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Journalists Face Felony Charges After Arrests While Covering Trump Inauguration Protests

posted by janrinok on Thursday January 26 2017, @08:38PM   
from the so-this-is-freedom? dept.

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

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.

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Original Submission

• ''Please cite'' ''Please cite'' (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 26 2017, @11:50PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 26 2017, @11:50PM (#459211)

  From GP: Project Veritas

  "Veritas" is Latin for "truth".
  We're talking about a slimy bunch whose stock in trade is lies.
  (This is a grand example of irony, Alanis.)

  Reactionary Con Artist James O'Keefe Busted for Dirty Tricks Against Trump Protesters [alternet.org]

  after getting wind of O'Keefe's effort, members of The Undercurrent and Americans Take Action set up hidden cameras to document the kinds of underhanded dealings the group had planned. In footage released by the Undercurrent, O'Keefe-aligned conspirator Alison Maass--who gained fame last August for trying, and failing, to infiltrate Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold's campaign--is captured trying to enlist recruits in the right-wing scheme. She tells an activist her group has "unlimited resources" to pay a rabblerouser willing to create enough chaos to "put a stop to the inauguration...interrupt the parties." In a video that suggests the pricetag for said acts rises as high as $500,000, Maass explains what would satisfy O'Keefe.

  "He'd like to turn on some TV, and maybe not even see Trump," Maas says in one of the clips from the video below. In another she states that a shutdown of the inauguration would make O'Keefe "ultimately the happiest, and wanting to open up his wallet."

  Another headline that may put a finer point on it for you:
  GOP Con Artist Busted Trying to Bribe People to Riot at Trump Inauguration So He Can Blame Dems [latest.com]

  This is the outfit that has repeatedly edited video deceptively and given it to Breitbart. [google.com]

  -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  Parent

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• Re:''Please cite'' (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 27 2017, @02:40PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 27 2017, @02:40PM (#459467)

  Thanks for that.

  COINTELPRO is effective. It's damned effective. And it's easy as shit. The most effective part is that even trying to make people aware that yes, there really are people who will do this shit, no it's not just being paranoid, just gets you labeled a paranoid nut. Getting video evidence is the only defense against COINTELPRO tactics.

  With video evidence, some people might be willing to say, ok, well, this time there were people acting in bad faith. But next time they'll totally take everything at face value and tell you you're a paranoid nut all over again.

  Parent

• Re:''Please cite'' (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 27 2017, @03:43PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 27 2017, @03:43PM (#459501)

  We're talking about a slimy bunch whose stock in trade is lies.

  CNN?

  Parent