Bricks thrown at 2 New England journalists' homes in multiple attacks

Police Friday shared a video of a man throwing a brick into a reporter’s Massachusetts house in the hopes that the public will help their investigation into a series of similar attacks on homes connected to two New England journalists.

The May 21 video shows a man throwing a brick into the Melrose, Massachusetts home of the reporter, a woman who authorities said works at a New Hampshire news outlet and lives at the house with her family. Afterward, he can be seen running away from the property on Lynn Fells Parkway toward Lincoln Street, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a press conference Friday. Nobody was inside the residence at the time of the attack.

In another video, the man is seen casing out the house before throwing the brick, according to Melrose Chief of Police Michael Lyle.

“For the melrose residents that may be watching this tonight, this is clearly not a random act. This is a targeted event,” Lyle said at the press conference.

The images, which were captured by a Ring Doorbell security camera, suggest that the suspect is a man with a slender build, who may be roughly 5′10″ tall and is not young. He is seen wearing a light-blue rain coat with a hood, khaki pants, black sneakers and a blue-green backpack.

The woman reported to police around 10:30 a.m. May 21 that along with the brick being thrown into the house, the message “this is just the beginning” was spray painted in red on her home, according to Ryan.

Ryan noted the reporter has been targeted on five separate occasions, including at residences connected to her in Concord, Hampstead and Hanover, New Hampshire. As part of their investigation into the acts of vandalism and the possible motive behind them, authorities are looking at the woman’s recent reporting to determine if there is any connection between her work and the attacks.

“The incidents of vandalism would be concerning [on] their own. If it is determined that that motive that we’re looking at is in fact the reason for these attacks, if it is either in retaliation for some work that she has done or intimidation around work she may be contemplating, that obviously involves some First Amendment concerns and is much more disturbing,” Ryan said.

The three other properties in New Hampshire that were connected to the woman, including her parents’ home and the house she had previously lived in, also had bricks thrown into them and obscenities written on them with red spray paint, according to the district attorney.

It was only around nine hours before the woman’s Melrose residence was vandalized that her parents’ house in New Hampshire was targeted, Ryan pointed out.

Additionally, the reporter told police that the home of her boss, which is also in new Hampshire, was vandalized with a brick and red spray paint, according to Ryan.

New Hampshire Public Radio reported that the two journalists who were targeted by the vandalism are NHPR News Director Dan Barrick and reporter Lauren Chooljian. Since December 2020, Chooljian has reported on Granite Recovery Centers and the problems that have plagued the New England drug and alcohol addiction treatment provider.

Investigators are asking anyone with any information about the attacks or who believes they may know the individual captured on camera to call Melrose police at (781) 665-1212.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 5/1/2021).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.