The Knock ReportIncident archive · est. 2026

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16 incidents matching your filters.

February 2025

01

Feb 25, 2025Washington, DC

Trump Signs Executive Orders Targeting Law Firms Representing Political Opponents

In early 2025, President Trump signed a series of executive orders suspending security clearances of and directing federal agencies to terminate contracts with law firms that had represented political adversaries or Trump critics, including firms that had employed Mueller investigation prosecutors — a move widely condemned as government coercion of legal advocacy.

Legal Pressure#trump-admin-2#law-firm-retaliation

October 2024

01

Oct 3, 2024Houston, TX

Houston Methodist sues Dr. Mary Talley Bowden for defamation over remdesivir allegations

In October 2024, Houston Methodist Hospital filed a defamation lawsuit in Harris County against Dr. Mary Talley Bowden and Americans for Health Freedom over public statements alleging the hospital's remdesivir protocols harmed or killed patients.

Legal Pressure#COVID-19#remdesivir

March 2024

01

Mar 1, 2024Austin, TX

Bowden sues Texas Medical Board alleging retaliation for protected speech

In 2024 Dr. Mary Talley Bowden and Americans for Health Freedom sued the Texas Medical Board, alleging its investigation and complaint against her retaliated against protected speech and exceeded statutory authority in light of Texas off-label prescribing protections.

Legal Pressure#COVID-19#ivermectin

January 2020

01

Jan 10, 2020Baltimore, MD

Attkisson Amended Complaint Names Rod Rosenstein and Alleged DOJ-Linked Informant Ryan White as Computer-Intrusion Defendants

In amended filings between 2017 and 2020, Sharyl Attkisson expanded her federal surveillance lawsuit to name former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Shaun Bridges (a former Secret Service agent later convicted in the Silk Road case), and cited sworn declarations from Ryan White, a former DOJ-linked informant, describing government-directed monitoring of her communications. Litigation continued in Maryland federal and state courts.

Legal Pressure#attkisson#rosenstein

October 2016

01

Oct 7, 2016St. Petersburg, FL

Florida DCF Shelter Order Separates Maya Kowalski From Family After Hospital Reports Mother's Advocacy

In October 2016, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg reported Beata Kowalski to the Florida Department of Children and Families, alleging 'medical child abuse' after she advocated for her 10-year-old daughter Maya's CRPS treatment protocol. A shelter order barred Beata from contact with Maya; Beata died by suicide in January 2017. A Sarasota County jury in 2023 returned a $261 million verdict against the hospital, later reduced.

Legal Pressure#cps#dcf

January 2015

01

Jan 5, 2015Washington, DC

Attkisson v. Holder: Journalist Sues Attorney General and Federal Officials Over Alleged Government Computer Intrusion

On January 5, 2015, Sharyl Attkisson and her family filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against then-Attorney General Eric Holder, then-Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, and unnamed federal agents, alleging that the Justice Department had unlawfully intruded into her home computers and telephones in retaliation for her reporting.

Legal Pressure#attkisson#doj

June 2014

01

Jun 9, 2014Chicago, IL

Illinois DCFS Retains Custody of Isaiah Rider After Mother's Facebook Advocacy Cited by Hospital

In June 2014, Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago reported Michelle Rider to Illinois DCFS for 'medical child abuse' after she sought a second opinion for her son Isaiah's neurofibromatosis-related pain. Court and hospital filings referenced Michelle Rider's public Facebook posts and media interviews as part of the basis for continued state custody. Isaiah was returned to family custody in 2015.

Legal Pressure#cps#dcfs

October 2013

01

Oct 8, 2013Medina, OH

Ohio Appeals Court Appoints Medical Guardian Over Amish Family's Religious Objection to Chemotherapy

In October 2013, an Ohio appeals court ordered that a limited guardian be appointed to make medical decisions for 10-year-old Sarah Hershberger after her Amish parents, citing religious beliefs, stopped chemotherapy for her leukemia. The family briefly left the country; the guardianship was eventually dissolved in 2014.

