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 2023-08-14 19:56:36.521489+00:00,2024-03-10 23:04:51.862572+00:00,"Newsroom, personal equipment seized in Kansas raid",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsroom-personal-equipment-seized-in-kansas-raid/,2024-03-10 23:04:51.719788+00:00,,LegalOrder object (236),"(2023-10-02 15:12:00+00:00) Police chief in Kansas raid resigns; paper reports on new bodycam footage, (2023-08-28 16:24:00+00:00) Kansas authorities to destroy digital files from newspaper raid, (2023-08-30 16:16:00+00:00) Police turn over files secretly copied during raid on Marion County newspaper, destroy backups, (2023-08-16 15:45:00+00:00) Kansas county attorney withdraws search warrant, returns seized equipment","Equipment Search or Seizure, Subpoena/Legal Order",,"computer: count of 4, storage device: count of 1, work product: count of 2",,,,2023-08-11,False,Marion,Kansas (KS),38.34835,-97.01725,"
Local law enforcement executed a search warrant on the offices of the Marion County Record on Aug. 11, 2023, seizing computers, cellphones, a file server and journalistic work product. The Kansas newspaper reported that the seizures jeopardized its ability to publish its weekly edition.
A copy of the search warrant, obtained by the Kansas Reflector, shows that the search was undertaken as part of an investigation into alleged unlawful use of a computer and identity theft.
According to the Record, however, when one of the paper’s reporters requested a copy of the probable cause affidavit that summarizes the circumstances and evidence supporting the warrant, the district court issued a signed statement that there wasn’t one on file.
The Record reported that during an Aug. 7 city council meeting a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, had accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining information that she had a prior DUI conviction and had driven without a license, as well as supplying the information to Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel.
In an article responding to the allegations, Record Publisher and Editor Eric Meyer said that a source had reached out with the information via Facebook, and had independently sent it to Herbel as well. The Record had verified the allegations through a public website but decided not to publish it, instead alerting the Marion Police Department that the source may have obtained the information illegally.
The morning of Aug. 11, Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed the search warrant for the Record’s office. Marion Police Department officers and Marion County sheriff’s deputies executed it within two hours, ordering staff to leave the office as equipment was seized.
Officers also arrived simultaneously with a second warrant at Meyer’s home — where he lives with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, a co-owner and correspondent for the Record, the Reflector reported. Joan Meyer passed away the following day, which the Record attributed in part to the stress of the raid.
Eric Meyer told the Reflector that officers seized “everything” from the newsroom, and that he wasn’t sure how the staff would complete the edition before it needed to go to press on Aug. 15. According to court documents obtained by KSHB, officers seized four computers, a backup hard drive and reporting materials as part of the warrant.
Officers also seized two personal cellphones belonging to reporters Deb Gruver and Phyllis Zorn, which were not listed on the warrant. Gruver alleged on Facebook that Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody injured her finger when he “forcibly yanked” the phone from her hand.
Eric Meyer, a veteran reporter from the Milwaukee Journal and former journalism professor at the University of Illinois, told The Kansas City Star following the raid that the Record had also been investigating Cody’s background and allegations of wrongdoing.
Cody, who did not immediately respond to a request for further information, told the Star that the lack of an article about the allegations shows they had no basis. “If it was true, they would’ve printed it,” Cody said.
On Aug. 14, a coalition of more than 30 press freedom organizations sent a letter to Cody condemning the raid and calling for the return of the newspaper’s equipment and reporting materials.
Freedom of the Press Foundation, which operates the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, called the raid “alarming.”
“Based on the reporting so far, the police raid of the Marion County Record on Friday appears to have violated federal law, the First Amendment, and basic human decency,” said Director of Advocacy Seth Stern. “Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves.”
In a statement released on Facebook, Cody defended the legality of the raid and said that the Marion Police Department had received assistance from local and state investigators.
“It is true that in most cases, [the federal Privacy Protection Act] requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search,” Cody wrote.
Eric Meyer, who could not immediately be reached for comment, told the Record that while the paper’s attorneys are working to have the equipment returned, they also plan to file a federal lawsuit to ensure that such a raid never happens again.
“Our first priority is to be able to publish next week,” he said, “but we also want to make sure no other news organization is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today. We will be seeking the maximum sanctions possible under law.”
This article was updated to reflect reporting from KSHB around the type of equipment seized.
Editor’s Note: The incident and its metadata have been updated to reflect that the equipment belonging to the Marion County Record was seized as part of a warrant, but the equipment belonging to reporters Deb Gruver and Phyllis Zorn was taken by law enforcement without any legal order permitting the seizure. Gruver’s cellphone seizure and the assault she experienced during the raid are documented here. The seizure of Zorn’s cellphone is now documented here.
Kansas law enforcement officers raided the Marion County Record office Aug. 11, 2023, with a search warrant that free press attorneys and advocates say violated federal law.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,True,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,Institution,warrant,State,None,False,[],Marion County Record,,,, 2023-08-14 20:07:39.176170+00:00,2024-03-10 23:05:21.642548+00:00,Kansas newspaper editor’s home raided by local law enforcement,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kansas-newspaper-editors-home-raided-by-local-law-enforcement/,2024-03-10 23:05:21.507047+00:00,,LegalOrder object (237),"(2023-10-02 15:15:00+00:00) Police chief in Kansas raid resigns; paper reports on new bodycam footage, (2023-08-16 15:52:00+00:00) Kansas county attorney withdraws search warrant, returns seized equipment, (2023-08-30 14:44:00+00:00) Police turn over photos taken during raid on Marion County publishers’ home","Equipment Search or Seizure, Subpoena/Legal Order",,"cellphone: count of 1, computer: count of 3, storage device: count of 1, work product: count of 1",,"Eric Meyer (Marion County Record), Joan Meyer (Marion County Record)",,2023-08-11,False,Marion,Kansas (KS),38.34835,-97.01725,"Local law enforcement executed a search warrant on the home of the owners and editor/publisher of the Marion County Record on Aug. 11, 2023. A simultaneous raid on the Kansas newspaper’s offices and equipment seizure jeopardized its ability to publish its upcoming weekly edition.
A copy of one of the search warrants, obtained by the Kansas Reflector, shows that the searches were undertaken as part of an investigation into alleged unlawful use of a computer and identity theft.
According to the Record, however, when one of the paper’s reporters requested a copy of the probable cause affidavit that summarizes the circumstances and evidence supporting the warrant, the district court issued a signed statement that there wasn’t one on file.ile.
The Record reported that during an Aug. 7 city council meeting a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, had accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining information that she had a prior DUI conviction and had driven without a license, as well as supplying the information to Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel.
In an article responding to the allegations, Editor and Publisher Eric Meyer said that a source had reached out with the information via Facebook, and had independently sent it to Herbel as well. The Record had verified the allegations through a public website but decided not to publish it, instead alerting the Marion Police Department that the source may have obtained the information illegally.
The morning of Aug. 11, Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed search warrants for the newsroom and Meyer’s home — where he lives with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, a co-owner and correspondent for the Record. According to the Reflector, Marion Police Department officers and Marion County sheriff’s deputies executed the warrants within hours.
