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PETITION TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST AMY GOODMAN
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Radio host Amy Goodman was arrested earlier this week at an antiwar protest
outside the RNC in St. Paul for simply questioning police about the unlawful
detention of two of her show's producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole
Salazar, who were covering street demonstrations in St. Paul. All three were
roughly handled. The three were released hours after being arrested but
charges against them are pending. The Nation has joined a coalition of
groups calling for these charges to be dropped. As part of this campaign,
our friends at Free Press are circulating a petition demanding that press
intimidation cease immediately and that all charges be dropped.
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Source/Letters: Truthdig <http : //www.truthdig.com/contact/> (close
spaces)
Link:
<http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080903_why_we_were_falsely_arrested/>
Published on Thursday, September 4, 2008 by TruthDig.com
Why We Were Falsely Arrested
by Amy Goodman
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 Constitution's 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 Nicole's 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. It's all in a
day's work.
© 2008 Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio
news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America.
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Judy Reed
Liberal, Progressive, Secular, Green, & Humane
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