Legal Pressure#family-court#religious-liberty

February 2013

01

Feb 14, 2013Boston, MA

Massachusetts DCF Takes Custody of Justina Pelletier; Court Imposes Gag Order After Parents' Media Advocacy

In February 2013, Boston Children's Hospital reported the Pelletier family to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families after they sought to transfer their 14-year-old daughter Justina to Tufts, where she had previously been treated for mitochondrial disease. DCF took custody, and after her parents Lou and Linda Pelletier began speaking publicly to the press about the case, a juvenile court judge imposed a gag order on the father; violating it, he was found in contempt. Justina was held in state custody for roughly 16 months.

Legal Pressure#cps#dcf

July 2011

01

Jul 22, 2011Santa Ana, CA

Fogarty-Hardwick v. County of Orange: Ninth Circuit Affirms Verdict Against Social Workers Who Fabricated Evidence

A California jury awarded Deanna Fogarty-Hardwick $4.9 million (with fees and interest exceeding $9.5 million) after finding Orange County social workers Marcia Vreeken and Helen Dwojak fabricated and suppressed evidence to remove her two daughters in a custody dispute in which Fogarty-Hardwick had complained publicly and to counsel about the county's handling of her case. The Ninth Circuit affirmed in 2011.

Legal Pressure#cps#section-1983

March 2011

01

Mar 24, 2011Detroit, MI

Detroit CPS-Backed Removal of Ariana Godboldo Sparks Armed Standoff After Mother's Public Refusal of Psychotropic Medication

In March 2011, Michigan Child Protective Services and Detroit police attempted to remove 13-year-old Ariana Godboldo from her home after her mother Maryanne Godboldo publicly refused to continue administering the antipsychotic Risperdal. A standoff followed; Maryanne was arrested and charged, and all charges were later dismissed by Michigan courts, which found the removal order defective.

Legal Pressure#cps#parental-rights

May 2009

01

May 15, 2009New Ulm, MN

Minnesota Court Orders Chemotherapy for Danny Hauser Over Parents' Religious Objections

In May 2009, a Brown County, Minnesota juvenile court found 13-year-old Daniel Hauser medically neglected after his parents, citing their Nemenhah Band religious beliefs, refused chemotherapy for his Hodgkin's lymphoma. The court ordered chemotherapy; his mother Colleen Hauser briefly fled the state with him before returning under a warrant.

Legal Pressure#cps#family-court

May 2003

01

May 20, 2003Miami, FL

DOJ Prosecutes Greenpeace Organization Under Archaic 'Sailor Mongering' Law

The Bush Justice Department took the unprecedented step in 2003 of criminally prosecuting Greenpeace USA as an organization — not just individual activists — using an 1872 law against 'sailor mongering' after activists boarded a mahogany-laden cargo ship. A federal judge dismissed the case in 2004, calling it an improper attempt to punish an advocacy group.

Legal Pressure#bush-admin#protest-activity

August 2002

01

Aug 6, 2002Washington, DC

DOJ Leaks Name of Anthrax 'Person of Interest' Steven Hatfill, Destroying His Career

In 2002, DOJ and FBI officials repeatedly and illegally leaked to the media that biodefense scientist Steven Hatfill was a 'person of interest' in the 2001 anthrax letter attacks, despite never charging him. The leaks cost him his job and reputation; the government later paid him $5.82 million and publicly exonerated him.

Legal Pressure#bush-admin#doj

December 1999

01

Dec 10, 1999Los Alamos, NM

Wen Ho Lee Prosecution and Pre-Trial Detention, Los Alamos

Taiwanese-American nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee was fired from Los Alamos National Laboratory and held in solitary confinement for 278 days on espionage charges that largely collapsed. Critics argued the prosecution was driven by racial profiling and pressure to punish someone for alleged nuclear secrets leaks, chilling speech among Asian-American scientists.

Legal Pressure#clinton-admin#espionage-act

August 1999

01

Aug 30, 1999Woodland, CA

Calabretta v. Floyd: Ninth Circuit Rules Warrantless CPS Entry Into Homeschooling Family's Home Unconstitutional

The Ninth Circuit held in 1999 that a California social worker and police officer violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments by forcing entry, without a warrant or exigent circumstances, into the home of Robert and Shirley Calabretta — a homeschooling Christian family — to investigate an anonymous CPS report. The court denied qualified immunity.

Legal Pressure#cps#fourth-amendment