Joan Meyer passed away the following day, which the Record attributed in part to the stress of the raid. According to court documents obtained by KSHB, officers seized three computers, including a router, Eric Meyer’s cellphone, a storage device and reporting materials.
Meyer, a veteran reporter from the Milwaukee Journal and former journalism professor at the University of Illinois, told The Kansas City Star following the raid that the Record had also been investigating Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody’s background and allegations of wrongdoing.
Cody, who did not immediately respond to a request for further information, told the Star that the lack of an article about the allegations shows they had no basis. “If it was true, they would’ve printed it,” Cody said.
On Aug. 14, a coalition of more than 30 press freedom organizations sent a letter to Cody condemning the raids and calling for the return of the newspaper’s equipment and reporting materials.
Freedom of the Press Foundation, which operates the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, called the raid “alarming.”
“Based on the reporting so far, the police raid of the Marion County Record on Friday appears to have violated federal law, the First Amendment, and basic human decency,” said Director of Advocacy Seth Stern. “Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves.”
In a statement released on Facebook, Cody defended the legality of the raid and said that the Marion Police Department had received assistance from local and state investigators.
“It is true that in most cases, [the federal Privacy Protection Act] requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search,” Cody wrote.
Meyer, who could not immediately be reached for comment, told the Record that while the paper’s attorneys are working to have the equipment returned, they also plan to file a federal lawsuit to ensure that such a raid never happens again.
“Our first priority is to be able to publish next week,” Meyer said, “but we also want to make sure no other news organization is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today. We will be seeking the maximum sanctions possible under law.”
This article was updated to reflect reporting from KSHB around the type of equipment seized.
Kansas law enforcement officers execute a search warrant on the home of Marion County Record co-owners Joan Meyer, second from left, and Eric Meyer, not pictured, on Aug. 11, 2023.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,True,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,Journalist,warrant,State,None,False,[],,,,, 2023-08-07 15:28:30.434371+00:00,2024-02-27 15:47:06.293794+00:00,"FBI raids home, office of independent journalist on hacking allegations",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/fbi-raids-home-office-of-independent-journalist-on-hacking-allegations/,2024-02-27 15:47:06.146250+00:00,,LegalOrder object (235),"(2023-09-29 12:08:00+00:00) FBI returns some equipment seized from Tampa journalist, (2023-11-09 17:37:00+00:00) FBI returns additional equipment seized from Tampa journalist, (2024-02-21 17:10:00+00:00) Florida journalist indicted for alleged conspiracy, computer fraud, wiretapping","Equipment Search or Seizure, Subpoena/Legal Order",,"cellphone: count of 4, computer: count of 9, storage device: count of 7, work product: count of 4",,Tim Burke (Independent),,2023-05-08,False,Tampa,Florida (FL),27.94752,-82.45843,"Florida-based independent journalist Tim Burke awoke on May 8, 2023, to the sound of FBI agents banging on the door of his Tampa home with a search warrant. By the time the raid ended approximately 10 hours later, agents had seized virtually all of the electronics in his newsroom.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that the raid was connected to a criminal probe into “alleged computer intrusions and intercepted communications at the Fox News Network.” At least six behind-the-scenes clips of former Fox host Tucker Carlson were leaked over the past year. The broadcaster has asserted that it did not authorize the release of the footage and that its systems could have been hacked.
Burke, who worked previously at Deadspin and The Daily Beast, has made a career of capturing publicly available livestreams. The Times reported that he launched Burke Communications in 2019, offering contract work and consulting, as well as access to his 181,000-gigabyte video archive.
According to the search warrant for his home, which was unsealed on May 26, officers were authorized to seize all of Burke’s electronics or physical records of alleged violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The warrant also stipulated that officers could force residents to unlock devices enabled with biometrics, including fingerprints or facial recognition.
In total, federal agents seized nine computers, seven hard drives, four cellphones and four notebooks from Burke’s home and the guesthouse that serves as his office. Two computers belonging to Lynn Hurtak, Burke’s wife and a Tampa City Council member, were also seized, along with a third that the couple both used, Burke told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in August.
Attorney Mark Rasch, who is representing Burke and created the Justice Department’s Computer Crime Unit, denied any criminal behavior by Burke.
“Hacking is not simply obtaining information that someone would rather you not,” Rasch told the Tracker. “And hacking is also not going to a website that someone would prefer that you not or finding information that they would prefer that you not.”
Rasch said that Burke uses no special software or tools to access or record live feeds, and that viewing them does not require a username or password. Rather, Burke has cultivated search skills and sources that direct him to the URLs where they are publicly visible.
Burke told the Tracker that he’s worked as an assignment editor his entire career, and sees his current work as an extension of that: sifting through content to identify newsworthy material for publication.
“I have always promoted my approach of taking video in its most raw nature as being the best we have when it comes to veracity,” Burke said. “The raw video is the truth. That’s what journalism is, that’s what we’re reporting.”
But Burke told the Tracker that the seizure of his electronics has made it impossible for him to continue his journalistic work.
“It’s very difficult for me to do most of the things that I do as a journalist without my contacts that are on my phone or without the video editing softwares that are on my computer,” Burke said. “I just want to get back to doing this thing that I’ve dedicated my life to.”
The seizures also caused Burke to be locked out of his email, social media, banking and other important accounts. According to Rasch, federal prosecutors asked that Burke waive his Fifth Amendment rights and provide the passcode to his cellphone so it could be cloned. Burke refused.
Burke told the Tracker that prosecutors later said they no longer needed the passcode, and allowed him to access the device to transfer the two-factor authentication applications he needed.
On July 21, Rasch filed a motion for the return of Burke’s devices and to unseal the affidavit submitted in support of the search warrant, which he believes will provide insights into the basis on which Burke is being investigated.
Rasch also highlighted that multiple Justice Department officials — including the U.S. attorney general — are required to approve searches involving journalists or newsrooms, and details of whether investigators followed that procedure should be in the affidavit.
The government response to Rasch’s motion is due by Aug. 9, according to court records.
A portion of the search warrant federal investigators filed for the devices and records of Florida-based journalist Tim Burke. During a search of Burke’s Tampa home and office on May 8, 2023, FBI agents seized two dozen pieces of journalistic equipment.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in part,True,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,Journalist,warrant,Federal,None,False,[],,,,, 2022-09-27 17:41:09.041418+00:00,2024-02-29 19:10:27.753285+00:00,"Devices illegally seized in investigation of reporter’s murder, Review-Journal argues",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/devices-illegally-seized-in-investigation-of-reporters-murder-review-journal-argues/,2024-02-29 19:10:27.606479+00:00,,LegalOrder object (197),"(2022-10-11 15:26:00+00:00) Judge grants injunction barring searching slain reporter’s devices until agreement reached, (2022-11-15 13:47:00+00:00) Judges side with Review-Journal in series of rulings on seizure of slain reporter’s devices, (2022-10-05 11:34:00+00:00) Judge grants Review-Journal emergency protective order against searching slain reporter’s devices, (2024-01-25 14:43:00+00:00) Review-Journal staff authorized to search slain reporter’s devices, (2022-10-19 12:05:00+00:00) Injunction to be heard by Nevada Supreme Court following police department appeal, (2023-10-05 15:04:00+00:00) Nevada top court says search protocol in Jeff German case violates privilege, (2022-12-16 14:30:00+00:00) Review-Journal files for sanctions after learning that police searched journalist’s phone, (2023-01-25 15:40:00+00:00) Judge denies sanctions against the Las Vegas police for search slain reporter’s phone","Equipment Search or Seizure, Subpoena/Legal Order",,"cellphone: count of 1, computer: count of 4, storage device: count of 1",,Jeff German (Las Vegas Review-Journal),,2022-09-03,True,Las Vegas,Nevada (NV),36.17497,-115.13722,"The Las Vegas Review-Journal filed a motion for a protective order on Sept. 26, 2022, arguing that authorities should be barred from searching the electronic devices seized as part of the investigation into the murder of reporter Jeff German.
