Paris, Ill. (ECWd) –
Once again, “The Boathouse Johnny’s Gone Fishing” Facebook page has published a fake (press) release where she (the page owner) attributed the release to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.
We didn’t have to read very far to figure out the Illinois Attorney General’s Office would never publish anything so offensive to the First Amendment as to actually threaten media with criminal charges should they dare report on court proceedings dealing with the alleged attempted murder and hate crimes arising out of the incident at White Oak Park in Paris, Illinois.
We contacted the Illinois Attorney General’s Office via email, and they responded with “The posted information was not issued by the Office of the Attorney General.”
The “release” appears to threaten “registered media” (this does not exist) and “all credentialed news media” with revocation of press credentials (these are not issued by the Illinois Supreme Court or any lower court in Illinois that we are aware of – at least downstate where we are at) with prosecution for “harassment of jurors” and with “picketing or parading to influence judicial proceedings” should they dare publish certain things occurring in courtrooms prior to this trial.
To all persons who publish and all (new) media who may not have a concrete grasp on their rights, please continue publishing information on this and other cases as you see fit. This is not the first time “Boathouse” has published untrue information that on its face the average person may have been inclined to believe.
To “Boathouse” – please quit making things up and falsely attributing them to state and local public officials or offices.
