2017 was a frightful year for journalists in the United States, and no wonder: President Donald Trump has all but declared war on the press, which he denigrates as “the enemy of the American people.” The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a website run by the Freedom of the Press Foundation with support from other groups, has documented dozens of attacks on journalists last year, including arrests and physical assaults.
January 5:
A television journalist in Cape Coral, Florida, is hit by a car driven by a man who accosted the film crew, yelling and swearing. She is not injured.
January 20:
Independent photojournalist Alexei Wood is among nine journalists arrested while covering protests at Trump’s Inauguration in Washington, D.C. He is charged with eight felonies, carrying up to seventy years in prison. In December, a jury found Wood and other defendants “not guilty” on all charges.
May 9:
Radio journalist Dan Heyman is arrested and charged with “willful disruption of governmental processes,” for shouting questions at then-U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price (later driven from office for misconduct). He is released on $5,000 bail after four hours; all charges are dropped.
May 24:
Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian, is grabbed by the neck and body-slammed by Greg Gianforte, a Republican Congressional candidate in Montana, for asking a question. Gianforte, now a member of Congress, is charged with misdemeanor assault, pleads guilty, and gets community service and anger management classes, with no jail time.
August 13:
A reporter for a local North Carolina TV station is assaulted while live-streaming a peaceful antiracism protest. A man grabs his camera and demands that he stop filming, saying “I will fuck you up!” and “I will break you.” The 38-year-old man is later charged with assault.
September 11:
Reporter-turned-blogger Randy Turner is punched in the face at his home in Joplin, Missouri, by a man upset by Turner’s reporting about him.
September 17:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Mike Faulk is knocked to the ground by police, pepper-sprayed, arrested, and detained for thirteen hours, while covering a protest at which four other journalists are also arrested; six more are busted at a protest on October 3.
October 28:
Mike Stark, a reporter for a liberal news site, is arrested in Fairfax County, Virginia, while covering an appearance by Ed Gillespie, a Republican candidate for governor. Stark says police repeatedly punched him in the legs while bringing him to the ground, even though he was complying with commands.
November 27:
A cameraman for Fox News is shoved by a campaign official for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. Afterward, another campaign official confronts a second cameraman, demanding that he “Follow orders” and “Go, now.”
Editor's note: An earlier published version of this feature incorrectly identified candidate Greg Gianforte as being from Wyoming. He is from Montana.
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