Jerry gets arrested. no, not really but sort of.
As you probably know, I was up in the Twin Cities all last week covering the Republican National Convention for the news wire I work for. It was a long and interesting week. I'm glad I was there as it was an interesting experience, but it was also an incredibly long and tiring week. To top it off, I got cited and detained by police!
There were basically two conventions going on, one inside and one outside. The one inside was very quiet on Monday due to Hurricane Gustav, which basically meant that most of the delegates spent their time either doing hurricane-related volunteer work or outside in meetings and other get-togethers. During the rest of the week they were busy with luncheons and the like during the day, and attending the big floor sessions in the late afternoon-evening. Afterwards it was time to drink, the exodus out of the RNC was huge every single night.
Outside, it was chaotic. Protesters frequently marched and there were some run-ins with police. Largely, the protests went off fine, with people speaking their mind. However, there were also a ton of arrests and many protests that clashed with police. By the end of the week more than 800 had been arrested. Lots of press and public watching. Many of the businesses reported down sales this week, but the streets were very, very busy with police, protesters, the media and everyone else.
So, about that arrest. I was covering a large protest on Thursday. The group did not have a permit to march and by that time police had become quite aggressive. For what I suspect were many reasons the police decided that the group on Thursday would not be allowed to march to the designated protest area outside of the RNC while John McCain spoke to delegates. After getting into a few standoffs with police on a bridge and on a street, the group essentially broke away and began marching in the streets. If they couldn't get to the RNC, they were going to march wherever. Things went fine for about a half hour until the group approached a busy intersection marked by commercial businesses including a Sears and a bank.
Next thing I know, tear gas, smoke bombs and flash grenades were going off all around me. A flash grenade went off right next to my foot as a crush of protesters screamed and fled from what became an intense 10 minute crackdown. I got it on tape! Most of it, anyway, as I accidentally clicked off the recording just after the blast went off by my foot. Got the bang on tape though.
Anyway, I was covering the protest legitimately as a reporter. I was not allowed at all to get past the quickly-constricting police line that included officers on horseback as well. Soon, me and 18 other journalists, including television crews, bloggers, print journalists, AP reporters and others found ourselves on a bridge with hundreds of protesters and a police blockade on either end. It was announced, "If you are on the bridge, then you are UNDER ARREST."
Why was I there? Once things got crazy, it was too late. The police were not letting me or any other member of the press get out of their police line. I was swept up with the same violent abandon as everyone else by the police. I have been told that at least one cameraman was shoved to the ground, and witnessed with my own eyes an officer threatening a mace canister to the face of a reporter who was saying things like, "I'm with the press!"
I ended up sitting with my hands on my head for about 45 minutes before I was handcuffed, brought to an area where they were setting press folks aside, then transferred to a curb, then brought into a paddywagon, then taken out to a parking lot where I and the other members of the press were cited for Unlawful Assembly, statute 609.715, a misdemeanor, and released. Eventually, towards the end, someone cut my cuffs (they were the plastic kind used for mass arrests). Left a mark along my wrists through early the next morning. The entire process took about three hours.
I got back to the Xcel Center and was questioned about it by numerous members of the press. I won't name names, but at least one person at a major TV network mentioned that they always wanted to get arrested for doing their job. Really, the entire incident was unbelievable. I witnessed some pretty questionable and crazy things on all sides. I was there for work. The fact that the police were so willing to arrest the press was pretty frightening. After all, I have a right to be there! Very chilling stuff.
So, the hope is that the prosecutor's office dismisses the charges against the press. If they don't, I'll have to fight it. Basically, a citation is similar to a traffic ticket, it'd be on my record and I'd have to pay a fine. But I will not pay a fine to do my job! It's not right, I tell ya.
I'll update you with how the citation thing ends up.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 19th, 2008:
Looks like the city of St. Paul finally realized that they shouldn't have arrested all of us journalists after all...here's the news release:
Mayor Coleman Announces Policy Not to Pursue Certain Misdemeanor Charges Against Journalists
SAINT PAUL - Mayor Chris Coleman announced today that the city will decline to prosecute misdemeanor charges for presence at an unlawful assembly for journalists arrested during the Republican National Convention. He made the announcement after consultation with the city attorney’s office, which recommended the city not pursue misdemeanor prosecution of these individuals.
“This decision reflects the values we have in Saint Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press,” Mayor Coleman said. “A journalist plays a special role in our democracy and that role is just too important to ignore. At the scene, the police did their duty in protecting public safety. In this decision, we are serving the public’s interest to maintain the integrity of our democracy, system of justice and freedom of the press.”
The decision will only affect people identified as journalists who face the misdemeanor charge. Recognizing the growing media profession in print, broadcast and the Internet, the city attorney’s office will use a broad definition and verification to identify journalists who were caught up in mass arrests during the convention. It is not known how many cases this decision will affect.
###
Still, the St. Paul Police Department should be embarassed for the way they treated journalists (and protesters, for that matter) that Thursday night at the RNC. It was shocking to see basically peaceful people get pelted with smoke bombs, tear gas and flash grenades. Not to mention the time spent in handcuffs for trying to do my job.
Anyway, I'm definitely glad that I won't have to deal with this any more. I was starting to get worried since I'd been calling the court info hotline for the past two weeks and still hadn't seen my citation filed. Whatever...I guess I can just count this as a life experience and move on. Nice way to start the weekend, fer sure!
