So Newsome kicked out 2 credentialed members of the press during his inauguration. Congrats, Kalifornia.
New California Governor Newsom was sworn in today amid the usual pomp and circumstance – musical selections that reflect the diversity of the state, a scene-stealing appearance by a Newsom son who had clearly seen footage of Andrew Giuliani doing the same in 1994, and even the ejection of a couple protestors.
The only thing that was unusual was that the two ejected protestors were journalists. And one of them didn’t do a single thing to merit ejection.
The first fellow, Ben Bergquam, was indeed disrupting the proceedings. Bergquam is a well-known blogger, radio host, YouTuber and provocateur – his ICE hat gave an early indication of his strong point of view. Nevertheless, for most of the ceremony, the credentialed journalist quietly manned his social media and even saved seats for other journalists in the packed reserved row in the back. Then, just as Newsom’s swearing-in began, Bergquam began to shout “I Object!” and “You have blood on your hands!” the latter an apparent reference to the recent killing of Cpl Ronil Singh, allegedly at the hands of an undocumented immigrant.
Bergquam was removed by three security personnel, a woman and two men. Several other journalists cheered his removal, because his actions had caused us all to miss the oath.
But then two of the security guards – the woman and one of the men – came back to eject another credentialed journalist, apparently simply because he appeared to know Bergquam. (Both were wearing the logos of Frontline America, a Trump-supporting website.)
The second fellow hadn’t said a single word or disrupted the proceedings in any way. He was just sitting there with his iPhone stabilizer and headset. His ejection appeared to be entirely based on some kind of association with the first fellow.
https://californiaglobe.com/governor/two-reporters-ejected-from-newsom-inauguration/
New California Governor Newsom was sworn in today amid the usual pomp and circumstance – musical selections that reflect the diversity of the state, a scene-stealing appearance by a Newsom son who had clearly seen footage of Andrew Giuliani doing the same in 1994, and even the ejection of a couple protestors.
The only thing that was unusual was that the two ejected protestors were journalists. And one of them didn’t do a single thing to merit ejection.
The first fellow, Ben Bergquam, was indeed disrupting the proceedings. Bergquam is a well-known blogger, radio host, YouTuber and provocateur – his ICE hat gave an early indication of his strong point of view. Nevertheless, for most of the ceremony, the credentialed journalist quietly manned his social media and even saved seats for other journalists in the packed reserved row in the back. Then, just as Newsom’s swearing-in began, Bergquam began to shout “I Object!” and “You have blood on your hands!” the latter an apparent reference to the recent killing of Cpl Ronil Singh, allegedly at the hands of an undocumented immigrant.
Bergquam was removed by three security personnel, a woman and two men. Several other journalists cheered his removal, because his actions had caused us all to miss the oath.
But then two of the security guards – the woman and one of the men – came back to eject another credentialed journalist, apparently simply because he appeared to know Bergquam. (Both were wearing the logos of Frontline America, a Trump-supporting website.)
The second fellow hadn’t said a single word or disrupted the proceedings in any way. He was just sitting there with his iPhone stabilizer and headset. His ejection appeared to be entirely based on some kind of association with the first fellow.
https://californiaglobe.com/governor/two-reporters-ejected-from-newsom-inauguration/
