Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- October 26, 2018
- Location
- Salinas, California
- Targets
- KSBW
- Equipment Broken
- Actor
- Private individual
Equipment Damage
A KSBW TV Action News 8 production van was set on fire in the station’s parking lot on Oct. 26, 2018, in Salinas, California.
The van was set on fire sometime between 9 and 10 pm on Friday night while the van was parked on Front Street. Firefighters are investigating the incident as arson, and some staff at KSBW are concerned that this could be part of the country-wide increase of attacks on the press.
KSBW covered the incident on air, showing footage of the van, with a badly burnt door and passenger side.
“They know it's arson but nothing more than that, so we can't draw the conclusion but certainly makes you think today that it was an intentional act based on something we've reported,” KSBW President and General Manager Joseph W. Heston said on Oct. 29.
Heston told Freedom of the Press Foundation that there were no witnesses of the incident, and that the Salinas police department had closed the case without identifying any suspects.
This article was re-categorized with the creation of a specific Equipment Damage category.
KSBW
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
