'Stop, sir': New video shows Ohio national guard commander 'shove' reporter — calling self-defense claim into question

10 February 2023

An East Palestine, Ohio National Guard general aggressively shoved a NewsNation reporter before officers arrested him during live coverage of a press conference in response to the recent train derailment in Ohio that spilled deadly chemicals, CNN reports.

Recently released "viral" footage shows Evan Lambert, the NewsNation correspondent, attempting to cover the news conference withOhio Governor Mike Dewine, who was announcing the end to his evacuation order. The bodycam footage shows the moments before Ohio State Highway Patrol members arrested Lambert after a tense exchange with Ohio National Guard Adjutant General John Harris.

NewsNation reporter Kellie Meyer recounted the incident involving her colleague via Twitter, and included video of police-worn body camera foortage.

"This video shows Ohio’s commander of the National Guard, Adjutant General Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., shove my colleague. Escalating the situation," Meyer wrote.

Meyers went on to share how Harris claimed to "[remember] this moment" shortly after the arrest.

“He is a much larger person than I am," Harris claimed, referring to Lambert. "At that point I was convinced he was prepared to do harm to me. I instinctively put my hands on his chest to keep him from bumping into me, which I felt was inevitable if I had not protected myself.”

Harris claimed Lambert charged him in an "aggressive manner," and was "convinced" the reporter "prepared to harm him."

“I instinctively put my hands on his chest to keep him from bumping into me, which I felt was inevitable if I had not protected myself," Harris said in a statement.

Axios reports that Lambert "yelled he had been assaulted," but was ignored by officials, "asked to leave," and eventually arrested.

NewsNation President of News, Michael Corn, responded to the incident asserting that Lambert was "simply doing his job."

He continued, "The many videos of this incident taken by bystanders speak for themselves. We will let people draw their own conclusions about how this incident was handled by the officers involved."

The news conference came after the 50-car Norfolk Southern Railroad train derailed in East Palestine last week carrying "at least 5 tanker cars full of toxic flammable chemicals," and leading to "mandatory evacuation orders in a one-mile radius of the crash site," ABC reports.

Just hours before the evacuation order was lifted, Ohio State University Engineering and Public Health Professor Karen Dannemiller told ABC News, "It is 'absolutely critical' for people to follow evacuation orders of any kind, but especially when having to do with 'highly toxic' chemicals that could be deadly with high elevations of exposure."

In addition to residents, the released chemicals threaten to harm not only people, but animals as well. Taylor Halter, a fox keeper with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources told WKBN News the foxes are experiencing significant health challenges and "one even died."

He said, “Smoke and chemicals from the train, that’s the only thing that can cause it, because it doesn’t just happen out of nowhere. The chemicals that we’re being told are safe in the air, that’s definitely not safe for the animals … or people.”

Watch the full video of the incident between Lambert and Harris below or at this link.

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