{ "title": "Incidents in the United States", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&continent=north-america", "filters": { "country": "US", "continent": "north-america" }, "sort": "date", "count": 56, "page": 1, "pages": 2, "per_page": 50, "facets": { "country": [ { "value": "US", "label": "United States", "count": 56 } ], "continent": [ { "value": "north-america", "label": "North America", "count": 56 } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "access_ban", "label": "Access bans", "count": 19 }, { "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas", "count": 14 }, { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 11 }, { "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "label": "Funding and ownership pressure", "count": 9 }, { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 8 }, { "value": "credential_control", "label": "Credential control", "count": 6 }, { "value": "prior_restraint", "label": "Prior restraint", "count": 6 }, { "value": "lawsuits_against_press", "label": "Lawsuits against the press", "count": 5 }, { "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "label": "Shutdowns and blocking", "count": 2 }, { "value": "outlet_licensing", "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets", "count": 1 }, { "value": "disinformation_labeling", "label": "Official labels", "count": 1 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 47 }, { "value": "state_or_province", "label": "State or province", "count": 6 }, { "value": "municipal", "label": "Municipal", "count": 3 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "reversed", "label": "Reversed", "count": 16 }, { "value": "sustained", "label": "Sustained", "count": 16 }, { "value": "ongoing", "label": "Ongoing", "count": 12 }, { "value": "unknown", "label": "Unknown", "count": 7 }, { "value": "upheld", "label": "Upheld by a court", "count": 5 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "donald-trump", "label": "Donald Trump", "count": 27 }, { "value": "barack-obama", "label": "Barack Obama", "count": 6 }, { "value": "richard-nixon", "label": "Richard Nixon", "count": 4 }, { "value": "jeff-landry", "label": "Jeff Landry", "count": 2 }, { "value": "joe-biden", "label": "Joe Biden", "count": 2 }, { "value": "george-w-bush", "label": "George W. Bush", "count": 2 }, { "value": "woodrow-wilson", "label": "Woodrow Wilson", "count": 2 }, { "value": "karen-bass", "label": "Karen Bass", "count": 1 }, { "value": "ron-desantis", "label": "Ron DeSantis", "count": 1 }, { "value": "laura-kelly", "label": "Laura Kelly", "count": 1 }, { "value": "doug-ducey", "label": "Doug Ducey", "count": 1 }, { "value": "jacob-frey", "label": "Jacob Frey", "count": 1 }, { "value": "tim-walz", "label": "Tim Walz", "count": 1 }, { "value": "george-hw-bush", "label": "George H. W. Bush", "count": 1 }, { "value": "ronald-reagan", "label": "Ronald Reagan", "count": 1 }, { "value": "dwight-d-eisenhower", "label": "Dwight D. Eisenhower", "count": 1 }, { "value": "franklin-d-roosevelt", "label": "Franklin D. Roosevelt", "count": 1 }, { "value": "theodore-christianson", "label": "Theodore Christianson", "count": 1 } ], "era": [ { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 34 }, { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 9 }, { "value": "1970s", "label": "1970s", "count": 3 }, { "value": "2000s", "label": "2000s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1910s", "label": "1910s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1990s", "label": "1990s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1980s", "label": "1980s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1960s", "label": "1960s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1950s", "label": "1950s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1940s", "label": "1940s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1920s", "label": "1920s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1917", "label": "1917", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1927", "label": "1927", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1941", "label": "1941", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1955", "label": "1955", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1969", "label": "1969", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1971", "label": "1971", "count": 3 }, { "value": "1983", "label": "1983", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1991", "label": "1991", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2003", "label": "2003", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2005", "label": "2005", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2010", "label": "2010", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2013", "label": "2013", "count": 4 }, { "value": "2014", "label": "2014", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2018", "label": "2018", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2020", "label": "2020", "count": 4 }, { "value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2023", "label": "2023", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2024", "label": "2024", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2025", "label": "2025", "count": 21 }, { "value": "2026", "label": "2026", "count": 3 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 53 }, { "value": "1", "label": "with a court case", "count": 3 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2026-white-house-bans-cnn-msnow-politico", "title": "United States: White House hard-pass deactivations for CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters, September 2026", "occurred_on": "2026-09-18", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "credential_control" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2026-09-21", "outcome_note": "Cable News Network, Inc. v. Trump (D.D.C. No. 1:26-cv-03287) was filed on 2026-09-21 and is pending; a hearing is scheduled for 2026-09-23.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 2, "summary": "On September 18, 2026, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Truth Social, a social media platform, and in the Oval Office that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be banned from the White House, the president's office and residence in Washington, D.C. He described the outlets' coverage as \"FICTION and LIES.\" On September 19, 2026, the outlets' reporters were denied entry at the White House gates after their hard passes, the standing credentials that let reporters enter the White House press area without applying each day, were deactivated. The outlets sued on September 21, 2026, and the case is pending as of 2026-09-22.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-white-house-bans-cnn-msnow-politico" }, { "slug": "2026-cbp-seizes-grayzone-editor-phones-airport", "title": "Customs officers seize Grayzone editor's phones at Virginia airport over Iran reporting", "occurred_on": "2026-07-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-VA", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "Blumenthal had traveled to and reported from Iran, a country CBP's own cited policy treats as grounds for additional scrutiny of travelers who have worked in or visited it.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2026-07-17", "outcome_note": "Customs returned Blumenthal's phones after he sued; litigation continued into discovery over possible data extraction.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal at Washington Dulles Airport, questioned him about his reporting trips to Iran, and seized both of his phones without his consent; the phones were returned a week later after he sued.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-cbp-seizes-grayzone-editor-phones-airport" }, { "slug": "2026-court-orders-fcc-to-answer-news-distortion-challenge", "title": "Appeals court orders FCC to respond to challenge over 'news distortion' policy", "occurred_on": "2026-04-28", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "Under Chair Brendan Carr, the FCC had used its news distortion policy to open or reopen inquiries into CBS, NBC and ABC's election-season coverage, prompting the petitioners to argue the unresolved policy itself had become a tool of pressure on broadcasters.