Anchorage, AK – Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) issued the following statement regarding the actions of Joe Miller and his campaign at a town hall in Central Junior High School, a public school in Anchorage.

“This behavior is particularly disturbing, especially for someone who claims to be a ‘constitutional conservative’. Apparently Joe Miller has forgotten both the first and fourth amendments to the United States Constitution. Joe Miller should immediately issue an apology to the editor of the Alaska Dispatch, a legitimate member of the Alaska press corps, who he had handcuffed by a private security firm. We call on him to immediately disavow the actions of his private security guards for violating the constitutional rights of a United States citizen by illegally detaining him. I find it alarming that Joe feels he needs to hire security forces to protect him from Alaskan voters and members of the press.”

In a press release after the incident, Joe Miller asserted:  “It is also important to note that the security personnel did not know that the individual they detained was a blogger who reporting on the campaign.” However, in a statement to KTUU Channel 2, Miller’s security detail asserted that he knew he was detaining a member of the press corps, “The Dispatch reporter repeatedly pushed a camera into the face of Mr. Miller. He continued to aggressively pursue him. I told the reporter several times that he needed to stop and that he was trespassing, he ignored me,” said Miller security guard William Fulton.

The AlaskaDispatch.com is one of the most popular electronic news outlets in Alaska.

A photo of the incident, courtesy of Bill Roth of the Anchorage Daily News.