respects press freedom and that his intention was to identify the coverage as symptomatic of an issue he sees within the university system as a whole.</p><p data-block-key=\"3rqtt\">“It’s not just the student newspaper. I think it’s a general problem that we’ve seen at IU over the course of the last few decades, where it is, again, silencing conservative viewpoints,” Beckwith said. “So I think it’s appropriate to say, ‘OK, our tax dollars are going to this: Is it giving a fair and honest voice to everyone involved?’”</p><p data-block-key=\"euujj\">Beckwith clarified that this is not an official stance of Gov.-elect Mike Braun’s administration: “This is just me calling out something that needs to be addressed and bringing it into sunlight.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5oftl\">Beckwith also said that the university’s board of trustees or the president of the college should be involved in evaluating whether the student publication is being “fair and honest.” In an <a href=\"https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/11/beckwith-alleges-covert-funding-suppression-at-iu-during-interview-with-ids-read-the-transcript\">interview with IDS</a>, Beckwith said the state should investigate whether the university is using taxpayer money in “covert” ways to support the newspaper.</p><p data-block-key=\"bs86\">Spudich told the Tracker that IDS is financially and editorially independent from the university, so doesn’t receive any tax dollars. The newspaper reported that it generates its revenue through advertisements and events, and pays a tax to the university for the space it operates out of on campus.</p><p data-block-key=\"bjcv5\">While any threats to the press are concerning, Spudich told the Tracker, the student journalists remain undeterred.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t0ve\">“For the most part, we have an incredibly resilient newsroom,” he said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP24061574217163.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8gv2s\">The Indiana Daily Student, the student newspaper at Indiana University Bloomington (pictured above), was targeted on Nov. 12, 2024, on social media by Lt. Gov.-elect Micah Beckwith, who accused it of engaging in “elitist leftist propaganda.”</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Indiana Daily Student"
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"tags": [
"student journalism"
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"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Three arrested in murder-for-hire plot against Iranian American journalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/three-arrested-in-murder-for-hire-plot-against-iranian-american-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-12T20:17:25.713699Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-12T20:17:25.713699Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-12T20:15:41.557255Z",
"date": "2024-11-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"405sh\">The Department of Justice announced charges on Nov. 8, 2024, against three men it accused of surveilling and plotting to murder New York-based Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad. Thirteen others have been indicted in connection with murder-for-hire plots against Alinejad.</p><p data-block-key=\"4adjb\">Alinejad, referred to as “Victim-1” in the DOJ’s <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-murder-hire-and-related-charges-against-irgc-asset-and-two\">news release</a>, confirmed in a <a href=\"https://x.com/alinejadmasih/status/1854959153770643838?s=46\">social media post</a> that she was the target of the plot. Iranian citizen Farhad Shakeri and U.S. citizens Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt have been charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and money laundering conspiracy. Rivera and Loadholt were arrested on Nov. 7.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vej8\">Shakeri, who the DOJ said is still at large, was also allegedly tasked with “providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1dt7h\">“I just learned from the @FBI that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk,” Alinejad wrote in the social media post. “I came to America to practice my First Amendment right to freedom of speech—I don’t want to die. I want to fight against tyranny, and I deserve to be safe.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am shocked. I just learned from the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FBI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FBI</a> that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk.<br><br>I also learned that the person assigned to assassinate <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@realDonaldTrump</a> was also assigned to kill me on U.S.… <a href=\"https://t.co/3dL8yzBpQl\">pic.twitter.com/3dL8yzBpQl</a></p>— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlinejadMasih/status/1854959153770643838?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 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=\"405sh\">Alinejad, a U.S. citizen originally from Iran, is a vocal critic of the Iranian government and fled that country in 2009, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/nyregion/iran-masih-alinejad-kidnapping.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=New%20York\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8a2m4\">Shakeri was also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the government of Iran.</p><p data-block-key=\"3dpt4\">Since July 2021, thirteen people <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/five-indicted-in-connection-with-plot-to-kidnap-iranian-american-journalist/\">have been charged</a> in connection with plans to kidnap and murder Alinejad, some of whom the DOJ alleges are connected to the Iranian government.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP24052782973886.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6zhaz\">Iranian American independent journalist Masih Alinejad in New York in 2023. The Justice Department announced charges on Nov. 8, 2024, against three men it accused of plotting to murder her.</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": 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": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Masih Alinejad (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "California journalist grabbed by sheriff’s deputy at county board meeting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-journalist-grabbed-by-sheriffs-deputy-at-county-board-meeting/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-19T21:34:37.657777Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-19T21:34:37.657777Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-19T21:34:37.460772Z",
"date": "2024-11-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Redding",
"longitude": -122.39168,
"latitude": 40.58654,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2fsen\">Journalist Doni Chamberlain was grabbed and forced out of a Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting in Redding, California, by a sheriff’s deputy on Nov. 7, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"6pbmm\">Chamberlain, publisher and owner of A News Cafe, an online news magazine, <a href=\"https://anewscafe.com/2024/11/12/redding/sheriffs-deputy-grabs-anc-publishers-arms-and-cell-phone-shoves-her-from-board-chambers/\">reported</a> that she was one of several journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-forced-from-california-county-meeting-during-protesters-arrest\">ejected from the meeting</a> after law enforcement began the arrest of a protester who had seated herself in front of the dais. Chamberlain told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she believed that the ejection was intended to prevent them from covering the protest and subsequent arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"nkgr\">Chamberlain began livestreaming the meeting when two protesters seated themselves on the floor at the front of the room, one holding a sign supporting a county official who had been criticized over election monitoring practices. When the board chair called a recess and ordered the public to leave the room, three journalists, including Chamberlain, remained.