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Amy Goodman, host of the New York City-based leftist news programme Democracy Now! was charged with criminal trespass by the North Dakota state's attorney (prosecutor). The charge was changed to riot, then was dismissed due to lack of evidence when Goodman appeared in court on Monday. The charges stemmed from her presence at a protest in September against construction of the Dakota Access (Bakken) oil pipeline, after the protest was reported on her show.
Coverage:
- Ars Technica
- Democracy Now!
- Democracy Now! (with video and transcript)
- New York Times
- Salon
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed
- The Nation (prior to dismissal)
- Fortune
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Journalist Charged in North Dakota with Rioting; Case is Dismissed
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You humans are all alike.
(Score: 2) by Webweasel on Wednesday October 19 2016, @01:24PM
Just a few days back TechCrunch reported that they were looking for other reasons to charge her and are looking to charge Deia Schlosberg as well.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161017/17134435823/judge-rejects-rioting-charge-against-journalist-reporting-protestors-prosecutor-still-looking-new-charges.shtml [techdirt.com]
The detail seems pretty light, have they dropped the trespassing charges but still trying to find new charges against her or not?
Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 19 2016, @01:53PM
Next they throw at her all and every law book and see what sticks.
From terrrist conspiration, to her dead dog pooping on the street and cleaning with a pirate non-approved dog poop bag that didn't paid the dog poop taxes. They can file any charges, the real thing is that the judges allows that bad behaviour and let these abusive prosecutors go scott free.
If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him. - Cardinal Richelieu
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday October 19 2016, @06:48PM
This time don't blame the judge. He can't punish the prosecution for filing charges that aren't frivolous. These appear to have been harassment, but not frivolous. And he promptly dismissed them for lack of evidence. (Would he have done that without the new spotlight? Good question, no answer.)
But *THIS* time the only people to blame are the prosecution and it's managers, supervisors, etc., all the way up to the governor.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday October 19 2016, @01:53PM
http://publicsearch.ndcourts.gov/CaseDetail.aspx?CaseID=3592026 [ndcourts.gov]
(not a rickroll... if I was gonna rickroll you you'd never see it coming)
Moderately interesting she was had an arrest warrant for some weeks. Seems a bit harsh for mere trespassing. Sounds about right for political retribution against media. Isn't it fun living in a banana republic of a nation?
still trying to find new charges against her or not?
Thats a question only the prosecutor can answer, I guess.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Wednesday October 19 2016, @04:22PM
Me, I'd stop looking for more charges against her and start looking for bribes to the prosecutor and other people that are trying to charge her for questioning the corporate overlords. I'm betting evidence of bribery or some other sort of corruption wouldn't be very hard to find.
But that's just me, apparently.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Wednesday October 19 2016, @06:54PM
First they charged her with tresspass. After she traveled back to ND to answer the charges, they dropped them and then charged her with inciting a riot to start the process over. Now they have dropped that too.
As tghey say, you can beat the rap but you can't beat the ride. It's a clear abuse of the judicial system using the court and it's power to compel her appearance as a crude bludgeon. If the prosecutor actually believed either of those charges held a drop of water, they'd have happily gone to trial or at least attempted a plea bargain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 19 2016, @09:16PM
Before her court appearance, she set up shop across from the courthouse and made her morning broadcast.
This stuff is only giving North Dakota and Morton County persecutor^W District Attorney Ladd Erickson black eyes.
...and, as for "Leftist" in TFS, I have never heard Amy advocate for anti-Capitalism.
Now, she -is- anti-Authoritarian (a separate axis on the political palate).
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday October 20 2016, @04:55AM
This pipeline project is a manifestation of capitalism, is it not? She covered the protests against it in a way that was sympathetic to the protesters.
In 1998 she co-produced Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_and_Killing:_Chevron_and_Nigeria's_Oil_Dictatorship [wikipedia.org]
From the transcript:
Oil was discovered in Nigeria at almost the same time the country gained independence from the British in 1960. Since then there have been several coups and assassinations. But one thing has remained a constant—the role of multinational oil companies in propping up the country’s military dictatorships.
Chima Ubani[:] "they are simply continuing what theTransAtlantic slave trade and British colonialism did to us in the past."
Chima Ubani is a member of Nigeria’s oldest human rights group, the civil liberties organization and has been imprisoned several times, resisting successive military regimes.
Chima Ubani: "and the struggles of our people today to rid ourselves of these agencies is merely an extension of our struggle for national independence. And our independence is not yet won until we send these exploitative forces packing from our soil."
--http://www.democracynow.org/2003/7/11/transcript_of_drilling_and_killing_documentary [democracynow.org]
Last year she interviewed the author of Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Bondage Destroy the Global Economy, who said
Ninety [percent] of all the earnings of the biggest companies in America in the last five years have gone for stock buybacks and dividends. It’s not being invested. It’s not building new factories. It’s not employing more people.
So, the real problem is that we’re in a nonrecovery in America, and Europe is in an absolute class war of austerity. That’s what the eurozone is, an austerity zone.
--http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/25/casino_capitalism_economist_michael_hudson_on [democracynow.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 20 2016, @10:12AM
Amy is against the sloppy way some Capitalists conduct their business.
That's different from being anti-Capitalist.
She doesn't seem to be opposed to concentrated wealth nor a lack of Democracy in the Workplace.
Hey, if you look real hard, you can occasionally find a Capitalist who isn't a complete asshole.
Aaron Feuerstein: The Mensch of Malden Mills [cbsnews.com]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday October 19 2016, @06:59PM
Interestingly, the first time I clicked that link, it took me to the home page rather than thge case. So I clicked back and copied the case number from the URL to try again. Now it just gives me an application error.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday October 20 2016, @01:52PM
It's basic police harassment. Now, try to prove _that_ in court.
🌻🌻 [google.com]