{ "title": "Ladder: detention and violence, in North America", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/detention_and_violence?continent=north-america", "filters": { "continent": "north-america" }, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "tactic": { "slug": "detention_and_violence", "name": "Detention and violence", "definition": "Arrest, detention, prosecution, imprisonment, physical harm or killing of journalists, where police, soldiers, officials or others acting for a government carried out, ordered or authorised the act. Harm by private people is recorded only when a government actor was involved.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/detention_and_violence" }, "focal_case": "US", "count": 15, "stages": [ { "stage": "restrict", "name": "Restrict", "definition": "Limiting access or credentials for particular reporters or outlets: bans from briefings or buildings, pool changes, credential revocations, accreditation refusals.", "rungs": [ { "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", "stage": "restrict", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "george-hw-bush", "leader_name": "George H. W. Bush", "what_was_done": "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.", "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.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "detention_and_violence" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1991-gulf-war-us-military-press-pools" }, { "slug": "2021-rcmp-restricts-press-fairy-creek-court-order", "title": "Court orders RCMP to stop restricting press access at Fairy Creek logging blockades", "occurred_on": "2021-07-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "restrict", "focal_case": false, "country": "CA", "country_name": "Canada", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 20, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 20th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "john-horgan", "leader_name": "John Horgan", "what_was_done": "A British Columbia court found the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had failed to justify wide exclusion zones that kept journalists away from its enforcement of a logging injunction at the Fairy Creek old-growth blockades, and ordered police to keep the media's role in a free society in mind when dec…", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2021-07-20", "outcome_note": "The court granted the media coalition's request, requiring the RCMP to account for press access in future enforcement decisions.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "detention_and_violence" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-rcmp-restricts-press-fairy-creek-court-order" } ] }, { "stage": "punish", "name": "Punish", "definition": "Legal or physical action against individual journalists or sources: subpoenas and record seizures, prosecutions, arrests, detention, expulsions, visa denials, assault where a government actor is involved.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "1917-us-mother-earth-editor-emma-goldman-convicted-magazine-barred-from-mail", "title": "United States convicts Mother Earth editor Emma Goldman of draft conspiracy and bars her magazine from the mail", "occurred_on": "1917-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "woodrow-wilson", "leader_name": "Woodrow Wilson", "what_was_done": "Emma Goldman, editor of the anarchist magazine Mother Earth, was convicted with fellow anarchist Alexander Berkman of conspiring against the newly enacted Selective Draft Law and received the maximum two year sentence and a ten thousand dollar fine.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1918-01-14", "outcome_note": "Goldman's conviction stood, and she was deported from the United States in 1919.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1917-us-mother-earth-editor-emma-goldman-convicted-magazine-barred-from-mail" }, { "slug": "1918-us-espionage-act-conviction-of-editor-frohwerk", "title": "United States convicts newspaper editor Jacob Frohwerk under the Espionage Act, June 1918", "occurred_on": "1918-06-26", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "woodrow-wilson", "leader_name": "Woodrow Wilson", "what_was_done": "Jacob Frohwerk, an associate editor of the German language newspaper the Missouri Staats-Zeitung, was tried and convicted in June 1918 under the Espionage Act of 1917 for publishing articles opposing American participation in the First World War, and was sentenced to ten years in prison on each of…", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1919-03-10", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court's ruling left Frohwerk's conviction and ten year sentence in place.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1918-us-espionage-act-conviction-of-editor-frohwerk" }, { "slug": "1925-us-supreme-court-upholds-gitlow-anarchy-conviction", "title": "United States: Supreme Court upholds Benjamin Gitlow's conviction under New York's Criminal Anarchy Law, 1925", "occurred_on": "1925-06-08", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "al-smith", "leader_name": "Alfred E. Smith", "what_was_done": "The United States Supreme Court voted seven to two on June 8, 1925 to uphold the conviction of socialist publisher Benjamin Gitlow, who had been tried and sentenced to prison under New York's 1902 Criminal Anarchy Law for distributing 16,000 copies of the Left Wing Manifesto.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1925-06-08", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court's decision upheld Gitlow's conviction and New York's Criminal Anarchy Law while establishing that free speech and press protections apply to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1925-us-supreme-court-upholds-gitlow-anarchy-conviction" }, { "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", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "what_was_done": "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.", "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.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-us-chelsea-manning-espionage-act-wikileaks" }, { "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", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "tim-walz", "leader_name": "Tim Walz", "what_was_done": "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.", "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.