In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Cook said Telles’s arrest is simultaneously “an enormous relief and an outrage for the Review-Journal newsroom.”
“We are relieved Robert Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official,” Cook said. “Journalists can’t do the important work our communities require if they are afraid a presentation of facts could lead to violent retribution.”
Telles’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and it is not clear whether he has retained a lawyer.
Cook thanked police for their “urgency and hard work and for immediately recognizing the terrible significance of Jeff’s killing.”
“Now, hopefully, the Review-Journal, the German family and Jeff’s many friends can begin the process of mourning and honoring a great man and a brave reporter,” Cook said. “Godspeed, Jeff.”
German, 69, was a venerated journalist in Las Vegas who covered the city for some four decades, according to the paper. He joined the Review-Journal in 2010 after more than 20 years at the Las Vegas Sun, where he reported on politics, courts, labor, and organized crime.
In an obituary the paper published Sunday, Cook said staff at the paper were “devastated” by German’s death.
“He was the gold standard of the news business,” Cook said. “It’s hard to imagine what Las Vegas would be like today without his many years of shining a bright light on dark places.”
In a statement to the paper, German’s family remembered him as a “loving and loyal brother, uncle and friend who devoted his life to his work exposing wrongdoing in Las Vegas and beyond.”
“Jeff was committed to seeking justice for others and would appreciate the hard work by local police and journalists in pursuing his killer,” they said. “We look forward to seeing justice done in this case. We also want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love, support and recognition for Jeff and his life’s work.”
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/las-vegas-official-arrested-journalist-stabbing-death