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2026-04-28", "outcome_note": "A federal appeals court ordered the FCC to respond to the mandamus petition within thirty days; the underlying policy remained unresolved.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A bipartisan group of former Federal Communications Commission chairs, commissioners and the Radio Television Digital News Association petitioned a federal appeals court to force the FCC to act on a long-pending request to rescind its decades-old 'news distortion' policy after Chair Brendan Carr repeatedly invoked it against broadcasters; the court gave the FCC thirty days to respond.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-court-orders-fcc-to-answer-news-distortion-challenge" }, { "slug": "2025-white-house-restricts-access-to-upper-press-office", "title": "White House closes 'Upper Press' section of West Wing to reporters", "occurred_on": "2025-10-31", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The White House said it acted after concluding that reporters had secretly recorded video and audio inside West Wing press offices and entered restricted areas, though it did not identify the reporters or recordings involved.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The restricted access to Upper Press remained in effect; the WHCA's objection did not lead to a reversal in the source reviewed.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The White House began requiring reporters to make appointments before entering the 'Upper Press' area of the West Wing, home to the press secretary's and senior press aides' offices, citing a need to protect sensitive material after accusing reporters of secretly recording conversations there.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-restricts-access-to-upper-press-office" }, { "slug": "2025-pentagon-press-corps-forfeits-badges", "title": "United States: News organizations turn in their Pentagon press credentials, October 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-10-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "credential_control" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2026-04-09", "outcome_note": "Credentials were ordered restored for seven New York Times journalists on 2026-03-20; the ruling against the revised policy on 2026-04-09 is on appeal. Most other outlets remain outside the building.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Beginning on October 15, 2025, reporters from at least 30 news organizations vacated the press workspace at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, rather than sign the department's new credential pledge, with a deadline of October 17 to remove their belongings. They included ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Fox News, CNN, the Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR and Politico. One America News Network said it would sign. As of 2026-09-22, most of these outlets cover the Pentagon from outside the building.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pentagon-press-corps-forfeits-badges" }, { "slug": "2025-pentagon-issues-new-press-credentialing-rules", "title": "United States: Department of Defense press credential rules requiring approval before release of information, September 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-09-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "credential_control", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2026-04-09", "outcome_note": "Judge Paul Friedman ruled against the credential-revocation provisions on 2026-03-20 and against the revised policy on 2026-04-09; the Department of Defense appealed.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On September 21, 2025, the United States Department of Defense, the federal department that provides the country's military forces, issued new credential rules for reporters at the Pentagon, its headquarters building, under the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. The rules require that information be approved for public release by an authorizing official \"before it is released, even if it is unclassified,\" and require accredited reporters to pledge not to solicit or publish such information without approval or lose their badges. The Pentagon called the rules \"an important step in preventing leaks that damage operational security and national security.\" A federal judge ruled against the rules in March and April 2026, and the department has appealed (as of 2026-09-22).", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pentagon-issues-new-press-credentialing-rules" }, { "slug": "2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension", "title": "United States: Federal Communications Commission chairman's remarks and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, September 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-09-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "Jimmy Kimmel's on-air remarks about speculation over the motives of the person who killed Charlie Kirk, according to NPR.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2025-09-23", "outcome_note": "ABC announced the show's return for 2025-09-23 after about a week off the air, according to Al Jazeera (s112).", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On September 17, 2025, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the United States regulator of broadcasting, Brendan Carr, said broadcasters could \"do this the easy way or the hard way\" over remarks by the television host Jimmy Kimmel, and warned of \"additional work for the FCC ahead.\" Within hours, the station owners Nexstar and Sinclair said they would pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their stations, and ABC, the network that airs it, did the same, according to NPR. ABC announced that the show would return on September 23, 2025, according to Al Jazeera.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension" }, { "slug": "2025-trump-sues-new-york-times-15-billion", "title": "Trump files, then refiles, $15 billion defamation suit against the New York Times", "occurred_on": "2025-09-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "lawsuits_against_press", "tactics": [ "lawsuits_against_press" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The suit named Times articles and a book published in the run-up to the 2024 election, including reporting referencing a note Trump was said to have given Jeffrey Epstein, and the paper's endorsement of Kamala Harris.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2025-10-16", "outcome_note": "A judge dismissed the original complaint for violating pleading rules; Trump refiled a shortened, six-claim complaint in October 2025.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "President Trump sued The New York Times and four of its journalists for $15 billion over articles and a book published before the 2024 election; a judge dismissed the sprawling original complaint for violating basic pleading rules, and Trump refiled a shorter version a month later.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-trump-sues-new-york-times-15-billion" }, { "slug": "2025-fcc-approves-paramount-skydance-with-ombudsman-condition", "title": "FCC approves Paramount-Skydance merger after CBS ombudsman and anti-DEI pledges", "occurred_on": "2025-07-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The approval came weeks after Paramount paid $16 million to settle President Trump's lawsuit over 60 Minutes' editing of a Harris interview, a settlement critics said was made to smooth the path for the FCC's review of the Skydance sale.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2025-07-24", "outcome_note": "The FCC approved the merger with the ombudsman and anti-DEI conditions in place; Commissioner Gomez's dissent did not change the outcome.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount's sale to Skydance Media after Skydance agreed to install an ombudsman to review complaints of bias at CBS News for two years and pledged to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, over the objection of the commission's sole Democratic member.