VA Officials Seize Reporter's Equipment

Radley Balko | April 9, 2009

David Schultz, a reporter for the NPR affiliate WAMU in D.C., had his microphone, headphones, and a digital recorder seized by police and PR reps from the Veterans Administration when he interviewed veteran Tommy Canady at a public town hall meeting in D.C. yesterday.

Canady was attempting to tell Schultz about the poor treatment he says he's been getting from the VA hospital. VA officials claim Schultz didn't identify himself as a reporter, failed to obtain a VA-approved waiver before speaking with Canady, was both exploiting Canady and violating Canady's right to medical privacy.

After the police confiscated Schultz's equipment, Canady gave Schultz his phone number and asked him to call him, which according to Schultz only further angered VA officials at the event.

Canady gave a different account of the incident than the VA when Schultz's report aired today.

"It makes me mad, because I'm grown, and I'll talk to whoever I want to. You know what I mean? And it makes me feel like you have something to hide. That you're worried that something might get out that you don't want to get out. I think it's un-American. I really do."

One VA official told Schultz he would not be prosecuted if he voluntarily left the public event. Which sounds a lot like a threat to prosecute him if he stayed. The VA still hasn't returned Schultz's equipment.