Jake Jones
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LEARN MOREMay 10, 2017
A reporter was arrested in West Virginia after pursuing a question he asked Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
Dan Heyman is a reporter for the Public News Service and was covering protests at the state Capitol building where Price and White House adviser Kellyanne Conway were visiting.
Heyman said he was part of a reporter scrum moving through the building with Price and Conway.
He said he was using his phone as a recording device to try to catch Price's response to one of his questions. But apparently he got his phone to close. Heyman was taken into custody for "willful disruption of governmental processes," a misdemeanor.
The local chapter of the ACLU put out a statement on the arrest, calling it a "blatant attempt to chill an independent, free press."
Authorities defended the arrest. A spokesperson said a number of other reporters present were not behaving in the same way Heyman was and were left alone.
Heyman spent eight hours in jail and is currently out on a $5,000 bond. He could face a fine of at least $100 and up to six months in jail.
