Two reporters for the Daily Caller were arrested amid protests in Louisville, Ky., according to the conservative publication’s editor-in-chief.
Daily Caller editor-in-chief Geoffrey Ingersoll tweeted Wednesday night that Shelby Talcott and Jorge Ventura were detained by Louisville police and “will be charged with two misdemeanors related to breaking curfew & unlawful assembly for their alleged failure to comply with police orders to disperse and for press to relegate themselves to an ‘observation area.'”
Ventura also tweeted out a photo of himself being placed in handcuffs.
A spokeswoman for the Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed that Talcott and Ventura were arrested.
Ingersoll later tweeted that the reporters were properly credentialed and operating “in the capacity of press.”
Neil Patel, Daily Caller founder and publisher, said early Thursday afternoon that authorities were refusing to release the reporters.
“They will not even let us speak with them. Given the fact that our reporters have been repeatedly harassed, punched and even shot at during past protests, we fear for their safety in lockup with people who may want to do them harm,” Patel said in a statement.
“[T]his is not China. Those reporters flat out have a constitutionally protected role to play on our streets,” Patel said.
“The Louisville Police Department is going to find out all about this in the form of a lawsuit unless things start changing fast,” he added.
The arrests come on the same night two Louisville police officers were shot after news broke that only one officer involved in the police killing of Breonna Taylor was indicted by a Kentucky grand jury. That officer was indicted on lesser charges of wanton endangerment for shots fired that went into an apartment adjacent to Taylor’s.
Louisville police said both officers were receiving treatment at a hospital nearby. A suspect was also taken into custody.
“One is alert and stable. The other officer is currently undergoing surgery and stable. We do have one suspect in custody,” Police Chief Robert Schroeder said.
–Updated at 12:41 p.m.