FBI Threatens Journalist with Arrest While Attempting to Report Police Corruption

On March 31, 2025, journalist and constitutional rights advocate Matthew Reardon was threatened with arrest by FBI agents while attempting to report serious criminal misconduct involving an out-of-state police official.

Reardon arrived at the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office to submit a sworn affidavit detailing unlawful surveillance and retaliation by Captain Hildon Sessums of the Oxford, Mississippi Police Department. Sessums, a graduate of the FBI National Academy, has been linked to a multi-state effort to target Reardon following his public criticism and reporting on government abuse.

Prior to accepting the affidavit, FBI agents demanded that Reardon submit to a full background check — a condition he refused on Fourth Amendment grounds. Agents then ordered him off the property, threatening arrest for trespassing while he peacefully read his statement from the public visitor parking lot.

“This is a blatant violation of the First and Fourth Amendments,” said Reardon. “No victim of a crime should be forced to undergo a search just to report misconduct. That’s not law enforcement — it’s institutional retaliation.”

The encounter has been documented in a formal declaration now submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General and will be sent to Senators Mike Lee and Mitt Romney in a request for Congressional inquiry.

SEE THE DECLARATION REARDON WAS TRYING TO PROVIDE THE FBI WITH. IT IS NOW FILED IN US DISTRICT COURT IN SALT LAKE CITY, UT
https://www.wtpnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/exhibit_d_fbi_declaration_reardon.pdf

SEE MORE AT WWW.WTPNEWS.ORG

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