The judge presiding over the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse has permanently banned MSNBC from the courthouse following reports one of its producers stalked the jury.
Kenosha police stopped a man Wednesday for running a red light, Judge Bruce Schroeder announced from the bench. The man, who identified himself as James Morrison, had been closely following a bus carrying jury members, police said. Morrison then reportedly told law enforcement officials he works for MSNBC and that had been instructed by his supervisor in New York to tail the vehicle.
As a result, Schroeder has instructed the court to bar MSNBC from the courthouse for the remainder of the trial.
“I have instructed that no one from MSNBC will be permitted in this building for the duration of this trial,” he said. “This is a very serious matter, and I don’t know what the ultimate truth of it is. But absolutely it would go without much thinking that someone who is following the jury bus — that is a very extremely serious matter.”
He concluded by saying the matter will be referred to the proper authorities for “further action.”
NBC News released a statement Thursday afternoon admitting to at least some of the allegations leveled against its producer.
“Last night,” the network said in a statement, “a freelancer received a traffic citation. While the traffic violation took place near the jury van, the freelancer never contacted or intended to contact the jurors during deliberations, and never photographed or intended to photograph them.”
It added, “We regret the incident and will fully cooperate with the authorities on any investigation.”
Pay close attention to what NBC is doing. When Schroeder explained his decision to ban MSNBC from the courthouse, he never accused the NBC producer of attempting to contact or photograph the jurors.
“The jury in this case is being transported from a different location in a bus with the windows covered so that they [aren’t] exposed to any sides, by one side or another, by interests in the case,” Schroeder told the court. “So, I’m going to call it a ‘sealed bus.’ And that has been done every day, and then they’re brought here to this building.”
“Last evening,” he continued, reading the official police report, “a person who identified himself as James ‘Jim’ Morrison, and who claimed that he was a producer with NBC News, employed for MSNBC, and under the supervision of someone named Irene Byon in New York for MSNBC, the police when they stopped him, because he was following at a distance of about a block and went through a red light, pulled him over and inquired of him what was going on. And he gave that information and stated that he had been instructed by Miss Byon in New York to follow the jury bus. The matter is under further investigation at this point and the media has asked questions about it. That’s the latest I have.”
You’ll note Schroeder didn’t say anything about Morrison contacting or photographing the jurors. But sidestepping the substance of what Schroeder said is the point.
Indeed, by focusing almost entirely on things Schroeder never said, NBC is attempting to distract from the substance of the police report cited by the judge. NBC glosses over where Morrison is said to have tailed jurors. NBC also glosses over that Morrison allegedly told police his supervisors ordered him to follow the bus.
NBC admits to the traffic violation —it can’t weasel out of that one — but it then distracts from what Kenosha police actually said in favor of that which nobody said.
Read more at the Washington Examiner.
T. Becket AdamsThe views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal
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