FCC security denies that guards pinned journalist against a wall

ARS Technica

Chairman Pai promises security changes as reporter stands by allegations.

Federal Communications Commission security officers have "adamantly denied" an allegation that they pinned a journalist against a wall, according to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The incident allegedly took place when the journalist tried to ask questions after last month's net neutrality vote. The chairman said the FCC's investigation into the incident revealed no "malicious intent" on the part of security guards, but Pai promised changes to prevent similar confrontations in the future.

The reporter who made the allegation stood by his account when contacted by Ars today.

Pai sent a letter last week to two Democratic senators who asked Pai to explain why FCC security personnel reportedly "manhandled, threatened further physical violence, and ejected a respected Washington journalist after a news conference at the FCC headquarters."

While Pai acknowledged that FCC security made some mistakes in the incident, he told senators that interviews with the security guards and witnesses did not corroborate all of the allegations made by CQ Roll Call reporter John Donnelly. Donnelly is chairman of the National Press Club's Press Freedom Team and president of the Military Reporters & Editors Association.

"We are aware that Mr. Donnelly has claimed that he was pinned against the wall of the hallway by the FCC's security personnel," Pai wrote. "Both of the FCC security officers involved in this incident have adamantly denied this claim in interviews about this incident, and none of the five witnesses we have interviewed have corroborated Mr. Donnelly's version of events."

When contacted by Ars, Donnelly disputed several parts of Pai's letter. Donnelly gave us this statement:

I appreciate that Chairman Pai has offered an apology, but his version of the facts is inaccurate. I never attempted to enter a restricted area. That is false. Even if the guards had somehow convinced themselves that I was trying to enter a restricted area, that does not excuse what they did.

As for the supposedly "inadvertent" physical contact with me: if it was an accident, then why didn't they say so then or apologize? When I asked them then and there why I was knocked backwards, the head of security, Frederick Bucher, did not deny doing so but instead asked me why I hadn't asked my question during the press conference. That tells you they knew I was a reporter and they felt justified in knocking me back.

Lastly, Pai's denial that I was pinned against the wall is also wrong. I could not move for several seconds as they leaned into me.