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-approves-paramount-skydance-with-ombudsman-condition" }, { "slug": "2025-trump-sues-wall-street-journal-epstein-letter", "title": "Trump sues Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over Epstein birthday letter story", "occurred_on": "2025-07-18", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "lawsuits_against_press", "tactics": [ "lawsuits_against_press" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The Journal had reported on a letter, bearing Trump's name and an outline of a naked woman, compiled into a birthday album for Jeffrey Epstein in 2003; the story renewed scrutiny of Trump's past relationship with Epstein.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "Dow Jones moved to dismiss the suit in September 2025, arguing the reporting was true; the case remained in litigation.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "President Trump sued The Wall Street Journal, its owner Rupert Murdoch and two reporters for at least $10 billion, disputing the newspaper's report describing a bawdy letter he was said to have sent Jeffrey Epstein for a 2003 birthday album.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-trump-sues-wall-street-journal-epstein-letter" }, { "slug": "2025-congress-rescinds-cpb-funding", "title": "Congress cuts $1.1 billion in federal funding for public broadcasting", "occurred_on": "2025-07-18", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The rescission followed years of conservative criticism that NPR and PBS produced one-sided coverage, and came weeks after President Trump's May 2025 executive order directing agencies to stop funding the two networks.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2025-07-18", "outcome_note": "The rescission became law, eliminating CPB's federal appropriation; no restoration of the funding had occurred in the source reviewed.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "At President Trump's request, Congress passed a rescissions package clawing back roughly $1.1 billion already appropriated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, eliminating federal funding for NPR, PBS and their member stations.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-congress-rescinds-cpb-funding" }, { "slug": "2025-paramount-cbs-settle-60-minutes-suit", "title": "United States: Paramount settlement of Donald Trump's lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview, July 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-07-01", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "lawsuits_against_press", "tactics": [ "lawsuits_against_press" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "60 Minutes' editing of a 2024 interview with Kamala Harris, then vice-president of the United States.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2025-07-01", "outcome_note": "Settled on 2025-07-01: US$16 million to Trump's future presidential library and the plaintiffs' fees and costs; 60 Minutes to release transcripts of presidential-candidate interviews. The outcome enum has no value for a settlement; \"sustained\" records that the settlement terms stand.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On July 1, 2025, Paramount, the parent company of the United States broadcaster CBS News, announced that it would settle for US$16 million a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump, the president of the United States, over how the CBS program 60 Minutes edited a 2024 interview with Kamala Harris, then vice-president. The money goes to Trump's future presidential library and the plaintiffs' fees and costs, and 60 Minutes will release transcripts of future interviews with presidential candidates, \"subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.\" Paramount \"has maintained that the lawsuit was completely without merit,\" according to CBS News.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-paramount-cbs-settle-60-minutes-suit" }, { "slug": "2025-australian-journalist-shot-rubber-bullet-los-angeles", "title": "Officer shoots Australian journalist with rubber bullet during Los Angeles immigration protests", "occurred_on": "2025-06-09", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-CA", "level": "municipal", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "karen-bass", "leader_name": "Karen Bass", "issue_of_the_day": "The protests followed a series of federal immigration enforcement raids in the Los Angeles area in early June 2025, which drew large crowds and a heavy police and, later, National Guard presence downtown.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No investigation or disciplinary outcome regarding the officer who fired at Tomasi was reported in the source reviewed.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A law enforcement officer shot Nine News Australia correspondent Lauren Tomasi with a rubber bullet while she was reporting live from a Los Angeles protest against federal immigration raids, prompting Australia's prime minister to call the incident unacceptable and raise it with the U.S. government.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-australian-journalist-shot-rubber-bullet-los-angeles" }, { "slug": "2025-trump-order-ends-cpb-funding-npr-pbs", "title": "United States: Executive Order 14290 directing an end to federal funding for NPR and PBS, May 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-05-01", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No court ruling on Executive Order 14290 and no final funding figure appears in the sources cited (as of 2026-09-22).", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On May 1, 2025, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed Executive Order 14290, \"Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media.\" It directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private non-profit corporation created by the United States Congress in 1967 to distribute federal money to public radio and television, and federal agencies to stop funding NPR and PBS, the country's non-profit public radio and television networks. The order says public funding for news is \"not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.\" NPR and PBS said the president cannot cut funding that Congress has appropriated to CPB.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-trump-order-ends-cpb-funding-npr-pbs" }, { "slug": "2025-doj-rescinds-media-subpoena-guidelines", "title": "United States: Department of Justice rescission of rules limiting subpoenas of journalists, April 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-04-25", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2025-04-25", "outcome_note": "In effect since 2025-04-25; the sources cited report no restoration of the earlier rules (as of 2026-09-22).", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On April 25, 2025, the Attorney General of the United States, Pam Bondi, head of the Department of Justice, the federal department that prosecutes federal crimes, rescinded rules adopted in 2021 and 2022 under her predecessor, Merrick Garland, that barred prosecutors from seeking reporters' records or testimony to identify the sources of leaks. Bondi's memo said leaks of sensitive information to the media undermine the department's ability \"to uphold the rule of law, protect civil rights, and keep America safe.\" The department returned to a test that weighs law enforcement interests against press freedom, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a United States non-profit that provides legal help to journalists.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-doj-rescinds-media-subpoena-guidelines" }, { "slug": "2025-60-minutes-producer-owens-resigns-loss-of-independence", "title": "60 Minutes executive producer resigns, citing lost editorial independence", "occurred_on": "2025-04-22", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "lawsuits_against_press" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "Paramount was defending CBS against Trump's lawsuit over 60 Minutes' editing of a Kamala Harris interview while seeking Federal Communications Commission approval to sell the company to Skydance, a deal Trump's approval-holding regulator could delay or block.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2025-04-22", "outcome_note": "Owens's resignation was not reversed; the program continued under Paramount's new oversight amid the pending settlement and merger.