By: Ryan Michaels | The Maine Mirror
September 10, 2026

Sometimes a single frame raises more questions than an entire political speech.

This is one of those frames:

The image accompanying this article was captured from video of an encounter Wednesday night at Hadlock Field between Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson and Steve Robinson, editor-in-chief of The Maine Wire.

Robinson approached Jackson while recording with his phone. The Maine Wire’s subsequent report describes the footage as showing Jackson reaching toward Robinson and the phone. Robinson himself was more explicit, saying Jackson “tried to take my phone before campaign staff butted in.” (The Maine Wire)

I watched the recording myself.

Then I stopped it at this particular moment.

What caught my attention wasn’t just Jackson.

It was the entire frame.

There are three distinct things happening in this image, and each raises a different question.

At the center is Troy Jackson, reaching for the phone.

Beside him is a man, visibly smiling at the instant captured in the image.

Behind them is another man holding what appears to be professional camera equipment.

Taken together, those three parts tell a much larger story than a single insult exchanged between a candidate and a journalist.

1. CENTER: TROY JACKSON REACHES FOR THE PHONE

Start with the center of the photograph.

Troy Jackson’s hand is extended directly toward Steve Robinson’s phone.

This isn’t simply a photograph of Jackson gesturing somewhere in Robinson’s general direction. In the recording, Jackson moves his arm toward the device and opens and curves his hand around the area of the phone as Robinson is holding it, in a motion that appears consistent with trying to take hold of it.

The still frame published with this article captures that moment.

Robinson, the person actually holding the phone, describes what happened directly: Jackson tried to take it. The Maine Wire’s own article uses more conservative wording, reporting that Jackson “reaches toward Robinson and the phone.” (The Maine Wire)

After reviewing the recording myself, I believe the visual evidence warrants being more specific about what viewers can see:

Jackson reaches for Robinson’s phone in an apparent attempt to take hold of it.

What the available recording does not necessarily establish is every detail of the physical interaction. From the angle available publicly, questions can remain about the precise point of contact, the amount of force involved and whether Jackson ever obtained control of the device.

But those limitations shouldn’t require us to describe an observable movement as though nothing can be observed.

Jackson reaches for the phone. Robinson says Jackson tried to take it. And the image above captures Jackson’s hand extended toward the device during that action.

Then comes what Jackson said.

As Robinson was leaving, Jackson can be heard telling him:

“Good luck with being a two face.”

That matters because of who the two people involved are.

Jackson is the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate. Robinson is the editor-in-chief of The Maine Wire, a news organization that has repeatedly published critical reporting concerning Jackson. The outlet itself described the relationship between its journalists and Jackson’s campaign as increasingly contentious. (The Maine Wire)

Jackson has every right to dislike that reporting.

He has every right to criticize Robinson.

He can refuse an interview. He can decline a photograph. He can walk away.

Reaching for a journalist’s recording device is different.

And that’s why the important question isn’t whether Jackson likes Steve Robinson—or whether readers like The Maine Wire.

The question is what happened when a candidate for the United States Senate was confronted by a journalist whose reporting has scrutinized him.

Could This Constitute Assault?

There is also a legitimate legal question raised by the physical interaction.

Under Maine law, assault includes intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury or “offensive physical contact” to another person. A violation under that provision is generally a Class D crime. (Maine State Legislature)

That does not mean that reaching for someone’s phone automatically constitutes assault, nor does this article conclude that Troy Jackson committed a crime.

The legal question would depend upon the evidence concerning actual physical contact and the circumstances surrounding it.

But Maine’s statute is important because bodily injury isn’t the only conduct covered by the state’s assault law. Offensive physical contact can also satisfy the statute. (Maine State Legislature)

That makes a seemingly straightforward factual question particularly important:

Did Jackson make physical contact with Robinson while attempting to take hold of the phone?

Robinson may not be the only person who can answer that.

Because immediately beside Jackson was another man.

2. BESIDE HIM: THE SMILING WITNESS

Now look to Jackson’s side.

A man is standing just feet away.

At the precise moment captured in this image—while Jackson’s hand is extended toward Robinson’s phone—the man is visibly smiling.

That is what the image establishes.

What it doesn’t establish is why he was smiling.

A photograph can’t tell us what somebody was thinking. It doesn’t establish approval of Jackson’s actions, whether the man understood exactly what was happening or even what prompted his expression at that particular fraction of a second.

It would be irresponsible to claim otherwise.

But his presence matters for a much simpler reason.

He was there.

The Maine Wire publicly identified the man in the background as CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju, and Robinson referenced Raju by his social-media handle when discussing the encounter. (Zamantika)

There is independent evidence placing Raju in Maine that day.

CNN’s September 9 broadcast explicitly introduced Raju as being “on the ground in Maine,” reporting on the Jackson-Collins Senate contest. Raju subsequently delivered his report from Newport. (CNN Transcripts)

But The Maine Mirror has not independently confirmed that the man pictured beside Jackson in this particular image is Raju.

