Amy Goodman arrested, apparently for covering police in Minneapolis/St. Paul
HHW
RNC
Democracy Now!. Posted September 1, 2008.
Goodman has been charged with obstruction; felony riot charges are
pending against producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar.
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.
See more stories tagged with: amy goodman, democracy now, st paul,
rnc, rnc protests
Democracy Now! is a nationally-syndicated public TV and radio program
that airs on over 700 radio and TV stations across the US and the
globe.
The_Endeavor
HHW
It's certainly true that the Israel lobby has staked a major portion
of its effort on shutting down criticism. I can understand how you
come to the conclusion that that's the right way to run THIS
democracy. But yours is a conflicted point of view. In fact it is a
killer of democracies and you've driven us a long way down that path.
The_Endeavor
system is working.
B.H. Cramer
"The_Endeavor" <The_En...@Noaddress.com > wrote in message
news:MPG.232911a6a...@nntp.motzarella.org...
> What you showed is the guy was released for whatever the reason the
> system is working.
More crook English.