ByJosh Zaharoff Posted on Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 05:27:09 PM EST
Some of the stories coming out of Minnesota this week are enough to make my stomach turn, especially after the appalling arrest of an ABC News producer in Denver last week as they attempted to videotape Senators and lobbyists emerging from a reception.
The biggest one this week is Democracy Now's Amy Goodman getting arrested--along with two of her colleagues--for obstruction and riot charges and then released. Goodman and her team had been reporting on the 'preventive' raids of activists and independent journalists by police before the RNC started. The video is an ugly scene.
Last night, Tom DeLay made an appearance at a private event in Minneapolis -- given his history, it's no surprise that Republicans wanted his presence to be largely invisible to the public eye. (h/t Party Time)
I'm not sure when it became okay for the police to detain journalists for doing their jobs. But we should reverse that trend. Free Press put out a statement today, calling for the charges against Goodman and independent journalists to be dropped.
We condemn the arrest and harassment of journalists before and during the Republican National Convention. We call on the mayor, district attorney and police chief to rein in the overly aggressive -- and even violent -- tactics of law enforcement. Arresting and detaining journalists for doing their jobs is a gross violation of free speech and freedom of the press. We call for the immediate release of any journalists being held in the Twin Cities and for all charges to be dropped immediately. Reporting by independent journalists is the only way for the American public to learn the full story, and they must be free to do their jobs without intimidation.
