University of Maryland: Police called on Student Journalists Standing on Public Sidewalk

On October 21, 2026, an Athletics Department staffer called the police on two editors with the Testudo Times, a student publication at the University of Maryland, as they waited on a sidewalk outside the UMD football team’s practice facility to get players’ reactions about the firing of the head coach. Multiple officers responded to the call, and a video of the interaction between the editors and UMPD got traction on social media.

Later that same day, the University of Maryland’s Police Department and Maryland Athletics released an official statement stating that an officer recorded the students’ IDs, but did not take any report; the statement also affirmed the University of Maryland Police Department’s and Athletics Department’s respect of journalists’ First Amendment rights. After coordinating with the university, on October 23, UMD’s Athletics Department agreed to attend a First Amendment training session led by FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative.