first_published_at,last_published_at,title,slug,latest_revision_created_at,charges,legal_orders,updates,categories,links,equipment_seized,equipment_broken,targeted_journalists,authors,date,exact_date_unknown,city,state,latitude,longitude,body,introduction,teaser,teaser_image,primary_video,image_caption,arrest_status,arresting_authority,release_date,detention_date,unnecessary_use_of_force,case_number,case_statuses,case_type,status_of_seized_equipment,is_search_warrant_obtained,actor,border_point,target_us_citizenship_status,denial_of_entry,stopped_previously,did_authorities_ask_for_device_access,did_authorities_ask_about_work,assailant,was_journalist_targeted,charged_under_espionage_act,subpoena_type,subpoena_statuses,name_of_business,third_party_business,legal_order_target,legal_order_type,legal_order_venue,status_of_prior_restraint,mistakenly_released_materials,type_of_denial,targeted_institutions,tags,target_nationality,workers_whose_communications_were_obtained,politicians_or_public_figures_involved 2023-08-10 17:55:35.206317+00:00,2024-01-31 21:43:18.947973+00:00,NJ journalist files lawsuit following cease-and-desist notice from police director,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nj-journalist-files-lawsuit-following-cease-and-desist-notice-from-police-director/,2024-01-31 21:43:18.733444+00:00,,,(2023-09-21 00:00:00+00:00) New Jersey journalist appeals case over cease-and-desist notice,Chilling Statement,,,,Charlie Kratovil (New Brunswick Today),,2023-05-04,False,New Brunswick,New Jersey (NJ),40.48622,-74.45182,"
Charlie Kratovil, founder and editor of New Jersey newspaper New Brunswick Today, received a cease-and-desist notice after he raised questions during a city council meeting on May 3, 2023, about where a city official lives. Kratovil subsequently filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city and the official seeking protections from possible criminal or civil penalties.
Kratovil told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Anthony Caputo, who serves as the civilian director of police and sits on the board of commissioners for the Parking Authority, has been “extraordinarily absent.”
“Our police director has been really elusive. He has not attended a council meeting in 15 years,” Kratovil said. “I’ve had important questions to ask him over the years, and he typically doesn’t engage, certainly doesn’t have press conferences or anything like that.”
Kratovil told the Tracker he had learned through a public records request that in 2022 Caputo changed the residence on his voter registration to Cape May. The small town at the southernmost tip of New Jersey is more than two hours drive from New Brunswick.
After Kratovil attempted to reach Caputo for comment about his residence — including during a Parking Authority board meeting — the journalist said he raised the issue at a public meeting attended by the New Brunswick City Council.
Kratovil stated the name of the street listed on Caputo’s voter profile and handed copies — which contained the full address — to the council members, asking whether there are residency requirements for the positions Caputo fills. According to the lawsuit filed on Kratovil’s behalf by the New Jersey chapter of the ACLU, the council members did not provide an answer and said they would have to look into it.
Caputo wrote Kratovil on official city letterhead the following day, copying a Middlesex County prosecutor and the New Brunswick city attorney, to assert that he is protected from disclosure of his home address or telephone number under Daniel’s Law. The state statute makes it a crime to post addresses or phone numbers of judges, prosecutors, law enforcement, and their families on public websites.
“I do hereby request that you cease the disclosure of such information and remove the protected information from the internet or where otherwise made available,” Caputo’s letter states. “I trust you will be guided accordingly.”
A recording of the public meeting subsequently released by the city was edited to mute the audio not only of Kratovil stating the street of Caputo’s home but his entire line of questioning about the police director’s residency.
ACLU of New Jersey, in its lawsuit filed July 12, argued that the city of New Brunswick and Caputo have attempted to chill Kratovil’s journalism after he reported lawfully obtained information that is in the public interest.
“Government should not threaten news reporters with prosecution or civil liability if they write a news story or share information about something questionable going on with a public servant’s address,” the lawsuit states.
The suit seeks an injunction against the city to protect Kratovil from any attempts to pursue civil or criminal penalties against him for alleged violations of Daniel’s Law.
In a court filing reviewed by the Tracker, attorneys for the city confirmed that Caputo is indeed registered to vote in Cape May, but asserted that he rents an apartment in East Brunswick where he stays during the week.
Caputo did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment as of press time.
An initial hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for Aug. 23.
A portion of the cease-and-desist notice sent to New Brunswick Today editor Charlie Kratovil after he raised questions during a public meeting about where a civilian police official lives.
",None,None,None,None,False,MID-L-003896-23,['APPEALED'],Civil,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,,,, 2019-08-13 15:53:10.647664+00:00,2023-10-27 21:31:24.285492+00:00,"Private security guard assaults journalist, confiscates camera during summit",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/private-security-guard-assaults-journalist-confiscates-camera-during-summit/,2023-10-27 21:31:24.178980+00:00,,,(2019-08-20 13:05:00+00:00) Ryan speaks out; Hearing delayed to no-show,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Charlie Kratovil (New Brunswick Today),,2019-08-03,False,New Brunswick,New Jersey (NJ),40.48622,-74.45182,"Charlie Kratovil, founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, filed a police report alleging assault by a private security guard after being forcibly removed from covering an event on Aug. 3, 2019.