</p><p data-block-key=\"3l19e\">Security guards asked Chamberlain to leave the room several times and stood in front of her phone camera as she livestreamed the protesters. Chamberlain told him that she had the right to remain there as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"471mt\">The second protester soon left, but the first refused. A group of sheriff’s deputies then entered, some of whom arrested the remaining protester. Another joined the security guards in ordering the journalists to move further back in the room, telling them that safety issues and an “ongoing investigation” required that they leave and threatening them with arrest. The lights in the room were also turned off as the arrest proceeded.</p><p data-block-key=\"4fk6c\">“Clearly, law enforcement’s goal was to move the press as far from their dealings with (the protester) as possible, so we couldn’t see, hear, or report,” Chamberlain told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"fj2lr\">The two other reporters left the room, leaving Chamberlain standing in the open doorway. A sheriff’s deputy ordered her into the foyer; Chamberlain again refused, saying that she had a right as a member of the press to remain there as long as the protest and arrest were ongoing in the board chambers.</p><p data-block-key=\"9l2fg\">The deputy gestured at a colleague, who grabbed Chamberlain’s cellphone, causing her Facebook Live feed to go dark. He then let go of her phone and took hold of both of her upper arms, pushing her out of the room.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvphv\">She reported that her arms were sore after being “roughly grabbed,” but that her phone was not damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"5fuob\">Chamberlain told the Tracker that the security guard and sheriff’s deputies “absolutely knew I was a member of the press, because I repeatedly verbally identified myself as a journalist who had a protected First Amendment right to remain in the room where a peaceful protester was being dealt with by multiple deputies.”</p><p data-block-key=\"10c3k\">She said that she typically doesn’t wear a press pass because she’s well-known in the county after 30 years of journalism, but added, “From now on, I’ll start wearing a press pass to all events.”</p><p data-block-key=\"er34h\">Chamberlain also explained that she prefers to attend the board’s meetings in person because the online livestream is turned off during recesses or if a problem arises — and such situations are “not rare.” “This means anyone watching the livestreaming video is suddenly, literally, in the dark about what’s happening,” she said. So when the livestream stops, Chamberlain said she starts streaming the meeting on Facebook Live for the benefit of the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"7a16a\">After the ejection, Supervisor Tim Garman <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cfe2qYf2S/\">posted an apology</a> on Facebook to media forced out of the meeting room.</p><p data-block-key=\"drt1a\">“The constitution protects their rights to be where the news is happening, and someone being arrested in a public building is certainly news,” he wrote. “There was zero safety threat inside the board chambers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fjalh\">Chamberlain told the Tracker she intends to file a complaint with the Sheriff’s Office against the deputies and another with the Shasta County Administration Office against the board chair. She also said that she reported the incident to the ACLU and the First Amendment Coalition, and is looking for an attorney.</p><p data-block-key=\"7tgee\">Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office reiterated in a <a href=\"https://anewscafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/462560013_541467338855108_92698175770891807_n.jpg\">news release</a> that the meeting room had been cleared “for safety,” and announced that “this incident remains under investigation and other individuals who failed to obey lawful orders to exit the chambers may also face charges.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bmc13\">Chamberlain mentioned that several militia group members showed up at the meeting and stood along the back wall, “which made for an intimidating sight.” Chamberlain was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-reporter-assaulted-at-meeting-as-man-grabs-camera/\">assaulted in July 2023</a> while attempting to document a meeting of a group of conservative activists planned by Jesse Lane, one of the militia members present at the Nov. 7 meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"66kdj\">“After these two assaults, I feel less and less safe working as a journalist,” Chamberlain told the Tracker. “These are scary days to be a journalist.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Chamberlain_screenshot.2e517213.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bc7tw\">During a protester’s arrest, sheriff’s deputies grabbed reporter Doni Chamberlain by the arms and forced her out of a Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting in Redding, California, on Nov. 7, 2024.</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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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Doni Chamberlain (A News Cafe)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporters forced from California county meeting during protester’s arrest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-forced-from-california-county-meeting-during-protesters-arrest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-19T21:34:58.504895Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-19T21:50:31.102609Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-19T21:50:31.015642Z",
"date": "2024-11-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Redding",
"longitude": -122.39168,
"latitude": 40.58654,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2mib2\">Members of the press were ejected by sheriff’s deputies from a Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting in Redding, California, on Nov. 7, 2024. The deputies claimed that the room was cleared for safety reasons as they arrested a protester who had seated herself in front of the dais.</p><p data-block-key=\"clpsh\">The protester, one of two, held a sign supporting a county official who had been criticized over election monitoring practices. When the board chair called a recess and ordered the public to leave the room, three journalists remained — Doni Chamberlain of A News Cafe, Annelise Pierce of Shasta Scout and David Benda of the Record Searchlight.</p><p data-block-key=\"cltok\">The second protester soon left, but the first refused. Pierce told County Counsel Joseph Larmour, who had also ordered the reporters out of the room, that she was staying to document a citizen’s actions, the Shasta Scout <a href=\"https://shastascout.org/press-freedom-organization-says-shasta-countys-decision-viol/\">reported</a>. Larmour responded that the protester was “a ‘target’ of law enforcement and therefore didn’t ‘count’ as a citizen.”</p><p data-block-key=\"equir\">A group of sheriff’s deputies then entered, some of whom arrested the remaining protester. Another joined security guards in ordering the journalists to move further back in the room, telling them that safety issues and an “ongoing investigation” required that they leave and threatening them with arrest. The lights in the room were also turned off as the arrest proceeded.</p><p data-block-key=\"7unq9\">Pierce and Benda left the room; Chamberlain was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-journalist-grabbed-by-sheriffs-deputy-at-county-board-meeting\">grabbed and forcibly removed</a> by a sheriff’s deputy. After the protester was removed, the meeting reconvened and the journalists reentered.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3uve\">Later, Supervisor Tim Garman <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cfe2qYf2S/\">posted an apology</a> on Facebook to media forced out of the meeting room.