German, who had covered crime and political corruption in Las Vegas for more than 40 years, was stabbed outside his home on Sept. 2. Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles was arrested on suspicion of murder less than a week later and is being held without bail awaiting trial.
According to court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, both Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo and Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson contacted the Review-Journal, alerting the newspaper to the seizure of German’s devices and requesting a waiver to allow authorities to search them.
The Clark County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
In total, officers seized an iPhone, three iMacs, a Macbook and an external hard drive from German’s home, according to the motion. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told the newspaper in writing on Sept. 16 that the devices had not been searched and would not be until the court issued an order authorizing the review.
Ashley Kissinger, an attorney representing the newspaper, sent a letter to the Metro Police Department, the Clark County public defender representing Telles and the District Attorney’s Office on Sept. 21 listing their concerns and requesting a call to further discuss the issue. Kissinger sent a follow up letter two days later proposing a resolution before resorting to filing a motion for a protective order.
When reached for comment, Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook provided a copy of the motion and declined to comment further.
The letters and the motion filed on the Review-Journal’s behalf on Sept. 26 argue that German’s contacts, communications and work product are protected from seizure and review under Nevada’s shield law and the federal Privacy Protection Act.
“The Review-Journal appreciates the efforts of law enforcement to investigate the murder of Mr. German, and of all those seeking to ensure that justice is done for this horrific crime,” the motion states. “However, the newspaper has serious and urgent concerns about the protection of confidential sources and other unpublished journalistic work product contained in the Seized Devices.”
The motion further requests that the court allow the Review-Journal to review the devices, identify the newsgathering materials contained on them and determine whether it wishes to waive its privilege concerning any of the files.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the Tracker, expressed its support for the newspaper.
“A murder investigation should not be used as a pretext to access unreported source material that should be protected by both the First Amendment and Nevada’s shield law,” CPJ U.S. and Canada Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen said in a statement. “If law enforcement were to gain access to decades of Jeff German’s unpublished work, including sensitive source material, it would make an already difficult situation even worse.”
According to the court filing, a hearing on the motion is scheduled for Sept. 28.
A portion of the motion filed on behalf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal seeking to protect the newsgathering materials contained on multiple devices seized from slain reporter Jeff German’s home in September 2022.
",None,None,None,None,False,A-22-859361-C,['ONGOING'],Civil,in custody,True,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,Journalist,warrant,State,None,False,[],,,,, 2023-07-25 18:38:44.318333+00:00,2023-07-25 18:38:44.318333+00:00,"Texas journalist files suit following arrest, equipment seizure",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/texas-journalist-files-suit-following-arrest-equipment-seizure/,2023-07-25 18:38:43.966822+00:00,obstruction: interference with public duties (charges pending as of 2022-05-16),"LegalOrder object (230), LegalOrder object (231)",,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure, Subpoena/Legal Order",,"miscellaneous equipment: count of 3, storage device: count of 2, recording equipment: count of 1, external battery: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1, camera: count of 2",,Justin Pulliam (Independent),,2021-12-21,False,Damon,Texas (TX),None,None,"Independent journalist Justin Pulliam was arrested and his equipment seized while filming a mental health check by Fort Bend County Sheriff’s deputies in Damon, Texas, on Dec. 21, 2021. He was charged with interference with public duties but the initial proceedings ended in a mistrial in March 2023. In the interim, Pulliam filed a federal lawsuit against the county.
Pulliam lives in Fort Bend County near Houston and independently reports on local government and law enforcement for his social media channels, including on YouTube and Facebook. According to his lawsuit, Pulliam followed officers to a remote corner of the county where they were conducting a wellness check on a man whose case Pulliam had been following for several years.
“Justin had recorded previous [sheriff’s office] interactions with the mentally ill man and believed officers had a history of unnecessarily escalating their responses to him,” the lawsuit stated.
Pulliam began filming from a gas station located approximately 130 feet from the man’s home after receiving permission from his mother, according to his footage from the incident. At some point, a deputy informed the other officers via radio that Pulliam had arrived, identifying him by name and as a “local journalist,” Pulliam’s lawsuit stated.
Moments after two mental health advocates arrived at the scene, a deputy approached and first directed only Pulliam and then the advocates to go across the street. Pulliam began walking toward the street, but turned to resume filming when the advocates began speaking to the officer.
Seconds later, the officer again directed Pulliam to leave; Pulliam responded that he had a right to be there as long as the other bystanders were permitted to remain. As the officer began walking toward him while counting down from five, Pulliam’s footage shows him backing up further until the officer reached him and placed him under arrest.
During the booking process, Sheriff Eric Fagan and the chief deputy took Pulliam into a room and attempted to question him, according to his lawsuit. When he refused to speak without an attorney, both reportedly became agitated and indicated that the booking process would continue, according to the lawsuit.
Pulliam was released after several hours once his $500 bail was posted. His equipment — which included a hand-held camera, body camera and cellphone — remained in police custody. The majority of the equipment was returned on Jan. 7, 2022, though the sheriff’s office continued to hold his body camera, memory cards and cellphone.
A week later, officers obtained search warrants for the memory cards and body camera, arguing that they held evidence of Pulliam’s alleged interference with public duties. A grand jury indicted Pulliam on May 16, 2022.
Pulliam’s case went to trial on March 28, 2023, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. It was ruled a mistrial after one of the six jurors held that Pulliam should be convicted while the other jurors voted to acquit, confirmed Christie Hebert, one of the attorneys at the public interest law firm Institute for Justice representing Pulliam in his federal suit.
Wesley Wittig, second assistant district attorney for Fort Bend County, told the Tracker that no new trial date has been requested.
For Pulliam, it has been a life-altering experience. “It’s not just the arrest and one police officer,” Pulliam told the Tracker in July 2023. “It’s like the whole system is out to get you. And so that, taken as a whole, is very chilling. It makes me scared to really do much of any filming in this county.”
The Institute for Justice filed the civil rights lawsuit on Pulliam’s behalf on Dec. 5, 2022, against the county, Sheriff Fagan and four others in the sheriff’s office. The suit alleges violations of Pulliam’s First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights by arresting him and seizing his equipment, as well as by barring him from one of the sheriff’s press conferences in July 2021.
