Journalist allegedly “manhandled by FCC guards” for asking questions

Enlarge / FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

Federal Communications Commission officials said they apologized to a journalist today after the reporter accused FCC guards of "manhandling" him for trying to ask questions after a press conference ended.

CQ Roll Call reporter John Donnelly, who is chairman of the National Press Club's Press Freedom Team and president of the Military Reporters & Editors Association, "said he ran afoul of plainclothes security personnel at the FCC when he tried to ask commissioners questions when they were not in front of the podium at a scheduled press conference," the National Press Club reported.

"When Donnelly strolled in an unthreatening way toward FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly to pose a question, two guards pinned Donnelly against the wall with the backs of their bodies until O'Rielly had passed," the report said. "O'Rielly witnessed this and continued walking."

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