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qcc4\">“The constitution protects their rights to be where the news is happening, and someone being arrested in a public building is certainly news,” he wrote. “There was zero safety threat inside the board chambers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cipu5\">Meanwhile, the Shasta County Sheriff reiterated in a <a href=\"https://anewscafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/462560013_541467338855108_92698175770891807_n.jpg\">news release</a> that the meeting room had been cleared “for safety,” and announced that “this incident remains under investigation and other individuals who failed to obey lawful orders to exit the chambers may also face charges.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a79tf\">The board also issued its own <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25290395-2024-11-12-fac-ltr-to-shasta-co-bos-sheriff-w-attachments#document/p6\">news release</a>, alleging that press had been removed under “a protocol that has been in place for more than a year.” Shasta Scout reported that in response to a request for documentation of the protocol, Larmour acknowledged it had “not been memorialized in writing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"er08d\">It was the second time reporters were ordered to leave the room during a protest at a supervisor’s meeting. The first was in July, when the same woman protested. That time, journalists remained to report on her arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"ft068\">After that arrest, the board announced a new media policy under which media must stay sequestered in a separate room, watching the meetings through glass windows and only hearing audio spoken through a microphone, Shasta Scout <a href=\"https://shastascout.org/shasta-county-plans-to-restrict-media-access-at-public-meetings/\">reported</a>. If press chose to stay in the main room, they would be ordered to leave during any “disruptions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2fm8p\">The policy was <a href=\"https://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2024/08/01/shasta-county-drops-new-media-policy-after-public-backlash/74640536007/\">rescinded</a> days later, after criticism from the public and advocacy group First Amendment Coalition, which called it a violation of California’s open meetings law and the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8bahj\">Reporter Chamberlain told the Tracker she saw Nov. 7’s events as a reaction to press coverage of the earlier protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"9msn0\">“I believe Chair Kevin Crye and Sheriff Mike Johnson were angry and embarrassed by our reporting about (the protester),” Chamberlain told the Tracker. “I believe they decided they would not allow press access to report what happened again.”</p><p data-block-key=\"57gls\">In a <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25290395-2024-11-12-fac-ltr-to-shasta-co-bos-sheriff-w-attachments?responsive=1&title=1\">Nov. 12 letter</a> to the board and sheriff’s office, the First Amendment Coalition criticized the media’s removal from the Nov. 7 meeting as another violation of open meetings law and the Constitution, noting that there was little justification for clearing the room at all, let alone ordering the press to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"12pta\">Pierce told the Tracker that she was surprised that the deputies would engage in such “a clear violation of First Amendment rights,” but that “there have been ongoing indication of threats to press freedom under our new board majority,” a reference to the media policy enacted in July.</p><p data-block-key=\"71bgf\">Chamberlain mentioned that several militia group members showed up at the Nov. 7 meeting and stood along the back wall, “which made for an intimidating sight.”</p><p data-block-key=\"70cuv\">“Shasta County law enforcement has a history of colluding with the militia,” Pierce added. “For this reason, I found the arrival of individuals, some known to be militia members, particularly concerning.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"keg53\">Excerpt of a news release from the Shasta County Board of Supervisors after press were ejected from a Nov. 7, 2024, board meeting in Redding, California. The ejection occurred during a protester’s arrest by sheriff’s deputies.</p>",
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"protest"
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"Local government: Legislature"
],
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"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Doni Chamberlain (A News Cafe)",
"Annelise Pierce (Shasta Scout)",
"David Benda (Record Searchlight)"
],
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"Government event"
]
},
{
"title": "Philadelphia 76ers player shoves columnist in locker room over article",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/philadelphia-76ers-player-shoves-columnist-in-locker-room-over-article/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-06T19:37:22.204705Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-06T19:37:22.204705Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-06T19:13:52.672756Z",
"date": "2024-11-02",
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"city": "Philadelphia",
"longitude": -75.16362,
"latitude": 39.95238,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2bsr1\">Marcus Hayes, a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, was shoved by a player for the 76ers following a home game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 2, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"78da3\">The Inquirer <a href=\"https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/joel-embiid-marcus-hayes-sixers-inquirer-locker-room-grizzlies-20241103.html\">reported</a> that following the team’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, center Joel Embiid sought Hayes out in the locker room and confronted him about his <a href=\"https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-joel-embiid-shaq-charles-barkley-nba-opener-20241023.html\">Oct. 23 column</a>, taking issue with its mention of Embiid’s late brother and his son. Hayes had <a href=\"https://x.com/inkstainedretch/status/1849196418403066064\">removed</a> the references and replaced a picture in the column after receiving pushback.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">So, I rewrote the lede to my column and replaced the picture. I can see why so many people were upset about it. Sorry about that.<br><br>Thanks for all of the constructive criticism. <a href=\"https://t.co/GE8xIHc22z\">https://t.co/GE8xIHc22z</a></p>— Marcus Hayes (@inkstainedretch) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/inkstainedretch/status/1849196418403066064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 23, 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=\"2bsr1\"><a href=\"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/42159993/joel-embiid-confronts-shoves-philadelphia-columnist\">According to ESPN</a>, Embiid told Hayes, “The next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you are going to see what I’m going to do to you and I’m going to have to … live with the consequences.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4e5p4\">Hayes attempted to apologize to Embiid, according to the Inquirer, but was rebuffed as the confrontation turned physical. The incident lasted about two minutes, during which Embiid allegedly struck Hayes’ neck and collarbone with an open hand and pushed the journalist back, the newspaper reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"fmpu3\">The Sixers’ public relations chief got between Hayes and Embiid, and a team security guard asked other reporters present not to report on the altercation, ESPN reported. Embiid yelled over the guard that the journalists could do whatever they wanted.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0psr\">Hayes told the Inquirer that following the altercation he was taken to meet with Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and General Manager Elton Brand, who apologized for the incident and asked for Hayes’ version of events.<br/><br/> “They agreed that Embiid’s actions were unacceptable,” Hayes said.