Activist Charged With Illegally Streaming Md. Congressional Staffers' Meeting On Facebook Live
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) — A college student at Salisbury University was charged last week with illegally streaming a Facebook Live at a meeting with a congressional staffer for Rep. Andy Harris, the state prosecutor's office said Thursday.
Jake Burdett, 20, an advocate for the group Maryland Marijuana Justice, participated in a rally in front of the Salisbury Office for Rep. Harris in October 2018.
When a congressional staffer of Harris' office offered to meet the group, Burdett and a few others agreed to meet with the staffer in his office, which could only seat a few people, the state prosecutor's office says.
When staff members noticed the group on their phones, they notified them they were not allowed to record in the office because of office policy.
Burdett, however, recorded the entire meeting, streaming it on Facebook Live, without the consent of the congressional staffer who conducted the meeting.
Burdett is charged with the illegal recording of a congressional staffer and the illegal distribution of that recording.
"We need to ensure people are respecting boundaries set by Maryland's wiretapping laws," said State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt.
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