The NBT news team was invited to cover an education summit hosted by the non-profit Project Ready. Kratovil was covering the event on behalf of a reporter who could not, he tweeted, and planned to record the gala ceremonies and post the video to the outlet’s YouTube channel without any editing. Kratovil said he was there for the keynote speech, given by White House correspondent and CNN analyst April Ryan.
Kratovil told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when he checked in and set up his camera at about 6:45 p.m., the public relations officials did not inform him that there would be any limitations or restrictions on filming the proceedings. Kratovil said that he was able to film the first hour and a half of the event without issue.
When Rep. Donald Payne took the stage to introduce Ryan at approximately 8:30 p.m., Kratovil tweeted, he was approached by a man who said he was “with the speaker,” and asked Kratovil to identify himself. He did so and said he had received approval to cover the event. The man left, Kratovil wrote, but returned and threatened to “take down” his camera if Kratovil did not do so himself.
Kratovil refused.
Over the next several minutes, Kratovil debated with the man, later identified as Ryan’s private security guard Joel Morris, and several public relations officials who began to gather around his table, according to his account.
“I maintained a firm position re: video recording, saying I wouldn’t take action until I could get more info on the man who threatened to mess w/ my camera,” Kratovil tweeted. “I told them ‘If he doesn’t give me his name & tell me on the record why I can’t [video], I’m not turning off the camera.’”
In Kratovil’s video, security guard Morris can be seen approaching Ryan onstage, who pauses her speaking, appears to look at Kratovil’s camera and nods. Ryan remains silent as Morris then walks towards Kratovil’s camera, grabs it and walks off.
In the video, which keeps recording, Ryan resumes speaking as Morris grabs the camera and is heard trying to explain the interruption. “When I speak, I don’t have news covering my speech,” Ryan said, adding that she wanted to have an “unfettered conversation with you all.”
However, New Brunswick-based reporter Chuck O’Donnell from TAPInto, a network of local news websites, was allowed to remain in the room.
Kratovil told the Tracker that he quickly gathered up his belongings and followed after Morris.
According to a police report about the incident filed by Kratovil, Morris walked to the front lobby and turned over Kratovil’s camera to the security staff at the hotel’s front desk. The camera was shortly returned to Kratovil.
Kratovil shared with the Tracker a surveillance recording from the lobby that shows Kratovil holding his camera and moving away from Morris. In the video, Kratovil can be heard saying, “This guy is chasing me.” Morris quickly moves around behind him, and appears to grab and twist Kratovil’s left arm behind his back while pushing him out of the frame.
The police report noted the injury.
“According to Kratovil,” Officer Ryan Daughton wrote in the police report, “the privately hired Security Guard utilized some kind of compliance hold and subsequently caused pain to Kratovil’s left wrist. I offered Kratovil medical attention and he refused the same.”
Kratovil told the Tracker that he ended up seeking care at an urgent care a few days after the incident, where they advised him to treat his shoulder injury as a sprain. He said he plans to press charges.
While giving the keynote speech at an event in New Jersey, White House correspondent April Ryan is informed of video recording by a member of her private security (back to the camera). The camera was then confiscated.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,private security,None,None,False,False,None,None,private security,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,robbery,,, 2018-08-27 16:35:00.310889+00:00,2023-11-21 18:17:25.761523+00:00,Woman hits New Jersey reporter covering court hearing,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/woman-hits-new-jersey-reporter-covering-court-hearing/,2023-11-21 18:17:25.557843+00:00,,,"(2019-03-17 00:00:00+00:00) Woman who attacked reporter in New Jersey courtroom gets probation, fines",Assault,,,,Taylor Tiamoyo Harris (NJ Advance Media),,2018-08-03,False,New Brunswick,New Jersey (NJ),40.48622,-74.45182,"Taylor Tiamoyo Harris, a reporter for New Jersey newspaper chain NJ Advance Media, was covering courtroom proceedings on Aug. 3, 2018, when a woman struck her in the face.
Harris was covering the sentencing hearing for Tejay Johnson, a former Rutgers University football player who had been found guilty of committing a string of home invasion robberies in 2015. Harris had received permission from the judge to take pictures during the courtroom proceedings.
As Johnson was being taken away in handcuffs, Harris said she was sitting and facing forward when she was attacked from behind.
“[The attacker] pulled my hair and hit my face,” she told Freedom of the Press Foundation. “There was a red mark, which went away, but it was scary for me, because I didn’t see it happen and couldn’t defend myself.”
Harris said that immediately after she was attacked, officers surrounded her and took her to another room, where she filled out a statement about the assault. She said that her company, NJ Advance Media, walked her through what she should do.
According to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, a woman named Trudy Smith, faces a municipal charge of simple assault in connection with the attack on Harris.
Harris believes that she was assaulted because she took pictures during the court proceedings.
“She attacked me because she saw me taking pictures, because I was a reporter, and this took me a while to process,” she said.
Days later, Harris tweeted about the incident.
Yes, on Friday while covering a court sentencing, a woman who I had never met or even saw decided to assault me from behind while I was sitting face forward in the courtroom because she saw that I was a reporter.
— Taylor Harris (@ladytiamoyo) August 8, 2018
Harris said that this is the first time that she’s been assaulted while reporting.
“I’ve been out on assignments, courtrooms, at murder scenes… Nothing like this has happened to me before,” she said.