On June 29, 2023, District Judge David Hittner denied the county’s motion to dismiss the majority of Pulliam’s claims. Hittner ruled that Pulliam had sufficiently argued that he had been singled out for exercising his First Amendment rights and that the officers are not protected by qualified immunity at this time.
The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment when reached in July 2023, citing the ongoing litigation.
Hebert said in a statement following the ruling that Hittner recognized the gravity of Pulliam’s claims.
“The heart of the First Amendment is the right to speak out about government, and Fort Bend County does not get to pick and choose who will cover their activities,” Hebert said.
Hebert told the Tracker that the case is tentatively scheduled to go to trial in early 2024.
Independent journalist Justin Pulliam was arrested by a Fort Bend County Sheriff’s deputy while documenting a mental health call on Dec. 21, 2021. A year later, Pulliam filed a civil rights lawsuit against the sheriff’s office.
",arrested and released,Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office,None,None,False,4:22-cv-04210,['ONGOING'],Civil,returned in part,True,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,Journalist,warrant,State,None,False,None,,,,, 2021-12-07 20:51:40.432682+00:00,2023-11-03 18:10:10.144717+00:00,"Photojournalist arrested, equipment seized while documenting homeless encampment",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-equipment-seized-while-documenting-homeless-encampment/,2023-11-03 18:10:09.904030+00:00,"assault: battery on a police officer with injury (charges dropped as of 2021-12-28), obstruction: resisting an executive officer (charges dropped as of 2021-12-28), assault: battery on a police officer (charges dropped as of 2021-12-28)",LegalOrder object (164),"(2021-12-09 12:33:00+00:00) Police obtain search warrant after seizing photojournalist’s equipment during an arrest, (2021-12-28 11:42:00+00:00) No charges for photojournalist arrested while reporting on Sausalito homeless encampment, (2022-02-21 09:51:00+00:00) Photojournalist sues city, police following arrest while reporting on Sausalito homeless encampment","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Search or Seizure, Subpoena/Legal Order",,"cellphone: count of 1, external battery: count of 1, camera lens: count of 1, camera equipment: count of 1, storage device: count of 2, recording equipment: count of 3, camera: count of 1",,Jeremy Portje (Freelance),,2021-11-30,False,Sausalito,California (CA),37.85909,-122.48525,"Freelance photojournalist Jeremy Portje was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors and a felony while documenting a homeless encampment in Sausalito, California, on Nov. 30, 2021, according to an officer from the Sausalito Police Department.
Portje was filming for a documentary about homelessness in Marin County, according to the Pacific Sun, a weekly newspaper in the county. A witness identified as a volunteer at the encampment told the Pacific Sun that an officer was following Portje and deliberately stood in front of his camera as he tried to film.
The volunteer told the newspaper an officer grabbed Portje’s camera without provocation, and appeared to accidentally hit himself with the equipment.
“The officer reacted to the camera hitting him,” the volunteer told the Pacific Sun. “He started punching Jeremy.”
Portje attempted to defend himself from the blows but was quickly forced to the ground and placed under arrest, the newspaper reported. At some point during the altercation the officer threw Portje’s camera to the ground. No equipment damage was mentioned in initial reports of the incident.
In footage of Portje’s arrest published by the Pacific Sun, the photojournalist can be heard saying, “Why are they doing this? Because I asked them questions?”
Neither Portje nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.
Portje’s camera can be seen lying on the pavement behind him as two officers work to place him in handcuffs while a third keeps the growing crowd back as voices can be heard shouting “let him go” and “don’t hurt him.”
An officer from the Sausalito Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Portje was arrested shortly after 5 p.m. and charged with resisting an executive officer, battery on a police officer and battery on a police officer with injury. If convicted on all charges, Portje faces up to $5,000 in fines, three years imprisonment or both.
Charles Dresow, a criminal defense attorney representing Portje, told the Pacific Sun the photojournalist spent the night in jail and was released the following morning on $15,000 bail.
“My journalist client ended up on the ground,” Dresow said. “It’s clear the Sausalito police used force to arrest a journalist. To say this is an outrage of constitutional proportions is an understatement.”
When reached for comment, Sausalito Mayor Jill Hoffman told the Tracker officers were called to the park to respond to a disturbance and that Portje had interfered with police activity, injuring a police sergeant in the process.
“We have shown that we support and respect the right to free speech,” Hoffman said. “What is unacceptable is impeding a police investigation and injuring a member of our department.”
Hoffman confirmed that Portje’s camera equipment was seized as evidence.
The Pacific Sun reported that the three officers who arrested him were the same officers who arrested two homeless people for camping in a park two weeks prior. According to the newspaper, Portje had recently made a public records request for the body camera footage from that incident.
A district court judge seized a memory card from a photojournalist for The Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa student newspaper, after she photographed jurors in a Davenport, Iowa, murder trial, in violation of court rules, on May 21, 2021, The Associated Press reported.
The photojournalist, whom the judge asked media not to identify, took pictures of jurors as they were being shown photographs of the body of a slain woman during the murder trial of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, according to The Des Moines Register. The Daily Iowan acknowledged in an editor’s note that its photographer had been removed from the courtroom because of “photographs involving jurors.”
The Register reported that as the jury was dismissed for a lunch break, one juror brought the photographer to the attention of Judge Joel Yates. After clearing the room of everyone but the photographer and an AP pool reporter, Yates asked the photographer, “What were you thinking?”
According to the Register, the photographer said that her editor told her it was OK to take pictures of the jury, and she was not aware of court rules that prohibit covering jurors.
The photographer deleted the photos from the camera in front of Yates, according to the Register. Yates then took the photographer’s memory card, which he said he believed would make sure no photographs of the jurors would be published, the Register reported.
The judge then told the journalist to go home, according to the Register. The paper reported that Yates said she was a young journalist who made a mistake and that the judge asked other members of the media not to identify the journalist because he didn’t want the incident to damage her career.
Multiple requests from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for comment from The Daily Iowan were not answered. The publication acknowledged the incident in an editor’s note at the end of a May 22 article.
“The DI [Daily Iowan] recognizes the gravity of the mistake and regrets the error,” the note reads. “The DI has been allowed to and will continue to report on trial proceedings. Judge Joel Yates said during proceedings that it was an honest mistake made by a young photographer, and no further action was taken against the photographer.”
Steve Davis, spokesperson for the Iowa judicial branch, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the photographer violated Iowa Court Rules by taking photographs of the jury.
Chapter 25 of the rules bars media from covering jurors, except when they are returning a verdict or unless it is unavoidable in covering other proceedings in the courtroom. Media rules specifically set for the Bahena Rivera trial state that media coverage of jurors is prohibited, according to a court document posted online by the Register.
The Tracker documents all instances when journalists’ equipment is seized in the course of their work.
Sarah Matthews, senior staff attorney for the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press and a member of the Tracker’s advisory committee, said that rules for photography vary between different courts, and can even vary from one trial to another.
“Before reporters go into courts and start taking pictures, they need to be aware that they need to educate themselves and what their rules are for that particular court,” she said.
Courts have significant discretion for setting rules for media coverage, and for how those rules are enforced, according to Matthews.
