A reporter with the Associated Press was just physically and forcibly removed from an Environmental Protection Agency hearing on contaminants. She was also refused when she asked to speak an EPA public-affairs spokesperson.
EPA “security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building,” the AP reports.
Not only was the reporter physically removed, the EPA banned all reporters from several news organizations from attending the summit. In addition to reporters from the Associated Press, reporters from CNN and E&E, a news organization for energy and environment professionals, were also banned.
One E&E reporter tweeted:
“EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox told the barred organizations they were not invited and there was no space for them, but gave no indication of why they specifically were barred.”
The summit was convened by embattled EPA chief Scott Pruitt.
Apparently, the “no space” claim was not accurate.
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license