Democracy Now! Host and Producers Arrested at Republican Convention.
This is just outrageous.
Watch the video for yourself and decide whether Goodman committed any crime that you can recognise. Glenn Greenwald is reporting from the scene:Democracy Now! radio host Amy Goodman and two producers were arrested while covering demonstrations at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn. Goodman was released after being held for over three hours, but is still waiting to hear when Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar would be released.
"I was down on the convention floor interviewing delegates when I heard that two of our producers had been arrested," said Goodman. "I ran down to Jackson and 7th Street, where the police had moved in."
Goodman said that when she ran up to find out what was going on, she was also arrested.
"They seriously manhandled me and handcuffed my hands behind my back. The top ID [at the convention] is to get on the floor and the Secret Service ripped that off me. I had my Democracy Now! ID too. I was clearly a reporter."
Goodman, who was released after being charged with a misdemeanor, said that Salazar had been hurt in the face, while Kouddous had been thrown up against a wall and hurt his elbow.
"Nicole told me that as they moved in on three sides, she asked them 'How do I get away from this?' and they jumped on her."
Both Kouddous and Salazar could be held for up to 36 hours.
"One of the police kept shouting at me 'Shut up, shut up," she said. "It was extremely threatening."
Beginning last night, St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be, even more so than Manhattan in the week of 9/11 -- with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas cannisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations. Humvees and law enforcement officers with rifles were posted on various buildings and balconies. Numerous protesters and observers were tear gassed and injured.Goodman says that, when she heard that two of her producers had been arrested, she rushed to the scene to ask an officer what was going on and that she was arrested immediately, simply for asking the question.
They say she was obstructing the legal process.
This is completely outrageous. I'd love someone to tell me how this differs from a police state if someone can be arrested simply for asking for the whereabouts of an arrested colleague.
Go to Greenwald's site for the whole story.
UPDATE:
They are also firing tear gas into crowds of people as they run away. Heavy handed doesn't even begin to describe this.
Greenwald notes one other interesting the point. The difference in tone in the questions asked by standard journalists and those asked by independent journalists:
Interestingly, all of the standard journalists asked very police-sympathetic questions ("how much property damage was done? were all the criminals part of this same RNC Welcoming Group? How many police officers were injured (answer: none), while all of the independent journalists -- such as those from the superb, intrepid site,The Uptake -- asked challenging and skeptical (i.e., real) questions.
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