News Nation reporter arrested at Ohio governor’s press conference
A News Nation reporter was arrested Wednesday while covering Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s press conference on a train derailment in East Palestine.
Evan Lambert, who is based in Washington, traveled to Ohio to cover the story and was doing a live report during the news conference when local law enforcement asked him to remain calm while DeWine spoke.
He was then taken into custody on charges of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, according to the network.
At the press conference, DeWine said he did not authorize the arrest, which News Nation captured on video.
Preston Swigert, the photographer who was with Lambert, said police told him to stop talking as he shot her live.
“From their perspective, he didn’t follow orders when he was told to stop talking,” Sweigert said, according to News Nation. “Gymnasiums are reverberant and loud and carry that kind of noise, so I’m guessing they didn’t like the fact that there was noise competing with the governor speaking, even though it was at the other end of the room.”
DeWine’s press secretary, Dan Tierney, said DeWine did not see the incident because his view was blocked by a bank of cameras, but he heard an argument toward the back of the gymnasium.
“Governor DeWine did not request the reporter to stop his live broadcast, nor did he know the request was being made,” Tierney said via email.
DeWine said at the press conference, “It’s always been my practice that if I do a press conference, if somebody wants to report there and they want to talk to people on the channel, whatever, they have. “Every right to do that,” said DeWine. “…If somebody was stopped from doing it, or told they couldn’t do it, then it was wrong.”
According to News Nation, Lambert has been told he will be held overnight in the Columbiana County Jail. A law enforcement official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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