The Los Angeles Press Club this week joined other journalism organizations and news outlets in expressing support for a California journalist whose home was raided as part of an investigation into his expose of what's believed to be the next Apple iPhone.

The L.A. Press Club said it is joining the Newspaper Guild in declaring that Gizmodo writer Jason Chen's “First Amendment rights were trampled upon when authorities raided his home on April 21,” according to a club statement.

“The California Shield law protects all journalists from revealing sources and unpublished notes,” the club stated. “While Chen was away from home, police forced open his front door and took away his computers, hard drives and cameras. Chen works for a legitimate media organization-and since he works at home, his entire newsroom was seized.”

The organization said it does not endorse the kind of “check-book journalism” displayed by Gizmodo when it paid as much as $10,000 for the device, but that the issue is Chen's freedom to report on a matter of public interest without having authorities go through his belongings.

The club also stated that it's “troubled” by Apples close ties to the San Mateo computer crimes task force that carried out the raid on Chen's home.

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