I intend to seek that confirmation.

Until then, his identity isn’t necessary to make the central point.

Whoever the man is, he was standing close enough to the interaction to potentially witness what occurred.

So I have questions.

What did he see?

Did he see Jackson make contact with Robinson or Robinson’s phone?

What happened immediately before the moment captured here?

What happened immediately afterward?

And what was occurring when the photograph captured him smiling?

Those aren’t accusations.

They’re questions for a witness.

And then my eyes move farther into the photograph.

Because there is a third person.

3. BEHIND THEM: ANOTHER CAMERA

This may be the most consequential part of the entire image.

Look behind Jackson.

There is another man.

And he is holding what appears to be professional camera equipment.

I don’t know from this photograph whether that camera was recording at this exact moment.

I don’t know who employed the person holding it.

I don’t know whether he was working for CNN, another news organization, Jackson’s campaign, the venue or somebody else.

And I don’t know whether another recording of this encounter exists.

But a camera was there.

And that changes the question I’m asking.

This is no longer simply:

What happened between Troy Jackson and Steve Robinson?

It becomes:

Who else witnessed what happened—and where was the reporting?

We know other media were covering Jackson and Maine’s Senate race that day.

CNN confirms that Manu Raju was physically in Maine covering the contest on September 9. (CNN Transcripts)

And in the image itself, independent of anyone’s identity, another person can plainly be seen holding professional-looking camera equipment only feet from the encounter.

Whether that camera captured what happened is something I want to determine.

Because if it did, another angle could answer questions that Robinson’s recording cannot.

Did Jackson’s hand make contact?

Did he get hold of the phone?

How did Robinson react?

What happened immediately before and afterward?

A second recording could either reinforce Robinson’s account, contradict portions of it or add context neither Robinson’s recording nor this still image provides.

That’s what independent evidence is for.

And it leads to an uncomfortable but necessary question.

Where Was Everybody Else’s Reporting?

The Maine Wire reported the encounter itself on September 10, describing Jackson reaching toward Robinson and his phone and discussing the incident within the larger context of its contentious relationship with Jackson’s campaign. (The Maine Wire)

But as of publication, searches conducted by The Maine Mirror have not located independent reporting from another major Maine news organization specifically examining this encounter.

That statement has limits.

It does not prove that nobody, anywhere, reported it.

Something could have aired, appeared somewhere that search engines haven’t indexed, or still be forthcoming.

If independent coverage exists, The Maine Mirror wants to see it and will update this article accordingly.

But that’s precisely why the third part of this photograph matters.

A journalist recorded the encounter.

Another apparent witness stood beside the candidate.

Another person holding professional-looking camera equipment stood behind them.

And CNN unquestionably had a correspondent on the ground in Maine covering this very Senate race that day. (CNN Transcripts)

So what did everyone else see?

What did everyone else record?

And if other journalists witnessed the encounter, did anyone ask Jackson what happened?

One Photograph. Three Parts. One Larger Question.

That’s why I’m publishing this frame.

Not because a photograph can tell us everything.

It can’t.

It’s because this photograph shows us where the questions begin.

At the center: Troy Jackson reaches for Steve Robinson’s phone in an apparent attempt to take hold of it. Why?

Beside him: A man stands immediately alongside Jackson, visibly smiling at the moment captured in the image. What did he witness?

Behind them: A person stands holding professional-looking camera equipment. Was that camera recording, and does another angle of this encounter exist?

And hanging over all three is the question I can’t get away from:

Where was everybody else’s reporting?

Jackson doesn’t have to like Steve Robinson.

He doesn’t have to like The Maine Wire.

Journalists don’t have to like one another, either.

But journalism cannot depend upon whether the journalist on the receiving end of questionable conduct works for an outlet other journalists agree with.

The standard should be the same regardless of the candidate’s party or the publication involved.

If a Republican candidate reaches for a journalist’s phone, ask what happened.

If a Democratic candidate does it, ask what happened.

If an independent candidate does it, ask what happened.

The political label shouldn’t determine whether the questions get asked.

And neither should the name of the news organization printed on the journalist’s press credentials.

This photograph does not establish every fact about what happened at Hadlock Field on September 9.

It does something else.

It shows a U.S. Senate candidate reaching for a critical journalist’s phone. It shows another person standing immediately beside him. And it shows someone with a professional-looking camera positioned behind the encounter.

Those are not conclusions.

They are reasons to keep reporting.

And The Maine Mirror intends to ask the people who were there what they saw.

*Independent journalism depends on readers who believe questions like these deserve to be asked—regardless of who is involved. If you value reporting that follows the evidence, asks difficult questions and holds everyone to the same standard, support The Maine Mirror by subscribing below. It’s completely free, and every subscriber helps independent journalism continue to grow.