</p><p data-block-key=\"667tc\">The NBA said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1852915878884426107\">statement to ESPN</a> that it was aware of reports of the incident and had opened an investigation. On Nov. 5, the organization decided to suspend Embiid for three games, ESPN senior reporter Shams Charania <a href=\"https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1853913338322780245\">reported</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The NBA has suspended Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid for three games for altercation shoving a columnist in a postgame locker room. <a href=\"https://t.co/odkbFwuA0p\">pic.twitter.com/odkbFwuA0p</a></p>— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1853913338322780245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 5, 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=\"2bsr1\">Hayes declined to comment when reached by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"863jc\">In a statement published by the news outlet, Inquirer Editor and Senior Vice President Gabriel Escobar said: “Marcus is an experienced and accomplished columnist who offers sharp and illuminating commentary grounded in his observations. You are free to disagree with what he says, but a physical assault is unwarranted and untenable and we are taking this matter very seriously.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0cbxj\">Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, in white, during a timeout at a home game in Pennsylvania on Oct. 23, 2024. Following a Nov. 2 game, Embiid shoved Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes in a locker room altercation.</p>",
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"assailant": "public figure",
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"name": "Pennsylvania",
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},
{
"title": "Miami Herald subpoenaed in connection with airline defamation suit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/miami-herald-subpoenaed-in-connection-with-airline-defamation-suit/",
"first_published_at": "2025-03-07T22:13:16.899730Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-07T22:13:16.899730Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-07T22:09:26.610234Z",
"date": "2024-10-31",
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"city": "Fort Lauderdale",
"longitude": -80.14338,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gdadz\">The Miami Herald was subpoenaed on Oct. 31, 2024, in connection with a defamation lawsuit filed in Florida federal court by an airline company. The request was struck down a few weeks later.</p><p data-block-key=\"aq7do\">The company, Monarch Air, had been the subject of an article published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an investigative journalism organization based in the Netherlands.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3rmi\">The lawsuit alleged that the article insinuated Monarch was involved in criminal activity, and that it knowingly left errors online for months after being alerted to falsehoods. Monarch also asserted that reporter Lily Dobrovolskaya, who wrote the article, had initially sought to publish the article with the Herald.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tm\">The October <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000.92.1.pdf\">subpoena</a> requested all communications between the Herald and Dobrovolskaya, the OCCRP and its parent company — the Journalism Development Network — concerning the airline, along with details concerning the Herald’s decision not to publish the article.</p><p data-block-key=\"bnud9\">McClatchy Co., which publishes the Herald, filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000.92.0.pdf\">motion to quash</a> the subpoena Nov. 5, citing Florida’s qualified reporter’s privilege, which protects journalists from disclosing newsgathering materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"j9vl\">The filing argued that there were no allegations that McClatchy or the Herald had a role in the production of the article and therefore no basis for arguing that the requested communications are “highly relevant” to the airline’s claims.</p><p data-block-key=\"83i0m\">“Conjecture or speculation that a fishing expedition into another media organization’s files might turn up something that Plaintiff thinks could be helpful is decidedly insufficient to overcome the privilege,” the motion said.</p><p data-block-key=\"eheph\">Magistrate Judge Jared Strauss sided with McClatchy on Nov. 19, <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000/gov.uscourts.flsd.650000.98.0.pdf\">ruling</a> that — even if Dobrovolskaya had initially pitched the article to the Herald — the airline had speculated without basis on why the newspaper declined to publish it.</p><p data-block-key=\"f013f\">“And speculation does not cut it, particularly when Plaintiff bears a ‘heavy burden’ of satisfying this element by ‘clear and convincing evidence,’” Strauss wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"81p37\">The Herald 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=\"pz7ss\">A portion of the subpoena issued to the Miami Herald on Oct. 31, 2024, by Monarch Air. It was part of its defamation suit against a different news outlet, seeking communications around the newspaper’s decision not to publish an article about the airline.</p>",
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{
"title": "Trump filed or threatened multiple lawsuits against outlets ahead of election",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-filed-or-threatened-multiple-lawsuits-against-outlets-ahead-of-election/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-27T18:53:33.378858Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-27T18:53:33.378858Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-27T18:45:09.261388Z",
"date": "2024-10-31",
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"city": "Palm Beach",
"longitude": -80.03643,
"latitude": 26.70562,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z1xob\">In the week before the 2024 election, attorneys representing Donald Trump pursued legal action against multiple news outlets they alleged were biased against the Republican nominee and had defamed him or attempted to sway the election in favor of his opponent.</p><p data-block-key=\"98jpk\">An attorney in Palm Beach, Florida, sent a letter to The New York Times and Penguin Random House in late October, <a href=\"https://www.cjr.org/the_trump_reader/trump-threatens-new-york-times-penguin-random-house-critical-coverage.php\">according to the Columbia Journalism Review</a>, demanding $10 billion in damages for “false and defamatory statements” about Trump by multiple Times journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"1cc6n\">The letter, reviewed by CJR, pointed to articles by Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner.</p><p data-block-key=\"3iq4b\">“There was a time, long ago, when the New York Times was considered the ‘newspaper of record,’” the letter reportedly said. “Those halcyon days have passed.” CJR added that the letter accused the Times of being “a full-throated mouthpiece of the Democratic Party” that employs “industrial-scale libel against political opponents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dm7nr\">The Times responded to the letter Oct. 31, according to CJR, directing Trump’s attorney to Penguin Random House for claims concerning the book coauthored by Buettner and Craig, and stating that it stands by the reporting of its staff. A spokesperson for the Times declined to comment when reached by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcaeq\">That same day, attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on Trump’s behalf <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Oct-31-2024-Trump\">against CBS Broadcasting</a>, alleging that the network was attempting to influence the election by favorably editing an interview with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccpsi\">In the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Trump charges CBS “doctored” a Harris exchange over U.S. relations with Israel as part of an effort to “confuse, deceive, and mislead the public” about her alleged weaknesses as a candidate.</p><p data-block-key=\"esoab\">Trump had repeatedly disparaged the network since the interview aired Oct. 7, threatening legal action, demanding it<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Oct-21-2024-Trump\"> release unedited tapes</a> and transcripts and calling for CBS to be<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/politics-and-the-press/#Oct-10-2024-Trump\"> taken off the air.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"1pg4i\">In an emailed statement to the Tracker, a spokesperson for CBS said: “Former President Trump’s repeated claims against 60 Minutes are false. The Interview was not doctored; and ‘60 Minutes’ did not hide any part of the Vice President’s answer to the question at issue. ‘60 Minutes’ fairly presented the Interview to inform the viewing audience, and not to mislead it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ih2j\">The spokesperson added, “The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend against it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b94on\">The suit — in which Trump also sought $10 billion in damages — bases its claims on CBS’ alleged violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act, normally meant to protect consumers from being misled by advertisers.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfkab\">But several legal observers dismissed the claim as frivolous. First Amendment expert Floyd Abrams told CNN the First Amendment was drafted to protect the press from such lawsuits, and scholar Geoffrey Stone called it a “misapplication” of the law.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3ici\">“That statute is about sales — a salesperson can be held liable for stating that a product has certain positive effects when he knows it doesn’t,” Stone told CBS News. “But CBS is not engaged in advertising here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4a9c7\">On Nov. 5, Trump’s campaign co-chief Chris LaCivita also issued a letter to The Daily Beast, demanding that it correct articles stating that LaCivita raised $22 million for Trump’s reelection, CJR reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"5qbbs\">In response, the outlet added editor’s notes stating: “Based on a further review of FEC records, the correct total is $19.2m. The Beast regrets the error. The article has also been updated to make clear that payments were to LaCivita’s LLC not to LaCivita personally.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bs85a\">Trump’s campaign found the note insufficient and, according to CJR, said in a follow-up legal letter that it “does not remedy the overall messaging of the story—which depicts Mr. LaCivita as deceptively pocketing campaign money for his own personal gain and that he was and is on the verge of being ‘fired’ because of it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b17r1\">The Beast did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"fadpi\">Trump has sustained his hostile comments toward the press in the wake of the election: During his Nov. 6 victory speech, for instance, he referred to the media as “<a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/trump-media-enemy-camp-speech\">the enemy camp</a>,” and he has continued his <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113419547333321006\">tirades</a> <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113516968142292237\">against</a> <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113547497507469626\">journalists</a> on social media.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ye6b3\">President-elect Donald Trump gives a victory speech to his supporters at a rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2024. During his address, he referred to the media as “the enemy camp.”</p>",
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],
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"Donald Trump"
],
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Peter Baker (The New York Times)",
"Michael S. Schmidt (The New York Times)",
"Susanne Craig (The New York Times)",
"Russ Buettner (The New York Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "New York, Ohio candidates accuse news outlets of election interference",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-ohio-candidates-accuse-news-outlets-of-election-interference/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-06T17:38:20.370317Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-06T17:38:20.370317Z",
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"date": "2024-10-30",
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"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2ovx0\">Candidates running in the 2024 elections in New York and Ohio accused news outlets of election interference in separate incidents in late October.</p><p data-block-key=\"4n077\">Rep. Elise Stefanik, in a <a href=\"https://x.com/EliseStefanik/status/1851681209622962670\">post on the social media platform X</a>, accused North Country Public Radio of “election interference” on Oct. 30, after one of its journalists posted an inaccurate report on X about the location in upstate New York where Stefanik voted early.</p><p data-block-key=\"dkq61\">Stefanik, a Republican, included a screenshot of NCPR reporter Emily Russell’s post stating that the New York representative had cast her early ballot in the state’s 20th District, even though she is running for reelection in the 21st District.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ihtq\">Stefanik noted that the location where she cast her ballot was open to all voters in Saratoga County, and alleged that NCPR “sent out false information and spread misinformation about early voting locations in my district to suppress the vote.”</p><p data-block-key=\"23ut8\">Stefanik added, “We have received calls into our office of confused voters due to this desperate election interference by an NPR affiliate.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9j4vq\">Stefanik also vowed, “And I will DEFUND NPR!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨🚨ELECTION INTERFERENCE BY NY NPR AFFILIATE <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ncpr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ncpr</a> 🚨🚨 <br><br>The disgraced New York NPR affiliate <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ncpr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ncpr</a> just sent out false information and spread misinformation about early voting locations targeting voters in my district to suppress the vote. This is blatant and illegal election… <a href=\"https://t.co/JM6pFyHDJE\">pic.twitter.com/JM6pFyHDJE</a></p>— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1851681209622962670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 30, 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=\"2ovx0\">NPR is <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/about-npr/178660742/public-radio-finances\">partly funded</a> by the federal government through grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Republican legislators have <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senator-eyes-legislation-defund-propagandist-npr-suspension-whistleblower\">previously threatened</a> to introduce legislation to cut the broadcaster’s funding due to what they described as its left-wing bias.</p><p data-block-key=\"c796h\">Russell later that day deleted the post due to what she <a href=\"https://x.com/EmilyRussellADK/status/1851677952439685352\">called</a> “a misunderstanding about the details of a polling location,” adding, “I apologize for the error.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dh4oa\">Stefanik and NCPR did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3pjo\">In the Ohio incident, Dawn Zinni, a candidate for recorder in Trumbull County, sued reporter David Skolnick and the Tribune Chronicle on Oct. 31, alleging that “The Tribune is a liberal Democrat publication that, with malicious intent, publicizes conservative Trump supporters like Zinni in a ‘false light,’” according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"28nic\">The lawsuit described Zinni as “a Republican, a devout Christian, and a supporter of Donald J. Trump.” It accused Skolnick of “biased, discriminatory, and unbalanced” reporting on business-related lawsuits that Zinni faced, of failing to cover similar litigation faced by incumbent male Democratic officials and of openly criticizing Zinni’s Christian faith.</p><p data-block-key=\"50q9n\">The suit seeks $1 million in punitive damages and $25,000 in compensatory damages.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tad6\">Zinni’s attorney, Sean Logue, and the Tribune Chronicle did not reply to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tacqn\">Rep. Elise Stefanik speaks at an Oct. 27, 2024, rally for Donald Trump in New York City. Three days later, Stefanik accused an upstate New York NPR affiliate of election interference and threatened to defund the broadcaster.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"North Country Public Radio"
