Conservative Maine Reporter Nearly Run Over After Clash Outside Clinic - Newsweek

Conservative-leaning outlet The Maine Wire has said one of its journalists was nearly run over after being confronted by a driver while reporting from the city of Bangor.

Footage published by The Maine Wire shows reporter Joe Sokol having an altercation with a man in a dark blue vehicle outside a drug treatment clinic where he was filming a report.

The man drives away, then, moments later, a car can be heard accelerating and the camera falls to the ground.

In a post on X, The Maine Wire said, "some lunatic just tried to murder our reporter," adding it had "the entire chilling interaction" on camera.

The outlet added: "We will take all necessary actions to demand justice."

Newsweek contacted the Bangor Police Department for comment by telephone outside of regular office hours and is awaiting a reply.

In the footage shared by The Maine Wire on X a male driver in a blue Jeep Compass pulls up to Sokol outside the Bangor Comprehensive Treatment Center, which treats drug addictions, and accuses him of "invading people’s privacy again."

Sokol replies: "I’m invading people’s privacy by being in public with a camera and doing a report?"

The male responds: "Yup. Videoing across the road what’s up bud come on." Sokol then asks, "what can I do for you?" at which point the man drives off.

Around 20 seconds later, the car rapidly drives over the grass bank where Sokol is reporting from, narrowly missing him and knocking his camera over.

According to News Center Maine, the Bangor Police Department is investigating the incident.

The Maine Wire said Sokol recorded the Jeep Compass’s license plate which was passed on to police.

Steve Robinson, editor-in-chief of The Maine Wire, commented: "The bedlamite identified Sokol as a journalist and expressed a clear intent to stop him from conducting routine journalism from public property.

"Sokol’s quick-thinking and training immediately allowed him to preserve the license plate. He is unharmed and safe."

Robinson described the incident as "attempted murder" and said police were also looking into whether anyone "may have provided this individual with intoxicating substances before he immediately attempted vehicular homicide."

"The Maine Wire would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the men and women of the Bangor Police Department who handled the situation with seriousness, compassion, and aplomb."

Robinson added he believed the driver may have been under the influence of an intoxicating substance.

The Maine Wire also published an audio recording of what it said was a telephone call between one of its reporters and the man they believe was behind the wheel following the incident. They name the suspected driver by his first name during the call, but Newsweek has chosen not to repeat this.

In the conversation, the alleged driver described the suggestion that he "tried to run over" Sokol as a "crock of s***."

The alleged driver confirmed he has seen the video of the incident, adding: "I just backed in, turned around [and] drove across the grass."

He said he had seen Sokol but insisted he was "off to the side" and denied having picked up methadone from the clinic, but later confirmed he was a patient at the facility and was planning to pick some up.

The man insisted "I was very polite" in his interaction with Sokol, adding: "He’s got no right doing that. That’s not ok."

He admitted to having recognized Sokol and having been offended by his past reporting, but insisted: "I didn’t try to run anybody over."

At the end of the call, it became clear the alleged driver thought he was talking to the police, not a reporter, and when he realized he wasn’t the call ended. According to The Maine Wire, the suspect had called its reporter himself.

According to its website, Bangor Comprehensive Treatment Center "offers outpatient treatment for adults age 18 and older of all genders who are struggling with opioid use disorder."

It says: "What may make us different from other methadone clinics is that we use a science-backed approach called medication-assisted treatment (MAT). This method combines medication with counseling, a dual approach that addresses opioid addiction on the physical, behavioral, emotional, and social levels."

In July, The Maine Wire reporter Jon Fetherston was allegedly hit with a skateboard during an anti-ICE protest in Biddeford. The following day, he said his tires were slashed during a separate anti-ICE rally outside an ICE facility in Scarborough.