A reporter and photojournalist were kicked out of a public town hall event and threatened with arrest for trying to ask a question of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene is a freshman Republican lawmaker from Georgia who has come under heavy criticism for supporting social media posts that advocated violence against Democratic officials.
The journalists from WRCB-TV were removed from the public town hall event in Dalton, Georgia, on Wednesday. A spokesman for Greene defended the action, saying the town hall was for constituents and not a press conference.
WRCB-TV news director Callie Starnes tells The Associated Press that the journalists were invited to attend the event and given credentials for it.
Greene has faced intense criticism this week, and she has deleted some of her social media accounts. Video resurfaced of Greene confronting survivors of the 2018 Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.
"What I'm concerned about is the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives who was willing to overlook, ignore those statements, assigning her to the education committee when she has mocked the killing of little children at Sandy Hook Elementary school, when she has mocked the killing of teenagers in high school at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. What could they be thinking or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.