Date | Name | Employer | Location | Notes |
000000001837-11-07-0000November 7, 1837 | Elijah Parish Lovejoy | Alton Observer | Alton, Illinois | This abolition editor was killed by a mob supporting slavery in the Union.[11][12] |
000000001843-06-06-0000June 6, 1843 | James Hagan | Vicksburg Sentinel | Vicksburg, Mississippi | Hagan was killed by the son of a man he had criticized in his newspaper.[13][14][15][16] |
000000001844-02-29-0000February 29, 1844 | James A. Ryan | Vicksburg Sentinel | Vicksburg, Mississippi | The Vicksburg Sentinel was a Democratic paper and Ryan was killed by his rival Whig counterpart in a duel on their second fight.[14] |
000000001848-09-15-0000September 15, 1848 | John Jenkins | Vicksburg Sentinel | Vicksburg, Mississippi | Killed in a fight with an attorney after the two had a previous altercation.[13] |
000000001854-06-22-0000June 22, 1854 | Joseph Mansfield | San Joaquin Republican | Stockton, California | Mansfield was killed in a fight with a rival editor, both of whom were Democrats.[17] |
000000001856-05-20-0000May 20, 1856 | James King of William | Daily Evening Bulletin | San Francisco, California | [18][19] |
000000001862-04-06-0000April 6, 1862 | Irving Carson | New-York Tribune | Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee | First journalist to be killed during the U.S. Civil War. Killed by a cannonball fire while covering the Battle of Shiloh and General Ulysses S. Grant.[20] |
000000001863-06-23-0000June 23, 1863 | Lynde Walter Buckingham | New York Herald | Aldie, Virginia | Killed as a result of an ambush during the U.S. Civil War. He was buried at the Mount Zion Old School Baptist Church-VDHR 53-339 in Aldie.[21] |
000000001863-10-06-0000October 6, 1863 | James O'Neal | Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper | Baxter Springs, Kansas | O'Neal was an artist-correspondent murdered by Quantrill's guerrillas at the Baxter Springs Massacre.[22] |
000000001864-05-06-0000May 6, 1864 | Samuel Fiske (aka Dunn Browne) | Springfield Republican | Fredericksburg, Virginia | Capt. Fiske wrote under the name Dunn Browne and served in the army and was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness.[23] |
000000001866-09-14-0000September 14, 1866 | Ridgeway Glover | Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper | Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming | While covering the American Indian Wars, Glover was killed and mutilated during the construction of Fort Kearny in 1866.[24] |
000000001871-11-05-0000November 5, 1871 | Frederick Wadsworth Loring | Appleton's Journal | Wickenburg, Arizona | Was killed while on assignment out west in what is known as the Wickenburg Massacre, an attack on a stagecoach by Native Americans.[25] |
000000001876-06-25-0000June 25, 1876 | Mark Kellogg | Associated Press | Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana | The first Associated Press journalist to die while reporting.[26] |
000000001877-03-27-0000March 27, 1877 | J. Clarke Swayze | Topeka Daily Blade | Topeka, Kansas | Swayze was killed after publishing a critical article about his murderer.[27] |
000000001880-04-23-0000April 23, 1880 | Charles de Young | The Daily Dramatic Chronicle | San Francisco, California | With his brother M. H. de Young, he founded the newspaper that would become the San Francisco Chronicle. The mayor's son killed him in revenge for a feud de Young had with his father.[28] |
000000001881-11-17-0000November 17, 1881 | A. B. Thornton | Boonville News | Boonville, Missouri | The town marshal killed Thornton because of criticism from the newspaper and won acquittal based on the perception that the criticism was too intense.[29] |
000000001884-03-27-0000March 27, 1884 | Charles L. Kusz | The Gringo and Greaser | Manzano, New Mexico | Shot through his window by unknown gunman on horses. His newspaper was reform oriented and created enemies as it sought changes.[30] |
000000001887-05-05-0000May 5, 1887 | Roderick D. Gambrell | The Shield and Sword | Jackson, Mississippi | Shot by Colonel Jones S. Hamilton for publishing allegations of corrupt business practices Hamilton was engaged in with the state of Mississippi. Hamilton was shot by Gambrell, but survived and was later acquitted of his murder by a jury.[31][32][33] |
000000001888-05-01-0000May 1, 1888 | John H. Martin | New Mississippian | Jackson, Mississippi | Shot in a street encounter with ex-Confederate General Wirt Adams, who was also shot and killed by Martin. Martin published numerous attacks on Adams's character in part due to his association with Colonel Hamilton, killer of the aforementioned Roderick D. Gambrell.[33][34] |
