Cataloguing the RNC’s journalist detainees

// added September 11, 2008 // 13 comments //
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synclaire

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Of the 800-plus people who were arrested or detained in conjunction with RNC protests, a good chunk of them — 43, by our count — were members of the news media. Media representatives in town to cover the events, from both big and small presses, were slapped with citations and pending charges ranging in severity, including unlawful assembly, obstructing the legal process, misdemeanor interference with a peace officer and felony to riot plus other riot pretenses. (Notably Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was jailed along with two of the show’s producers.) Many others who weren’t arrested or detained endured pepper-spray and other arms used for crowd-control.

MnIndy has compiled a list of journalists who were detained or arrested, including some preemptively, culled from news reports and sources, including the Ramsey County sheriff’s department’s booking roster. Let us know if anyone is unaccounted for and we’ll add them to the list.

Journalists detained/arrested:

Tom Aviles, WCCO photojournalist

Charlie B, MTV Think blogger (full last name unknown)

Anita Braithwaite, New York-based Glass Bead Collective

Wendy Binion, Portland IndyMedia

Geraldine Cahill, The Real News

Eileen Clancy, I-Witness Video, a New York-based media collective

Paul Demko, Minnesota Independent

Amy Forliti, Associated Press reporter

Ben Garvin, Pioneer Press photographer

Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! host

Art Hughes, Public News Service

Suzanne Hughes, The Uptake, volunteer coordinator

Ted Johnson, Variety managing editor

Olivia Katz, Glass Bead Collective

Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Democracy Now! producer

Alice Kalthoff, MyFoxdfw.com editor

Jon Krawczynski, Associated Press reporter

Joseph La Sac, Pepperspray Productions journalist

Ed Matthews, University of Kentucky photojournalism student

Jonathan Malat, KARE-11 photojournalist

Stephen Maturen, Minnesota Daily assistant picture editor

Britney McIntosh, University of Kentucky photojournalism student

Matt Nelson, University of Iowa student

Jason Nicholas, New York Post freelance photographer

Mark Ovaska, Rochester freelance photographer

Christopher Patton, Editorial board member of The Daily Iowan

Elizabeth Press, Democracy Now!

Matt Rourke, Associated Press photographer

Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet

Lambert Rochfort, Pepperspray Productions journalist

Seth Rowe, Sun Newspapers, St. Louis Park community editor

Jeff Schorfheide, Madison, Wis. Badger-Herald photographer

Mark Skinner, University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebel Yell reporter

Ania Smolenskaia, The Real News

Matt Snyders, City Pages

Nicole Salazar, Democracy Now! producer

Vlad Teichberg, New York-based Glass Bead Collective

Dean Treftz, U-Wire, national college news service

Nathan Weber, photographer, Chicago-area freelancer

Tony Webster, Twin Cities independent media professional

Jim Winn, University of Kentucky journalism adviser

John P. Wise, MyFox national editor

Dawn Zuppelli, Rochester IndyMedia
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13 comments // Cataloguing the RNC’s journalist detainees

  • SeaJade
    • 0
      SeaJade  
    • Image...

    • The Party Police
      by Amy Goodman
      The Democratic and Republican national conventions have passed, but controversy surrounds how they were funded and how they were run. Mass arrests of peaceful protesters, excessive police violence, wholesale disregard for the Bill of Rights and the targeting and arrest of journalists marred what should have been celebrations of democracy. The "host committees," the legal entities that organize and pay for the conventions, act as large party slush funds, outside of campaign-finance restrictions. Scores of major corporations (and a couple of unions), barred from giving unlimited funds to political parties, could give whatever they wanted to the host committees of Denver and St. Paul, Minn.

      According to a recent article in National Underwriter magazine, "Both the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee refused to comment on their insurance purchasing decisions, or even reveal who was providing coverage for their respective conventions." Bruce Nestor, president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, who organized scores of legal observers around the Twin Cities to protect citizens' legal rights, told me: "St. Paul actually negotiated a special insurance provision with the Republican host committee so that the first $10 million in liability for lawsuits arising from the convention will be covered by the host committee. The city is very proud of this negotiation. It's the first time it's been negotiated between a city and the host committee. But it basically means we [the city] can commit wrongdoing, and we won't have to pay for it." According to the Minnesota Independent, more than 40 journalists were arrested or detained during the Republican National Convention.

      Like what happened to "Democracy Now!" producer Nicole Salazar, videotaping protests in downtown St. Paul. She was violently forced to the ground, her nose bloodied, was held down with a man's knee or boot on her back, with another person pulling on her leg. Fellow producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous was thrown against a wall and kicked in the chest and back. The police might normally intervene and arrest the perpetrators. Except here, it was the police who were the assailants. And they arrested their victims. Arriving on the scene, I tried to have my colleagues freed, as we were all accredited journalists, and the police arrested me. And we were not the only ones.

      Throughout the convention week, one of the 25 remaining typeset copies of the Declaration of Independence was on display at St. Paul City Hall-not far from where crowds were pepper-sprayed, clubbed, tear-gassed and attacked by police with concussion grenades. As the clouds clear, it is instructive to remember the words of one of the Declaration's signers, Benjamin Franklin:

      "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

      © 2008 Amy Goodman

      Go to link above for whole article.

    • 1 year ago
  • J_Jammer
  • VoyagerFilms
    • 0
      VoyagerFilms  

    • Thank you for posting and thank you the University of Iowa!

      What the RNC did was NO different than what monsters like Hitler have done.

      These actions violate our human rights, our Constitutional rights. The perpetrators should be prosecuted for their disregard of the law and civil rights violations.

    • 1 year ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  

    • 200 miles across is this hurricane Ike.

      It's going to hit late tonight or early Saturday morning.

      NOT ONE single article on the front of this Current web page.

      No. People pretending to care about 'issues' of a political race rather bash the other side than actually care for those people they are pretending to help pick the right person.

      This is the anniversary month of the 1900 storm that slaughtered Galveston and left it in pure devastation.

      I would post an article on that but it wouldn't garner any attention because it's not political pandering or asinine hate towards America. I already posted one about Ike and told a bunch of people and it's nowhere.

      Don't pretend I didn't try.

      I can only do so much.

      So when the storms hits and the devestation is horrible and then the articles appear.

      I will vote every single one of them down and laugh at the people who now care because then will be the time to criticism a government.

      Houston is well prepared for this...they have learned so much.

      But who cares if it's not hate?

    • 1 year ago
  • synclaire
  • J_Jammer
  • synclaire
    • 0
      synclaire  
    • J_Jammer:

      Why is posting the names of Journalists who were arrested somehow hate? Actually you don't have to answer that because I know you are craving attention by posting wildly inflammatory comments on any story you deem "liberal" in any way...as if protecting freedom of speech is a "liberal" or "conservative" issue.

    • 1 year ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • J_Jammer:

      How is it helpful other than to form hate?

      Maybe the intent was to inform people that things are going astray, but what did they do to get there?

      AH they were just reporting the 'news'. Ok. But did they do what those anarchist protesters did and antagonize the cops?

      Because those that instigate a problem are worse than those that are the problem.

      Now they all did not do something wrong and some probably were part of the arresting because they were just near those that started something.

      What I do understand is that those who "report" and "protest" are not innocent of any wrong doing or were not arrested purely because of hindrance to free speech.

      So save that BS for someone that will gobble it up.

      It ain't me.

    • 1 year ago
  • synclaire
  • J_Jammer
  • SushiBandit
  • uroborus8
  • SeaJade

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