Incident details
- Date of incident
- July 2, 2025
- Location
- Esparto, California
- Arrest status
- Arrested and released
- Charges
-
-
Trespassing: unauthorized entry into a closed emergency area
- July 2, 2025: Charges pending
-
Trespassing: unauthorized entry into a closed emergency area
- Unnecessary use of force?
- No
Arrest/Criminal Charge
Richard Grant, at left, talks to a California Highway Patrol officer after taking photos at a fireworks warehouse explosion in Esparto, California, on July 2, 2025. He was later arrested for trespassing.
Photojournalist Richard Grant was arrested while taking photos of the aftermath of a fireworks warehouse explosion in Esparto, California, on July 2, 2025.
Grant, a freelance photographer and intern at the San Francisco Chronicle, was detained by California Highway Patrol after an officer said he found him walking the property affected by the fire, according to a Yolo County Sheriff’s Office report.
A sheriff’s deputy later arrested him on one misdemeanor count of unauthorized entry into a closed emergency area. He was taken to the Yolo County jail for booking and held until early the next morning.
Grant declined to comment on the case, and Editor-in-Chief Emilio Garcia-Ruiz did not respond to a request for comment.
A KCRA-TV news helicopter captured him photographing debris and later talking with an officer at the site, which the station said authorities had designated as an active crime scene after a series of explosions on July 1.
While California law permits journalists access to emergency areas closed to the public, the statute does not extend that access to designated crime scenes.
Shortly after Grant’s arrest, sheriff’s deputies warned a news crew from Sacramento TV station KXTV that it was filming too close to the crime scene, and threatened a crew member with arrest if they returned, according to media outlet Solano NewsNet.
Upon Grant’s jail release, he was issued a notice to appear in court, Yolo County Chief Assistant Counsel Kimberly Hood told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
As of publication, no charges had been formally filed.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