000000001891-02-01-0000February 1, 1891 | Ignacio Martínez | El Mundo | Laredo, Texas | Owned a newspaper that wrote critical articles on the regime of Mexican President Porfirio Díaz. His murderers fled to Mexico and were never arrested.[35] |
000000001891-02-23-0000February 23, 1891 | Albert C. Osborne | Sunday World | Columbus, Ohio | Killed in a shootout with William J. Elliott, a rival editor of the Sunday Capital, and Elliott's brother, Patrick. A bystander was also killed and a number of others wounded. Elliott was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment at Ohio Penitentiary.[36][37][38] |
000000001898-04-01-0000April 1, 1898 | William Cowper Brann | Iconoclast | Waco, Texas | Wrote critical articles about Baptists. Shot in the back during a duel.[39] |
000000001903-01-15-0000January 15, 1903 | Narciso Gener Gonzales | The State | Columbia, South Carolina | He was killed by James H. Tillman, the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, who was acquitted of murder by a jury.[40] |
000000001908-11-09-0000November 9, 1908 | Edward W. Carmack | Nashville American | Nashville, Tennessee | Former congressman and senator. He was killed by a former army officer who disapproved of his name appearing in an article and threatened the editor.[41] |
000000001915-12-25-0000December 25, 1915 | Huang Yuanyong | Shao Nian Zhong Guo Weekly | San Francisco, California | The Chinese national was murdered while visiting the United States. The case remained unsolved but Kuomintang (KMT) supporters were suspected of carrying out the assassination at the Shanghai Low restaurant.[42] |
000000001927-07-16-0000July 16, 1927 | Don Mellett | Canton Daily News | Canton, Ohio | Shot to death in his garage as a result of a conspiracy with a crime boss and the police chief of Canton.[1] |
000000001930-07-23-0000July 23, 1930 | Jerry Buckley | WMBC-AM | Detroit, Michigan | Gunned down on election night.[43] |
000000001934-09-06-0000September 6, 1934 | Howard Guilford | The Saturday Press | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Editor of a newspaper that exposed corruption and organized crime. He and partner Jay Near won the US Supreme Court decision in Near v. Minnesota.[44][45] |
000000001935-12-09-0000December 9, 1935 | Walter Liggett | Midwest American | Minneapolis, Minnesota | He wrote about political corruption and organized crime.[46][47] |
000000001945-01-22-0000January 22, 1945 | Arthur Kasherman | Public Press (alternative) | Minneapolis, Minnesota | His death figured into Hubert Humphrey's mayoral victory.[48] |
000000001949-07-29-0000July 29, 1949 | W.H. "Bill" Mason | KBKI radio | Alice, Texas | Known as a crusading radio journalist in a county ruled with an iron hand by local law enforcement, Mason was shot dead by Sheriff deputy Sam Smithwick, who Mason had publicly accused of running a strip club. The senate candidate who lost to Lyndon B. Johnson believed that Smithwick had information about how the election had been rigged but Smithwick was hanged before their meeting. Mason's tombstone reads: "He had the nerve to tell the truth for a lot of little people."[1][49][50][51] |
000000001962-09-30-0000September 30, 1962 | Paul Guihard | Agence France-Presse | Oxford, Mississippi | Guihard was a British-French citizen who was killed during the civil rights era at the University of Mississippi. He was assigned to photograph the events surrounding James Meredith's attendance when he turned his focus on riots and in the confusion was shot. His murder remains an unsolved case.[52] |
000000001970-08-29-0000August 29, 1970 | Rubén Salazar | Los Angeles Times | Los Angeles, California | Salazar was killed by deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department while covering the Chicano Moratorium protest in East Los Angeles. The park where the protest took place was later renamed Salazar Park in his honor.[53][54] |
000000001976-06-02-0000June 2, 1976 | Don Bolles | Arizona Republic | Phoenix, Arizona | Murdered as a result of a car bomb set by the mafia outside the Clarendon Hotel.[55][56][57] |
000000001977-03-09-0000March 9, 1977 | Maurice Williams | WHUR-FM | Washington, D.C. | He was murdered during the 1977 Hanafi Siege.[58] |
000000001978-06-28-0000June 28, 1978 | John A. Kelly | WHDH-TV | Boston, Massachusetts | Killed during the Blackfriars Massacre.[59] |
000000001981-07-21-0000July 21, 1981 | Duong Trong Lam | Cai Dinh Lang (The Village Temple) | San Francisco, California | Killed by gunfire from a member of one of two anti-communist groups that claimed responsibility for his assassination.[5][6][60][61][62][63] |