Anyway, here's a link to the entire picture file at Flikr:
http://flickr.com/photos/29004447@N06/sets/72157607186725316/
There were basically two conventions going on, one inside and one outside. The one inside was very quiet on Monday due to Hurricane Gustav, which basically meant that most of the delegates spent their time either doing hurricane-related volunteer work or outside in meetings and other get-togethers. During the rest of the week they were busy with luncheons and the like during the day, and attending the big floor sessions in the late afternoon-evening. Afterwards it was time to drink, the exodus out of the RNC was huge every single night.
Outside, it was chaotic. Protesters frequently marched and there were some run-ins with police. Largely, the protests went off fine, with people speaking their mind. However, there were also a ton of arrests and many protests that clashed with police. By the end of the week more than 800 had been arrested. Lots of press and public watching. Many of the businesses reported down sales this week, but the streets were very, very busy with police, protesters, the media and everyone else.
So, about that arrest. I was covering a large protest on Thursday. The group did not have a permit to march and by that time police had become quite aggressive. For what I suspect were many reasons the police decided that the group on Thursday would not be allowed to march to the designated protest area outside of the RNC while John McCain spoke to delegates. After getting into a few standoffs with police on a bridge and on a street, the group essentially broke away and began marching in the streets. If they couldn't get to the RNC, they were going to march wherever. Things went fine for about a half hour until the group approached a busy intersection marked by commercial businesses including a Sears and a bank.
Next thing I know, tear gas, smoke bombs and flash grenades were going off all around me. A flash grenade went off right next to my foot as a crush of protesters screamed and fled from what became an intense 10 minute crackdown. I got it on tape! Most of it, anyway, as I accidentally clicked off the recording just after the blast went off by my foot. Got the bang on tape though.
Anyway, I was covering the protest legitimately as a reporter. I was not allowed at all to get past the quickly-constricting police line that included officers on horseback as well. Soon, me and 18 other journalists, including television crews, bloggers, print journalists, AP reporters and others found ourselves on a bridge with hundreds of protesters and a police blockade on either end. It was announced, "If you are on the bridge, then you are UNDER ARREST."
Why was I there? Once things got crazy, it was too late. The police were not letting me or any other member of the press get out of their police line. I was swept up with the same violent abandon as everyone else by the police. I have been told that at least one cameraman was shoved to the ground, and witnessed with my own eyes an officer threatening a mace canister to the face of a reporter who was saying things like, "I'm with the press!"
I ended up sitting with my hands on my head for about 45 minutes before I was handcuffed, brought to an area where they were setting press folks aside, then transferred to a curb, then brought into a paddywagon, then taken out to a parking lot where I and the other members of the press were cited for Unlawful Assembly, statute 609.715, a misdemeanor, and released. Eventually, towards the end, someone cut my cuffs (they were the plastic kind used for mass arrests). Left a mark along my wrists through early the next morning. The entire process took about three hours.
I got back to the Xcel Center and was questioned about it by numerous members of the press. I won't name names, but at least one person at a major TV network mentioned that they always wanted to get arrested for doing their job. Really, the entire incident was unbelievable. I witnessed some pretty questionable and crazy things on all sides. I was there for work. The fact that the police were so willing to arrest the press was pretty frightening. After all, I have a right to be there! Very chilling stuff.
So, the hope is that the prosecutor's office dismisses the charges against the press. If they don't, I'll have to fight it. Basically, a citation is similar to a traffic ticket, it'd be on my record and I'd have to pay a fine. But I will not pay a fine to do my job! It's not right, I tell ya.
I'll update you with how the citation thing ends up.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 19th, 2008:
Looks like the city of St. Paul finally realized that they shouldn't have arrested all of us journalists after all...here's the news release:
Mayor Coleman Announces Policy Not to Pursue Certain Misdemeanor Charges Against Journalists
SAINT PAUL - Mayor Chris Coleman announced today that the city will decline to prosecute misdemeanor charges for presence at an unlawful assembly for journalists arrested during the Republican National Convention. He made the announcement after consultation with the city attorney’s office, which recommended the city not pursue misdemeanor prosecution of these individuals.
“This decision reflects the values we have in Saint Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press,” Mayor Coleman said. “A journalist plays a special role in our democracy and that role is just too important to ignore. At the scene, the police did their duty in protecting public safety. In this decision, we are serving the public’s interest to maintain the integrity of our democracy, system of justice and freedom of the press.”
The decision will only affect people identified as journalists who face the misdemeanor charge. Recognizing the growing media profession in print, broadcast and the Internet, the city attorney’s office will use a broad definition and verification to identify journalists who were caught up in mass arrests during the convention. It is not known how many cases this decision will affect.
###
Still, the St. Paul Police Department should be embarassed for the way they treated journalists (and protesters, for that matter) that Thursday night at the RNC. It was shocking to see basically peaceful people get pelted with smoke bombs, tear gas and flash grenades. Not to mention the time spent in handcuffs for trying to do my job.
Anyway, I'm definitely glad that I won't have to deal with this any more. I was starting to get worried since I'd been calling the court info hotline for the past two weeks and still hadn't seen my citation filed. Whatever...I guess I can just count this as a life experience and move on. Nice way to start the weekend, fer sure!
Anyway, here's a link to the entire picture file at Flikr:
http://flickr.com/photos/29004447@N06/sets/72157607186725316/