LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles County sheriff on Tuesday disputed allegations he orchestrated a cover-up of an incident where a deputy knelt on a handcuffed inmate’s head and said a Los Angeles Times reporter who used leaked documents and video to first report on the case is part of his criminal investigation.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva's comments at a news conference Tuesday brought immediate criticism from the newspaper's leadership and First Amendment advocates. Hours later, the sheriff clarified in a series of tweets that his agency has “no interest in pursuing, nor are we pursuing, criminal charges against any reporters.”
The paper's general counsel sent a letter to the sheriff protesting the investigation and the top editor condemned Villanueva's remarks, calling it an illegal “attempt to criminalize news reporting."
“Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s attack on Alene Tchekmedyian’s First Amendment rights for doing newsworthy reporting on a video that showed a deputy kneeling on a handcuffed inmate’s head is outrageous,” Executive Editor Kevin Merida said in a statement. “We will vigorously defend Tchekmedyian’s and the Los Angeles Times’ rights in any proceeding or investigation brought by authorities.”
The incident with the inmate occurred in a county courthouse on March 10, 2021 — two days after jury selection began for the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murder for pressing his knee against George Floyd’s neck for up to 9...
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