Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr slammed the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for attempting to use federal force to silence local news outlet WBFF Fox 45. The State Attorney’s office led by Marilyn Mosby recently filed a complaint against the Fox News affiliate claiming the network was purposefully “endangering the lives of Mosby and her family with “racist” news coverage.” Mosby made the complaint as WBFF Fox 45 has been reporting on the work of the State Attorney’s office and Mosby who are under federal investigation.
However, FCC Commissioner Carr said the FCC would immediately dismiss the suit and slammed Mosby for attempting to silence the network. Carr also said Mosby’s complaint is part of a larger “troubling surge” in Democrat’s attempts to censor free speech and news coverage.
The Daily Wire acquired Carr’s statement:
The State’s Attorney’s Office, led by Democrat Marilyn Mosby, has launched a chilling and direct attack on free speech and journalistic freedom. The complaint her office filed with the FCC asks the Commission to censor a newsroom simply because journalists are doing their constitutionally protected jobs and shining a light on the work of the State’s Attorney. Invoking the power of the state to silence journalists for unfavorable coverage strikes at the very heart of the First Amendment.
It is particularly troubling that a public official would work to silence reporters that are investigating her work at a time when federal prosecutors have already opened a criminal investigation into her activities.
The State’s Attorney’s Office complaint alleges that there is ‘troubling, abhorrent, and outright dangerous’ conduct going on here. They are correct in this respect—it is the conduct of the State’s Attorney’s Office that is troubling, abhorrent, and outright dangerous.
Yet this complaint is part of a recent and troubling surge in efforts by Democrat officials to pressure the FCC and its regulated entities into censoring news coverage and political speech that Democrats don’t like. The FCC should make clear that it will not operate as the DNC’s speech police. That is why the FCC must dismiss this complaint with prejudice by the end of today. No journalists should have a complaint like this from their city’s top prosecutor hanging over their newsroom.
Carr’s statement also noted that WBFF Fox 45 has also recently been awarded “four prestigious Regional Edward R. Murrow awards for journalism excellence, including for one of its stories covering the work of the State’s Attorney’s Office.”
