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Reporter Removed After Questioning Rumsfeld
August 18, 2005
As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld left a speaking engagement on August 5, reporter Jeff Norman called out the question, “military families think you’re lying to them. Why won’t you meet with them?” Norman asked the question as a recognized member of the press, on behalf of U.S. Tour of Duty, an organization of Iraqi veterans and their families of which he is Director. Rumsfeld ignored Norman, but two men who appeared to be Secret Service agents quickly and aggressively removed him from the premises.
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As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld left a speaking engagement on August 5, reporter Jeff Norman called out the question, “military families think you’re lying to them. Why won’t you meet with them?” Norman asked the question as a recognized member of the press, on behalf of U.S. Tour of Duty, an organization of Iraqi veterans and their families of which he is Director. Rumsfeld ignored Norman, but two men who appeared to be Secret Service agents quickly and aggressively removed him from the premises.
Secretary Rumsfeld had just spoken at an event sponsored by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. As Norman wrote on the U.S. Tour of Duty website the next day, this wasn’t the only incident of intimidation by the Secret Service at the event: Gold Star Families for Peace mother Nadia McCaffrey tried to ask Rumsfeld about his inconsistent statements on the war in Iraq, but was prevented from speaking by nearby security. Later, members of Code Pink, a women’s peace and social justice organization, tried to unfurl a banner during the speech, but were forcibly removed.
Norman told PEN USA that the men who took him outside first said they were going to hold and question him. However, as he pressed the men to tell him who they were and on what basis they were holding him, they became more vague and contradictory in their responses. Finally, one of the men said that Norman was not actually being detained and was free to leave. According to Norman, members of Code Pink videotaped the entire episode outside of the hotel, despite the men’s insistence that the women stop filming.
Norman wrote on the U.S. Tour of Duty website, “I know of no other instance in which government agents have been used to physically assault a reporter on American soil for mildly questioning a public servant. None of my media brethren have so far come to my defense, despite the possibility they could be similarly bullied merely for doing their jobs.”
Chair of Freedom to Write Committee, Domestic, and First Amendment attorney, Stephen Rohde, said, “It is intolerable in a free society for government agents to rough up and expel a journalist who is doing nothing more than demanding answers from a public official at a public event. The press serves as the people’s surrogate in these circumstances. Officials like Rumsfeld can run from the press and the people but they cannot hide. They must be held accountable and it is the duty of courageous journalists like Jeff Norman to use every legitimate opportunity to demand answers to critical questions. Norman deserves an apology from Rumsfeld and a written guarantee from the authorities that this will never happen again.”
PEN USA protests the silencing of reporters and other concerned individuals by the Secret Service and the Secretary of Defense. Freedom of the Press is at its zenith when it allows free and open communication between the government and the public. These tactics of intimidation only serve to undermine the public’s faith in our government and the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.
PEN USA requests the following:
That Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld and the Secret Service provide assurances that the press and the public will be allowed to question our heads of government in accord with the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press.
That the Secret Service and Secretary Rumsfeld explain the basis of their actions against Jeff Norman, and
That the Secret Service explain their official role with regard to members of the media.
SAMPLE LETTER TO THE SECRET SERVICE
W. Ralph Basham
Director
U.S. Secret Service
245 Murray Drive,
Building 410,
Washington, DC 20223
Dear Mr. Basham,
I am writing on behalf of PEN USA, part of an international organization of writers with an 84-year history of defending freedom of expression through the written word.
I am concerned about the news that Secret Service agents forcibly removed a reporter from an event last week for approaching the Secretary of Defense with a question about the war in Iraq. On August 5, Secretary Rumsfeld had just spoken at an event sponsored by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, when U.S. Tour of Duty reporter Jeff Norman stepped out of the press area into an aisle in the conference hall, where many other members of the public and press were, to ask the Secretary why he was not meeting with the families of Iraqi servicemen and women.
The Secretary did not respond, but immediately two men - who were presumably Secret Service agents - accosted Norman and physically took him off the premises. According to Mr. Norman, he was not the only individual at the event to be intimidated into silence by security agents for asking challenging questions of Secretary Rumsfeld.
PEN USA protests this violation of Jeff Norman’s right to free speech and freedom of the press. If our reporters and citizens cannot be free to question our public servants for fear of being forcibly silenced, then the foundation of our democracy is gravely undermined.
PEN USA therefore requests that:
The Secret Service investigate this matter and provide assurances that the press and the public will be allowed to question our heads of government in accord with the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press.
That the Secret Service explain the basis of their actions against Jeff Norman, and
That the Secret Service explain their official role with regard to members of the media.
Sincerely,
SAMPLE LETTER TO DONALD RUMSFELD
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld,
I am writing on behalf of PEN USA, part of an international organization of writers with an 84-year history of defending freedom of expression through the written word.
I am concerned about the news that Secret Service agents forcibly removed a reporter from an event last week for approaching you with a question about the war in Iraq. After your speech for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Tour of Duty reporter Jeff Norman stepped out of the press area into an aisle in the conference hall, where many other members of the public and press were, to ask why you were not meeting with the families of Iraqi servicemen and women. You did not respond, but immediately two men who were presumably Secret Service agents accosted Mr. Norman and took him off the premises. According to Mr. Norman, he was not the only individual at the event to be intimidated into silence by security agents for asking challenging questions at the event.
PEN USA protests this violation of Jeff Norman’s right to free speech and freedom of the press. If our reporters and citizens cannot question our public servants for fear of being forcibly silenced, then the foundation of our democracy is gravely undermined.
PEN USA therefore demands the following:
That your office investigates this matter and provides assurances that the press and the public will be allowed to question you in accord with the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press.
That your office explains the basis of the actions against Jeff Norman, and
That you explain what the official role of the Secret Service is with regard to the media at your public appearances.
Comments:
The PEN USA letter effectively expresses my personal sentiments and apprehension at the way media representatives are treated.
I do not like to think my country is headed by idiots who don’t know the context of the First Amendment or who think they need not acknowledge it. Rumsfeld is showing himself to be a sorry excuse for a leader. Let’s call it like it is: Norman’s question was legitimate; Rumsfeld’s goons’ actions were not.