The arrest of a journalist in the US state of West Virginia while asking a question of Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price yesterday is an affront to press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Police arrested Dan Heyman, a broadcast journalist with Public News Service West Virginia, and charged him with "willful disruption of government processes" after he shouted questions at Price and Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, according to media reports and police documents. The two officials were leaving a private meeting on opioid addiction when Heyman repeatedly questioned them about a draft law on health care.
"The arrest of a journalist trying to ask a question in the public interest is a clear affront to press freedom," said Alexandra Ellerbeck, senior U.S. and Americas researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists. "West Virginia authorities should drop all charges against Dan Heyman immediately and respect journalists' right to question government officials."