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resigned, saying corporate owner Paramount had begun supervising the program's content in new ways while it faced President Trump's lawsuit over a Harris interview and pursued a sale requiring federal approval; the program publicly said on air that it had lost the independence it once had.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-60-minutes-producer-owens-resigns-loss-of-independence" }, { "slug": "2025-white-house-cuts-wire-service-pool-slot", "title": "White House ends wire services' guaranteed seat in the press pool", "occurred_on": "2025-04-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The change followed the White House's dispute with the Associated Press over its refusal to adopt the administration's \"Gulf of America\" naming, part of a broader restructuring of how the White House selected the press pool that began in February 2025.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The dedicated wire-service pool seat was not restored; the outlets continued to compete for a rotating slot.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The White House ended the decades-old practice of guaranteeing wire services Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg a daily seat in the small press pool that covers the president, making them compete instead for a single rotating print slot alongside other outlets.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-cuts-wire-service-pool-slot" }, { "slug": "2025-usagm-moves-to-shut-down-voice-of-america", "title": "United States: U.S. Agency for Global Media action to shut down Voice of America operations, March 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-03-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2025-03-28", "outcome_note": "A temporary restraining order of 2025-03-28 barred USAGM from reducing its workforce; litigation continued into 2026.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Beginning on March 15, 2025, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the United States federal agency that oversees the government's international broadcasters, placed most of its staff on paid administrative leave and moved to shut down the operations of Voice of America (VOA), the United States government's international broadcaster. Kari Lake, a senior advisor at USAGM, carried out the action under an executive order of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to reduce the federal bureaucracy. VOA journalists sued on March 21, 2025, and on March 28, 2025, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, a short-term order made before a full hearing, that barred the agency from reducing its workforce.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-usagm-moves-to-shut-down-voice-of-america" }, { "slug": "2025-whca-loses-control-of-press-pool", "title": "United States: White House takes over selection of the presidential press pool, February 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-02-25", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "credential_control" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2026-09-22", "outcome_note": "The White House selects the pool as of 2026-09-22, according to the Associated Press (s104).", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On February 25, 2025, the White House announced that it would decide which journalists join the press pool, the small rotating group of reporters who cover the president of the United States in spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One and share what they gather with other outlets. The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), the organization of reporters who cover the president, said that for more than a century \"working journalists\" and \"not government officials\" had \"determined pool rotation procedures.\" As of 2026-09-22, the White House selects the pool, according to the Associated Press.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-whca-loses-control-of-press-pool" }, { "slug": "2025-white-house-bars-ap-gulf-of-america", "title": "United States: White House exclusion of the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One, February 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-02-11", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "AP's continued use of the name \"Gulf of Mexico\" after an executive order of the president of the United States renamed the body of water the \"Gulf of America\" for federal purposes.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2025-07-22", "outcome_note": "The D.C. Circuit's partial stay of 2025-06-06 keeps AP out of the Oval Office, Air Force One, Mar-a-Lago and the Cabinet Room and admits it to the East Room; the full court denied rehearing en banc on 2025-07-22. The appeal is pending.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 1, "summary": "On February 16, 2025, the White House, the office of the president of the United States, began barring journalists from the Associated Press (AP), a United States news agency, from the Oval Office and Air Force One, the aircraft that carries the president. The exclusion followed AP's decision to keep using the name \"Gulf of Mexico\" after an executive order of the president, Donald Trump, renamed the body of water the \"Gulf of America\" for United States federal purposes. Trump told reporters, \"We're going to keep them out until such time as they agree that it's the Gulf of America,\" according to NPR. AP sued on February 21, 2025; as of 2026-09-22, a partial stay by a federal appeals court leaves AP excluded from the Oval Office and Air Force One.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-bars-ap-gulf-of-america" }, { "slug": "2025-tom-homan-signals-end-to-ice-media-ride-alongs", "title": "Border czar Tom Homan says ICE media ride-alongs may end over leaks", "occurred_on": "2025-02-06", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "An ICE operation in Aurora, Colorado aimed at alleged gang members captured only one of roughly one hundred people sought; acting ICE director Caleb Vitello attributed the shortfall to leaks about the operation before it occurred.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "Homan described ending ride-alongs as under consideration; no formal, dated order was documented in the source reviewed.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "White House border czar Tom Homan said the administration might stop letting journalists ride along on Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations after an Aurora, Colorado raid captured far fewer people than expected, which officials attributed to leaked details of the operation.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-tom-homan-signals-end-to-ice-media-ride-alongs" }, { "slug": "2025-federal-judge-blocks-louisiana-buffer-law", "title": "United States (Louisiana): Federal court order blocking enforcement of the police buffer zone law, January 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-01-31", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-LA", "level": "state_or_province", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "jeff-landry", "leader_name": "Jeff Landry", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2025-01-31", "outcome_note": "Preliminary injunction granted 2025-01-31; Louisiana's appeal was reported pending as of mid-2026.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On January 31, 2025, Judge John W. deGravelles of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, a federal trial court, blocked enforcement of the state's 25-foot (7.6-metre) police buffer zone law with a preliminary injunction, an order that keeps the situation as it is while a case is decided. He wrote that \"the distance required is likely to impede Plaintiffs' non-obstructive newsgathering\" and that \"the Act has a chilling effect on Plaintiffs' First Amendment rights.\" The plaintiffs included journalists and civil rights observers. Louisiana was reported to be appealing the order.