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-- OriginalOwner_ [tinyurl.com] writes:

from the replay-of-1930s-europe dept.

Snopes reports [snopes.com]

Six journalists could spend up to 10 years in prison after being arrested during protests against President Donald Trump's inauguration.

The Guardian identified [theguardian.com] 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 [dccouncil.us] 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 [twitter.com] that he and two NBC News journalists were also arrested during the 20 January 2017 demonstrations but released without charges. Pool said [twitter.com] 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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