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5/26/17

Trump's attack on First Amendment press freedoms puts reporters at the tip of the spear

It's impossible to view Montana Republican Greg Gianforte's assault on journalist Ben Jacobs in isolation. As many outlets are now pointing out, the number of threatening incidents this month alone is startling. The AP writes:

— The editor of Alaska’s largest newspaper said a state senator slapped one of his reporters when the reporter sought the lawmaker’s opinion on a recently published article.

— A Washington-based reporter from CQ Roll Call said he was pinned against the wall by security guards and forced to leave the Federal Communications Commission headquarters after he tried to question an FCC commissioner after a news conference.

— A West Virginia journalist was arrested after yelling questions about the opioid epidemic at U.S. Health Secretary Tom Price.

We've all watched Donald Trump stoke this fire among his base for months—casting reporters as “the enemy of the American people” and news outlets as "evil" and hellbent on treating him unfairly.

On the campaign trail, Trump's ire had a trickle-down effect.

At one rally, a man was photographed in a shirt that read, “Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some Assembly Required.”

It should be little wonder now that $100,000 worth of donations poured into Gianforte's coffers as news of his attack and unrepentant statement following it spread across the country.



from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2r5muTp

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