Multiple journalists and two military escorts accompanying them to an event at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California this week were briefly detained at gunpoint, believing they were gate runners, affected news organizations reported.
The incident occurred ahead of an Aug. 18 groundbreaking event for a missile operator training facility at the base, according to KEYT. Vandenberg Space Force Base is located in Santa Barbara County, about 9 miles northwest of Lompoc, California.
Noozhawk reported that a public affairs staff vehicle and cars carrying journalists from Noozhawk, KEYT, KSYB and the Santa Maria Times/Lompoc Record had pulled off to the side of a road to allow all media vehicles to clear base security. At least one member
of base security raised an alarm about "gate runners," according to Noozhawk.
Sirens were set off and barriers deployed, according to KEYT.
"One by one, with firearms pointed at the group, base police ordered each vehicle to pull forward," Noozhawk reported. "Police then demanded that the drivers and passengers exit individually with hands raised."
Security personnel handcuffed two military officers and placed them in base vehicles while media members were told to wait on the nearby curb, according to Noozhawk. All reporters were later released without further incident, according to KEYT.
Both Noozhawk and KEYT reported that the 30-minute detainment caused journalists to miss the event they were invited to cover.
"It appears some members of the Vandenberg security team are seriously in need of additional training," said Tom Bolton, Noozhawk's editor in chief. "This was a failure on multiple levels, and the base owes apologies to the affected journalists."
'Coordination gap'
Both KEYT and Noozhawk reported that a person representing the base apologized for the incident on the scene.
In a statement provided to KEYT, a Space Launch Delta 30 spokesperson said that the base has been "experiencing an increased number of unauthorized entry attempts." The spokesperson said that there was a "breakdown in communication" as media entered the installation.
"Every potential unauthorized presence must be treated as a legitimate threat until proven otherwise," the statement read, KEYT reported. "While we recognize this may have been unsettling the security of the base and its personnel is our priority."
A Space Launch Delta 30 spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY that the detainment was a result of a "coordination gap" that caused the media convoy to proceed "before the credentialing process was fully completed" and that the installation commander has ordered a review of "the media coordination processes."
"Vandenberg takes both installation security and our responsibility to invited media seriously," the statement said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Journalists, military members held at gunpoint at Space Force base
