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Snopes reports
Six journalists could spend up to 10 years in prison after being arrested during protests against President Donald Trump's inauguration.
The Guardian identified the journalists as freelancer Aaron Cantú; Vocativ senior producer Evan Engel; Jack Keller, producer for the online documentary Story of America; independent journalists Matt Hopard and Shay Horse; and RT America reporter Alex Rubinstein.
The group was charged under a District of Columbia statute penalizing "every person who willfully incited or urged others to engage" in a riot causing more than $5,000 in property damage with the potential 10-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $25,000. More than 200 people in total were arrested the day of the 20 January 2017 inauguration; they were reportedly arraigned the following day and will be back in court in February and March.
[...] Another independent journalist and documentarian, Tim Pool, said on Twitter that he and two NBC News journalists were also arrested during the 20 January 2017 demonstrations but released without charges. Pool said that a supervising officer told him "no less than three times" that they were under arrest. NBC News has not responded to our request for comment regarding Pool's account.
(Score: 5, Informative) by rts008 on Thursday January 26 2017, @10:07PM
According to the news I saw yesterday, the reporters were only reporting, and were rounded up along with over 200 protesters as 'part of the crowd'. There were no riots in the immediate area, or part of the arrested crowd. At one point, one of the reporters started to switch memory cards in her camera, and a cop nearby yelled out: "She's not recording, not a reporter, arrest her!" Luckily she got the cards switched and started recording again, and evaded being singled out. The incident was recorded by another reporter, and uploaded before the whole group was arrested..
I saw this covered yesterday on a youtube live stream of 'The Young Turks' newscast(tyt network on youtube), if you are interested. *disclaimer: TYT is a self-admitted progressive slanted news show, having a good record for sticking to the facts (verified), but will also throw in their 'two cent's' worth, while stating it is only their opinion*
Personally, I think authoritarian-minded people feel emboldened by Trump as President, and are acting out their fantasies, same for the racists.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tangomargarine on Thursday January 26 2017, @10:27PM
Why the hell do the authorities get so panicky whenever someone records them doing their job? "Nothing to hide" doesn't even cover it. They're trying to prevent being recorded when the act of doing so seems to be the only thing they're actually doing that's objectionable?
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1) by moondoctor on Friday January 27 2017, @12:07AM
power.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 27 2017, @01:50AM
In this case they were going to arrest her because she was not recording.
Kind of an ironic twist.