The reporter who was physically attacked for trying to ask a powerful CEO questions said Tuesday that he is pressing charges over the incident.
Mike Elk was at a public meeting on Capitol Hill last Thursday when he had his microphone yanked out of his hands for trying to ask Honeywell CEO David Cote about his labor practices. He was then shoved and forcibly barricaded in a room by Honeywell personnel when he tried to approach Cote outside the meeting.
"They wouldn't let me through," Elk told HuffPost at the time. "I go around to another door and see the Honeywell CEO running away from me. A Honeywell guy pushes me back from the door. I'm like, hey man, you can't block a fire exit. I start yelling back at him, telling him I'm going to call the police."
Elk wrote on Thursday that Capitol Police officers asked him whether he wanted to press charges, but that he declined.
On Tuesday, though, Elk told PR Daily that he is pressing charges against one of the men he tussled with, Honeywell's director of external communication Rob Ferris.
"I have changed my mind with this and have pressed charges," he said. "The U.S. Capitol Police are currently investigating the matter. At the time, I just wanted to go home, I was very upset. After thinking about it over the weekend, I decided its important to not let PR guys get away with roughing up a reporter in a room like the U.S. Capitol."