],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
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{
"title": "News outlet subpoenaed by state of Texas in its suit against Google",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-outlet-subpoenaed-by-state-of-texas-in-its-suit-against-google/",
"first_published_at": "2024-12-10T19:45:53.502696Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-10T19:45:53.502696Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-10T19:04:44.443693Z",
"date": "2024-10-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Midland",
"longitude": -102.07791,
"latitude": 31.99735,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5z5mw\">Digital news outlet 404 Media was subpoenaed by the state of Texas on Oct. 22, 2024, in connection with an ongoing lawsuit against Google in Midland County’s district court, according to court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"66njm\">Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/texas-sues-google-allegedly-capturing-biometric-data-millions-without-consent-2022-10-20/?ref=404media.co\">sued Google</a> in 2022 on the state’s behalf, alleging that the company captured the biometric data of millions of its users in Texas without obtaining consent.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0tbq\">The <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25450240-dark-moderedcted-redacted/?ref=404media.co\">subpoena</a> to 404 Media seeks communications and documents from investigative journalist Joseph Cox’s <a href=\"https://www.404media.co/google-leak-reveals-thousands-of-privacy-incidents/\">article</a> on a leak from Google, including a copy of an internal Google database obtained by the outlet “which tracks six years worth of potential privacy and security issues.”</p><p data-block-key=\"63ps9\">In an <a href=\"https://www.404media.co/404-media-objects-to-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxtons-subpoena-to-access-our-reporting/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter\">announcement</a>, 404 Media’s founders wrote, “Paxton’s subpoena seeks to turn 404 Media into an arm of law enforcement, which is not our role and which we have no interest in doing or becoming.”</p><p data-block-key=\"45kr2\">They added that attorneys representing the outlet “vociferously objected” to the subpoena on Dec. 6. The <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25450241-404mediaobjections/?ref=404media.co\">court filing</a>, reviewed by the Tracker, argues the news organization is protected from having to disclose the information by the First Amendment, as well as laws in California — where the outlet is based — and Texas.</p><p data-block-key=\"bgt6a\">404 Media’s founders, who declined to comment further when reached by the Tracker, wrote that the subpoena undermines a free and independent press and demonstrates an alarming trend.</p><p data-block-key=\"8qfeh\">“It also highlights the fact that the alarm bells that have been raised about legal attacks on journalists in a second Trump administration are not theoretical; politicians already feel emboldened to use the legal system to target journalists,” they wrote. “Paxton’s subpoena highlights the urgency of passing the PRESS Act, a federal shield law that has already passed the House and which has bipartisan support but which Democrats in the Senate have dragged their feet on for inexplicable and indefensible reasons.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eicqr\">Paxton had previously <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/texas-attorney-general-subpoenas-media-matters-after-report-on-x/\">sought records</a> from Media Matters for America using a “civil investigative demand” — a type of administrative subpoena — in 2023 as part of a probe his office launched to investigate “potential fraudulent activity” by the media company. A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction forbidding Paxton from pursuing Media Matters’ reporting materials.</p></div>",
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"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ct7di\">A portion of the subpoena the state of Texas issued to digital news outlet 404 Media on Oct. 22, 2024. The subpoena seeks communications, work product and a copy of a leaked Google database obtained by the outlet.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
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"404 Media"
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{
"title": "Student journalist detained at University of Minnesota protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-detained-at-university-of-minnesota-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-23T18:22:35.119960Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-28T15:54:48.692060Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-28T15:54:48.455526Z",
"date": "2024-10-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"800c6\">Student journalist Tyler Church was briefly handcuffed and detained while reporting student protests against the Israel-Gaza war at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis on Oct. 21, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"65rrt\">The Minnesota Daily, the university’s student-led news outlet, <a href=\"https://mndaily.com/290417/top-story/pro-palestine-protesters-attempt-to-occupy-administration-building/\">reported</a> that the protest was organized by members of the UMN’s Students for a Democratic Society chapter to pressure the administration to divest from investments in Israeli companies and weapons manufacturers.</p><p data-block-key=\"2l1qr\">Daily reporter Church told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he learned of the building takeover from a <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/protesters-storm-morrill-hall-university-of-minnesota-minneapolis/\">push notification</a> from the university, which said that students had stormed Morrill Hall, an administrative building, and were “causing property damage and restricting entrance and exit from the building.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9h0q9\">Church said that after reporting outside alongside two other Daily journalists for about 30 minutes, the protesters let them into the building. He added that the outlet’s editor-in-chief, Spencer White, brought the journalists steel plate vests labeled with “PRESS” to wear while inside.</p><p data-block-key=\"88e8a\">“More or less, we just looked around, assessed the damages so far, prepared to set up interviews with some protesters and got general coverage of the event so far,” Church told the Tracker. “I had had a meeting set up with one of the protesters, followed by another protester joining. During the middle of that interview, the police had started clearing buildings from the basement, which was where I was.”</p><p data-block-key=\"48ie6\">Officers with the University of Minnesota Police Department and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office entered the building through basement tunnels at approximately 5:45 p.m., the Daily <a href=\"https://mndaily.com/290460/top-story/minnesota-daily-reporter-detained-belongings-confiscated/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cknh2\">“Police broke down the door, weapons drawn, and hauled us to the ground,” Church said. “During that, I said multiple times, ‘I’m with the media, I’m press, I’m with The Minnesota Daily.’ Even still, they told me that it didn’t matter and that I had to get on the ground. They handcuffed me and put me with everyone else who had been detained.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Minnesota Daily <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mndailynews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mndailynews</a> reporter Tyler Church was briefly handcuffed and detained when police arrested protesters at Morrill Hall a little over an hour ago <a href=\"https://t.co/Jn7GnHpNT1\">pic.twitter.com/Jn7GnHpNT1</a></p>— Hannah Ward (@wordfromward) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wordfromward/status/1848516855008293126?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 22, 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=\"800c6\">When his fellow Daily reporters were escorted to the basement along with the demonstrators, they questioned the officers about why Church had been detained and placed in zip cuffs. Church told the Tracker that after about 20 minutes, an officer decided to release him.</p><p data-block-key=\"4no25\">“They struggled with the handcuffs because the handcuffs were put on me so tightly that they were actually digging into my wrist,” he said. “Eventually, the cop had gotten one off me and gave me the scissors to do the other one because he didn't feel comfortable cutting them because they were so close to my wrist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6mh6b\">Church told officers his backpack — containing his laptop and two notebooks with journalistic work, as well as his coursework — was upstairs, but they said they were unable to find it and directed him to retrieve it from the department’s offices the following day.</p><p data-block-key=\"aa4j8\">Officers told the three Daily reporters and a journalist from The Minnesota Star Tribune to remain in the basement until the building was cleared, Church said, and ultimately led them out through the tunnels several hours later. Eleven protesters were arrested, according to the Daily.</p><p data-block-key=\"7u888\">Both White and one of the other Daily reporters told the Tracker that Church was the only journalist detained or handcuffed that day. The editor added that the Daily staff were glad Church was OK and that they are working to recover the items seized by the university police officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"bs15j\">Church told the Tracker that when he attempted to retrieve his equipment, the university police’s office was closed, with a contact number posted on the door. He said he left a voicemail, and an officer eventually told him he could retrieve his belongings when the office reopened, but didn’t clarify when that would be.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfvas\">The University of Minnesota Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Church_arrest.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"a1zuh\">Tyler Church, a journalist for the University of Minnesota’s student news outlet The Minnesota Daily, was briefly detained and handcuffed while reporting on a pro-Palestinian protest on the university’s Minneapolis campus on Oct. 21, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "University of Minnesota Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"detention_date": "2024-10-21",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
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{
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{
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{
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}
],
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"state": {
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"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"(2024-10-23 11:45:00+00:00) Student journalist’s equipment returned following detainment at protest"
],
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"student journalism"
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"categories": [
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved to ground by police outside Trump event",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-to-ground-by-police-outside-trump-event/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-28T14:29:54.158887Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-28T14:29:54.158887Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-28T14:24:56.088554Z",
"date": "2024-10-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Lancaster",
"longitude": -76.30551,
"latitude": 40.03788,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rzjon\">Freelance photojournalist Susan Stava was shoved to the ground by police while reporting outside a campaign event for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 20, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"c87t9\">Stava told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she went to cover the town hall event at the Lancaster County Convention Center but stayed outside to conduct interviews as part of an ongoing project about women who support the former president.</p><p data-block-key=\"44i51\">“I went to leave and I saw a bunch of demonstrators outside in Lancaster Square, and it was basically a Harris group, and what struck me was it was pretty peaceful and the Harris-Walz group was just mingling with the Trump supporters,” she said. “It got a little crazy around the center, where there were a bunch of kids that were sort of antagonizing the Harris supporters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2tbu7\">Then a woman Stava had been speaking with noticed that her friend was under arrest following an altercation.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbs8d\">“We all were going around to see where they were taking her, and it was sort of on the street and I was going to actually run to the other corner of the street when I could, to get a front shot of her coming toward me,” she said. “And I never got there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9dj2g\">Stava said an officer suddenly broadsided her, shoving her to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"606nd\">“I landed on my back, and I really didn’t know what hit me,” she told the Tracker. “He didn’t even bother to see if I was OK. He just backed up, standing there. Another cop came over and hoisted me up very quickly without assuring that I wasn’t injured.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ee2r\">She said she was examined by emergency responders at the scene and they transported her to a hospital to ensure that she didn’t have any internal bleeding. Stava said she suffered from whiplash and has a “huge lump” on her head, a large bruise on her arm and jaw pain. One of her camera lenses was also damaged during the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"2g68a\">“I’ve been in this business for 30-35 years: I’ve never had that happen,” Stava said. “I’ve been to January 6, I’ve been to all kinds of places and I’m pretty careful. I’m very savvy about what’s around me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6dopf\">Stava told the Tracker that after she was released from the hospital she went straight to the Lancaster City Bureau of Police to file a complaint about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"mpsd\">Women Press Freedom <a href=\"https://www.womeninjournalism.org/alerts/united-states-women-press-freedom-denounces-violent-assault-on-photojournalist-susan-stava-by-lancaster-city-police-officer\">condemned</a> the “violent actions” taken by the police officer, stating that it was “a clear violation of press freedom and the rights of journalists to report safely and without interference.”</p><p data-block-key=\"encb6\">“This incident not only highlights the concerning aggression faced by journalists in the field but also raises serious questions about the training and conduct of law enforcement officers,” the advocacy organization wrote in its statement. “We call for a thorough investigation into this incident, and we urge the Lancaster City Police to take immediate action to address the serious issues raised by Stava’s experience.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9uqt5\">When reached by email, the police directed the Tracker to its <a href=\"https://lancaster.crimewatchpa.com/lbop/19659/post/lancaster-city-police-conclude-investigation-officers-conduct-sunday-october-20\">statement</a> issued on Oct. 23, announcing that it had completed its investigation and concluded that the officer had not engaged in any misconduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"aeotj\">“A scene like this can escalate quickly and officers may not always be able to immediately identify an individual’s intent when the group is rapidly moving toward a restricted area,” the statement said. “It’s important for everyone, including media personnel, to remain aware of their surroundings during dynamic situations where safety conditions can change rapidly.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3t9ap\">Stava told the Tracker that she has been in contact with the National Press Photographers Association and is considering next steps.</p><p data-block-key=\"47sp5\">“I’m worried about the fascist directions the cops and the police department are going into. I don’t know if journalists are being singled out, I don’t know what’s happening for sure, but that’s my sense. So, big concern,” Stava said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tykyk\">Photojournalist Susan Stava, at center with black backpack, is seen falling to the ground after being shoved while reporting on protests outside a Trump campaign event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 20, 2024. Her camera lens was damaged in the fall.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
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}
],
"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"political rally",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Susan Stava (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "NBC News broadcast camera seized outside Indiana courthouse",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nbc-news-broadcast-camera-seized-outside-indiana-courthouse/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-24T21:12:16.648198Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-30T20:56:09.864422Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-30T20:56:09.650941Z",
"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=\"e516x\">An unidentified NBC photojournalist 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=\"9kig6\">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=\"7a3jq\">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=\"e516x\">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 camera belonging to NBC News, two belonging to an <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-photojournalists-cameras-seized-outside-indiana-courthouse/\">AP photojournalist</a> and a still camera belonging to an unidentified photojournalist, according to <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/abby-libby-delphi-indiana-richard-allen-trial-9d9756a1e076edaa2f0694a2b54ab3da\">multiple</a> <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>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3tgb2\">NBC News did not respond to a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"5i1uk\">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": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vgaco\">Spectators line up to enter the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi, Indiana, to observe a murder trial starting on Oct. 18, 2024. A broadcast camera belonging to NBC News was seized by authorities outside the courthouse.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-10-21 16:44:00+00:00) NBC News footage deleted, camera returned after it was seized outside courthouse"
],
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"categories": [
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"Eric Arnold (NBC News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Indiana photojournalist’s cameras confiscated outside courthouse",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indiana-photojournalists-cameras-confiscated-outside-courthouse/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-24T17:59:33.268074Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-30T21:04:28.103330Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-30T21:04:27.884095Z",
"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=\"p8obi\">Alex Martin, a photojournalist for the Journal & Courier, 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=\"4r217\">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=\"1sknb\">The following morning, Martin told the Star, 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=\"p8obi\">After the van’s passengers disembarked, officers arrived and confiscated Martin’s cameras, as well as two belonging to Associated Press photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-photojournalists-cameras-seized-outside-indiana-courthouse/\">Michael Conroy</a>, 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 <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-camera-seized-outside-indiana-courthouse/\">unidentified photojournalist</a>, according to <a href=\"https://www.wrtv.com/news/delphi/day-one-in-court-delphi-murders-trial\">multiple</a> <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/abby-libby-delphi-indiana-richard-allen-trial-9d9756a1e076edaa2f0694a2b54ab3da\">media</a> <a href=\"https://www.21alivenews.com/2024/10/18/watch-live-first-day-delphi-murders-trial-underway-carroll-county/\">reports</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7752v\">“I wasn’t taking pictures of jurors,” Martin told the Star. He also noted 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><p data-block-key=\"ck2co\">Martin did not respond to requests for additional comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP24292483286513.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7ewyw\">Spectators line up to enter the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi, Indiana, to observe a murder trial starting on Oct. 18, 2024. Authorities seized two cameras belonging to Journal & Courier photojournalist Alex Martin outside the courthouse.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
"quantity": 2,
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},
{
"quantity": 2,
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}
],
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{
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],
"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-10-21 16:49:00+00:00) Indiana 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": [],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alex Martin (Journal & Courier)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist’s camera seized outside Indiana courthouse",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-camera-seized-outside-indiana-courthouse/",
"first_published_at": "2024-10-24T21:13:56.022398Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-30T21:16:37.120129Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-30T21:16:36.900942Z",
"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=\"6f405\">Cameras belonging to four journalists 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=\"csg31\">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=\"1ikf4\">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=\"6f405\">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 that of an unidentified photojournalist, two belonging to an <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-photojournalists-cameras-seized-outside-indiana-courthouse/\">Associated Press photojournalist</a> and a broadcast camera belonging to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nbc-news-broadcast-camera-seized-outside-indiana-courthouse/\">NBC News</a>, according to <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/abby-libby-delphi-indiana-richard-allen-trial-9d9756a1e076edaa2f0694a2b54ab3da\">multiple</a> <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>.</p><p data-block-key=\"55gg0\">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": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6qtxa\">Security stand by a gate outside the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi, Indiana, ahead of the start of a murder trial on Oct. 18, 2024. Officers seized the cameras belonging to multiple journalists standing outside the courthouse that morning.</p>",
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{
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}
],
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{
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],
"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-10-24 16:58:00+00:00) Photojournalist’s camera ordered returned after it was seized outside courthouse"
],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ryan Delaney (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
}
]
