A Colorado man, Patrick Thomas Egan, 39, was arrested on December 18th in Grand Junction on suspicion of bias-motivated crimes, second-degree assault, and harassment. He is scheduled to appear in court on January 2nd for a determination on formal charges. According to police documents, Egan attacked KKCO/KJCT reporter Ja’Ronn Alex while he was on assignment. Egan allegedly approached Alex’s car at a stoplight, questioning his citizenship and stating, “Are you even a US citizen? This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!” The affidavit details Egan tackling Alex, placing him in a headlock, and attempting to strangle him. Co-workers intervened, and surveillance footage reportedly shows Alex struggling to breathe during the attack. Alex believes he was targeted because of his Pacific Islander heritage.
This alleged assault, while seemingly isolated, highlights a growing hostility toward the news media, fueled in part by a politically charged environment. Former President Trump’s repeated characterizations of the press as “the enemy of the people,” “a threat to democracy,” “fake,” and “crooked bastards” – rhetoric deployed during both his first and second presidencies – have contributed to this climate. The Freedom of the Press Foundation reported a 70% increase in assaults on journalists in 2024, recording 75 incidents since January 1st. A survey by the International Women’s Media Foundation found that 36% of journalists in safety training reported threats or physical violence, with 28% reporting legal threats or actions. Despite these concerning statistics, a City University of London survey revealed that nearly a quarter of Americans do not view political attacks on journalists as a threat to press freedom, with a disproportionately high percentage (38%) of Republicans holding this view compared to Democrats (9%).