Lee Heidhues 2.11.2023
This is the state of press freedom in America.
A reporter is thrown to the ground, handcuffed and arrested while on assignment with the Governor of Ohio.
The reporter is Black. Surprise!! Surprise!!
Such abuse of the media only happens in places like Russia. Right? Wrong!!!
Excerpted from The New York Times 2.8.2023
A reporter who was covering a news conference on the train derailment in Ohio that led to the release of toxic fumes was arrested following a live shot on Wednesday, after officers told him to be quiet while the governor spoke, according to the cable channel where he works, NewsNation.
Reporter Evan Lambert is heard saying in a video from WKYC Studios, a television station, “I’m doing my job.”
He told the four officers not to touch him as they circled around him. Then the officers and Mr. Lambert moved toward a hallway, where two officers placed Mr. Lambert on the ground on his stomach, video of the encounter shows. A witness can be heard saying, “Oh my God, you guys this is bad, stop.”
Lambert, had been waiting for the news conference in East Palestine, Ohio, to start at 3 p.m., but it was delayed until about 5.p.m. The later time coincided with when he was scheduled to do a live shot for the show, Mike Viqueira, the Washington Bureau Chief of NewsNation, said in an interview on Wednesday night.
Mr. Lambert was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing, according to Lt. Seth Fraser of the Columbiana County Jail in Ohio. Lieutenant Fraser said in a brief interview on Wednesday evening that Mr. Lambert would be held in the jail overnight and arraigned on Thursday morning.
But on Wednesday night, NewsNation reported that Mr. Lambert had been released from jail and broadcast an interview with him moments after he was freed.
When asked by other reporters at the news conference about the episode, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said that it has always been his practice to allow reporters to talk to viewers live as he speaks at news conferences.
“If someone was stopped from doing that, or told they could not do that, that was wrong,” he said. “It was nothing that I authorized and certainly would be something I would not want to see happen.”
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