Reporter Claims She Was Thrown Out of 9/11 Museum for Asking Question
Gothamist reporter Jen Chung paid a visit to the newly-unveiled 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York this week, and her visit ended with a security guard escorting her off the premises. Chung claims it was all because she asked someone a question, detailing her experience on Gothamist and remaking at how excessive the security was in getting her kicked out.
Chung made it clear she didn’t enter the museum with the purpose of asking anyone a question, but soon witnessed a testy exchange between two women, one of whom was on her cell phone. The other woman called her “disrespectful,” at which point Chung went over to her, said she was a reporter, and asked her what happened.
That’s when the trouble started.
Chung explains a security guard expressly said, “You’re a reporter?… You can’t ask any questions. You have to go through the 9/11 Memorial people.” She claims she said okay and moved on, only for a second security guard to track her down and tell her not to ask questions. She said okay again.
But it didn’t stop there, and Chung says this is how her day at the museum ended.
I exited that exhibit and went to the bathroom. When I emerged, a third security guard… pulled me aside. He inquired if I was the reporter. I said I was, and then he asked for my name and organization. I presented my NYPD-issued press credentials and he started to write down my name on a pad. Then he took a picture of my press card before saying, “I’m going to have to escort you out of the museum.”
When she e-mailed the museum’s VP of communications afterwards, he said the security guards “acted accordingly” because Chung did not receive the proper authorization. Chung believes what she did wasn’t harassment (as outlined in the museum’s rules and regulations), and beyond that, having a security guard waiting for her outside was just ridiculously excessive.
You can read Chung’s full post here.
[image via 9/11 Memorial Museum]
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