Matthews said that the judge’s confiscation of the journalist’s memory card was “troubling” — particularly if there were other photographs on the card besides the ones involving jurors.
“There's any, any number of ways that the judge could have handled it and typically they have a lot of discretion in that area as to how to handle violations of their orders,” she said.
One possibility would be for a judge to just give the photographer a warning, Matthews said, though another judge might have taken a harsher approach by holding the journalist in contempt of court. Matthews said the journalist should have had a hearing in order to have an opportunity to object to the judge taking the equipment.
Pablo Unzueta, a freelance photojournalist and video editor for California State University, Long Beach’s newspaper, the Daily Forty-Niner, was arrested while documenting protests in the South Los Angeles area on Sept. 8, 2020.
Unzueta told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was following a group of protesters as they gathered for the fourth consecutive night outside the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department following the fatal shooting of Dijon Kizzee, a Black man, by deputies on Aug. 31.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, Unzueta said, deputies declared the protest unlawful and ordered the crowd to disperse. Following the order, Unzueta said he saw deputies firing tear gas and flash-bang grenades into the crowd around the intersection of Normandie Avenue and West Imperial Highway.
Unzueta said officers pushed the crowd north on Normandie as they advanced, and that many of the protesters began splitting off and dispersing.
“I didn’t know the area that well so I made a left into this neighborhood on this very narrow street,” Unzueta said. “The sheriffs would get on the trucks and then the truck would speed up through the street and then they would start firing more [flash-bang grenades] and then more tear gas.”
“I kept ducking behind cars while I’m running so I wouldn’t get hit.”
Unzueta said a few minutes passed as he kept looking for a way to get back to his car, which was parked near the Sheriff’s Department, but realized that he was stuck on a long, narrow block.
Two sheriff’s vehicles pulled up at approximately 9:30 p.m., Unzueta said, and deputies began arresting the demonstrators that remained.
“This was sort of a ‘holy shit’ moment for me, and I immediately identified myself as press just to avoid getting tackled or being shot with a rubber bullet,” Unzueta said.
He said that after a couple of deputies saw his credentials and camera and didn’t stop him, he thought he would be allowed to leave and began to head back the way they had come to return to his vehicle.
“I start walking on the sidewalk and that’s when an officer from up above in the truck said, ‘Hey! Grab that guy!,’” Unzueta said. “Again I yelled, ‘Press, press, press!’ And that’s when the officer...just grabbed me, threw my camera on the ground and ripped my backpack off my back.”
Unzueta told the Tracker he was wearing press credentials from Mt. San Antonio College, where Unzueta used to be a student, and his College Media Association badge, and repeatedly told the deputies to call the newspaper’s adviser.
During the course of his arrest, Unzueta said that officers tightened his metal handcuffs so tightly that he lost all feeling in his hands, and that they called him demeaning names and slurs. Unzueta said deputies then pushed him into the back of a department van, causing him to fall on and rupture multiple pepper balls. The officers left him to struggle to breathe amid clouds of pepper powder, he said.
Unzueta also alleges that some of the officers used their personal cellphones to photograph him and other detainees.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department values the media and highly respects the freedom of the press,” Department spokesperson Deputy Trina Schrader told the Tracker in an emailed statement. “Please be aware an administrative investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding this incident. A lieutenant from South Los Angeles Station has been assigned and will be contacting Mr. Unzueta to investigate these allegations.”
Unzueta said deputies seized his iPhone and Nikon D800 camera. He said he was handcuffed for about two hours. He was transported to the South Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station where he was booked at 10:30 p.m., and then transferred to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles.
Unzueta estimated he was in police custody for 10 or 11 hours. His booking data, reviewed by the Tracker, shows he was released the following day with a citation. A copy of the citation shared with the Tracker shows Unzueta was arrested for unlawful assembly, a misdemeanor, and was ordered to appear in court two days later.
Unzueta said his equipment and cellphone weren’t returned to him upon his release.
The Student Press Law Center, a Tracker partner organization, connected Unzueta with the Criminal Justice Clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. LAist, part of Southern California Public Radio, reported that the clinic was able to secure the release of Unzueta’s camera, but the memory card — which Unzueta told the Tracker contained two years worth of freelance work — had been removed.
Unzueta said deputies first claimed that the camera hadn’t contained an SD card and then that it may have fallen out when the deputy threw it to the ground during the arrest. Unzueta disputed both of these assertions, and said the design of the camera makes it nearly impossible for the memory card to fall out.
In a letter sent on Unzueta’s behalf, the clinic asked that the cellphone and memory card be returned and for assurance that the case wouldn’t be presented to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, a copy of his arrest report and an apology from the department.
“Sheriff’s deputies had no basis to arrest Mr. Unzueta,” the letter reads. “A truck full of deputies passed by, and a deputy pointed at Mr. Unzueta and said, ‘Get him.’ Mr. Unzueta repeatedly identified himself as a member of the press and as a student journalist, displaying his student press badge, but the deputy who arrested him ignored him.”
Unzueta confirmed to the Tracker that he still hasn’t regained complete feeling in his palms more than two and a half months later, attributing the numbness to the overly tight handcuffs.
The Long Beach Press Telegram reported on Nov. 17 that the department hadn’t responded to the letter, according to one of Unzueta’s lawyers.
“I’ve been photographing protests since the Trayvon Martin protest, which was in 2013 and I was 17 at the time. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I never thought I’d have to experience something like I experienced on September 8th,” Unzueta said.
Unzueta told the Long Beach Post that while he has always had a passion for photography, he was shaken by the incident.
“I don’t feel safe going out anymore,” Unzueta said. “This is the last thing I want to do.”
Texas photojournalist Alan Pogue was arrested while documenting police arresting others outside of President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20, 2020.
The Texas Observer confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Pogue was covering the rally for the outlet. Pogue is also the owner of the Texas Center for Documentary Photography and was a combat medic in the Vietnam War.
Pogue told the Tracker that had already passed through security into the BOK Center when he heard somebody yell that something was happening with the police outside.
“So I grabbed my camera bag and ran out front, but by the time I got there the three people had already been arrested and were being led across some grass to a police van,” Pogue said. “I followed the police and the three people and took some photographs.”
After the individuals were in the van, however, Pogue said the officers from the Tulsa Police turned to him “almost in unison” and asked who he was.
Pogue’s arrest report, which was released to the Tracker, states that Pogue followed police into a restricted area of the Trump rally and refused to leave, stating that he was media. The report also states that Pogue was allegedly “unable to provide proof of being with the media.”
Pogue told the Tracker that the police narrative is completely inaccurate.
“One police officer told me to stand back just a little bit more,” Pogue said. “So, I took a couple of giant steps backward and he was satisfied, so I just kept taking pictures. No one else said anything to me. There was nothing to indicate that I shouldn’t be there and nobody told me I couldn’t be.”
Pogue said that when the officers turned to him and asked who he was, he identified himself as a photojournalist, showed them the wristband he received after passing through the rally’s security screening and handed them his business card.
“It was really generational: One of the younger police officers said, ‘Well, you’ve got your wristband, you’re obviously a photojournalist. I guess you can go now,’” Pogue said. “Then an older officer said, ‘No, no, no, you can’t go now.’”
