Los Angeles Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian finds herself in the middle of a story as L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva initially stated she was under a criminal leak investigation after revealing a jail coverup.
Tchekmedyian, who covers the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, recently published a series of stories regarding an incident where a deputy kneeled on an inmate — including an article on Monday about an allegation that Villanueva was involved in a coverup.
"The three individuals that we want to know a lot about," Villanueva said. "These three people have some important questions to answer."
Kevin Merida, the executive editor of The Times, provided a statement concerning the sheriff's investigation into Tchekmedyian.
"His attempt to criminalize news reporting goes against well-established constitutional law. We will vigorously defend Tchekmedyian's and the Los Angeles Times' rights in any proceeding or investigation brought by authorities," Merida said.
After these remarks led to criticism of Villanueva, the sheriff attempted to walk back his comments, saying there was an "incredible frenzy of misinformation being circulated."
"I must clarify at no time today did I state an L.A. Times reporter was a suspect in a criminal investigation," he said. "We have no interest in pursuing, nor are we pursuing, criminal charges against any reporters."
No comments:
Post a Comment