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Beverly Hills Serves LAist with a Search Warrant
On Friday afternoon, the Beverly Hills Police Department presented Gothamist, LLC, LAist's parent company in New York City, with a Search Warrant and Affidavit due to an e-mail threat to an officer after last week's controversial article about a Beverly Hills SUV driver attacking a bicyclist where the bicyclist was given two tickets.
The warrant states that the police are to search the author's information and any relevant IP associations (even though the author was with the police on Thursday morning) and all IP addresses with date/time stamps for all comments posted before and after the the warrant was served. The police suspect there may be a correlation in IP addresses from LAist's comments and the e-mail address the threat was made with. Did Digg.com, who received 300 comments more than LAist, get a warrant as well?
The irony of this situation is that when a bicyclist has an immediate threat to his life, he gets ticketed for standing up for his rights and for protecting himself and possibly others in the future. But when a police officer gets an e-mail threat, the police are all over it with swift force. It is understandable that the police need to protect their own (and they should), but it should be expected that the citizens themselves are part of that protection too.
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Image from the Search Warrant served to Gothamist, LLC
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
