West Virginia case: It's still lawful to pose a question to a government official

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Thanks, Eugene.

Last edited Thu Sep 7, 2017, 09:35 AM - Edit history (1)

Bookmarking until I can get back to an internet connection that is faster than Pony Express.

From the Charleston, West Virginia, Gazette-Mail:

https://twitter.com/Kenwardjr

ETA what this is all about, Thursday, Sept. 7:

West Virginia journalist arrested after asking HHS Secretary Tom Price a question

This is a cross-post of my post in the thread in GD about the arrest.

W. Virginia journalist arrested after asking HHS Secretary a question

West Virginia journalist arrested after asking HHS Secretary Tom Price a question

By Samantha Schmidt May 10 at 1:15 AM

....
Heyman has worked as a reporter for about 30 years, and his stories have appeared in the New York Times, NPR and other national news outlets, he said. Since 2009, he has worked as a West Virginia-based producer and reporter for Public News Service, a nonprofit news service that provides content to media outlets while also publishing its own stories.

Lark Corbeil, chief executive and founder of Public News Service, said Heyman’s arrest took the organization “very much by surprise.” ... “From what we can understand, he did nothing out of the ordinary,” Corbeil said in an interview with The Washington Post. “He was doing what any journalist would normally do, calling out a question and trying to get an answer.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia said in a statement that Heyman’s arrest constituted “a blatant attempt to chill an independent, free press.” It called the charges against Heyman “outrageous” and demanded they be dropped immediately. ... “This is a dangerous time in our country,” the statement read. “Freedom of the press is being eroded every day.”

“Today was a dark day for democracy,” the ACLU of West Virginia added. “But the rule of law will prevail. The First Amendment will prevail.”
....

Samantha Schmidt is a reporter for The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. She previously worked as a reporting fellow for the New York Times. Follow @schmidtsam7

West Virginia journalist arrested after asking HHS Secretary Tom Price a question

Link to tweet

The Charleston {West Virginia} Gazette-Mail had a reporter at the Capitol, but they ran an Associated Press story about the arrest.

Journalist arrested during US health secretary's visit

The Associated Press May 10, 2017



Jake Zuckerman | Charleston Gazette-Mail Capitol Police remove journalist Dan Heyman on May 9.

Jake Zuckerman: @jake_zuckerman

Political reporter @wvgazettemail. Proud @OhioU alum, journalism and political science. RTs ? endorsements.

 Charleston, WV

AHCA causes stir at WV Capitol; Manchin, Capito weigh in -- from @jake_zuckerman

Link to tweet

AHCA causes stir at WV Capitol; Manchin, Capito weigh in

Jake Zuckerman , Staff Writer May 9, 2017



CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail  

Protesters, including Perry Bryant (right) of West Virginians For Affordable Healthcare, stand outside a conference room where DHHR Secretary Tom Price and other officials were meeting at the Capitol Tuesday.

Tempers flared at the West Virginia Capitol on Tuesday when protesters needled a D.C. political entourage in town on a “listening tour” regarding the pending replacement of the Affordable Care Act, leading to the arrest of one Charleston man.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Kellyanne Conway, special counsel to President Donald Trump, entered the Capitol with local politicians and immediately took heat from a group of activists wielding signs critical of the American Health Care Act, the ACA’s potential replacement.

Daniel Ralph Heyman, 54, jostled with Price’s security detail while trying to ask a question regarding coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, Capitol Police officers arrested him and charged him with willful disruption of governmental processes.

“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 criminal complaint states.
....

Staff writer Jake Jarvis contributed to this report.Reach Jake Zuckerman at [e-mail], 304-348-4814 or follow @jake_zuckerman on Twitter.

Dan Heyman is our @PNS_WV producer who was performing journalism, not a protester. We are working to get him out of jail at this moment.

Link to tweet