The New Jersey Press Association has criticized a Middlesex County judge’s order requiring New Brunswick Today to remove a video from its website and YouTube channel, warning that the ruling amounts to a prior restraint on the press and poses a serious threat to First Amendment protections.
The NJPA, of which the New Jersey Globe is a member, condemned the order issued by Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Thomas Daniel McCloskey, who directed New Brunswick Today to remove a video reportedly showing security camera footage of a student entering New Brunswick High School with a concealed weapon that was later discovered during a security screening. The judge’s order also prohibited publication of descriptions of the video.
“That kind of order, where a government agency uses the courts to stop a news organization from publishing news, is one of the most serious threats to the free press that exists,” the NJPA said in a statement. “It lets those in power shape the story on their own terms, without scrutiny or challenge from reporters on the ground.”
The press association called for the immediate lifting of the restrictions and urged New Jersey courts to remain vigilant in protecting First Amendment rights.
The dispute began after New Brunswick Today published the footage. An attorney representing the New Brunswick school district quickly contacted the editor, Charlie Kratovil, and demanded that he remove the video or face legal action. The attorney also sought information about how Kratovil obtained the footage.
The video was of a minor child, and the school board attorney, Charles Hendricks, alleged that posting it could endanger the student.
Superintendent Aubrey Johnson said in his court certification that a student activated a metal detector alarm at New Brunswick High School on May 8, 2026, and that after school security conducted a secondary screening and discovered a weapon identified as an airsoft (BB) gun in the student’s waistband. He said the student was detained, his weapon was confiscated, and the school principal initiated a lockdown in accordance with protocols.
Johnson told the court that the posted video allegedly contains identifiable images of students, and that the district contends the footage reveals aspects of internal security operations, staff responses, camera positions, and security protocols. He argued that publication could compromise future security procedures and raise student privacy concerns.
In his filing, Hendricks claimed the Board of Education “has the statutory duty to protect the privacy of all students.”
Kratovil refused both requests. New Jersey’s shield law provides strong protections for journalists against efforts to compel disclosure of confidential sources and newsgathering materials.
“Holding powerful institutions accountable is exactly what local journalism is supposed to do, and that work depends on the freedom to report without interference from the very institutions being covered,” the NJPA stated. “A community’s ability to hold its institutions accountable depends on having a local press that is free to do its job. When a school board can go to court and – without any basis in law – silence a news outlet from covering a security incident at a public school, something has gone seriously wrong.”
Both sides are currently scheduled to return to court on July 7. Bruce Rosen, Kratovil’s attorney, sought to have the matter heard sooner and requested a June 15 court date, but McCloskey declined to accelerate the proceedings.