After Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that only one police officer implicated in the tragic Breonna Taylor killing would face any criminal charges, and charges not related to the actual killing itself, Louisville erupted into riots.
On the scene were several reporters prepared to cover yet another night of urban violence. Among them were the Daily Caller’s Shelby Talcott and Jorge Ventura, two reporters who have repeatedly put themselves in the line of fire of various instances of civil unrest across the country.
The pair were inexplicably arrested on Wednesday night, despite identifying themselves as credentialed members of the press and thus exempt from curfew laws. There is no indication at this point that either of them interfered with arrests or incited violence. Even more egregious, Talcott and Ventura have been detained for more than 12 hours now, with the Daily Caller claiming that neither was allowed to speak with Neil Patel, the owner of the Daily Caller. Patel is also an attorney.
Based on all available evidence, the detention of Talcott and Ventura is a blatant attack on the free press and one that is reportedly putting their physical health in danger. Despite a global pandemic that has killed 200,000 Americans, fellow Daily Caller journalist Richie McGinness reports that Talcott claims they’re being held in a 20-foot by 20-foot cell with 28 people, not all of whom have masks. This is a clear violation of safe social distancing practices mandated by law. Furthermore, the charges themselves don’t make much sense. According to editor-in-chief Geoffrey Ingersoll, they were “charged with two misdemeanors related to breaking curfew and unlawful assembly for their alleged failure to comply with police orders to disperse and for the press to relegate themselves to an ‘observation area.'”
Sounds like par for the course for a police force that believes it was a proportional response to raid Breonna Taylor’s home at midnight and fire shots blindly across her apartment complex based on an ex-boyfriend’s alleged crimes.
Strangely enough, there hasn’t been an outpouring of support for Talcott and Ventura. Although some journalists, such as Daily Caller alum Kaitlan Collins (now at CNN) and Ali Velshi of MSNBC, have emphatically condemned the arrests, some in the media have been unable to contain their glee. Wesley Lowery, the “Quibi” correspondent who was once arrested during the Ferguson riots when he worked for the Washington Post, used the arrest of two twenty-something-year-old journalists to dunk on a dead woman who had sparred with him years ago while she was a reporter at the Daily Caller.
Terrible that they were arrested while doing their jobs, in violation of their clear rights as press. I hope no website publishes their home address and then spends years harassing them for having been arrested on the job
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) September 24, 2020
Lowery was not alone in his graceless reaction:
I mean, they’re not really “journalists” at the Daily Propaganda, but yeah
— Tara Dublin #RIPRBG #BidenHarris2020 (@taradublinrocks) September 24, 2020
Agreed, though it’s also disappointing to see their boss pointing to the pro-cop nature of their coverage as evidence that they should get some sort of extra special treatment. https://t.co/LHH4apuoa5
— Nick Wing (@nickpwing) September 24, 2020
You may find some fault with some of the Daily Caller‘s commentary or past reporting, but there is no question that they have been on the ground exposing antifa as it terrorizes the nation. The incarceration of Talcott and Ventura is an unconscionable attack on the free press. This is a good time to take stock of who agrees with that statement wholeheartedly, and who takes delight when the right sort of journalist gets arrested doing his job.
