By A driver appeared to try and run down a conservative Maine Wire reporter outside a Bangor methadone clinic Thursday morning, forcing him to move out of the vehicle’s path while covering a taxpayer-funded treatment facility, according to the outlet.
Joe Sokol escaped unharmed and recorded the vehicle’s license plate after the confrontation. Maine Wire Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson said the driver recognized Sokol as a journalist and tried to stop him from reporting before allegedly attempting to strike him with a blue Jeep Compass. The outlet released video of the encounter and described it as an attempted killing.
Some lunatic just attempted to murder our reporter @iAmJoeSokol.
We have the entire chilling interaction on camera.
We will take all necessary actions to demand justice. pic.twitter.com/Iwlpf3BWIx
— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) October 1, 2026
Sokol was reporting from public property near Bangor Comprehensive Treatment Center, also known as Discovery House BR Inc., on Odlin Road. Video released by the outlet shows him holding a microphone beside the Jeep and speaking with the driver through an open window as the driver gestures toward him.
Here's our phone call with the suspect, who admits to targeting Joe because of the content of his reporting: https://t.co/OLRUO1eAy3 pic.twitter.com/HfKzhb10pN
— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) October 1, 2026
Robinson said the driver appeared intoxicated, an allegation police had not publicly confirmed. Bangor officers responded and were investigating, according to The Maine Wire, which said it would provide investigators with the vehicle information and other evidence.
The clinic provides outpatient addiction treatment, including methadone, and accepts Medicaid, according to reports. The Maine Wire said the facility had received roughly $25 million in taxpayer funding, though that total had not been independently verified. State procurement records identify Discovery House BR Inc. as an opioid treatment provider receiving public money to serve uninsured patients.
Thursday’s confrontation follows other reported attacks on the outlet’s journalists. Sokol was shoved while covering a Bangor protest in July, and police subsequently charged Ronald Staples, 78, of Holden, with assault in connection with that encounter. Fellow Maine Wire reporter Jon Fetherston has reported being shoved, spat on and struck while covering protests, with criminal charges filed in at least one case.
The alleged attack also came just days after vandals targeted Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ constituent services office in Biddeford. As New Conservative Post previously reported earlier in the week, someone spray-painted “Trump” and “Whore” in red across the office’s glass doors. Collins’ chief of staff, Katie Brown, called the vandalism “unacceptable” and said the senator and her staff “will not be intimidated.” The office remained open to constituents.
Collins’ Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, condemned the vandalism, and Biddeford police were investigating. No connection between that incident and the confrontation involving Sokol has been established, but the episodes add to concerns about intimidation directed at Republican officials and conservative journalists in Maine.
Robinson thanked Bangor police for their response and pledged the outlet’s cooperation as investigators examined Thursday’s encounter. No charges had been announced in the account released by The Maine Wire.
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