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-federal-judge-blocks-louisiana-buffer-law" }, { "slug": "2025-fcc-carr-news-distortion-complaints-nbc-cbs", "title": "FCC chair reopens 'news distortion' complaints against CBS and NBC", "occurred_on": "2025-01-29", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The CBS complaint concerned 60 Minutes' October 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris; the NBC complaint, filed in April 2025, concerned coverage of the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The complaints against CBS and NBC remained open, with no formal licensing action announced in the source reviewed.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr reopened complaints alleging CBS and NBC distorted the news, demanding CBS turn over the full tape and transcript of a 60 Minutes interview and later accusing NBC's parent Comcast of misleading coverage of an immigration case.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-carr-news-distortion-complaints-nbc-cbs" }, { "slug": "2025-florida-halo-law-takes-effect", "title": "United States (Florida): Halo Law buffer zone around first responders, January 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-FL", "level": "state_or_province", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "ron-desantis", "leader_name": "Ron DeSantis", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2025-01-01", "outcome_note": "In effect from 2025-01-01; the sources cited report no court order blocking it (as of 2026-09-22).", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On January 1, 2025, the \"Halo Law\" took effect in Florida, a state in the south-eastern United States. It creates a 25-foot (7.6-metre) buffer zone around first responders, such as police officers, firefighters and paramedics, while they are performing their duties, and anyone who enters the zone \"to 'harass, impede or threaten' first responders after receiving a warning\" faces up to 60 days in prison and a fine of US$500. The law applies to journalists as well as the public. The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, signed it in 2024.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-florida-halo-law-takes-effect" }, { "slug": "2024-trump-sues-des-moines-register-selzer-poll", "title": "Trump sues Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer over final Iowa poll", "occurred_on": "2024-12-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-IA", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "lawsuits_against_press", "tactics": [ "lawsuits_against_press" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "Selzer's final Iowa poll, published days before the November 2024 election, showed Harris leading in a state Trump went on to win by more than ten points, prompting Trump to call the poll itself a form of election interference.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2026-07-10", "outcome_note": "The judge said allowing the suit to proceed could broadly discourage election polling and reporting; a ruling on dismissal was pending.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "President-elect Trump sued the Des Moines Register and longtime pollster Ann Selzer under Iowa's consumer fraud law over her final pre-election poll, which showed Kamala Harris ahead in Iowa days before Trump won the state; a judge later questioned whether the case could proceed without discouraging election reporting.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-trump-sues-des-moines-register-selzer-poll" }, { "slug": "2024-louisiana-enacts-police-buffer-zone-law", "title": "United States (Louisiana): 25-foot buffer zone law around police officers, May 2024", "occurred_on": "2024-05-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-LA", "level": "state_or_province", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "jeff-landry", "leader_name": "Jeff Landry", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2025-01-31", "outcome_note": "Enforcement blocked by a preliminary injunction on 2025-01-31 while the case is pending; Louisiana's appeal was reported pending as of mid-2026.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On May 28, 2024, the governor of Louisiana, a state in the southern United States, Jeff Landry, signed a law that makes it a crime to stay within 25 feet (about 7.6 metres) of a working law enforcement officer after the officer has told a person to step back. The law applies to everyone, including journalists. Supporters described it as protecting officers' safety while they work. On January 31, 2025, a federal judge blocked its enforcement while a challenge to it is decided.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-louisiana-enacts-police-buffer-zone-law" }, { "slug": "2023-marion-county-record-raid-kansas", "title": "Police raid Marion County Record newsroom and publisher's home in Kansas", "occurred_on": "2023-08-11", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-KS", "level": "municipal", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "laura-kelly", "leader_name": "Laura Kelly", "issue_of_the_day": "The Record had been investigating the driving record of local restaurant owner Kari Newell, who had accused the paper of accessing her personal information without authorization, the claim the search warrant cited as its basis.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2024-08-05", "outcome_note": "Special prosecutors found no evidence Record reporters had committed a crime and moved to charge former police chief Gideon Cody.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Police in Marion, Kansas, led by Chief Gideon Cody, raided the Marion County Record's newsroom and publisher Eric Meyer's home, seizing computers, phones and files, on a warrant tied to an identity-theft investigation. The paper's 98-year-old co-owner, Joan Meyer, died the next day; a special prosecutor later found no evidence the paper had committed a crime.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-marion-county-record-raid-kansas" }, { "slug": "2023-arizona-police-recording-law-struck-down", "title": "Federal court strikes down Arizona's law banning recording police within 8 feet", "occurred_on": "2023-07-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-AZ", "level": "state_or_province", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "doug-ducey", "leader_name": "Doug Ducey", "issue_of_the_day": "The bill's sponsor said it responded to concerns that groups he described as antagonistic toward police followed officers around filming encounters and came dangerously close during potentially violent incidents.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2023-07-21", "outcome_note": "A federal judge permanently enjoined enforcement of the law, and Arizona's attorney general did not appeal.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Arizona's 2022 law making it a crime to record police within eight feet after a warning was struck down by a federal judge in July 2023, who found it chilled a substantial amount of activity protected by the First Amendment and was not necessary given other laws already protecting officers.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-arizona-police-recording-law-struck-down" }, { "slug": "2021-fbi-raids-project-veritas-founder-okeefe", "title": "FBI raids Project Veritas founder's home over Ashley Biden diary investigation", "occurred_on": "2021-11-06", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-NY", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "joe-biden", "leader_name": "Joe Biden", "issue_of_the_day": "Project Veritas had obtained and reported on a diary purportedly belonging to Ashley Biden during the 2020 campaign; federal prosecutors were investigating how the diary had been obtained and transported across state lines.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No charges were ever filed against O'Keefe; a court later allowed prosecutors to review the seized phones.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "FBI agents raided Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe's New York home and seized his phones as part of an investigation into the alleged theft of a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, President Biden's daughter, which the group had reported on; O'Keefe was never charged.