NewsNation journalist Evan Lambert was arrested yesterday in Ohio while reporting at a news conference. Reporters had been asked to keep quiet while Gov. Mike DeWine made remarks about a train derailment, and apparently correspondent Evan Lambert angered officials as he continued to report live. He was "thrown to the ground" and "roughed up" before policed "handcuffed, and arrested" him, according to NewsNation.
"No journalist expects to be arrested when you're doing your job, and I think that's really important that that doesn't happen in our country," said Lambert, who was "detained in the Columbiana County Jail," according to CNN. Although he has since been released, he says he now faces charges of "disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing."
"We never want to lose sight of the fact that Evan was in Ohio to provide up to the minute reporting about a tragic train accident that has impacted thousands of lives," a NewsNation said in a statement. "Evan handled this unfortunate situation with true professionalism, and we appreciate his commitment as a journalist whose goal is to report stories that are fair and unbiased."
From CNN:
A NewsNation correspondent was arrested Wednesday after he began reporting live during a news conference held by Ohio authorities regarding a train derailment – an arrest the network says happened after he was told to stop speaking during the governor's remarks.
Law enforcement officers interrupted NewsNation correspondent Evan Lambert as he broadcast from the event, where authorities announced they were lifting a multiday evacuation order near the site of a fiery weekend derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The officers arrested him soon after he got off the air, the outlet reported.
Gov. Mike DeWine later expressed concern about the arrest and his office said he wasn't aware of it as it happened. Lambert was released from a county jail on bail Wednesday night. …
East Palestine police officers arrested Lambert for criminal trespass and resisting arrest, Columbiana County Sheriff Brian McLaughlin told CNN, without elaborating. Lambert, however, indicated he faced charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, according to a statement from NewsNation's Washington Bureau Chief Mike Viqueira.
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