Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- December 9, 2020
- Legal Orders
-
-
subpoena
for
other testimony
- Dec. 9, 2020: Pending
- Dec. 16, 2020: Carried out
-
subpoena
for
other testimony
- Legal Order Target
- Journalist
- Legal Order Venue
- State
Subpoena/Legal Order
Tina MacIntyre-Yee, a multimedia journalist at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York, was called to testify before a grand jury on Dec. 16, 2020, according to an article from her employer, which MacIntyre-Yee verified to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The journalist said that she complied with the subpoena, though did not offer compromising material about her sources.
MacIntyre-Yee has reported on recent civil unrest in Rochester that followed both the death of Goerge Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis police custody, and the disclosure that Daniel Prude, a Black man, died while in Rochester police custody, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
The subpoena related to MacIntyre-Yee’s reporting on these protests, the Democrat and Chronicle article stated.
During a conversation with CPJ, MacIntyre-Yee said that she was first notified of the subpoena on Dec. 9 in a phone call by the Monroe District Attorney’s office. The DA’s office then sent a copy of the subpoena to MacIntyre-Yee via email.
MacIntyre-Yee said she was concerned about how the subpoena would affect her ability to report on protests.
“I would like to be seen as someone who’s taking pictures of everything that’s happening and videos of everything that’s happening, and I don’t want people to feel intimidated,” she said.
The Monroe County District Attorney’s office told CPJ in an email that they do not comment about Grand Jury subpoenas or testimony.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