Officers searched through his camera bag, which contained not only his equipment but a medical kit and a bulletproof vest that he had worn through security. Pogue told the Tracker that, during the search, one of the officers said, “It looks like he’s some kind of social justice advocate.”
When Pogue located his digital copy of a letter from the Observer verifying that he was on assignment for the news organization, he showed it to the older officer.
“[The officer] then grabs my iPhone and is flipping through my emails, and I said, ‘Officer, you do not have my permission to look through my iPhone,” Pogue said. “But, he saw that I’m also a member of the Veterans for Peace, and that pretty much nailed me.”
Pogue said that he was placed under arrest, but that the officers were not rough with him and didn’t zip-tie his hands too tightly.
A spokesperson from the Tulsa County jail told the Tracker that Pogue was arrested at approximately 5:40 p.m., and booked in the jail at 7:17 p.m. He was released on a $500 bond paid by the Tulsa Bail Project at around 11:20 p.m.
The Tulsa Police Department, the arresting agency, did not respond to requests for comment.
Pogue was charged with obstructing or interfering with an officer, the spokesperson said, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a $500 fine or both.
Pogue’s belongings — including his wallet, ID, phone and equipment — were not returned to him upon his release. He was told he would have to come back to the county jail at 8 a.m. on June 22; when he arrived that Monday officers informed him that his two cameras, three lenses, cellphone, memory cards, camera bag and bulletproof vest were all being held as evidence.
“Obviously all they would really need is my compact flash card, nothing else really matters,” Pogue said. “It’s just harassment. There’s no intel to be gathered from my lenses.”
“I am deprived of the tools of my trade for no good reason,” he added.
Tristan Ahtone, editor-in-chief for the Observer, told the Tracker, “We condemn the arrest of reporters by security forces and demand that Tulsa police release [Pogue’s] equipment immediately.”
Pogue said that his arraignment is set for July 10, but that he is hopeful the charges will be dismissed and his equipment returned before that date.
The exterior of Tulsa’s BOK Center, where President Donald Trump held his first re-election campaign rally in many months on June 20, 2020.
",arrested and released,Tulsa Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,Donald Trump rally,,, 2023-02-24 18:01:25.061601+00:00,2023-11-03 18:17:24.278778+00:00,"Photojournalist arrested, equipment seized while covering protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-equipment-seized-while-covering-protest/,2023-11-03 18:17:24.135310+00:00,curfew violation: breaking city curfew (charges dropped as of 2021-01-13),,"(2023-05-08 15:36:00+00:00) Atlanta agrees to pay photojournalist $105,000 to settle lawsuit following 2020 arrest, equipment seizure","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 1, camera lens: count of 2, storage device: count of 3",,Sharif Hassan (Freelance),,2020-06-01,False,Atlanta,Georgia (GA),33.749,-84.38798,"Freelance photojournalist Sharif Hassan was arrested and his equipment seized while covering protests in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 1, 2020, according to a lawsuit filed on his behalf in November 2021.
Protests against police violence broke out across the country in the summer of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On May 30, then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued a curfew order for the subsequent three days. The order, which had no explicit exception for members of the media or other essential workers, ordered residents off the streets between 9 p.m. and sunrise.
City of Atlanta curfew continues at 9:00 p.m. tonight and Thursday night. An 8:00 p.m. to sunrise curfew is effective Friday (6/5), Saturday (6/6) & Sunday (6/7). Exceptions apply to people seeking medical help, working, first responders & homeless. Call @ATL311 for details. pic.twitter.com/RZifP9dFOQ
— City of Atlanta, GA (@CityofAtlanta) June 3, 2020
According to his lawsuit, Hassan — whose work has been published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Magazine and National Geographic Adventure, among others — arrived at The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change near downtown Atlanta in the late afternoon. He then photographed the planned protest as the crowd marched toward the CNN Center.
Officers with the National Guard, Atlanta Police Department and FBI were stationed downtown, according to court filings by the City of Atlanta.
Shortly before the curfew went into effect, a line of APD officers began pushing the crowd north on Centennial Olympic Park Drive, followed by a line of National Guardsmen, Hassan’s lawsuit states. Hassan and other members of the press walked behind the line of APD officers and ahead of the National Guard.
As the demonstrators and police passed through an intersection, an unidentified man ran down the side street and was pursued by officers who arrested him. Hassan followed and began photographing from a safe distance, according to his suit. Without being given any directions or an order to disperse, two officers approached Hassan and made him lie face-down on the ground.
According to disclosures filed by the city, Hassan was directed to leave or face arrest but refused to do so. The filing also asserts that Hassan did not identify himself as a journalist to the arresting officers, nor did he provide “media credentials or any other paraphernalia that would identify him as such.”
Hassan’s suit states that he identified himself as a member of the press when officers zip-tied his hands behind his back and told him that he was under arrest for violating the curfew order.
Hassan’s camera, at least two lenses and two loose memory cards were seized by police. The photojournalist was held overnight at the Atlanta City Detention Center. Hassan was released in the late afternoon on June 2, but his camera and lenses were not returned until a week later.
One of Hassan’s attorneys told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in February 2023 that the two SD cards Hassan had been carrying in his pocket were never returned to him, and police have neither acknowledged that they are still in custody nor provided explanation. Hassan was not available for comment.
According to the suit, Hassan appeared for three hearings beginning in September 2020. At the final hearing in January 2021, prosecutors dropped the charge against him for what they described as evidentiary reasons.
Attorneys filed the lawsuit on Hassan’s behalf against the City of Atlanta and three APD officers in November 2021.
“Hassan’s arrest, detention, and prosecution have chilled him from documenting political protest events due to concern that he will again be wrongfully arrested,” the lawsuit states. “By failing to explicitly exclude basic newsgathering from the facial scope of the Atlanta Curfew Orders, the City, without factual basis, deprived Hassan and other working members of the media of their First Amendment press freedoms while the public lost its eyes and ears on events of significant importance.”
According to court filings reviewed by the Tracker, Hassan and the city are engaged in settlement discussions as of early 2023.
National Guard troops were part of the law enforcement response to protests in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, on June 1, 2020. Photojournalist Sharif Hassan was arrested, his equipment seized while documenting the demonstrations against police brutality.
",arrested and released,Atlanta Police Department,2020-06-02,2020-06-01,False,1:21-cv-04629,['SETTLED'],Civil,returned in part,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2019-05-14 16:31:23.663401+00:00,2024-01-12 16:38:06.390891+00:00,"San Francisco police use search warrant to raid home, office of independent journalist",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-francisco-police-use-search-warrant-raid-home-office-independent-journalist-source-material/,2024-01-12 16:38:06.212620+00:00,,"LegalOrder object (56), LegalOrder object (57), LegalOrder object (58)","(2020-03-03 10:29:00+00:00) San Francisco to pay $369,000 following raids of journalist Bryan Carmody, (2020-05-26 14:52:00+00:00) San Francisco police agree to inform officers of press protections following raid, (2019-05-21 14:02:00+00:00) Equipment seized in raid returned to Carmody, (2019-08-02 16:15:00+00:00) San Francisco judges quash three more warrants used in raid of independent journalist Bryan Carmody's home, office and phone records","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure, Subpoena/Legal Order",,"camera: count of 2, cellphone: count of 12, computer: count of 11, storage device: count of 11, work product: count of 3",,Bryan Carmody (North Bay News),,2019-05-10,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"On May 10, 2019, San Francisco police officers raided the home and office of freelance journalist Bryan Carmody as part of an investigation into one of Carmody’s confidential sources.
