EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Nexstar's television network NewsNation reported a correspondent was released from jail hours after his arrest during a press briefing on the trail derailment in East Palestine Wednesday.
NewsNation said journalist Evan Lambert was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing following a live report during Gov. Mike DeWine's briefing.
Lambert was on air when DeWine started speaking and abruptly finished his report saying, "We're actually being told right now that we need to stop broadcasting because this news conference is behind us and we're in the command center, so as we all listen back there and I listen here, you'll learn the latest."
NewsNation later shared video of Lambert talking to local authorities, getting handcuffed and being taken into custody. The network said photographer Preston Swigart, who was with Lambert, said Lambert was asked to stop talking. Swigart told NewsNation "from their standpoint, he didn't obey orders when he was told to stop talking."
A NewsNation reporter was arrested during a news conference held by the Ohio governor about a train derailment.
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) February 8, 2023
Watch the video: https://t.co/0SWIs3q2bu #RushHour pic.twitter.com/hdq23is7Zl
Video provided to ABC News by Jordan Miller News shows Lambert getting put in handcuffs as another person can be heard telling officials, "You guys, he's a national correspondent. You cannot do this. ... He's been here all week. You can't do this to him."
When asked about the arrest, DeWine said journalists have "every right" to report live before, during and after briefings.
"Governor DeWine did not request that the reporter stop his live broadcast, nor did he know that the request was being made," the governor's office said in its statement.
In the statement, DeWine's office said he heard a "disagreement" toward the back of the East Palestine Elementary School gymnasium, but did not see the incident take place. The governor was told a reporter was asked to end his broadcast because the volume of his reporting was "interfering with the event."
"Because the Governor did not witness what occurred after the broadcast ended, we cannot provide comment on what led to the reporter’s arrest," the statement said.
NewsNation reported Lambert was released from jail Wednesday night after they were originally told he would be released Thursday morning.
The focus of the briefing was to tell evacuated residents that they can return to their homes after officials said the air has returned to normal levels.
Residents were previously ordered to evacuate when officials decided to release and burn five tankers filled with vinyl chloride, sending toxic chemicals into the air.
