Police in Bangor, Maine, have arrested a 38-year-old local man after video captured him driving his vehicle toward a journalist who was reporting outside a methadone clinic last Thursday.
Ryan Hayward of Bangor faces four charges: reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, driving to endanger, and violating conditions of release.
The journalist, Joe Sokol of the Maine Wire, was outside the Bangor Comprehensive Treatment Center investigating the facility’s finances, including roughly $25 million the clinic has received through Medicaid since 2018, according to the outlet’s reporting. Sokol managed to record the vehicle’s license plate during the encounter, which helped police identify the driver.
In a statement, the Maine Wire described the clinic as warranting continued scrutiny, saying it functions as “essentially a taxpayer funded drug dealing operation at the heart of Bangor, Maine,” and that the outlet would continue investigating “this organization, its enablers, and the employees who appeared to be accessories after the fact rather than Good Samaritans.”
Hayward reportedly called Maine Wire editor-in-chief Steve Robinson, believing he was speaking with a police officer, and gave a roughly 10-minute interview that the outlet turned over to the Department of Justice. Robinson has said Hayward was the registered owner of the vehicle and the phone number used in the call, and that Hayward acknowledged driving the vehicle toward Sokol. According to Robinson, Hayward said he was familiar with Sokol’s reporting and targeted him over his political views.
In the recorded call, Hayward maintained he had been “polite” when speaking with Sokol and argued the reporter was “just looking down on people” and had “got no right” to film outside the clinic. Asked why he drove off the road toward Sokol, Hayward said: “Well, that’s a good question. He just kind of fired me up, so, I don’t know. No good reason, really.” He said Sokol had “disrespected” him, adding, “I mean, I’m not gonna try and run someone over.”
Sokol was not struck by the vehicle. He discussed the confrontation publicly the following day in an interview with radio host and CNN commentator Scott Jennings.