Carmody told the Los Angeles Times that he awoke to 10 or so officers from the San Francisco Police Department banging on his front gate with a sledgehammer. He said he allowed them in after being shown a search warrant signed by a state court judge. The SFPD officers then handcuffed him and searched his house with guns drawn.
Carmody was not formally arrested or charged with any crime, but he was detained for more than five hours. When he was finally released, the SFPD gave him a receipt showing that he had been in police custody from 8:22 a.m. to 1:55 p.m.
While Carmody was in SFPD custody, two FBI agents asked to interview him, but he refused and requested an attorney. An FBI spokeswoman later told the Times that the FBI agents were not involved in the search of Carmody’s house. Technically speaking, Carmody was only raided by the SFPD, not by federal agents.
During the raid on Carmody’s house, the SFPD learned that Carmody also used a separate office space for his independent media company, North Bay News, and quickly obtained a search warrant for the office space, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
In the end, the officers who searched Carmody’s house ended up seizing multiple notebooks, computers, phones, and cameras, while those who searched his office seized a USB thumb drive, multiple CDs, and a copy of a confidential police report into the death of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi.
A source had leaked that police report to Carmody shortly after Adachi died unexpectedly on Feb. 22. The police report included salacious details about Adachi’s drug use and possible extramarital affair, and Carmody used the leaked report as the centerpiece of a story about Adachi’s death. Carmody sold his story on Adachi’s death to local TV news stations, who ran segments about it.
Progressive politicians roundly condemned the sensationalist coverage of Adachi’s death and accused the SFPD of deliberately leaking the police report to the media in order to smear Adachi, who had been a frequent critic of the police department. The SFPD also condemned the leak and pledged to track down the source of the police report.
According to the Chronicle, SFPD Captain William Braconi testified during a special hearing in April that the police department had launched both an internal administrative probe and a criminal investigation into the leak.
A few weeks before the May 10 raid, two San Francisco police officers visited Carmody and asked him to identify the source who had leaked him a copy of the police report. Carmody refused. Carmody told the California Globe that when he refused, the officers warned him that if he did not identify his source, then he could be subject to a federal grand jury subpoena.
But Carmody never received a subpoena, either from a federal grand jury or a state prosecutor, which he could have contested in court. Instead, a state court judge secretly authorized the SFPD to raid his house and seize his devices.
David Stevenson, a spokesman for the SFPD, said that the raid on Carmody was part of the SFPD’s criminal investigation.
“The citizens and leaders of the City of San Francisco have demanded a complete and thorough investigation into this leak, and this action represents a step in the process of investigating a potential case of obstruction of justice along with the illegal distribution of confidential police material,” he told the Times.
According to the Times, two judges of the San Francisco Superior Court — Gail Dekreon and Victor Hwang — approved the warrants to search Carmody’s house and office, respectively.
It is not clear who requested the warrants. A spokeswoman for the San Francisco district attorney’s office told the Times that the office was not involved in preparing the warrants.
Nor is it clear whether Dekreon and Hwang knew that Carmody was a journalist when they authorized the searches of his house and office space
Thomas Burke, an attorney at Davis Wright & Tremaine who is representing Carmody, said that the raid violated Carmody’s First Amendment rights. He told the Times that the investigators should have issued a subpoena for the records they wanted from Carmody, rather than raiding his newsroom and seizing documents unrelated to the investigation.
“So much information has nothing to do with the purpose of their investigation,” he said. “If you are looking for one piece of information, that’s why you issue a subpoena.”
San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who died in February, speaks with reporters. Police raided the home and office of journalist Bryan Carmody, seeking the source of a confidential police report about Adachi’s death.
",detained and released without being processed,San Francisco Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,True,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,Journalist,warrant,State,None,False,[],,,,, 2017-05-24 21:51:13.234889+00:00,2023-11-03 18:30:52.204992+00:00,Journalist Tracie Williams arrested at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tracie-williams-arrested-standing-rock/,2023-11-03 18:30:52.077971+00:00,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function (charges dropped as of 2018-07-11),,"(2018-07-11 17:20:00+00:00) Charges dismissed, (2018-01-29 12:00:00+00:00) Tracie Williams statement","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",Photojournalists Arrested at Protests Work to Have Confiscated Gear Returned (https://nppa.org/news/confiscated-cameras-returned),"camera: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1, storage device: count of 3, recording equipment: count of 1",,Tracie Williams (Independent),,2017-02-23,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Tracie Williams, an independent photojournalist, was arrested on Feb. 23, 2017, while covering events at the Dakota Access Pipeline camp. Police seized her phone, camera, lenses, external battery packs, blank flash cards, and data discs and held them as evidence.
Williams is charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. According to police records, Williams pleaded not guilty.
According to the National Press Photographers Association, Williams’ seized equipment was returned to her on March 1.
Williams is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
A law enforcement officer points his gun at two Water Protectors praying near a Dakota Access Pipeline resistance camp, on Feb. 23, 2017. Photojournalist Tracie Williams took this photograph moments before she was arrested.
",arrested and released,Morton County Sheriff's Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"environmentalism, protest",,, 2017-05-24 22:01:58.221086+00:00,2024-03-22 15:16:04.235104+00:00,Journalist Tonita Cervantes arrested at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tonita-cervantes-arrested-standing-rock/,2024-03-22 15:16:04.069366+00:00,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function (charges dropped as of 2017-07-09),,"(2022-12-19 00:00:00+00:00) Freelance photojournalist sues ND county, city, officers for wrongful arrest at pipeline protest, (2024-03-01 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist’s suit against North Dakota law enforcement dismissed","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 1, camera lens: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1, external battery: count of 1, storage device: count of 14",,Tonita Cervantes (Freelance),,2017-02-22,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Tonita Cervantes, a freelance photojournalist, was arrested on Feb. 22, 2017, while covering events at the Dakota Access Pipeline camp. Police seized her phone, camera, lenses, external battery packs, blank flash cards, and data discs and held them as evidence.
Cervantes is charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. According to police records, Cervantes pleaded not guilty.
Cervantes’ seized equipment was returned to her on March 1, according to the National Press Photographers Association.
Cervantes is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
Photojournalist Tonita Cervantes was arrested shortly after taking this photo of law enforcement officers enforcing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s evacuation order for the Oceti Sakowin camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on Feb. 22, 2017.
