CNN political analyst April Ryan at last responded to the Aug. 3 incident involving her bodyguard, in which he forcibly removed a local reporter who was covering Ryan’s speech at a hotel during the annual New Jersey Parent Summit.
Charlie Kratovil, founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, said he had gone through the process to get permission to cover the event at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey. When it was time for Ryan to speak, Kratovil said Joel Morris approached and questioned his credentials.
During their conversation, Kratovil said the bodyguard started to take his camera equipment away. He was able to get his equipment into the hotel lobby, but in video taken by the hotel security system, Morris appears to manhandle Kratovil, dragging him out of the building. Kratovil said he was injured during the incident and filed charges.
Ryan faced pressure from others in the media to address the incident. “Though Ryan is happy to light up CNN’s airwaves with outrage over the Trump administration’s heavy-handed actions vis-a-vis press access, what does she have to say when her own actions are in the mix?” wrote Erik Wemple in the Washington Post. When she would agree only to an off-the-record conversation about the incident with Wemple, he declined. “Nothing that occurs at the fourth annual New Jersey Parent Summit is so secret, so sensitive as to warrant an off-the-record conversation.”
The Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement that read, in part, “As a first principle, it is never under any circumstances permissible for a person aggrieved at being photographed or videotaped to lay hands on the journalist, or attempt to take away the journalist’s equipment. This is a bright-line rule from which all journalists benefit, and which must be observed and enforced rigorously.”
Ryan told CNN she was unable speak out on the incident “because of threat of lawsuits, and my attorney said I can speak but, here is the thing, this is not about suppressing the press,” saying she did not order the bodyguard to remove Kratovil.
Noting it was a private event, Ryan said, “Our contract stated if someone wanted to come and film or if they wanted to interview me, they had to ask for permission. There was no request for permission and permission was not granted. Now, if they would have asked for permission, it would have been granted and the reason I do this: One, it’s standard in the industry and two, because I don’t want my words twisted.”
Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter asked Ryan if Morris overreacted, to which she said yes, because he was concerned with her safety.
Ryan went on to say she needs bodyguards because of the number of death threats she receives.
