Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- July 12, 2021
- Targets
- Justin Pulliam (Independent)
- Case number
- 4:22-cv-04210
- Case Status
- Ongoing
- Type of case
- Civil
- Government agency or public official involved
- Type of denial
- Government event
Denial of Access
Independent journalist Justin Pulliam reviews footage from a law enforcement investigation in Richmond, Texas, on July 12, 2021. A local sheriff ordered officers to bar Pulliam from attending a press conference about the investigation that day.
Court rules Texas journalist’s rights were violated by news conference ejection
Independent journalist Justin Pulliam had his free speech and equal protection rights violated when he was barred from attending a news conference three years ago in Richmond, Texas, a court ruled on Sept. 24, 2024.
In July 2021, the Fort Bend County sheriff and two of his deputies denied Pulliam access to an open-air news conference at a Richmond park, saying that he was “not media.”
Public interest law firm Institute for Justice filed a federal lawsuit on Pulliam’s behalf in December 2022, alleging that the county, the sheriff and four other law enforcement officers violated Pulliam’s First, Fourth and 14th amendment rights at the news conference and during a later arrest in December 2021.
“The Defendants removed Justin because they did not deem him a member of the media, disagreed with his viewpoint, and disliked that he was critical of the police both earlier that day and in his work generally,” the suit argued.
In October 2023, Pulliam filed a motion for partial summary judgment, asking the court to rule on his First and Fourteenth amendment violation claims. His motion was referred to Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison, who agreed in a September 2024 recommendation to the district judge overseeing the case that the county and sheriff were liable for these violations and that the sheriff was not entitled to qualified immunity.
Edison wrote that Pulliam’s news coverage was “unequivocally” protected by the First Amendment, which the county had also violated through the sheriff’s department media relations policy. That policy specifically excludes social media journalism from its definition of media, which Edison called an “improper distinction.”
Edison also recommended that the deputy who helped remove Pulliam from the news conference be dismissed as a defendant, because he was simply following the sheriff’s orders.
On Sept. 24, the district court approved Edison’s recommendation. Pulliam’s First Amendment retaliation claim stemming from the arrest will go to trial, although a date has yet to be set.
In an Institute for Justice news release celebrating the court order as a “win for free speech,” Pulliam said: “This victory shows how important the First Amendment is to protect investigative journalists like me who use social media to provide hard-hitting, often critical coverage, of the police and other government officials.”
Independent journalist Justin Pulliam was barred from attending an open-air press conference by Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan in Richmond, Texas, on July 12, 2021. Pulliam subsequently filed a civil rights suit against the county and members of the sheriff’s office over the barring and a later arrest.
Pulliam lives in Fort Bend County near Houston and independently reports on local government and law enforcement for his social media channels, including on YouTube and Facebook. According to the lawsuit, he arrived at Jones Creek Ranch Park to film as officers responded to reports of a submerged vehicle connected to a missing persons case.
Sheriff’s deputies closed the park, directing Pulliam and other media to a designated area at its entrance for a press conference with a representative of the sheriff's office. Afterward, Pulliam went to his vehicle but returned when Fagan approached the designated area, according to his footage from that day.
Fagan was then filmed gesturing in Pulliam’s direction and saying, in part, “... if he don’t do it, arrest him. He’s not a part of the local media so he has to go back.” Moments later, two officers — identified in the lawsuit as Robert Hartfield and Jonathan Garcia — approached Pulliam, saying, “You are not media, so at the sheriff’s request could you step back this way with us please.”
Hartfield then gestured in the direction of Pulliam’s vehicle and escorted him approximately 85 feet away, where Pulliam said he could not hear what was being said by Fagan or the other journalists, according to the lawsuit.
Public interest law firm Institute for Justice filed the lawsuit on Pulliam’s behalf on Dec. 5, 2022, against the county, Fagan and four others. The suit alleges violations of his First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights by barring him from the July 2021 press conference, as well as by arresting him and seizing his equipment during a subsequent incident in December 2021.
“The Defendants did not have a compelling, or even legitimate, governmental interest in removing Justin from the open-air press conference, which occurred at a public park,” the lawsuit stated. “Instead, the Defendants removed Justin because they did not deem him a member of the media, disagreed with his viewpoint, and disliked that he was critical of the police both earlier that day and in his work generally.”
Pulliam told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the experience has significantly chilled his willingness to cover incidents involving the sheriff’s office or to attend its press conferences.
“I basically don’t film Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office anymore; I’ve greatly reduced my direct coverage of filming live police incidents,” Pulliam said.
On June 29, 2023, District Judge David Hittner denied the county’s motion to dismiss the majority of Pulliam’s claims. Hittner ruled that Pulliam had sufficiently argued that he had been singled out for exercising his First Amendment rights and that the officers are not protected by qualified immunity at this time.
The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment when reached in July 2023, citing the ongoing litigation.
Christie Hebert, one of the attorneys at the Institute for Justice representing Pulliam, said in a statement following the ruling that Hittner recognized the gravity of Pulliam’s claims.
“The heart of the First Amendment is the right to speak out about government, and Fort Bend County does not get to pick and choose who will cover their activities,” Hebert said.
Hebert told the Tracker that the case is tentatively scheduled to go to trial in early 2024.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
