Three more photojournalists arrested on felony rioting charges at RNC
Republican National Convention coverage
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.
Hopefully, that will change today.
The journalists are from the University of Kentucky and include journalism students Ed Matthews and Britney McIntosh as well as Jim Winn, photo adviser to the university newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel.
All three are facing felony riot charges, which could land them in jail for up to a year.
They will be charged no later than Wednesday, said jail officials. If convicted, Winn, Matthews and McIntosh would receive a minimum sentence of one year in jail and have to pay a minimum fine of $3,000.
The three had credentials but that did not stop police from treating them like criminals, according to the following phrase on the Kernel, which has since been removed from the article.
Jim Winn was brought to the ground at gunpoint, Carla Winn said, while McIntosh walked around with her hands up in the air and Matthews was sprayed with pepper spray.
Ironically, Matthews was captured in the above photo being drenched with pepper spray, which was taken by Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke, who was also arrested on Monday after he photographed the following photo of a cop pushing a protester’s face to the cement with his knee.
Rourke, along with Democracy Now! journalists Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar were released Monday night, hours after they were arrested with full journalism credentials.
All three were violently manhandled by law enforcement officers. Abdel Kouddous was slammed against a wall and the ground, leaving his arms scraped and bloodied. He sustained other injuries to his chest and back. Salazar’s violent arrest by baton-wielding officers, during which she was slammed to the ground while yelling, “I’m Press! Press!,” resulted in her nose bleeding, as well as causing facial pain. Goodman’s arm was violently yanked by police as she was arrested.
Salazar ended up filming her own arrest in the following video, where police in riot gear arrest and knock down any civilian in their way.
While charges against Rourke were never officially filed, Kouddous and Salazar are facing felony rioting charges and Goodman is facing misdemeanor interference charges because she was asking police to release her co-workers.
On Tuesday, several media organizations protested the arrests, including Reporters Without Borders and Free Press, who even circulated an online petition encouraging citizens to protest the arrests.
Also on Tuesday, Goodman confronted St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington during a press conference about the arrests.
“What is your policy with the press? How is the press to operate in this kind of environment?” she asked.
“Reporters have rights,” Harrington said. He said “if there’s an unlawful assembly or we’re in the midst of a riot,” police announce loudly that people need to leave the area.
“If reporters fail to do that, if they are in the midst of the riot, we can’t protect them,” Harrington said. “It would be very difficult for us in a moment of that kind of chaos to be able to make those kind of fine distinctions.”
If journalists are arrested, Harrington said police try to review their cases quickly and get them released, pending further investigation.
“The fact that a person is a reporter or has a credential doesn’t give them additional rights to commit any crimes, though,” Harrington said. “I don’t know your case, I haven’t seen your video, so I really can’t respond to what you’re saying happened.”
So apparently, Harrington believes photography and videography are crimes.
Here is a video of Goodman talking about her arrest hours after she was released.
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Comments
I think this is just like the Bilal Hussein case… you are only attacked if you are telling the other side of the story…..
Ummm, Carlos, I never saw where Harrington said that photography and videography were crimes. You have to remember he’s going off what his officer’s told him, which could be anything.
I agree with Scott. But I did find this interesting:
“It would be very difficult for us in a moment of that kind of chaos to be able to make those kind of fine distinctions.”
It sounds like the police will arrest ANYONE in the area, photographer or not. Think of it like a fishing net.
We must recover the element of quality in our traditional pursuit of equality. We must not, in opening our schools to everyone, confuse the idea that all should have equal chance with the notion that all have equal endowments.
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That does make some sort of sense, because if a violent riot takes place, officers lives can be threatened. Sometimes they just don’t have time to distinguish.
Aren’t professionals trained to distinguish the criminal from the innocent in exactly these types of scenarios? I mean what makes a cop different from a vigilante? This goes back to the argument of “Can you shoot a man 52 times for reaching for his wallet?” Of course you can, but a cop shouldn’t.
And while the media are clearly being assaulted, only these fringe organizations -Reporters Without Borders and Free Pressare – are making a fuss? Where’s SPJ, Poynter, NT Times, IRE, NAHJ etc. etc. Their First Amendment rights, and livelihoods, are being removed in plain view.
Please sign this petition so CNN and NBC will actually report on this arrest:
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/dont_arrest_journalists/?r=1376&id=7...
@Marcos,
I totally agree. I don’t feel there’s any excuse. “riot police” are trained to handle “riots”. That, to me, means they should be looking for those that are actually causing rioting behavior/damage. Not the guy taking pictures. I also find it strange that mainstream media doesn’t pick up on this, but I’m not surprised.
You know technically, if there is a violent riot, anybody involved with the crowd in any way besides police officers are guilty of instigating riot. That law really needs to be changed.
I would like to thank all the journalists who are putting their lives on the line for the sake of our freedoms. May you be blessed with a peaceful heart.
The United States of America was founded on the idea that we have inalienable rights and to take a stand against authority that attempts to thwart those rights is one of the most patriotic acts in which citizens can engage. (See Declaration of Independence.) In fact, it is our duty to stand up against authority that denies us rights to life liberty and happiness. China has been a “most favored” nation of the US for over a decade. A nation that prohibits freedom of speech, disallows trade unions and has untold atrocities committed against humanity and the earth for the sake of “progress,’ i.e., making a buck. The oligarchy of wealthy America (both Dems and Reps) is taking lessons from China about controlling the media…the opiate of the people. Thus, controlling what “truth” is told on network TV. (Network=wealthy and powerful)
Quotes to ponder from John Acton:
“The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections”
“And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
I hope and pray that we never loose our freedom to tell our truths to each other…even when we disagree.
>Scott // Sep 3, 2008 at 12:31 pm
>That does make some sort of sense, because if
>a violent riot takes place, officers lives can be
>threatened. Sometimes they just don’t have
>time to distinguish.
So, maybe, next time someone in a uniform who looks like a cop commits official misconduct, the press should paint them all with the same brush. It’s so hard to distinguish… they all look the same.
@ TVNewsGuy,
Good point.
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