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "detention_and_violence" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-minnesota-state-patrol-arrests-cnn-crew-minneapolis" }, { "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", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "jacob-frey", "leader_name": "Jacob Frey", "what_was_done": "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…", "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.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-minneapolis-police-blind-photojournalist-linda-tirado" }, { "slug": "2020-federal-officers-target-journalists-portland-injunction", "title": "Federal officers restrict press access to Portland protests; judge orders them to stop", "occurred_on": "2020-07-23", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "what_was_done": "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 ag…", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2020-07-23", "outcome_note": "On July 23, 2020, the court ordered federal agents to stop dispersing, arresting or using force against identified journalists and legal observers; the order was later extended.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "detention_and_violence" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-federal-officers-target-journalists-portland-injunction" }, { "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", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "joe-biden", "leader_name": "Joe Biden", "what_was_done": "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.", "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.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-fbi-raids-project-veritas-founder-okeefe" }, { "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", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "laura-kelly", "leader_name": "Laura Kelly", "what_was_done": "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.", "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.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-marion-county-record-raid-kansas" }, { "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", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": true, "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "karen-bass", "leader_name": "Karen Bass", "what_was_done": "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.", "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.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-australian-journalist-shot-rubber-bullet-los-angeles" } ] }, { "stage": "silence", "name": "Silence", "definition": "Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "1939-canada-defence-of-canada-regulations-censorship", "title": "Canada: War Measures Act regulations authorize review of hundreds of newspapers and ban political organizations", "occurred_on": "1939-09-03", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "CA", "country_name": "Canada", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 20, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 20th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "william-lyon-mackenzie-king", "leader_name": "William Lyon Mackenzie King", "what_was_done": "Canada invoked the War Measures Act at the outset of the Second World War and used it to bring in the Defence of Canada Regulations, which gave the government power to review and restrict hundreds of newspapers and periodicals and to ban dozens of organizations, including the Communist Party of Can…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "1945-12-31", "outcome_note": "The Defence of Canada Regulations remained in force for the duration of the war and were replaced by similar legislation on December 31, 1945.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1939-canada-defence-of-canada-regulations-censorship" } ] }, { "stage": "eliminate", "name": "Eliminate", "definition": "Long imprisonment, killing, disappearance or forced exile of journalists, with state involvement as the sources state it.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "1981-haiti-duvalier-radio-haiti-inter-exile", "title": "Haiti's Duvalier government arrests and deports Radio Haiti-Inter staff, driving its director into exile", "occurred_on": "1980-11-28", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "HT", "country_name": "Haiti", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 107, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 107th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "jean-claude-duvalier", "leader_name": "Jean-Claude Duvalier", "what_was_done": "Under President Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian authorities arrested and deported staff of Radio Haiti-Inter, an independent station that had reported critically on the government, forcing its director, journalist Jean Dominique, into exile after security forces raided the station on November 28, 198…", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1986-02-01", "outcome_note": "Jean Dominique returned to Haiti and to Radio Haiti-Inter in February 1986 after the fall of President-for-life Jean-Claude Duvalier's government.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "expulsion_and_visa_denial" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1981-haiti-duvalier-radio-haiti-inter-exile" }, { "slug": "2023-guatemala-convicts-zamora-money-laundering", "title": "Guatemala convicts investigative journalist Jose Ruben Zamora on money-laundering charge", "occurred_on": "2023-06-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "GT", "country_name": "Guatemala", "continent": "north-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 128, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 128th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "alejandro-giammattei", "leader_name": "Alejandro Giammattei", "what_was_done": "A Guatemalan court convicted El Periodico founder Jose Ruben Zamora of money laundering and sentenced him to six years in prison, months after his newspaper, known for investigating government corruption, was forced to close; press-freedom groups said the case was connected to his investigative rep…", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "Zamora's case continued through appeals and changing custody arrangements; he remained in the criminal justice system.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-guatemala-convicts-zamora-money-laundering" } ] } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/detention_and_violence?continent=north-america&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/detention_and_violence.json?continent=north-america", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/detention_and_violence.md?continent=north-america" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }