3 University of Kentucky Journalists Jailed at RNC
Sometimes things get out of hand. And, usually, there is a group of people whose occupation it is to protect us from those situations. But as was the case on Monday night in Minnesota, the people who are supposed to protect us got a little bit out of hand themselves.
On Monday night, three colleagues of mine from the Kentucky Kernel were arrested while documenting the protests outside the Republican National Convention. Photographers Ed Matthews and Britney McIntosh, along with photo advisor Jim Winn were all arrested and charged with rioting. Matthews and McIntosh were both charged with felonies, while Winn was charged with a misdemeanor.
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Nothing indicates that any of the three were actually participating in the protests, much less violating any laws that would warrant their arrest. The police officers subdued the Kernel staff members with the use of pepper spray and the threat of a gun, certainly unnecessary given that all evidence suggests that Matthews, McIntosh and Winn were not actually breaking any laws. Regardless, we cannot know whether or not they were acting inappropriately, as they are still incommunicado in the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center. If convicted, Matthews and McIntosh would face a minimum sentence of one year in jail and a $3000 fine. Perhaps the bright spot in all of this is that at least we know what they have been charged with.
More so than the arrest of colleagues, the problem is that this conundrum of excessive police violence is not new. From the unprovoked attack by a New York City police officer on a Critical Mass bicyclist, and the subsequent arrests of those documenting the unconstitutional and overtly violent police actions, to last week’s encounters outside of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, or even this week’s arrest of journalist Amy Goodman, police overreaction has become the expected norm in our society. These previous instances are illustrative that the phenomenon of police violence is not exclusive to the typically high security conventions of the Republican party, but instead have begun to pervade even traditionally liberal or progressive institutions. So, in the face of physical assault, felony charges and unwarranted jail time, how we reclaim our constitutional rights – not just to assemble and protest, but to document these actions as part of a free and open press? Or perhaps the better question is, can we still reclaim these rights?
Photo: Chad Davis via flickr under a Creative Commons License
The hatred, by some of the posters here towards the free press is amazing.
Some posters here think that the journos deserve a beating because they were doing the job of a journalist, and covering a protest? Really?
I have trouble believing that American Citizens would call for the beating and illegal detention of journos. I have seen it a lot on news stories of the conventions for the past 2 weeks. Which leads me to either two conclusions that I can see.
1.) There is a large amount of the American public that openly wants, and is calling for, police state fascism.
2.) There is a paid contingent of bloggers and commenters who are paid by the companies that profit from the militirazation of our police who have started swarming the internet over the past few months. If this sounds crazy, look up the news stories a few months back of the Pentagon paying bloggers to spam and promote their talking points.
Either one, or the combination of both is extremely unnerving to me.
I ask my fellow Americans. Are we not free? Do we not have freedom of assembly? Do we not have freedom of the press? Do we not have freedom of speech?
What happened to ” I don’t agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it!”?
Honestly, if you think it is a good thing that journalists are more and more being arrested and beaten for covering newsworthy stories, or that American journos should only print stories that support American policy, you need to leave this country because you obviously aren’t meant to deserve the freedoms our fore fathers fought for.
And I had to sit through Huckabee touting the “Freedom” that the Republican Party has brought America during the last eight years.
And in Palin’s speech tonight: Barack Obama’s worried that terrorists won’t be read their rights. So, the moment you’re detained, you’re guilty? Chilling.
This is great! The same amerikans who ridiculed the Beijing authorities when they claimed that criminals who got in the way at the olympics were only arrested when they committed wrong-doing are now saying the same as the Chinese authorities about citizens who got arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time (eg at home in bed according to Glenn Greenwald).
The irony is delicious. I hope that amerikans succeed in their determination to bash intimidate and imprison each other. It saves the rest of the world from having to do it since every human living in that parasite country exists only because amerika has fed itself from the blood of millions of other humans about the world who were unlucky enough to live too close to some resource that amerikan corporations wanted to steal.
Watching the inhabitants of that stinking, corrupt and greedy country maim and kill each other over the election of two people whose aggressive, destructive and self serving policies are virtually identical, is a joyous entertainment for the rest of the world.
Keep it up. This is much more diverting than the trashy ‘reality’ shows which amerikans have polluted the planet with.
You are americans. Go shopping. Leave democracy to those countries that practice it. The storm trooper violence is the price you pay for being docile and subservient “patriots” for so very long. Imagine a people stupid enough to vote twice for Busch and then even consider McCain. Imagine a people stupid enough to vote neocon for 30 Plus years in a freaking row. The mind boggles.
Politics, Police, Military and the opposed public are never a good combination…..its all happening in Bangkok right now too….again.
Taylor: do some research before posting your article. Kentucky “Kernel”?!? It’s Kentucky Colonel there, smart fella. This just shows that you are unable or unwilling to do needed research before posting your article.
LOL … What a bunch (not all!) of boneheads! Yea, like George Bush is sitting behind a camera pointing out people to arrest! Jsut like he ’caused’ Katrina. If ANYHTING it is the Libs that cause these problems! You don’t see a bunch of conservatives out trashing the DNC! We let them have their say and leave them alone. But when it is time for the RNC, all the friggin whacko dems come out to disrupt things! WHO is the one interferring with free speech!?!?!? WE let you have your say, now let us have ours! If the US evey becomes a dictatorship or you feel opressed, it will because of the DEMS and LIBS, NOT the REPS and Conservatives who want LESS government. PS: Get a hair cut and don’t cover your face with a hood and you wouldn’t be watched so closely! You want attention you got it! 15 seconds of youtube fame, now get your butt in the cell and hush up.
Ok, the freedom of the PRESS.
Certainly the press is free, and should also be unbiased. I often think that they should be wearing striped shirts (no not like criminals you dolt, like a referee) to remind them and those watching that they are to be UNbiased. As it is they are not required to wear the striped shirts, but they are required to wear a press pass (these three forgot to wear theirs).
If the police are arresting a group of rioters the press has a right to cover it. . . WITH CREDENTIALS SHOWING. If you are in the middle of a riot, and have no credentials, you are subject to arrest. If after this you are charged with a felony, then not only did the police find you in the riot, they also have a good reason to think you were part of it, or, you resisted arrest (perhaps trying to free yourself as a part of the uncredentialed press).
Bottom line – you want the people to be free and the police to protect you. Guess what, the police are people too. My brother in law has put his life on the line at least 2 times so far, once helping someone get out of an area where someone was shooting at them, and once breaking into a crashed truck and rescuing someone moments before the truck exploded. You want to talk bad about police, and then associate them with the current sitting administration. Well folks, you can say what you want (you would even if you did not have the freedom to do so, which yes, the administration, and John McCain support that freedom). But I do not see you throwing a fit about the “Fairness Doctrine” and the fact that it would prevent such freedom (unless you pay for the time where someone speaks and everyone turns off the radio).
You are so double standard based and biased that you actually think it is what should be.
Wake up, smell the coffee, grow up and for goodness sakes people, GET OVER YOURSELVES!
some quick points:
KYDave- I am a Kentuckian. our student newspaper at the University of Kentucky is, in fact, called the Kentucky Kernel and has been called the Kentucky Kernel since 1915. If you’d like to check it out, you can: http://www.kykernel.com
Casey- I’m not sure where you ever got the impression that I said George Bush, or even the Republican party, was wholly (or even partially) responsible for the arrests. My point is that it is a greater phenomenon that has permeated our society that I find extremely troubling. The violation of constitutional rights is completely unacceptable, no matter who is responsible (the Bush administration does, however, have a pretty terrible record on this). and you should also have looked into whether or not there were conservatives at the DNC. there were, in fact, plenty of ridiculous conservatives protesting at the DNC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7NyM1wOiuI
Mike-
sorry that I didn’t see your comment until just now. regarding press passes: if you look at the AP photo that shows Ed Matthews being sprayed with pepper spray, you can actually see him wearing his press credentials. I’m not certain about McIntosh or Winn. But it appears that the excuse given by the police dept. isn’t that they weren’t credentialed, but that they weren’t on assignment. At least that is my reading of the statement- as it is obvious Matthews is wearing his credentials. You can get all of that info at the KY Kernel website, which is the first link in the post.