Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- December 12, 2017
- Location
- Montgomery, Alabama
- Targets
- The Washington Post
Reporters for the Washington Post were barred from entering an election-night party for Republican senate candidate Roy Moore in Montgomery, Alabama, on Dec. 12, 2017.
“We were denied credentials and when our reporters asked to enter they were told no,” the paper said in a statement.
Hannah Ford, a spokeswoman for the Moore campaign, confirmed to The Associated Press that the Moore campaign had deliberately denied the Post's request for press credentials to cover the Moore election-night party.
Ford told The Hill that a Post reporter who “didn’t get the memo” about the press credentials being denied tried to enter the Moore party and was denied entry.
Asked by The Hill why the campaign revoked the Post’s press credentials, Ford replied, “No comment.”
The Washington Post was the first news outlet to report on allegations of sexual misconduct against Roy Moore, on Nov. 8. After that report was published, Moore criticized the Washington Post and even threatened to sue the paper and other news organizations that reported on the allegations.
The election-night party was not the only Moore campaign event that Washington Post reporters were banned from.
Ford told Fox News that Washington Post reporters were asked to leave a rally in Midland City, Alabama, on Dec. 11.
On Dec. 12, Moore narrowly lost the special election to Democrat Doug Jones.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
