On Tuesday morning, a West Virginia reporter was arrested and charged with “disruption of government services” while in the state capitol for “yelling questions” at White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway and Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price.
Daniel Ralph Heyman, who works for the Public News Service of West Virginia, was charged with “willful disruption of government processes” and was released Tuesday night on a $5,000.00 bond.
Witness Kristen O’Sullivan, who recorded the arrest on her cellphone, told Public News Service that he was grabbed by the back of the neck and put against a wall by capitol security officers. Other witnesses said they “saw nothing in his behavior…I heard nothing that indicated any kind of aggressive behavior or anything like that.”
Heyman was wearing his press pass and a shirt with his organization’s logo at the time. It was clear to see that he worked for the press.
The criminal complaint according to USA Today states:
The above defendant was aggressively breaching the secret service agents to the point where the agents were forced to remove him a couple of times from the area walking up the hallway in the main building of the Capitol…”
The complaint furthered alleged that Heyman created a disturbance by “yelling questions at Ms. Conway and Secretary Price.”
The charge is a misdemeanor that carries a possible fine of $100 and up to six months in jail.
Hayman held a press conference shortly after being released: (Video below)
Heyman clarified the charges when he told reporters that he was “trying to do his job” when he asked the secretary and Conway on whether domestic violence would be considered a pre-existing condition under the proposed American Health Care Act.
He didn’t say anything, so I persisted,” Heyman added.
During his arrest, Heyman said that no one identified themselves as law enforcement when he was asked to the leave the area. He was only told that “he shouldn’t be there,” possibly by one of Price’s aides.
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia called the arrest “a blatant attempt to chill an independent, free press” and said the charges were “outrageous.” They released the following statement today:
This year the United States came in at 44 out of 180 countries when ranked for a variety of free speech and press issues by the World Press Freedom Index. Many are expecting for the U.S. to get an even worse ranking now that Donald Trump is in the White House. While reports of journalists getting arrested for doing their job is nothing new. The Trump administration and its affiliates have shown outright hostility to the press in comparison to its predecessors.
Feature Image via video screen capture