",arrested and released,Morton County Sheriff's Department,2017-02-23,2017-02-22,True,1:22-cv-00211,['DISMISSED'],Civil,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"environmentalism, protest",,, 2017-05-25 21:09:36.767540+00:00,2023-11-03 18:35:20.284957+00:00,Producer Jack Keller arrested at Trump inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/producer-jack-keller-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/,2023-11-03 18:35:19.906193+00:00,rioting (charges dropped as of 2017-01-30),,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1, storage device: count of 1",,Jack Keller (Story of America),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Jack Keller, producer of the web documentary series Story of America, was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Annabel Park, the co-director of the web series, confirmed that Keller was arrested and detained for 36 hours while covering the protest. He was returned his video camera after being released, but both the video and his cellphone remained in police custody.
He was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.
On Jan. 30, the charges against Keller were dropped.
A demonstrator smashes a Starbucks window using a trash can at 12th and I streets in Washington, D.C., on Friday, during a march that ended with a partial encirclement and mass arrest.
",arrested and released,Metropolitan Police Department,2017-01-21,2017-01-20,False,None,[],None,returned in part,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,, 2017-05-25 21:25:00.130739+00:00,2023-11-03 18:36:09.505614+00:00,Photojournalist Cheney Orr arrested at Trump inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-cheney-orr-arrested-trump-inauguration-protest/,2023-11-03 18:36:09.357441+00:00,rioting (charges dropped as of 2017-02-21),,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 3, storage device: count of 3, work product: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1",,Cheney Orr (Independent),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Cheney Orr, an independent photographer, was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Orr was doing a portrait series that day when he was arrested with a group of 60 protesters, handcuffed with zip ties, and his gear confiscated: this included his digital Canon DSLR camera, two lenses, a Contaxt point-and-shoot, memory cards, a Rolleiflex 120 film camera, and his cellphone.
He was one of more than 200 people arrested and charged with felony rioting, the highest level of offense under Washington D.C.’s law against rioting. While he was released the next day, law enforcement wanted to use his images as evidence, but couldn’t access them without a warrant or Orr’s permission. When Orr’s attorney advised him that the warrant would almost certainly be granted and that waiting for the warrant would leave his equipment impounded for weeks or months, Orr granted his permission.
The felony charges were dropped on Feb. 21, though Orr is still waiting for the return of both his film and memory cards.
DC riot police form a line across K Street Northwest at 13th Street as protesters react to the swearing in of U.S. President Donald Trump in downtown Washington, U.S., Jan. 20, 2017.
",arrested and released,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in part,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,, 2017-07-26 15:56:29.556592+00:00,2024-02-23 16:10:38.499416+00:00,Journalist Alexei Wood arrested at Inauguration protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-alexei-wood-arrested-inauguration-protest/,2024-02-23 16:10:38.273326+00:00,"destruction of property (acquitted as of 2017-12-21), destruction of property (acquitted as of 2017-12-21), destruction of property (acquitted as of 2017-12-21), destruction of property (acquitted as of 2017-12-21), rioting (acquitted as of 2017-12-21), rioting: conspiracy to riot (acquitted as of 2017-12-21), rioting: inciting a riot (charges dropped as of 2017-12-13), destruction of property (acquitted as of 2017-12-21)",,"(2017-10-31 15:17:00+00:00) Wood's trial date, (2017-12-21 12:42:00+00:00) Jury verdict: not guilty, (2017-11-20 12:00:00+00:00) Wood's trial starts, (2017-12-13 11:22:00+00:00) Felony incitement charge dropped, (2017-12-01 11:18:00+00:00) Felony charges downgraded to misdemeanors, (2020-01-16 13:13:00+00:00) Two journalists sue D.C., police department for arrests while covering 2017 inauguration protests, (2018-10-10 00:00:00+00:00) Police return equipment seized for reporter arrested while covering inauguration protests, (2023-04-25 17:16:00+00:00) DC government pays two journalists $175,000 to settle wrongful arrest claims","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 1, camera equipment: count of 1, camera lens: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1, recording equipment: count of 1, storage device: count of 4",,Alexei Wood (Independent),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Independent photojournalist Alexei Wood was arrested while covering protests on Jan. 20, 2017 — the day of the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Wood was among more than 230 people arrested in Washington on Inauguration Day after some individuals set fire to a car and broke windows of downtown businesses.
Wood told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that, when he was arrested, he was carrying a lot of professional equipment — including a Canon 7D camera body with a 16–35 L lens, at least four memory cards with over 200 GB of photos, a Rode external microphone, a monopod, and an Android phone (which he used to livestream the protest on Facebook Live).
All of his equipment was seized and searched by police after he was arrested. The lens was later returned to him, but the rest of his equipment was not.
Like other journalists arrested during the Inauguration protests, Wood was initially charged with one count of rioting, a felony which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in jail.
But on April 27, a grand jury indicted him on eight separate felony counts:
The eight counts carry a combined maximum sentence of more than 60 years in prison.
Alexei Wood stands outside D.C. superior court.
",arrested and released,Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,1:20-cv-00130,['SETTLED'],Civil,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"chemical irritant, election, Election 2016, kettle, protest",,, 2017-11-06 23:57:34.133926+00:00,2023-11-03 18:38:17.736430+00:00,"Sara Lafleur-Vetter arrested, charged with three misdemeanors at Standing Rock",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sara-lafleur-vetter-arrested-charged-three-misdemeanors-standing-rock/,2023-11-03 18:38:17.603264+00:00,"rioting: disobedience of safety orders during a riot (acquitted as of 2017-10-18), obstruction: disorderly conduct (acquitted as of 2017-10-18), obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function (acquitted as of 2017-10-18), rioting: engaging in a riot (charges dropped as of 2017-06-08), trespassing: criminal trespass (charges dropped as of 2017-06-08)",,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 1, storage device: count of 8",,Sara Lafleur-Vetter (The Guardian),,2016-10-22,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Sara Lafleur-Vetter, an independent photojournalist and filmmaker, was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors while filming protests at Standing Rock for The Guardian U.S. on Oct. 22, 2016.
Lafleur-Vetter told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that Morton County police arrested her while she was filming a prayer walk near the construction site of the Dakota Access Pipeline near State Highway 1806 in North Dakota.
Lafleur-Vetter said that she identified herself as a journalist to the police, and a video of her arrest posted on Facebook shows another person informing police that Lafleur-Vetter was a member of the press. Still, police arrested her.
“It didn’t matter to them who was and wasn’t press,” Lafleur-Vetter said.
She said that she was swept up in a mass arrest of over 140 people and was held in jail for two nights. She said that police seized her camera and SD cards. When she was released from jail, police returned her camera but not the SD cards.
Lafleur-Vetter was initially charged with criminal trespass and engaging in a riot. Those charges were dismissed on June 8, 2017.
But on May 17, 2017, Lafleur-Vetter was charged with three other misdemeanors: physical obstruction of a government function, disobedience of safety orders during a riot, and disorderly conduct.
On Oct. 18, nearly a year after she was first arrested, Lafleur-Vetter appeared at the Morton County courthouse for a trial before surrogate judge Thomas Merrick. She was the first journalist to be tried in connection with the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. She was acquitted on all charges, according to the Tribune.
“There's no evidence against her," judge Merrick said at the trial. "All it shows is she was working."
After the trial, police returned Lafleur-Vetter's SD cards to her.
Lafleur-Vetter said that she believes that the charges brought against her were intended to scare other journalists and deter them from covering protests.