Reporter assaulted at city council meeting in Maine

Maine reporter Jon Fetherston was assaulted by a member of the public while questioning a Lewiston City Council member at a public meeting on Jan. 5, 2026, the outlet reported.

In a subsequent interview on the “Burn Barrel” podcast, Fetherston said he was assaulted while covering the swearing-in of a city councilor. He was reporting for the Maine Wire, a digital media outlet and project of the Maine Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank.

The councilor, Iman Osman, faces gun charges and scrutiny about whether he lives in the ward he was meant to represent, the Maine Wire reported. Osman has since stepped down.

In a video posted by Fetherston on the social platform X, a woman who he said assaulted him is seen being escorted out of City Hall by police. Fetherston did not respond to requests for comment, and further details about the incident were not immediately clear.

Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson also did not return a request for comment. In a written statement posted on social media, he condemned the assault and called on Maine officials to protect journalists doing their job.

“It wasn’t just Mr. Fetherston, city reporter for the award-winning Maine Wire, who was assaulted tonight,” he wrote. “Journalism itself was assaulted. The First Amendment was assaulted.”