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-fbi-raids-project-veritas-founder-okeefe" }, { "slug": "2021-doj-bans-seizing-reporters-records-garland", "title": "Justice Department bars seizing reporters' phone and email records", "occurred_on": "2021-07-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "joe-biden", "leader_name": "Joe Biden", "issue_of_the_day": "In mid-2021, The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN separately disclosed that the Justice Department had secretly seized their reporters' phone and email records years earlier while investigating leaks, including of information about contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russia.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2025-04-25", "outcome_note": "Attorney General Bondi rescinded these protections in April 2025, restoring the department's earlier discretionary balancing test.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After it came to light that the Trump-era Justice Department had secretly obtained the phone and email records of reporters at The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a policy barring prosecutors from using subpoenas or other compulsory process against journalists in leak investigations.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-doj-bans-seizing-reporters-records-garland" }, { "slug": "2020-hhs-officials-alter-cdc-covid-guidance-before-publication", "title": "Political appointees alter CDC coronavirus guidance before public release", "occurred_on": "2020-09-12", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The reporting concerned the CDC's coronavirus testing guidance and its weekly Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report during the summer and fall of 2020, as the Trump administration sought to align public messaging with the president's own statements about the pandemic.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No agency reversal of the practice was documented in the sources reviewed; a congressional investigation examined the interference without a public admission of wrongdoing.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Reporting in 2020 found that political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services rewrote or edited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's public coronavirus guidance and its weekly scientific bulletin before release, bypassing the agency's normal scientific review.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hhs-officials-alter-cdc-covid-guidance-before-publication" }, { "slug": "2020-federal-officers-target-journalists-portland-injunction", "title": "Federal officers restrict press access to Portland protests; judge orders them to stop", "occurred_on": "2020-07-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-OR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "The federal government sent Department of Homeland Security officers to Portland in July 2020 to protect a federal courthouse during nightly protests that followed George Floyd's killing; officers' use of force against bystanders, including identified journalists, prompted the lawsuit.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2020-07-16", "outcome_note": "The court ordered officers to stop dispersing, arresting or using force against identified journalists and legal observers.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After federal officers deployed to Portland used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on journalists and legal observers covering protests, the American Civil Liberties Union sued, and a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction barring officers from dispersing, arresting or using force against clearly identified press.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-federal-officers-target-journalists-portland-injunction" }, { "slug": "2020-minneapolis-police-blind-photojournalist-linda-tirado", "title": "Minneapolis police projectile permanently blinds photojournalist Linda Tirado", "occurred_on": "2020-05-29", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-MN", "level": "municipal", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "jacob-frey", "leader_name": "Jacob Frey", "issue_of_the_day": "Tirado was documenting the police response to protests over George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis when she was struck; a federal judge later found her case was one of numerous similar reports of journalists being hit by less-lethal munitions during the same unrest.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2022-05-26", "outcome_note": "The city paid $600,000 in a 2022 settlement while continuing to deny that an identified officer fired the projectile.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Freelance photojournalist Linda Tirado was struck in the face by a less-lethal round fired by Minneapolis police while covering protests over George Floyd's killing, permanently blinding her in one eye; the city settled her lawsuit for $600,000 in 2022 while continuing to deny an officer had fired the shot.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-minneapolis-police-blind-photojournalist-linda-tirado" }, { "slug": "2020-minnesota-state-patrol-arrests-cnn-crew-minneapolis", "title": "Minnesota State Patrol arrests CNN crew live on air in Minneapolis", "occurred_on": "2020-05-29", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-MN", "level": "state_or_province", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "tim-walz", "leader_name": "Tim Walz", "issue_of_the_day": "Protests in Minneapolis followed the police killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Jimenez's crew was reporting live on the unrest and the state's response near the site of the killing when troopers moved to clear the area at dawn on May 29.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2020-05-29", "outcome_note": "The crew was released within about ninety minutes and Governor Walz apologized the same day, calling the arrest his own failure.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Minnesota State Patrol troopers arrested CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and his crew on live television while they covered protests after the police killing of George Floyd. Officers gave no reason before handcuffing the three men; Governor Tim Walz apologized hours later and called the arrest a failure of the state's own procedures.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-minnesota-state-patrol-arrests-cnn-crew-minneapolis" }, { "slug": "2019-us-assange-espionage-act-indictment", "title": "United States indicts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage Act", "occurred_on": "2019-05-23", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of leaked United States military reports and diplomatic cables supplied by Chelsea Manning.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2024-06-25", "outcome_note": "Assange spent five years in a British prison fighting extradition before a June 2024 plea deal: he pleaded guilty to one count, was sentenced to time served, and was released.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The United States indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on 17 counts under the Espionage Act over the 2010 publication of leaked military and diplomatic files, charges press-freedom groups said could expose ordinary national-security journalism to prosecution.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-us-assange-espionage-act-indictment" }, { "slug": "2018-us-cnn-acosta-credential-revoked", "title": "White House revokes CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press credential after a news conference exchange with President Trump", "occurred_on": "2018-11-07", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "credential_control" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "President Trump's characterization of a migrant caravan approaching the United States border in the days before the November 2018 midterm election.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2018-11-19", "outcome_note": "A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on November 16, 2018, and the White House permanently restored Acosta's credential three days later rather than continue the lawsuit.