NewsNation reporter arrested during Ohio governor’s press briefing

A NewsNation reporter was arrested Wednesday while covering a news conference held by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine regarding the East Palestine train derailment.

Evan Lambert, who lives in Washington, traveled to Ohio to cover the story and was doing a live report during the press conference when he was told by local police to stay quiet while DeWine spoke.

He was subsequently arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, the network said.

At the press conference, DeWine said he did not authorize the arrest, which NewsNation captured on video.

Preston Swigart, the photographer who was with Lambert, said police told him to stop talking while he was doing his live recording.

“From their point of view, when he was told to stop talking, he didn’t follow instructions,” Swigart said, according to NewsNation. “Gims are reverberant and loud, and noise carries quite a bit, so I think they just didn’t like that there was noise competing with the governor’s talk, even if it was going through the room.”

Dan Tierney, press secretary for DeWine, said DeWine did not see the incident because his view was obscured by an array of cameras, but he heard a disagreement in the back of the gym.

“Governor DeWine did not ask the reporter to stop his live broadcast, nor was he aware of the request,” Tierney said by email.

DeWine said at the press conference, “It’s always been my practice that if I do a press conference, if somebody wants to report there and they want to talk to the people on the channel, whatever, they have every right to do that to do. do,” DeWine said.

According to NewsNation, Lambert was told he would be held overnight in the Columbiana County Jail. A police official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.