Why was Evan Lambert arrested? Video of NewsNation reporter being taken down by cops goes viral

Images via evanlamberttv/Instagram
Evan Lambert. (Images via @evanlamberttv/Instagram)

American reporter Evan Lambert was recently arrested in front of cameras while he was covering a press conference held by Ohio's governor Mike DeWine.

On Wednesday, February 8, 2023, NewsNation shared a video on its Twitter handle showing the network's correspondent, Lambert, being taken to the ground by the officers when Governor DeWine was speaking about East Palestine's train derailment.

Lambert, who works in Washington, traveled to Ohio to cover the press conference. He was doing live reporting during the event when he was approached by local authorities to be quiet as the governor was speaking.

As per the network, Lambert was arrested on the charges of criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. The publication also reports that Preston Swigart, the photographer who assisted the journalist, stated that Evan Lambert seemingly "didn't obey" the orders from the authorities' standpoint:

“From their standpoint, he didn’t obey orders when he was told to stop talking. Gymnasiums are echoey and loud and sound kind of carries, so I’m guessing that they just didn’t like the fact that there was sound competing with the governor speaking, even though it was all the way at the other end of the room.”

Governor Mike DeWine stated during a press conference that he did not order Evan Lambert's arrest

As per NewsNation, Governor Mike DeWine stated in the press conference that he did not ask for Evan Lambert's arrest:

“It has always been my practice that if I’m doing a press conference, if someone wants to report out there, and they want to be talking back to the people back on channel, whatever, they have every right to do that. If someone was stopped from doing that, or told they could not do that, that was wrong.”

The governor's secretary, Dan Tierney, stated via an email to Deadline that DeWine was unaware of the incident because his view was blocked by cameras. However, he heard some chaos in the back of the gym. Tierney said:

“Governor DeWine did not request that the reporter stop his live broadcast, nor did he know that the request was being made."

Moreover, Evan Lambert was giving updates on the event on his Twitter handle just before his arrest. He was also heard saying that he was “just trying to do my job” while the chaos was happening during the press conference.

Journalist Jordan Miller revealed he asked the authorities why they were arresting Lambert, to which they stated:

"It was because he was resisting arrest. But they [the local authorities] couldn't answer what he was doing to resist arrest.”

As per NewsNation, Evan Lambert was supposed to spend one whole night at the Columbiana County Jail. However, he was released on Wednesday night itself after he called a co-worker and revealed his charges.

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