Three men have been charged with a conspiracy to harass and intimidate two New Hampshire Public Radio journalists in retaliation for a story the reporters were covering, federal authorities said.
On three separate occasions between April and May 2022, Tucker Cockerline, 32, Michael Waselchuck, 35, and Keenan Saniatan, 36, allegedly threw rocks and bricks and spray-painted the homes of the two journalists after they started reporting on an alleged sexual assault by an unnamed New Hampshire businessman, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office from the District of Massachusetts.
The suspects also allegedly vandalized the homes of one of the reporter's parents on two other occasions, the U.S. attorney's office said.
In this image released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, a suspect is shown in Hampstead, Ma.
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
The three were each charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to commit stalking through interstate travel.
According to the criminal complaint, Cockerline, Waselchuck and Saniatan "conspired with each other and with at least one other individual" -- described as a personal associate of the businessman -- to retaliate against New Hampshire Public Radio and the two journalists by vandalizing their homes.
The phrase "Just The Beginning" was spray-painted in large red letters on the front of one reporter's home, the complaint says.
The complaint says after the stories were published and after the alleged vandalism of the reporter's homes had occurred, the journalists received a letter from the businessman's lawyers telling them to stop reporting on the alleged sexual harassment.
In this image released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, a suspect who threw a brick into the home of a reporter in Melrose, Ma., on May 21, 2022, is shown.
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
"There is probable cause to believe that the vandalisms were retaliatory acts intended to harass and intimidate NHPR and its employees, including Victims 1 and 2, for publishing the Article concerning Subject 1," the affidavit says.
The suspects had allegedly used Google to search for the addresses of the targeted homes at the time of the attacks, the complaint says.
Attorneys for the three men charged did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment.
The U.S. attorney's office did not immediately respond to whether the businessman is a part of the investigation or whether his associate who allegedly conspired with the suspects will face charges.
"Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of any healthy democracy and these three men are now accused of infringing on that freedom by conspiring to harass and intimidate two New Hampshire journalists who were simply doing their jobs," said Christopher DiMenna, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston Field Division, in a statement.
