A reporter for the Chicago-based magazine In These Times has filed a lawsuit after he was prevented from questioning the CEO of the industrial giant Honeywell at an event on Capitol Hill. The reporter, Mike Elk, began asking about a gas leak at a Honeywell plant in Illinois when the microphone was seized from his hands.

Mike Elk: “On May 14, there was a seven-minute release of UF6 gas by an unqualified engineer working on the unit where they were operating. Sorry, I’m not done with my question. What I wanted to know — what I wanted to know is, is that a good cost to release UF6 gas in the atmosphere? Is that a good cost?”

Man: “Sir, if I can interrupt. This is to hear from entrepreneurs and business folks…”

Mike Elk: “I’m a member of the press, and I was invited here, and I want to ask the —”

Man: “Sir, sir —”

Mike Elk: “Excuse me, sir. I’m a member of the press. I’ve never been treated like that in Washington.”

Elk’s lawsuit accuses a Honeywell official, as well as a congressional staffer, of false imprisonment and assault after they allegedly held him against his will. In a statement, Elk said: “The U.S. Capitol is a public building open to reporters and private individuals should not be allowed to impede on freedom of [the] press.”