Inauguration Coverage

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

For the Offices of the United States Attorneys Offices in Washington D.C, on behalf of Muckrock.com

We seek the following records to be released.

1. Any records of review of incident reports or intelligence and or briefings documenting the arrests of journalists by the Capitol Police in relation to the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Jan 20th 2017.

2. Any records of review and or possession in USAO Washington custody related to Photographs, audio or video recordings of protests and protestors reacting to the Donald Trump's Inauguration on January 20th, 2017 as documented by the Capitol Police.

3. Any and all documents that your agency retains regarding the 2017 Inauguration in Washington D.C. In particular, this request is for all records included but not limited intelligence reports, open source reports, electronic data, e-mails, photographs, intelligence data, notes or other materials created by the Capitol Police or other parties in the custody of and or records of review by the United States Attorney’s Offices for Washington, D.C.of records of other agencies.

Permits, permit applications for protests from January 1, 2000 - December 31, 2009 as well as arrest reports for times and locations matching the protests in and around Washington, D.C. including but not limited to:

The White House
Embassies
Supreme Court
Federal Buildings
Civic Plaza
Dupont Circle
Franklin Square Park
Freedom Plaza
Lamont St. Park
Malcolm X Park (aka Meridian Hill)
McPherson Square
Upper Senate Park
Murrow Park
Columbus Circle
Lincoln Park
MLK memorial
National Mall
Lincoln Park

In the Custody of the United States Attorneys Offices in Washington D.C. that were prepared by the Capitol Police and or including any notes of review of documents not kept in USAO custody.

I/WE am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure and have an open arrangement with each. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through the non-profit Internet Archive, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance. Additionally, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information to a broad cross-section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualified because it also had “firm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of the news media. Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is in the story for which he or she is requesting information." As such, the details of the request itself are moot for the purposes of determining the appropriate fee category. As such, my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available and I therefore request that fees be waived.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Muckrock.com

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

William Fernandes

Attached please find signed ACK with reminder for fee waiver pending abeyance for full disclosure.

Best,
William

Just a follow up to confirm this correspondence was received.

Thank you.

William