TV reporter arrested for disorderly conduct at press conference on Ohio, HAZMAT train derailment

A TV journalist reporting on the smoldering, 50-car train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border has been arrested for disorderly conduct at a press conference on the matter.

News Nation's Evan Lambert was reporting live from a school gymnasium at Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s press conference in East Palestine – where the derailment occurred Friday night and had continued to be a potentially dangerous accident scene, with some flammable, hazardous materials likely still in derailed train cars. 

Videos show the press conference was at the other end of the gym and that officials escorted Lambert into a hallway to arrest him, according to the Daily Wire.

It remained unclear Thursday morning exactly what Lambert did to get arrested.

"As you see from the videos, he was doing his job – what hundreds of journalists do without incident – reporting to the public on a matter of urgent, critical interest to our audience," said network D.C. bureau chief Mike Viqueria.

However, officials ordered the area around East Palestine, Ohio, to be evacuated until they mitigated the potential HAZMAT explosion. 

Journalists from across the country came there to report on the accident, and the evacuation was lifted Wednesday night, after rail crews conducted a a controlled release of chemicals to mitigate the danger.

Lambert was also charged with criminal trespassing and has been released from jail.

DeWine said Wednesday night that he didn’t ask for any reporters to be arrested and that it’s normal for reporters to speak  TV during his press conferences. 

“Whoever was arrested had every right to be reporting and doing what they do every single day,” he said.