A reporter for the local newspaper in Anniston, Alabama said a city employee wrapped his hands around his neck and threatened his life for seeking an interview with the mayor, according to the Anniston Star’s editor.
In a column posted online, Star editor and associate publisher Bob Davis notes that Oxford, Alabama mayor Leon Smith is a hard man to get ahold of. He’s “rarely” at City Hall, is difficult to get on the phone, and attended just one city council meeting over the last two years.
So Star reporter Zach Tyler turned up in the driveway of Smith’s home in an attempt to get a comment about building projects in the city, which Smith has frequently criticized. But Smith’s driver Rick Harris, an Oxford city employee, was in the driveway and told Tyler to leave.
After the reporter explained he was looking for a comment, he said the driver “reached out and wrapped his hands around my neck and pushed me toward my car.”
According to Tyler, Harris also told him, “If you ever come back here, you won’t leave breathing.”
Tyler was left with blood and deep scratches on his neck from the run-in, Davis wrote.
As a police officer, Harris served 46 months in federal prison for assault. He was arrested Jun. 13 on harassment charges stemming from his confrontation with the reporter and responded by filing criminal trespassing charges against Tyler.
