Amy Goodman Arrested at RNC

[GaryC 7]

Guess what? The RNC has no say as to how the police secure the convention. That is wholly done by the state of Minnesota and the city of St.Paul. BTW the Governor of Minnesota is a dem.

Ah no he isn't. He is a Republican, and was even vetted by McCain.

Opps, your right. I was thinking of the Mayor of St. Paul. A bit of a brain fart there.

[Sinergy 3]

Hmmmm. Has anyone blamed the Reps for this?

its a natural reaction to defend the reps in cases like this

[one...two...tree 2,762]

more info...

The following is an updated release from Democracy Now!

ST. PAUL -- Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar have all been released from police custody in St. Paul following their illegal arrest by Minneapolis Police on Monday afternoon.

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.

On Tuesday, Democracy Now! will broadcast video of these arrests, as well as the broader police action. These will also be available on: www.democracynow.org.

Goodman was arrested while questioning police about the unlawful detention of Kouddous and Salazar who were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman's crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were arrested on suspicion of rioting, a felony. While the three have been released, they all still face charges stemming from their unlawful arrest. Kouddous and Salazar face pending charges of suspicion of felony riot, while Goodman has been officially charged with obstruction of a legal process and interference with a "peace officer."

Democracy Now! forcefully rejects all of these charges as false and an attempt at intimidation of these journalists. We demand that the charges be immediately and completely dropped.

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities' law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.

During the demonstration in which the Democracy Now! team was arrested, law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force against protesters and journalists. Several dozen demonstrators were also arrested during this action, including a photographer for the Associated Press.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States. She has received journalism's top honors for her reporting and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage. The arrest of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and the subsequent criminal charges and threat of charges are a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists.

http://www.alternet.org/rights/97194/amy_g...rrested_at_rnc/

[IAMX 3,055]

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities' law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.

China would be proud.

[cue the olympic music]

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States.

She sure is, when you can stay awake, that is.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

I guess it depends on how you take that to mean. You can watch the video and decide for yourself if she was being unlawful in any way. The police, IMO, over-reacted and should have recognized not only her credentials as a journalist, but her security clearance to the Convention floor.

[IAMX 3,055]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

She went over to talk to an officer. If you looked at the video, does it look to you like Amy Goodman is the type to be able to try and free someone by force? No. She can't even talk loud, ffs (have you ever listened to Democracy Now?), and has no megaphone on her like an actual protester would.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

I guess it depends on how you take that to mean. You can watch the video and decide for yourself if she was being unlawful in any way. The police, IMO, over-reacted and should have recognized not only her credentials as a journalist, but her security clearance to the Convention floor.

Probably has a lot to do with the chaos of the situation. At a guess it sounds like the journos may have gotten a bit too close to the "action" and were mistaken for protestors. The police often overreact in these situations.

[GaryC 7]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

She went over to talk to an officer. If you looked at the video, does it look to you like Amy Goodman is the type to be able to try and free someone by force? No. She can't even talk loud, ffs (have you ever listened to Democracy Now?), and has no megaphone on her like an actual protester would.

Has anyone ever tried to talk the police into turning someone loose after they were arrested? It doesn't work and will never work. It does not matter if Ms Goodman thought the arrests were unlawful or that she had press credentials. At that point it was out of her control and became obstruction. The best she could have done was to go to the station and bail them out. Interfering with the police is never a good idea.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

I guess it depends on how you take that to mean. You can watch the video and decide for yourself if she was being unlawful in any way. The police, IMO, over-reacted and should have recognized not only her credentials as a journalist, but her security clearance to the Convention floor.

Probably has a lot to do with the chaos of the situation. At a guess it sounds like the journos may have gotten a bit too close to the "action" and were mistaken for protestors. The police often overreact in these situations.

Perhaps. The protestors that started rioting - I'm a bit curious and skeptical about just who they are since none of the protestors at the DNC rioted. There has been evidence that some are actually political plants to make the whole group of otherwise peaceful protestors get arrested and thereby unable to bring any attention to their cause, meanwhile getting painted with a broad brush that the anti-war protestors are a lawless bunch.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

I guess it depends on how you take that to mean. You can watch the video and decide for yourself if she was being unlawful in any way. The police, IMO, over-reacted and should have recognized not only her credentials as a journalist, but her security clearance to the Convention floor.

Probably has a lot to do with the chaos of the situation. At a guess it sounds like the journos may have gotten a bit too close to the "action" and were mistaken for protestors. The police often overreact in these situations.

Perhaps. The protestors that started rioting - I'm a bit curious and skeptical about just who they are since none of the protestors at the DNC rioted. There has been evidence that some are actually political plants to make the whole group of otherwise peaceful protestors get arrested and thereby unable to bring any attention to their cause, meanwhile getting painted with a broad brush that the anti-war protestors are a lawless bunch.

That wouldn't surprise me at all. There is precendent for it. As I said - UK soccer games were used as a pretext by extremist groups to stage violent clashes with each other.

[IAMX 3,055]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

She went over to talk to an officer. If you looked at the video, does it look to you like Amy Goodman is the type to be able to try and free someone by force? No. She can't even talk loud, ffs (have you ever listened to Democracy Now?), and has no megaphone on her like an actual protester would.

Has anyone ever tried to talk the police into turning someone loose after they were arrested? It doesn't work and will never work. It does not matter if Ms Goodman thought the arrests were unlawful or that she had press credentials. At that point it was out of her control and became obstruction. The best she could have done was to go to the station and bail them out. Interfering with the police is never a good idea.

You think maybe she's asking questions like what happened, and perhaps that's the police who just arrested them?

There's nothing against the law about asking an officer a question that merits yanking someone around and arresting them. They can push her back if there's a line she can't cross, which she clearly didn't, until they pulled her over it to arrest her, or tell her go away, and that's that.

Arresting people asking questions is exactly what will incite riots. And it should.

Edited September 2, 2008 by SRVT

[HAL 9000 96]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

I guess it depends on how you take that to mean. You can watch the video and decide for yourself if she was being unlawful in any way. The police, IMO, over-reacted and should have recognized not only her credentials as a journalist, but her security clearance to the Convention floor.

Don't you know any better Steven? Talking to police officers is now considered obstruction.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

so far it's police bad, rioters good.

[GaryC 7]

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained.

what a dumb #######.

As a well known news journalist with full access (security clearance) to the Convention floor, what do you think she should have done? She went to the police to vouch for the two journalists.

don't matter who or what she is if she's trying to free someone detained by the police. ever heard of obstruction?

She went over to talk to an officer. If you looked at the video, does it look to you like Amy Goodman is the type to be able to try and free someone by force? No. She can't even talk loud, ffs (have you ever listened to Democracy Now?), and has no megaphone on her like an actual protester would.

Has anyone ever tried to talk the police into turning someone loose after they were arrested? It doesn't work and will never work. It does not matter if Ms Goodman thought the arrests were unlawful or that she had press credentials. At that point it was out of her control and became obstruction. The best she could have done was to go to the station and bail them out. Interfering with the police is never a good idea.

You think maybe she's asking questions like what happened, and perhaps that's the police who just arrested them?

There's nothing against the law about asking an officer a question that merits yanking someone around and arresting them. They can push her back if there's a line she can't cross, which she clearly didn't, until they pulled her over it to arrest her, or tell her go away, and that's that.

Arresting people asking questions is exactly what will incite riots. And it should.

Try and inject yourself in a situation like that and see what happens.