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Lunatic Tries to Run Down Maine Wire Reporter for 'Invasion of Privacy': Suspect Arrested

Brett T.
Brett T.  |  10:00 PM on October 03, 2026

Was it Katy Tur who said that journalists are like firefighters running toward the fire? Mainstream media journalists never fail to remind us how brave they are. Basement podcaster and Reflecting Pool sentry Jim Acosta used to fear for his life when his gig was to cover Donald Trump campaign rallies, as the crowd chanted, "CNN sucks!" He even wrote a book in 2019 entitled "The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America."

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Then there are the independent journalists like Savanah Hernandez and Nick Sortor who have been assaulted and threatened for trying to cover leftist protests. Joe Sokol is a reporter for The Maine Wire and was doing a live shot across the street from a Bangor methadone clinic this week when a driver backed up and told him he was invading people's privacy. The man, identified as Ryan Hayward, drove off, turned around, and then drove back on the roadside, nearly running down Sokol.

Good news … it doesn't look like Hayward is getting off with an apology letter:

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Brett T.
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"In a phone interview with The Maine Wire, Hayward denied that he had attempted to murder Sokol, but admitted that his actions were motivated by his disagreements with Sokol’s reporting," they report.

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Attempted vehicular manslaughter does seem to be missing from the list of charges. This moron pulled over, got himself on camera, drove off, turned around, and then tried to run the reporter down. That's some poor impulse control and an open-and-shut case of premeditation.

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