Gary J Carter
2008-09-05 15:41:56 UTC
Amy Goodman: Why We Were Falsely Arrested
By Amy Goodman, Truthdig. Posted September 5, 2008.
Government crackdowns on journalists are a true threat to democracy.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Government crackdowns on journalists are a true
threat to democracy. As the Republican National Convention meets in
St. Paul, Minn., this week, police are systematically targeting
journalists. I was arrested with my two colleagues, Democracy Now!
producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, while reporting on
the first day of the RNC. I have been wrongly charged with a
misdemeanor. My co-workers, who were simply reporting, may be charged
with felony riot.
The Democratic and Republican national conventions have become very
expensive and protracted acts of political theater, essentially
four-day-long advertisements for the major presidential candidates.
Outside the fences, they have become major gatherings for grass-roots
movements -- for people to come, amidst the banners, bunting, flags
and confetti, to express the rights enumerated in the Constitutions
First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
Behind all the patriotic hyperbole that accompanies the conventions,
and the thousands of journalists and media workers who arrive to cover
the staged events, there are serious violations of the basic right of
freedom of the press. Here on the streets of St. Paul, the press is
free to report on the official proceedings of the RNC, but not to
report on the police violence and mass arrests directed at those who
have come to petition their government, to protest.
It was Labor Day, and there was an anti-war march, with a huge
turnout, with local families, students, veterans and people from
around the country gathered to oppose the war. The protesters greatly
outnumbered the Republican delegates.
There was a positive, festive feeling, coupled with a growing anxiety
about the course that Hurricane Gustav was taking, and whether New
Orleans would be devastated anew. Later in the day, there was a
splinter march. The police -- clad in full body armor, with helmets,
face shields, batons and canisters of pepper spray -- charged. They
forced marchers, onlookers and working journalists into a nearby
parking lot, then surrounded the people and began handcuffing them.
Nicole was videotaping. Her tape of her own violent arrest is
chilling. Police in riot gear charged her, yelling, Get down on your
face. You hear her voice, clearly and repeatedly announcing Press!
Press! Where are we supposed to go? She was trapped between parked
cars. The camera drops to the pavement amidst Nicoles screams of
pain. Her face was smashed into the pavement, and she was bleeding
from the nose, with the heavy officer with a boot or knee on her back.
Another officer was pulling on her leg. Sharif was thrown up against
the wall and kicked in the chest, and he was bleeding from his arm.
I was at the Xcel Center on the convention floor, interviewing
delegates. I had just made it to the Minnesota delegation when I got a
call on my cell phone with news that Sharif and Nicole were being
bloody arrested, in every sense. Filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise
Films and I raced on foot to the scene. Out of breath, we arrived at
the parking lot. I went up to the line of riot police and asked to
speak to a commanding officer, saying that they had arrested
accredited journalists.
Within seconds, they grabbed me, pulled me behind the police line and
forcibly twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me, the rigid
plastic cuffs digging into my wrists. I saw Sharif, his arm bloody,
his credentials hanging from his neck. I repeated we were accredited
journalists, whereupon a Secret Service agent came over and ripped my
convention credential from my neck. I was taken to the St. Paul police
garage where cages were set up for protesters. I was charged with
obstruction of a peace officer. Nicole and Sharif were taken to jail,
facing riot charges.
The attack on and arrest of me and the Democracy Now! producers was
not an isolated event. A video group called I-Witness Video was raided
two days earlier. Another video documentary group, the Glass Bead
Collective, was detained, with its computers and video cameras
confiscated. On Wednesday, I-Witness Video was again raided, forced
out of its office location. When I asked St. Paul Police Chief John
Harrington how reporters are to operate in this atmosphere, he
suggested, By embedding reporters in our mobile field force.
On Monday night, hours after we were arrested, after much public
outcry, Nicole, Sharif and I were released. That was our Labor Day.
Its all in a days work.
Amy Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, a daily international
TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North
By Amy Goodman, Truthdig. Posted September 5, 2008.
Government crackdowns on journalists are a true threat to democracy.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Government crackdowns on journalists are a true
threat to democracy. As the Republican National Convention meets in
St. Paul, Minn., this week, police are systematically targeting
journalists. I was arrested with my two colleagues, Democracy Now!
producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, while reporting on
the first day of the RNC. I have been wrongly charged with a
misdemeanor. My co-workers, who were simply reporting, may be charged
with felony riot.
The Democratic and Republican national conventions have become very
expensive and protracted acts of political theater, essentially
four-day-long advertisements for the major presidential candidates.
Outside the fences, they have become major gatherings for grass-roots
movements -- for people to come, amidst the banners, bunting, flags
and confetti, to express the rights enumerated in the Constitutions
First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
Behind all the patriotic hyperbole that accompanies the conventions,
and the thousands of journalists and media workers who arrive to cover
the staged events, there are serious violations of the basic right of
freedom of the press. Here on the streets of St. Paul, the press is
free to report on the official proceedings of the RNC, but not to
report on the police violence and mass arrests directed at those who
have come to petition their government, to protest.
It was Labor Day, and there was an anti-war march, with a huge
turnout, with local families, students, veterans and people from
around the country gathered to oppose the war. The protesters greatly
outnumbered the Republican delegates.
There was a positive, festive feeling, coupled with a growing anxiety
about the course that Hurricane Gustav was taking, and whether New
Orleans would be devastated anew. Later in the day, there was a
splinter march. The police -- clad in full body armor, with helmets,
face shields, batons and canisters of pepper spray -- charged. They
forced marchers, onlookers and working journalists into a nearby
parking lot, then surrounded the people and began handcuffing them.
Nicole was videotaping. Her tape of her own violent arrest is
chilling. Police in riot gear charged her, yelling, Get down on your
face. You hear her voice, clearly and repeatedly announcing Press!
Press! Where are we supposed to go? She was trapped between parked
cars. The camera drops to the pavement amidst Nicoles screams of
pain. Her face was smashed into the pavement, and she was bleeding
from the nose, with the heavy officer with a boot or knee on her back.
Another officer was pulling on her leg. Sharif was thrown up against
the wall and kicked in the chest, and he was bleeding from his arm.
I was at the Xcel Center on the convention floor, interviewing
delegates. I had just made it to the Minnesota delegation when I got a
call on my cell phone with news that Sharif and Nicole were being
bloody arrested, in every sense. Filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise
Films and I raced on foot to the scene. Out of breath, we arrived at
the parking lot. I went up to the line of riot police and asked to
speak to a commanding officer, saying that they had arrested
accredited journalists.
Within seconds, they grabbed me, pulled me behind the police line and
forcibly twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me, the rigid
plastic cuffs digging into my wrists. I saw Sharif, his arm bloody,
his credentials hanging from his neck. I repeated we were accredited
journalists, whereupon a Secret Service agent came over and ripped my
convention credential from my neck. I was taken to the St. Paul police
garage where cages were set up for protesters. I was charged with
obstruction of a peace officer. Nicole and Sharif were taken to jail,
facing riot charges.
The attack on and arrest of me and the Democracy Now! producers was
not an isolated event. A video group called I-Witness Video was raided
two days earlier. Another video documentary group, the Glass Bead
Collective, was detained, with its computers and video cameras
confiscated. On Wednesday, I-Witness Video was again raided, forced
out of its office location. When I asked St. Paul Police Chief John
Harrington how reporters are to operate in this atmosphere, he
suggested, By embedding reporters in our mobile field force.
On Monday night, hours after we were arrested, after much public
outcry, Nicole, Sharif and I were released. That was our Labor Day.
Its all in a days work.
Amy Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, a daily international
TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North