Apparently, the First Amendment has been repealed
Scott Conover, the man arrested for "unlawful photography" in East Tennessee, is set to have his rescheduled court date today. (Previous posts here, here and here.) I'll let you know when I hear anything about how it turned out.
Meanwhile, police in St. Paul seem to making a habit of arresting journalists for reporting on protests -- or, in one case, for simply approaching police officers to ask them about the status of other arrested journalists:
As in Conover's case, this is nothing but naked authoritarianism, and it must not be tolerated.
Then there's this: "As media organizations protested the arrest of four journalists who were released on Monday, three other journalists remained in a St. Paul jail without hardly a word of support." They, too, were arrested for reporting on protests.
Police in St. Paul also seized three videographers' cameras before the convention even began, ostensibly for "homeland security" reasons. The videographers in question are, coincidentally I'm sure, part of the "Glass Bead Collective, an organization that documents police misconduct."
The incidents in St. Paul follow on the heels of similar occurrences in Denver at the Democratic Convention: an ABC reporter arrested for taking pictures from a sidewalk of senators and campaign contributors, a journalist pepper sprayed during a protest, and so forth. (In the case of the sidewalk photographer, the hotel claims he was "blocking the entrance," but this claim is awfully convenient, highly dubious, and sadly typical of attempts to retroactively justify false arrests.)
This is not a partisan issue. It's a police abuse-of-power issue, and "security" is no excuse for this sort of totally unacceptable and unconstitutional behavior by officers of the law.
Carlos Miller is a great source of information about these unfolding stories.
Meanwhile, police in St. Paul seem to making a habit of arresting journalists for reporting on protests -- or, in one case, for simply approaching police officers to ask them about the status of other arrested journalists:
When Goodman arrived at the scene 20 minutes later, she asked the riot police if she could see her producers, who were being held in police vehicles. “I just said, 'I want to talk to a commander,' ” said Goodman, who had her own press badge slung around her neck. “They didn’t skip a beat; they just started arresting me.”Asking the police for information, then pleading your case when they unlawfully arrest you, apparently now counts as "interference" and "obstruction" in these United States of America. Who knew? I must have missed the memo where the First Amendment freedoms of speech, the press, peaceable assembly, and petitioning the government for a redress of grievances, were repealed.
The scene was captured on video -- a clip that was one the most-viewed videos on YouTube.com on Tuesday. In it, Goodman is seen pleading with the police while her arms are twisted behind her back and into plastic handcuffs.
All four journalists were released hours after being arrested. Goodman was officially charged with obstruction of a legal process and interference with a peace officer.
As in Conover's case, this is nothing but naked authoritarianism, and it must not be tolerated.
Then there's this: "As media organizations protested the arrest of four journalists who were released on Monday, three other journalists remained in a St. Paul jail without hardly a word of support." They, too, were arrested for reporting on protests.
Police in St. Paul also seized three videographers' cameras before the convention even began, ostensibly for "homeland security" reasons. The videographers in question are, coincidentally I'm sure, part of the "Glass Bead Collective, an organization that documents police misconduct."
The incidents in St. Paul follow on the heels of similar occurrences in Denver at the Democratic Convention: an ABC reporter arrested for taking pictures from a sidewalk of senators and campaign contributors, a journalist pepper sprayed during a protest, and so forth. (In the case of the sidewalk photographer, the hotel claims he was "blocking the entrance," but this claim is awfully convenient, highly dubious, and sadly typical of attempts to retroactively justify false arrests.)
This is not a partisan issue. It's a police abuse-of-power issue, and "security" is no excuse for this sort of totally unacceptable and unconstitutional behavior by officers of the law.
Carlos Miller is a great source of information about these unfolding stories.
posted by Brendan Loy at
9/03/2008 12:14:00 PM