000000001982-08-24-0000August 24, 1982 | Nguyen Dam Phong | Tu Do (Freedom) | Houston, Texas | Was assassinated at his home by an anti-communist group.[5][6][60][61][64] |
000000001984-06-19-0000June 19, 1984 | Alan Berg | KOA (AM) | Denver, Colorado | A liberal radio show host who was murdered by a white nationalist group.[65] |
000000001984-10-15-0000October 15, 1984 | Henry Liu (a.k.a. Chiang Nan) | Freelancer and author | Daly City, California | A critic of the Kuomintang who was assassinated on the orders of the Kuomintang.[66] |
000000001987-08-09-0000August 9, 1987 | Tap Van Pham (a.k.a. Hoai Diep Tu) | Mai | Garden Grove, California | He was assassinated by arson while sleeping in his office by an anti-communist group that took responsibility.[5][6][60][61] |
000000001989-11-22-0000November 22, 1989 | Nhan Trong Do | Van Nghe Tien Phong | Fairfax County, Virginia | A layout designer who worked with Triet Le, he was the first employer of the Vietnamese-language magazine to be assassinated.[5][6][60][61][67] |
000000001990-09-22-0000September 22, 1990 | Triet Le | Van Nghe Tien Phong | Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia | A columnist of controversial content for the same Vietnamese magazine that employed Nhan Trong Do. Assassinated.[5][6][60][61][67][68] |
000000001991-02-18-0000February 18, 1991 | Jean-Claude Olivier | WLQY-AM (1320) | Little Haiti, Miami, Florida | A colleague of D'Or, he was known for his controversial commentary and was assassinated on his way to his car.[69][70] |
000000001991-03-15-0000March 15, 1991 | Fritz D'Or | WLQY-AM (1320) | Little Haiti, Miami, Florida | A colleague of Olivier's at WLQY, he was assassinated as he left a club.[69][71] |
000000001992-03-11-0000March 11, 1992 | Manuel de Dios Unanue | El Diario La Prensa | Queens, New York City, New York | Murdered by Colombian drug traffickers for writing about drug trade.[72][73] |
000000001993-10-24-0000October 24, 1993 | Dona St. Plite | WKAT-AM | Little Haiti, Miami, Florida | St. Plite was attending a benefit for former colleague Fritz Dor when he was also assassinated for supporting Jean-Bertrand Aristide.[69][74] |
000000002000-10-18-0000October 18, 2000 | James Edwin Richards | Citizen journalist, editor and publisher | Venice, Los Angeles, California | Richards was murdered at his Oakwood neighborhood home in the neighborhood where he had established himself as a citizen crime reporter.[75][76] |
000000002001-09-11-0000September 11, 2001 | Bill Biggart | Freelance photographer | Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York | Killed while photographing the rescue effort outside the World Trade Center before the tower collapsed.[77] |
000000002001-10-05-0000October 5, 2001 | Robert Stevens | Sun | Boca Raton, Florida | Murdered as one of the media targets of the 2001 anthrax attacks less than a month after 9/11.[78] |
November 6, 2001 |
Milton William Cooper |
Syndicated Radio & Broadcasting Journalist - Kimco Reality |
Eagar, AZ |
As an outspoken member of the militia community and unofficial spokesperson or the militia and anti-government subculture in the late 1990s, he became convinced that he was being personally targeted by President Bill Clinton and the Internal Revenue Service. In July 1998 he was charged with tax evasion; an arrest warrant was issued, but Cooper eluded repeated attempts to serve it. In 2000, he was named a "major fugitive" by the United States Marshals Service.[7]
On November 5, 2001, Apache County sheriff's deputies attempted to arrest Cooper at his Eagar, Arizona home on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and endangerment stemming from disputes with local residents. After an exchange of gunfire during which Cooper shot one of the deputies in the head, Cooper was fatally shot. Federal authorities reported that Cooper had spent years evading execution of the 1998 arrest warrant, and according to a spokesman for the Marshals Service, he vowed that "he would not be taken alive".[1] |
000000002007-08-02-0000August 2, 2007 | Chauncey Bailey | The Oakland Post | Oakland, California | After investigating corruption in his community, Bailey was murdered on his way to work by the target of his reporting.[1][7] |
000000002015-08-26-0000August 26, 2015 | Alison Parker | WDBJ 7 | Moneta, Virginia | Parker, a reporter, and Ward, a photojournalist, were shot on live television by one-time colleague Vester Flanagan while interviewing a subject about tourism.[79] |
Adam Ward |