The San Francisco police raid, the home of a journalist who would not have named NPR Source: NPR

The San Francisco police raided Friday the home and office of a freelance journalist. She took a hammer to the door of her home and seized her computers, phones and other devices.

Their goal: to uncover the source of a police report leaked in the possession of independent videographer Bryan Carmody.

The house and office searches of Carmody are the latest in a series of events regarding the death of San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi in February, at the age of 59.

A few hours after the Adachi collapse in an apartment in San Franscisco, information of a police investigation leaked about his death had already been revealed in news reports. San Francisco Chronicle.

A number of details of the police report were salacious, suggesting that one or more members of the police department were trying to tarnish the reputation of Adachi, known for being a police watchdog and an ardent defender criminal justice reform. In San Francisco, a public defender is an elected position.

"There were leaks everywhere," Carmody told the newspaper. Los Angeles Times. Carmody told the the Chronicle he sold the story to three TV channels and explained that as a freelancer, this work allowed him to generate income.

City supervisors severely criticized the police department for the report's improper leak. The widow of Adachi called the release "despicable".

The coroner later determined that the cause of Adachi's death was an accidental overdose of cocaine and alcohol.

Carmody says two policemen came to his home two weeks ago and asked him to reveal his source, which he refused to do. Eight to ten officers showed up at his home on Friday morning, he said, this time with the hammer. Caramody let them in to end the fights, they searched his home and handcuffed him for at least six hours. Their search warrant was for "stolen or stolen" property, the Time reports.

"I'm smart enough to never talk to federal agents, ever," said Carmody The Washington Post. "I did not stop saying" lawyer, lawyer, lawyer. " He said the police found the report in a safe, but that it contained no indication of where it came from.

David Stevenson, a spokesman for the San Francisco police, told the the Chronicle that "the search warrant executed today was issued by a judge and was conducted as part of a criminal investigation into the disclosure of the Adachi police report". He called it "a step in the process of investigating a potential case of obstruction of justice with the illegal distribution of a confidential police report".

The FBI told Time she had two agents present to question Carmody, but did not participate in the search. He was released this afternoon.

"I do not think it was just breaking my door," says Carmody at the the Chronicle. "I'm one of the first independent media companies in San Francisco – it's outrageous." He continues to protect the identity of his source.

The raid quickly raised concerns about freedom of the press.

"It's designed to intimidate," said Carmody's lawyer, Thomas Burke, to the Associated Press. "It's essentially the confiscation of a newsroom."

Burke said that normally the journalists received a subpoena, and then hired a lawyer to provide the appropriate protections. "So much information has nothing to do with the purpose of their investigation," he said. "If you are looking for information, that is why you are issuing a subpoena."

The North Chapter's Freedom of Information Committee of the California Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement condemning the raid, citing the California shield law that protects journalists from contempt for refusing to disclose sources or unpublished information.

"The fact that this research was conducted several weeks after Carmody rejected a request by the San Francisco police to disclose its sources shows alarming disregard for the right to gather and report information," the committee said. wrote.

The group raised the idea that the publication of the police report leaked by the media did not necessarily comply with its ethical guidelines: "The code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists states:"[D]o not paying to access the news "and says that journalists should" avoid letting go of sordid curiosity ". Journalists must take into account the motivations of anonymous sources and news agencies must reveal that content has been provided by external sources, whether they are paid or not. "

The group says that this does not justify in any case the seizure of the equipment of Carmody, whose value, according to him, is between 30 000 and 40 000 dollars.

"While there may be legitimate questions about the circumstances surrounding the report of Adachi's death, the seizure of journalist's notes or other reporting material creates a dangerous precedent," writes the committee. "An attack on the rights of a journalist is an attack on the rights of all journalists."

The successor of Adachi as public defender in San Francisco, Manohar Raju, approved the actions of the police department.

"All of our criminal justice officials and the mayor are in agreement that publishing police reports in this way is a mistake," Raju said in a statement. the Chronicle. "I'm happy that Chief Scott and the others are keeping their word and working to get to the bottom of things."