Landlord lets media enter California shooting suspects’ home
Members of the media on Friday swarmed into the home of the suspects in this week’s shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., as many watched in disbelief at the level of access shown on live television.
Inside the home of the #SanBernardino killers https://t.co/sfvU1stvje
— CNN (@CNN) December 4, 2015
MSNBC just doxed Rafia Farook, mother of a terrorist, on live television. I’ve blurred the important bits. pic.twitter.com/VqPwT60yVY
— David Boles (@DavidBoles) December 4, 2015
MORE: @CBSNews goes inside home of #SanBernardino shooters; watch live https://t.co/BUpFOjMdsX pic.twitter.com/3jd1fAcSoF
— CBSN (@CBSNLive) December 4, 2015
Door to home of #SanBernardino shooters now sealed again by private citizens – not by local police or FBI. pic.twitter.com/z48EgPTAlV
— Victor Blackwell CNN (@VictorCNN) December 4, 2015
Reporters on the scene said no law enforcement personnel were around as members of the media entered the building. CNN reported that the landlord had opened the door with a crowbar.
CNN defended its handling of the apartment search.
“CNN, like many other news organizations, was granted access to the home by the landlord,” a network spokesperson said in a statement. “We made a conscious editorial decision not to show close-up footage of any material that could be considered sensitive or identifiable, such as photos or ID cards.”
MSNBC, who had a reporter show several photos and IDs on camera, also defended itself.
“MSNBC and other news organizations were invited into the home by the landlord after law enforcement officials had finished examining the site and returned to control the landlord,” an MSNBC spokesman said in a statement shared with multiple media outlets.
“Although MSNBC was not the first crew to enter the home, we did have the first live shots from inside,” the statement continued. “We regret that we briefly showed images of photographs and identification cards that should not have been aired without review.”
The FBI handed over control of the townhouse in nearby Redlands after carrying out a search warrant on Thursday evening, David Bowdich, the assistant director of the FBI’s field office in Los Angeles, told reporters during a press conference Friday afternoon near the site of the shooting.
The FBI said it left behind at the townhouse a list of the items seized during the search warrant, with images of the list having emerged on social media as reporters and camera crews swarmed into the house.
Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Josh Earnest repeatedly dodged questions during the daily briefing about whether media should have been given access and whether it would affect the investigation.
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