Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- January 5, 2017
- Location
- Cape Coral, Florida
- Targets
- Nicole Valdes (WINK News)
- Assailant
- Private individual
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Schreenshot from a video filmed by Channing Frampton shows Nicole Valdes immediately after being clipped by a driver upset with her reporting.
While attempting to interview a woman accused of child cruelty in Cape Coral, Florida on Jan. 5, 2017, journalist Nicole Valdes was hit and nearly run over by an angry neighbor of the woman, who drove his car at Valdes and cameraman Channing Frampton.
Valdes and Frampton are journalists at WINK News, a local CBS affiliate in southern Florida.
A video filmed by Frampton that was later broadcast on WINK shows Frampton and Valdes attempting to interview Janet Crappse, the woman at the center of the story, when a man across the street begins yelling and swearing at them. He accuses the journalists of invading his privacy and trespassing, and repeatedly demands that they turn off their cameras and stop interviewing his neighbor. Later in the video, the man can be seen driving his car at high speed toward Frampton and Valdes.
The car clipped Valdes, who sustained no injuries. Frampton was not hit.
The man behind the wheel was later arrested.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected]
