On Wednesday, police in Ohio arrested a NewsNation correspondent as state Governor Mike DeWine spoke at a press conference to announce the lifting of an evacuation order due to last week’s railway incident in East Palestine.
The Ohio Star reached out for comment from the East Palestine Police Department but they did not respond before press time.
Neither East Palestine’s Police Chief James Brown nor Mayor Trent Conaway has released a statement on the occurrences.
Last Friday, a 50-car freight train near Pennsylvania crashed while transporting hazardous goods.
DeWine ordered residents in East Palestine who lived close to the site of the railway derailment to evacuate so that workers could perform the controlled release of toxic chemicals on Monday, and he informed them that they may safely return home on Wednesday.
During NewsNation’s “Rush Hour,” D.C.-based correspondent Evan Lambert was providing a live report when law enforcement officials at the press conference reportedly warned him to keep quiet because DeWine was speaking.
The news conference in East Palestine had been postponed from its original time of 3:00 p.m. ET. Around 5 o’clock, DeWine finally started talking, just as Lambert was about to go live on NewsNation.
After completing the live report, police reportedly asked Lambert to leave the event, who then tried to forcibly remove him which resulted in them throwing him on the ground and putting him in handcuffs. According to the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office administration, officers from the East Palestine Police Department made the arrest.
BREAKING: @EvanLambertTV, a DC-based correspondent for @NewsNation, has been in Ohio covering the train crash. He was doing a live shot in the back of the room during a press conference-was told to stop by police, was pushed to the ground, cuffed & arrested & put in a patrol car. pic.twitter.com/RZv6nT7j8o
— NewsNation PR (@NewsNationPR) February 8, 2023
As officers placed Lambert in the back of a squad car, he said, “It’s tough to do your job in America in 2023, but we’ll keep doing it.”
His release was not anticipated until Thursday, but NewsNation D.C. bureau chief Mike Viqueira said that the news organization was making every effort to assist him and secure his release as soon as possible.
Law enforcement released Lambert from the Columbiana County Jail shortly after 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday. He is now facing allegations of disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing.
After police had taken Lambert into custody, DeWine said that he did not personally order the arrest.
The governor said in a statement to news outlets that he didn’t see the incident, but emphasized that “he has always respected the media’s right to report live before, during, and after his press briefs, and the interruption to the reporter’s broadcast should not have taken place.”
Viqueira said that Lambert’s arrest is a violation of his First Amendment rights.
“I was watching the press conference stream … and the only thing I heard that was disruptive was when this altercation with the police — which apparently they have instigated — was unfolding. I did not hear anything of Evan’s voice when he was quietly speaking on live television. … As his boss, as his colleague, as a fellow journalist, it’s really infuriating,” Viqueria said.
Criminal Defense Attorney Benarda Villalona, said that Lambert’s charges should be dismissed.
“Evan Lambert wasn’t doing anything wrong. He wasn’t being belligerent. He wasn’t being disobedient. He wasn’t being annoying. So in terms of the sheriff going forward with giving him the charges, it’ll be up to the prosecution and a reasonable prosecutor should dismiss these charges in the interest of justice,” Villalona said.
According to Attorney and legal analyst Jesse Weber, although Freedom of the Press is a sacred, fundamental right in our country, it’s not an absolute right. If a reporter engaged in criminal trespassing by being somewhere they’re not supposed to be or participated in disorderly conduct that’s when it might step over the line. In this instance however, it was a public press conference.
“These kinds of live hits happen across the country all the time. Why they felt the need to use such force on Evan is beyond me. I don’t quite understand it,” Weber said.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Image “Evan Lambert Arrest” by NewsNationPR.
[…] a Washington DC-based correspondent with NewsNation, was thrown to the ground, handcuffed, and arrested for trespassing last week while covering Governor Mike DeWine‘s public press conference regarding […]
DeWine is an arrogant Deep State criminal who has no respect for the Constitution or his people. He was the first governor to lock down his state giving cover to all the other Dem/RINO fraud governors to do the same. Ordering police state tactics is what he is about.