GOA Wins 2A Victory on First Amendment Case
By Erich Pratt
An assistant U.S. Attorney withdrew a motion to muzzle an internet reporter covering the sentencing of a man convicted of transferring machine gun parts during an August 11 hearing, according to the targeted reporter.
“I think she just didn’t like the mean comments (on the YouTube video),” John Crump told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Crump hosts the John Crump News YouTube channel and frequently contributes to the AmmoLand.com Shooting and Sports News website.
According to filings with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor requested the court order Mr. Crump to destroy any copies of a pre-sentencing report he had obtained in the case of United States v. Kristopher Justinboyer Ervin and Matthew Raymond Hoover.
She also requested the court to issue a gag order against Crump and require him to verify in writing that the report had been destroyed.
Speaking on his YouTube channel after the hearing, Mr. Crump said Ms. Taylor didn’t talk during the August 11 hearing. He said a different U.S. Attorney spoke to the court.
“He said the government decided it was in their best interests to go ahead and withdraw that motion,” Mr. Crump said.
In her motion, Ms. Taylor claimed the
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