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After CNN's Jim Acosta questioned President Trump at a news conference and briefly kept hold of a microphone as an intern reached for it, the White House suspended his hard pass, the standing credential letting reporters enter the grounds; a federal judge ordered it restored a week later.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-us-cnn-acosta-credential-revoked" }, { "slug": "2018-white-house-revokes-acosta-press-pass", "title": "United States: White House suspension of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's hard pass, November 2018", "occurred_on": "2018-11-07", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "credential_control" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "An exchange between Acosta and Trump at a White House news conference on November 7, 2018, after the United States midterm elections.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2018-11-19", "outcome_note": "A temporary restraining order of 2018-11-16 required reinstatement; the White House restored the pass on 2018-11-19 and CNN dropped the suit.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 2, "summary": "On November 7, 2018, the White House suspended the hard pass of CNN's White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, after what Gulf News called a \"heated confrontation\" between Acosta and the president of the United States, Donald Trump, at a news conference after the country's midterm elections. A hard pass is the standing credential that lets a reporter enter the White House press area without applying each day. On November 16, 2018, a federal judge granted CNN a temporary restraining order requiring the pass to be reinstated, and the White House restored it on November 19, 2018, after which CNN dropped its lawsuit.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-white-house-revokes-acosta-press-pass" }, { "slug": "2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling", "title": "United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his source", "occurred_on": "2014-10-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "A 2006 book account of a botched CIA operation meant to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons program.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2014-10-17", "outcome_note": "After the Supreme Court declined to hear Risen's appeal, the Justice Department chose not to compel his testimony or the identity of his source; Sterling was convicted without it.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "For years, federal prosecutors sought New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony identifying a confidential source in a CIA leak case; the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal, but Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately chose not to force him to testify or name the source.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling" }, { "slug": "2013-obama-doj-charges-eight-under-espionage-act", "title": "United States: Espionage Act prosecutions of sources for leaks to the press, 2009 to 2013", "occurred_on": "2013-10-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The record documents the prosecutions as a group; the outcome of each case is not recorded here.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-profit organization in New York that documents cases of journalists imprisoned or killed worldwide, published on October 10, 2013, found that since 2009 the United States Department of Justice had brought felony charges against six government employees and two contractors, including Edward Snowden, accused of leaking classified information to the press. The charges were brought under the Espionage Act, a 1917 United States law against disclosing defence information, during the presidency of Barack Obama. The Project On Government Oversight, a United States non-profit that investigates the federal government, said the department under Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder \"has used it more than all prior administrations combined.\"", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-obama-doj-charges-eight-under-espionage-act" }, { "slug": "2013-us-doj-names-fox-reporter-co-conspirator", "title": "United States search warrant names Fox News reporter James Rosen a possible co-conspirator in a leak case", "occurred_on": "2013-05-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "A 2009 Fox News report, sourced to a State Department analyst, forecasting North Korea's response to new United Nations sanctions.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2013-07-12", "outcome_note": "The warrant was not withdrawn from the record; Kim pleaded guilty in 2014 and Rosen was never charged. Holder's July 2013 guidelines later restricted subpoenas naming reporters as suspects.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A 2010 FBI search-warrant affidavit, unsealed in 2013, described Fox News reporter James Rosen as a possible co-conspirator in violating the Espionage Act because he sought classified information from a State Department analyst, and used that theory to obtain his private emails.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-us-doj-names-fox-reporter-co-conspirator" }, { "slug": "2013-us-doj-seizes-ap-phone-records", "title": "United States Justice Department secretly seizes two months of Associated Press phone records", "occurred_on": "2013-05-13", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "A May 2012 AP report on a foiled al-Qaeda bomb plot aimed at a U.S.-bound airplane, which the government said compromised an intelligence source.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2013-07-12", "outcome_note": "The records were not returned and no journalist or source was charged; the Justice Department issued revised media-subpoena guidelines on July 12, 2013, after the disclosure.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The U.S. Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records from more than 20 Associated Press phone lines during a leak investigation, notifying the news agency only after the fact; AP called the scope of the seizure unjustified.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-us-doj-seizes-ap-phone-records" }, { "slug": "2012-us-john-kiriakou-espionage-act-cia-torture-source", "title": "United States prosecutes former CIA officer John Kiriakou under the Espionage Act for identifying a covert colleague to a journalist", "occurred_on": "2013-01-25", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "Public disclosure of the CIA's post-September 11 interrogation program, including its use of waterboarding.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2015-02-03", "outcome_note": "Kiriakou served his full 30-month sentence under the plea agreement and was released in February 2015; no CIA interrogation-program official faced comparable charges.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who in 2007 was the first CIA officer to publicly describe the agency's waterboarding of a detainee, pleaded guilty to identifying a covert colleague to a journalist and was sentenced under the Espionage Act to 30 months in prison.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2012-us-john-kiriakou-espionage-act-cia-torture-source" }, { "slug": "2010-us-chelsea-manning-espionage-act-wikileaks", "title": "United States charges Army analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act for leaking to WikiLeaks", "occurred_on": "2010-07-05", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "United States conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and detainee treatment, including the CIA's interrogation program.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2017-01-17", "outcome_note": "Manning's convictions were not overturned, but President Obama commuted her 35-year sentence in January 2017 and she was released that May.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The U.S. Army charged intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act, a 1917 law against disclosing defense information, after she gave WikiLeaks, a website that publishes leaked documents, a large archive of military and diplomatic files that news organizations later published.