Police raid independent journalist's home after protecting identity of source



[ad_1]

Last week, police raided the home of freelance journalist Bryan Carmody in San Francisco, after Carmody did not reveal the source responsible for sharing a confidential police report with him several weeks ago.

On Friday, about 10 police officers arrived at Carmody's home at approximately 8:00 am and started breaking the door of his home with hammers, waking up Carmody. When Carmody told them that he would allow them to enter his home, the police presented a search warrant allowing them to search his home "from top to bottom" because they had their weapons fired.

"They treated me as if I were some sort of drug dealer," Carmody said, according to the Washington Post.

Police wanted to know who was responsible for the release of a confidential police report concerning the death of the city's public defender, Jeff Adachi – information that Carmody did not provide when they reported to his home two weeks ago earlier.

"I'm smart enough to never talk to federal agents, ever," said Carmody, "I did not stop saying" lawyer, lawyer, lawyer. ""

After being questioned by the police and two FBI agents on the source, Carmody did not disclose the information and was then taken into custody by the police from 8:22 to 13:55. while the police searched his home. They finally recovered the information sought in a safe.

Reports first revealed that Adachi, who died in February, had been killed from a heart attack. However, two days after his death, ABC 7 reported that a police report and photos indicated that Adachi had been with a woman who was not his wife and that he had was found in a messy apartment syringes left by paramedics. "

The police department did not like Adachi well, but Carmody said that he had no reason not to like it.

"I had no contact with him, I had no contact with anyone, I'm just a journalist at the center of this business," Carmody said.

Although some media outlets such as the San Francisco Chronicle also included information from the police report, Carmody said he was convinced that his home had been broken into because he was a freelancer.

"I do not think there was a police raid on the Chronicle with a hammer yesterday," he said.

Carmody's lawyer, Thomas Burke, said the police should have issued a subpoena rather than a search warrant.

"The proper thing was to give a subpoena, not a search warrant," Burke told the Post.

Despite scrutiny and issues regarding First Amendment rights, the San Francisco Police Department has defended its actions.

"The citizens and leaders of the city of San Francisco have called for a thorough and thorough investigation into this leak. This action represents a step in the process of investigating a potential case of obstruction of justice as well as the illegal distribution of confidential police documents, "The San Francisco Police Department said in a statement to local journalists.

According to Carmody, the police took at least four tablets, seven computers, ten hard drives, a dozen phones, two cameras and journalists' notebooks when they raided his home.

[ad_2]

Source link