Chitwood says Greene staff asked news crew to leave

Published 10:00 pm Thursday, January 28, 2021

Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood called the ejection of a TV news crew from an event hosted by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Wednesday night “an unfortunate situation that arose because one guest did not follow the rules.”

Chattanooga’s WRCBTV Channel 3 identified the reporter as Meredith Aldis and the photojournalist as Jacob Babb.

Greene is a Republican from Rome who represents Whitfield and Murray counties. She told Aldis, who started to question Greene about media reports that Greene supported social media posts suggesting violence against Democratic politicians and a resolution to expel her from the House, that the meeting was for constituents and “not a press conference.”

A sheriff’s office deputy escorted the members of the news crew from The Event Center, a privately-owned facility. WRCBTV reported that the deputy threatened the reporter and photojournalist with arrest for criminal trespass if they did not leave.

On Tuesday, CNN reported that the controversial freshman congresswoman who has espoused support for QAnon conspiracy theories “repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019 before being elected to Congress.” CNN said Greene liked a Facebook comment calling for “a bullet to the head” of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The report was the result of a CNN KFile review of hundreds of posts and comments from Greene’s Facebook page.

Media were allowed at the event but Greene’s staff told them she would not be available for questions.

“Once on property, members of the media were told they would not be permitted to speak to anyone attending or ask any questions,” WRCBTV reported.

Sheriff’s office deputies were providing security at the event, which Chitwood said is customary.

“Any time a state elected official or an official from Washington comes in and they request security we cooperate with them,” he said.

After Aldis began the question, one of Greene’s staff members approached her.

“The staffer spoke to the reporter,” said Chitwood, who was in attendance at the event as a guest. “I do not know what the exchange was, but he motioned for one of the deputies to come over.”

Chitwood, who is a Democrat, was asked Wednesday night why he was there and he said he was invited and when state and federal elected officials invite him to events held locally he tries to attend.

Chitwood said the Greene staff member told the deputy he had asked the news crew to leave for violating the rules.

“I believe the deputy told the reporter that at the request of Rep. Greene’s staff she needed to excuse herself from the venue,” Chitwood said.

WRCBTV reported that the deputy told the news crew they could be arrested for trespassing if they did not leave.

Chitwood said he did not hear that part of the conversation.

“But they may well have said that the staff had asked them to leave and if they remained they could be charged with trespassing,” he said.

Chitwood said the event, which was billed as a town hall but had restricted attendance, was a private event on private property hosted by Greene and that remaining after the host had asked them to leave would be similar to remaining at a party or other event after being asked to leave.

“It’s my understanding that the guests had to register in advance, and there was limited space, so this was basically by invitation only,” he said. “They checked IDs at the door and made sure that the people who were admitted were on the list.”

“But the news crew did leave, and it’s my understanding they set up in the parking lot outside,” he said. “They were just asked to leave the indoor venue.”

Asked if the sheriff’s office will handle security for elected officials differently going forward, Chitwood said, “We’ve never had any problems before. We are here to protect the safety of the community and that includes officials who are visiting the community.”