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-us-chelsea-manning-espionage-act-wikileaks" }, { "slug": "2005-us-judith-miller-jailed-plame-source", "title": "New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for refusing to name a confidential source in the Valerie Plame affair", "occurred_on": "2005-07-06", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "george-w-bush", "leader_name": "George W. Bush", "issue_of_the_day": "The Bush administration's case for the 2003 Iraq War and the public dispute over former ambassador Joseph Wilson's contrary account of Iraqi uranium claims.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2005-09-29", "outcome_note": "Courts upheld the contempt order and subpoena; Miller served 85 days before her source freed her to testify, and prosecutors later convicted Libby of perjury.", "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A federal judge jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for contempt after she refused to tell a grand jury who told her the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, part of a special counsel's investigation into the leak.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2005-us-judith-miller-jailed-plame-source" }, { "slug": "2003-us-pentagon-embedding-rules-iraq", "title": "Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in Iraq", "occurred_on": "2003-02-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "george-w-bush", "leader_name": "George W. Bush", "issue_of_the_day": "The buildup to and launch of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2003-04-14", "outcome_note": "The embedding program ran through the invasion and became the Pentagon's standard model for media access in later conflicts.", "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon assigned about 600 journalists to travel with United States military units under written ground rules restricting what they could report about troop numbers, operations and casualties.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2003-us-pentagon-embedding-rules-iraq" }, { "slug": "1991-gulf-war-us-military-press-pools", "title": "United States military restricts reporters to escorted press pools during the Gulf War", "occurred_on": "1991-01-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "george-hw-bush", "leader_name": "George H. W. Bush", "issue_of_the_day": "U.S.-led coalition forces' campaign to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait after Iraq's August 1990 invasion.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "1991-02-28", "outcome_note": "The pool system stayed in place through the war's end on February 28, 1991; the legal challenge in Nation Magazine v. Department of Defense was later dismissed as moot.", "era": "1990s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The U.S. military required reporters covering the 1991 Gulf War to work in escorted \"pools\" rather than move freely, reviewed pool dispatches before release, and reporters who left the pools were captured or detained.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1991-gulf-war-us-military-press-pools" }, { "slug": "1983-us-grenada-press-exclusion", "title": "United States military bars journalists from the invasion of Grenada", "occurred_on": "1983-10-25", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "ronald-reagan", "leader_name": "Ronald Reagan", "issue_of_the_day": "Defense officials had for years blamed unrestricted press coverage for damaging public and political support during the Vietnam War, and applied that lesson by excluding reporters from the opening phase of the Grenada operation.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1985-04-01", "outcome_note": "The Pentagon created a standing national media pool in 1985 on the Sidle Commission's recommendation, formally reversing the total exclusion used in Grenada.", "era": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "When United States forces invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada on October 25, 1983, military commanders kept all journalists away from the island for the first two days of fighting, citing operational reasons. Protests from news organizations led the Pentagon to create a rotating press pool for future operations.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1983-us-grenada-press-exclusion" }, { "slug": "1971-nixon-white-house-compiles-enemies-list", "title": "United States: Nixon White House \"enemies list\" naming journalists, September 1971", "occurred_on": "1971-09-09", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No ruling or formal rescission applies; the lists became public during the Watergate investigations of 1973 to 1974.", "era": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On September 9, 1971, the office of Charles Colson, special counsel to the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, sent White House Counsel John Dean, the president's lawyer on official matters, a memorandum naming 20 people as an initial \"enemies list.\" The list named political opponents, including journalists, for possible action through federal agencies, such as tax audits by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the United States federal tax agency. The IRS commissioner, Donald C. Alexander, refused to launch audits of the people on the list. The lists became public during the Watergate investigations into Nixon's White House.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-nixon-white-house-compiles-enemies-list" }, { "slug": "1971-us-nixon-enemies-list", "title": "Nixon White House compiles an enemies list naming journalists for official pressure", "occurred_on": "1971-08-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "issue_of_the_day": "Nixon's aides were reacting to sustained critical coverage and commentary from named journalists during his first term, including Mary McGrory's columns, which an internal notation described as habitually critical to the president.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1973-06-27", "outcome_note": "The list became public during John Dean's Senate Watergate Committee testimony, discrediting the effort as Nixon's presidency unraveled over the wider Watergate scandal.", "era": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "White House Counsel John Dean wrote a memo on how to use federal agencies against President Nixon's political opponents, and the resulting list of more than 200 names included journalists such as CBS News correspondent Daniel Schorr. It became public during the 1973 Senate Watergate hearings.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-us-nixon-enemies-list" }, { "slug": "1971-us-pentagon-papers-injunction", "title": "United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers", "occurred_on": "1971-06-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "issue_of_the_day": "The Pentagon Papers documented decades of internal government decision-making on the Vietnam War that contradicted public statements by several administrations, and the Nixon administration sought to prevent further disclosure of the classified history.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1971-06-30", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that the government's request for an injunction against publication failed to overcome the heavy presumption against prior restraint.", "era": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After The New York Times began publishing a leaked secret history of the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration obtained a court order stopping further publication, the first such order against a major American newspaper. The Supreme Court lifted it two weeks later, ruling the government had not justified blocking publication in advance.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-us-pentagon-papers-injunction" } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&continent=north-america&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?country=US&continent=north-america", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?country=US&continent=north-america" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }