Editor detained at U.S. event in Belgium after filming official

European Correspondent editor-in-chief Julius Fintelmann and the outlet’s reporter were detained at a U.S. government-organized event celebrating America’s 250th birthday in Brussels after questioning the U.S. ambassador to Belgium on June 28, 2026.

The State Department invited the journalists to the Freedom 250 event, held in the city’s largest park and organized by the three U.S. embassies in Brussels. While there, Dempsey and Fintelmann interviewed attendees, including the president of the European Parliament and the European Union’s commissioner for defense.

Dempsey later approached Ambassador Bill White to ask him questions about an email he had sent to American activist and Belgium resident John Hasan Yildiz, who had urged the Zac Brown Band to reconsider performing at the celebration. In the email, which copied both federal and local law enforcement in Belgium and the embassy’s head of security, White suggested he had obtained Yildiz’s personal information and shared it with police.

Even though White had initially agreed to answer questions, he declined to comment and walked away. A member of his entourage motioned for Dempsey to leave in an Instagram video of the interaction.

Twenty minutes later, as the Pledge of Allegiance played and American World War II aircraft flew overhead, about eight Brussels police officers wearing plain clothes surrounded Dempsey and started moving him out of the event.

The officers also confronted Fintelmann, who had begun filming the encounter. They demanded his identification and started physically removing him from the event. The police questioned the reporters about whether The European Correspondent had a political agenda and how the outlet had gained access to the event, despite being invited by the embassy.

“They were told we were an active threat by the ambassador,” Fintelmann told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “Through the course of the conversation, they understood that we were journalists just doing our job.”

The reporters were detained for about 20 minutes before being escorted out.

A spokesperson for Brussels Mayor Philippe Close later confirmed to The European Correspondent that the police responded because the ambassador did not feel safe with the reporters at the event. The offices of the Brussels mayor and the U.S. Embassy in Belgium did not immediately return Tracker requests for comment.

“He just didn’t want to be asked any questions,” said Fintelmann, who was surprised the Belgian police consented to escort them out. “It’s ironic to do something like this at an event that’s tied to Freedom 250.”

In one email to the outlet after the event, White implied Dempsey was connected to the activist and called him and Fintelmann “losers.” In another, White accused Dempsey of approaching him with a weapon and harassing embassy employees, allegations Dempsey denies. Video of the encounter shows Dempsey holding a cellphone as he approached White.

White also said Dempsey would be barred from future government events. The ambassador went on to incorrectly identify Fintelmann as the activist who had emailed the Zac Brown Band, and claimed the European journalist suffered from “Trump Derangement Syndrome level five.”

Ben Grazda, advocacy manager for Reporters Without Borders, condemned the ambassador’s treatment of the journalists in a statement.

“It is ludicrous that, on the anniversary of America declaring itself free from tyranny, the US Ambassador to Belgium, at his massive party for the occasion, kicked out an American and a European journalist simply for asking questions,” he wrote. “Americans expect their top diplomats to at least respect the nation’s founding values in their official duties. We hope Ambassador White will turn his attention to the matter of the Constitution before he disgraces it again.”