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 Malik, 29, and Farook, 28, were killed in a shootout with police
hours after the attack at a social services agency in San Bernardino
on Wednesday, during which 14 people were killed and 21 were
wounded.
The landlord, Doyle Miller, used a crowbar to pry away plywood that
was barricading the door, and told reporters the Federal Bureau of
Investigation had cleared the apartment and said he could open it.
Reporters rifled through documents, picked up baby toys and thumbed
through family photos, all live on television. Neighbors also
appeared to freely enter the home.
The townhouse contained several religious books, including a
children's book called "Islamic Manners," and a tapestry on the wall
bearing Arabic script. A crib with several colorful blankets and a
prayer rug were inside a baby's room.
 Negative reaction on social media was swift and widespread.
Wesley Lowery, a national security reporter for the Washington Post,
on Twitter called the scene "a massive failure of two vital
institutions - media and law enforcement."
Mohammad Abuershaid, an attorney for the family, said they felt that
the media's entry into the house was "an invasion of privacy." He
said photographers and camera crews were "taking unacceptable
pictures of private things in the house, such as family photos and
clothing."
"It was kind of like a blitz," he said, adding that the FBI "should
have had better control over this house."
FBI: NOT A CRIME SCENE
Some questioned how agents could have finished searching the
townhouse, as part of what the FBI is describing as a "federal
terrorism investigation," in just 24 hours. At one point, as CNN
aired live video of the apartment, the network's analyst, Harry
Houck, said he had "chills down my spine" that reporters were
handling potential evidence.
"Now you have thousands of fingerprints all over inside of this
crime scene," he said.
In response to Reuters, Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI in
Los Angeles, said it was not a "crime scene" and that it was
irresponsible for news organizations to suggest the agency had not
taken enough time to search the townhouse. At 24 hours, the search
was actually longer than the typical property search, she said.
"We did a very thorough search and took our time and completed it,"
she said. "There are cases where we need to preserve a location, but
that's extremely rare."
 'OVERWHELMING' SCENE
The constitution mandates that the FBI release private property to
the owner once it completes its search, said Rory Little, a former
U.S. Justice Department official.
Representatives for local police departments, including the San
Bernardino Sheriff's Department, said the FBI controlled the crime
scene.
Karen Carrera, a San Francisco attorney who has represented tenants,
said the landlord could theoretically face legal action from the
Farook estate because California law requires landlords to preserve
a tenant's belongings. But, she said, it was unclear whether damages
could be collected if no items were taken.
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Miller told reporters he allowed the media to enter but said he was
surprised at how "overwhelming" the scene quickly became.
News organizations likely would not be legally liable for going in
with the landlord's permission, said Robert Drechsel, a professor at
the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism and Mass
Communication.
Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California in
Los Angeles, said newsgathering is also exempted from state law
regarding the commercial use of images.
The only potential legal issue, experts said, could be showing the
personal information of living people, such as the social security
card and driver's license belonging to Farook's mother that MSNBC
briefly displayed on camera.
Regardless of the law, Dreschel said, the decision to carry live
coverage while reporters examined personal items not clearly
connected to the shooters, such as photographs of family members,
raised ethical questions, he said.
"What great new information and insight did this provide that made
it so important that not only everyone rush in, in a big herd, but
also put this on-air live and show personal items?" Drechsel said.
MSNBC immediately began trending on social media after showing the
mother's identification cards, as outraged commenters faulted the
network for disregarding privacy.
The network said in a statement that it had entered with permission
from the landlord. And, it added, "We regret that we briefly showed
images of photographs and identification cards that should not have
been aired without review."
A spokesman for Reuters said its journalists had entered with
consent and "focused our reporting on the images and aspects of the
scene that are newsworthy."
Representatives for CNN and Fox News said they had permission and
exercised editorial judgment in refraining from showing sensitive
information such as identification cards and photographs.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York and Dan Levine in San Francisco;
Additional reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb and Rory Carroll in
Redlands, California,; Timothy Reid in San Bernardino,; Curtis
Skinner in San Francisco, Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Angela
Moon in New York and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Writing by Joseph
Ax; Editing by Amy Stevens, Toni Reinhold)
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