The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia today dismissed felony rioting charges against Vocativ journalist Evan Engel that were filed against him in connection with his coverage of inaugural day protests in Washington, D.C. on Friday, January, 20.

"Reporting on the protests in Washington, D.C. on inauguration day served a vital public interest," said Ben Reininga, Vocativ's editorial director. "Learning that one of our journalists was arrested while on assignment and faced charges carrying severe fines and jail time served as a chilling reminder that we must never take our First Amendment freedoms for granted. We are pleased that charges against Evan were dismissed and we look forward to continuing to do our work."

“My thanks go out to all my colleagues and to the legal team Vocativ provided — as well as to everyone who reached out and shared their support,” Engel said on Friday. “Today, my thoughts are with any other journalists who are facing charges for doing their jobs, as well as with journalists imprisoned around the world.”

“While this was an unfortunate situation that no journalist should ever experience, we are pleased by the swift dismissal of these charges against Evan,” said Vocativ COO Danna Rabin. “We are delighted that Evan is back at work with his Vocativ colleagues and can continue the reporting that serves to distinguish our news organization.”

ABOUT VOCATIV

Vocativ is a groundbreaking news organization that combines unique and proprietary technology, advanced research and methodology and fearless journalism to tell stories that matter to millennials around the globe. In particular, the company navigates the Deep Web in an effort to leverage the 90% of open Internet data that search engines don’t reach, including public social media posts, open databases and various records. Vocativ, which is headquartered in New York City, was founded in 2013 by Mati Kochavi and employs more than 50 analysts, engineers and journalists. www.vocativ.com