Community | September 19, 2008 | 4 comments

Charges dropped against journalists arrested at RNC

source: http://www.minnesotaindependent.com/9489/st-paul-wont-prosecute-journalists-facing-unlawful-...

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St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman’s office issued a statement announcing that the city attorney won’t prosecute journalists who were cited by authorities at the Republican National Convention (RNC) with “presence at an unlawful assembly,” a misdemeanor charge.

That pertains specifically to the journalists who were swept up in the massive arrests during protests in St. Paul on the convention’s first and last days. Nearly 50 of the more than 800 people arrested or detained were onsite to cover the RNC, according to a MnIndy analysis

Mayor Coleman said in the prepared statement about the policy decision made concerning journalists at the RNC, “This decision reflects the values we have in St. Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press. … A journalist plays a special role in our democracy and that role is just too important to ignore.” While police carried out their charge to protect public safety, “we are serving the public’s interest to maintain the integrity of our democracy, system of justice and freedom of the press.”

The statement acknowledges the “growing media profession in print, broadcast and the Internet, the city attorney’s office will use a broad definition and verification to identify journalists who were caught up in mass arrests during the convention.”
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4 comments // Charges dropped against journalists arrested at RNC

  • csmonut
    • 0
      csmonut  

    • Whatever happened to the right to peacefull assembly and the right to protest the government?
      Oh...I forgot...the Baby Bush threw out the Bill of Rights with the debris from the Twin Towers.

    • 3 years ago
  • jimwiz3416
    • 0
      jimwiz3416  

    • “This decision reflects the values we have in St. Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press. …"

      Ummm, after, that is, they're assaulted, rounded up and jailed for a sufficient amount of time.

      Perhaps a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit would help clarify the issue for all involved and work to prevent this abuse in the future.

    • 3 years ago
  • HappyYoga
  • zealotohio
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