LISBON, Ohio — Charges against NewsNation reporter Evan Lambert-McMichael, who was arrested during an East Palestine press conference last week, are being dismissed.

According to Columbiana County Municipal Court online records, a motion to dismiss the case had been filed, but still needed a judge’s signature.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Wednesday the criminal charges for criminal trespass and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors, were being dismissed.

Columbiana County Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino had turned the case over to the Ohio Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Section and the appointment of a special prosecutor.

“My office has reviewed the relevant video and documentary evidence, and is dismissing the charges against Evan Lambert as unsupported by sufficient evidence,” Yost said in a press release.

“While journalists could conceivably be subject to criminal charges for trespassing in some situations, this incident is not one of them. The reporter was lawfully present at a press conference called by the Governor of the state. His conduct was consistent with the purpose of the event and his role as a reporter,” he said.

Yost added that tensions were running high in the days following the derailment and that local officials appeared to be following the lead of the Ohio National Guard.

“Regardless of the intent, arresting a journalist reporting at a press conference is a serious matter,” Yost said. “Ohio protects a free press under its constitution, and state officials should remember to exercise a heightened level of restraint in using arrest powers.”

When contacted about the dismissal of the case, East Palestine Police Chief Jim Brown said he can’t comment on what the attorney general said or did because he had not seen the press release.

Once law enforcement files charges, he said it’s up to the prosecution at that point.

“The decision was made and it’s their job to make those decisions,” he said.

Brown noted that local law enforcement didn’t get involved until the altercation turned physical.

East Palestine Police Detective Dan Haueter filed the charges.

Lambert-McMichael was reporting live from the rear of the East Palestine elementary school gym while the press conference was going on at the front when two Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers and Ohio National Guard Major Gen. John Harris advised him to stop, then an argument allegedly ensued between the general and reporter.

An affidavit by Haueter, said he, Columbiana County Sheriff Brian McLaughlin, Chief Deputy Jen Tucker and Lt. Caleb Wycoff of the Sheriff’s Office went back and told Lambert-McMichael he needed to leave the gym. When he refused and was then told by the school district’s building superintendent/transportation supervisor to leave, he still refused and was taken into custody for criminal trespassing and allegedly pulled away, leading to the resisting arrest charge.

Video of the event was posted all over social media and by news agencies showing the encounter.