Press freedom advocates and journalists described a Friday report of Capitol Police manhandling and shoving reporters in the Russell Senate Office Building as “bizarre” and “disturbing,” with some calling the altercation an incident far more likely to take place in a totalitarian regime than in a democracy.
As Roll Call reported Friday, Capitol Police pushed and “slammed into” reporters on Thursday afternoon around the time that senators were voting on the spending bill. The police attempted to prevent reporters from speaking to lawmakers—a practice that is common in the Senate basement, where the incident took place.
rjbrennan
✔@rjbrennan
It’s what happens in totalitarian regime.
Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/capitol-police-crackdown-press-escalates-physical-altercation … via @RollCall
Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation
A Capitol Police crackdown turned physical Thursday afternoon, when officers clashed with reporters attempting to speak with senators in a location known as key territory for lawmakers and media to…
rollcall.com
Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, called Roll Call’s report a “disturbing account,” while the National Press Club said in a statement that Capitol Police’s actions “contravened the chamber’s long-standing bipartisan practice of supporting journalists’ access to lawmakers.”
View the complete February 17 article by Julia Conley on the AlterNet website here.