Reporter arrested in West Virginia for "causing a disturbance by yelling questions."

[The Romulan Republic]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/ ... -secretary

A reporter in West Virginia was arrested and charged with a crime Tuesday after he repeatedly attempted to question Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Price was walking through a hallway in the state Capitol, which he was visiting with Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway as part of a "listening tour" on the opioid crisis. Several protesters were gathered in the hallway, as was Dan Heyman, a reporter for the Public News Service.

Heyman says he asked the HHS secretary whether domestic violence would qualify as a pre-existing condition under the Republican health care bill.

When Price didn't answer, Heyman repeated the question. The reporter says he was recording on his phone, which he was holding out toward Price; officials say he was "trying aggressively" to breach Secret Service security.

"I was yelling out questions, and that was it," Heyman said at a news conference shared online by the West Virginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.


Dan Heyman, a reporter for the Public News Service, was arrested and charged with "willful disruption of governmental processes," a misdemeanor.
West Virginia Dept. of Military Affairs and Public Safety
Heyman was handcuffed, arrested and charged with "willful disruption of governmental processes," a misdemeanor. Heyman has been released on a $5,000 bond.

The criminal complaint accuses Heyman of "aggressively breaching the Secret Service agents to the point where the agents were forced to remove him a couple of times from the area" and "causing a disturbance by yelling questions."

It cites a law against interrupting or molesting "the orderly and peaceful process" of state government, although it does not clarify which government process was interrupted.


Lawrence Messina, director of communications for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, says that he didn't witness the event but that Capitol police described Heyman "physically trying to push past the Secret Service agents."

Heyman says he was holding his phone out to record Price but was not getting physical, "unless poking a phone at someone is considered an act of violence."

As for yelling out questions — well, yes.

"This is what I'm supposed to do," Heyman said. "I am supposed to go and find out if somebody is going to be affected by this health care law."

He said that before the Affordable Care Act was passed, a woman who experienced domestic violence could be denied insurance over it. (As of 2013, that was only legal in a handful of states; it was officially banned under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.) Heyman was asking how the Republican proposal, which would allow some people with pre-existing conditions to be charged more, would treat domestic violence.

"I think it's my job to ask questions, and I think it's my job to get answers," he says. "I was just doing my job."

Messina told NPR that Price and Conway's visit included a news conference, and suggested Heyman "could have attended that." (West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported on that press conference; see its coverage here.)

Heyman is a veteran journalist who has previously worked for West Virginia Public Broadcasting and has filed reports for NPR.

At the time of his arrest, Heyman says, he identified himself as a journalist by wearing his press pass and a "Public News Service" shirt.

[Robovski]

Considering he was reporting for the NPR and this is reported on NPR, maybe there is a tad of bias in the reporting. Here's a link to the story from the BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39866412

I withhold my own opinion on the matter.

[The Romulan Republic]

Considering he was reporting for the NPR and this is reported on NPR, maybe there is a tad of bias in the reporting. Here's a link to the story from the BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39866412

I withhold my own opinion on the matter.

Eh, it might not have been the best choice of source, but its hardly the only source. And it seemed to me, at first glance at least, a reasonably straightforward and un-slanted piece.

In any case, based on the accounts, unless he was actually physically assaulting the security or something (which I find very unlikely), its hard to see how this could be justified. And it is certainly something worth keeping a very close eye on.

[Admiral X]

I would guess this was more about him getting too physically close to Secretary Price. At least I hope that's what it's about.

[The Romulan Republic]

I would guess this was more about him getting too physically close to Secretary Price. At least I hope that's what it's about.

I would hope so, yes.

On the other hand, it wouldn't be the first time that law enforcement lied through its teeth about what someone did to justify their excessive force.

I suppose we'll have to await the results of the inevitable court case to know for sure- apparently the ACLU is taking an interest in it, so I doubt it'll just be swept under the rug.

[Admiral X]

I wonder if they'll cut him loose before a trial, like was done to those reporters covering the pipeline protests.

[The Romulan Republic]

I wonder if they'll cut him loose before a trial, like was done to those reporters covering the pipeline protests.

Could I get a source on that? I hadn't heard that story before.

[Admiral X]

I'm not finding the story I originally read that in, so I'm not sure if this is the reporter (I'm under the impression there was more than one journalist arrested) - link. It's also possible I misread it the first time I saw it, and took it to be a sign that the authorities involved knew there wasn't a case but laid charges anyway just to fuck with the reporters. After all, any kind of legal issues end up costing the people who get caught up in it a lot of money, which is why the corrupt like to victimize those least able to afford it. In any case, the judge refused to sign the complaint against this journalist, which shows that there's at least some sanity amongst those in positions of power in this state.

[The Romulan Republic]

That's good to hear.

Indeed, at this point, the Federal Judiciary (though I don't know if it would be a Federal or state judge in this case) is probably the branch of government I have most faith in. It isn't perfect, because nothing human is, but its more often, from what I can see, a check on oppression than a tool for it.