They’ve already arrested Amy Goodman of Democracy Now (and many of her producers) for — what? Being a liberal journalist I guess. Who needs brownshirts when you have the Blue Shirts and SWAT teams at your beck and call?
Here’s the Democracy Now link regarding her arrest and her subsequent release:
(cont.)
Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar Released After Illegal Arrest at RNC
Goodman Charged with Obstruction; Felony Riot Charges Pending Against Kouddous and Salazar
ST. PAUL–Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar have all been released from police custody in St. Paul following their illegal arrest by Minneapolis Police on Monday afternoon.
All three were violently manhandled by law enforcement officers. Abdel Kouddous was slammed against a wall and the ground, leaving his arms scraped and bloodied. He sustained other injuries to his chest and back. Salazar’s violent arrest by baton-wielding officers, during which she was slammed to the ground while yelling, “I’m Press! Press!,” resulted in her nose bleeding, as well as causing facial pain. Goodman’s arm was violently yanked by police as she was arrested. […]
Goodman was arrested while questioning police about the unlawful detention of Kouddous and Salazar who were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman’s crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were arrested on suspicion of rioting, a felony. While the three have been released, they all still face charges stemming from their unlawful arrest. Kouddous and Salazar face pending charges of suspicion of felony riot, while Goodman has been officially charged with obstruction of a legal process and interference with a “peace officer.”
Democracy Now! forcefully rejects all of these charges as false and an attempt at intimidation of these journalists. We demand that the charges be immediately and completely dropped. […]
During the demonstration in which the Democracy Now! team was arrested, law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force against protesters and journalists. Several dozen demonstrators were also arrested during this action, including a photographer for the Associated Press.
Funny, I don’t remember any Fox News people being arrested for covering the protests at the DNC. Guess being a conservative Republican hack (or playing one on TV) means you still have freedom of speech and the press. Being liberal? Not so much. Here’s the Washington Post story about these arrests:
“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.”
If McCain wins this sort of thing will become omnipresent at any official or political gathering. If Obama wins, does anyone believe the Secret Service will always have his back? When they (the Secret Service, that is) participate in roughing up and intimidating journalists solely because of their political or ideological leanings (I haven’t heard of any conservative reporters being arrested, have you?) what does that say about the kind of country we live in? How far away are we from a Putin-like Russian state where offensive journalists are murdered by the state under mysterious circumstances and opposition leaders are arrested on trumped up charges?
We’re on a razor’s edge at the moment by my reckoning. Cops don’t arrest people for no good reason unless they feel entitled to do so by their superiors. And those superiors don’t give them that authority unless they feel they have the backing of politicians and other authorities and power brokers who will back their play. Mayor Bloomberg’s mass arrests in NYC in 2004 were just the beginning. What we are witnessing in the Twin Cities this week (or not witnessing on mainstream media as the case may be) is frankly far too far down the rabbit hole for my liking.
Expressing dangerous opinions gets you in some DOD data base. Covering protesters? That gets you arrested.
Hey look! The fascist shift for all to see. Notice how nobody really cares and there’s even prominent people speaking in defense of the authoritarian tactics. I’m sorry, but regardless of who pulls off this election, I still think we’re fucked. Jonathan Schwarz puts it succinctly, IMHO:
I really do have a bad feeling about all of this. I only hope I’m completely misreading things. . .
We live in scary times!
The arrest of Amy Goodman is an outrage. And I am very glad that it is recognized by the writers here as such.
I’m still a bit miffed that the indiscriminate use of rubber bullets, tear gas, and concussion grenades on protesters is not more roundly criticized, when used on the “anarchists.”
I agree with you StevenD. We truly seem to be on a razor’s edge. And I’m glad you are writing about it. But, for me, the razor has already cut for many of us on the “left.” Now, as you correctly point out, the razor’s edge stands between Republicans and persons as notable as Amy Goodman. But many have already been cut up by the razor. Look to your left. They are all already shredded. Not allowed a place to talk/protest. “Anarchists.” Communists. Marxists. Socialsts. Social democrats. Liberals. 9/11 truthers. Black preachers who talk about oppression. The “left” is throwing its membership under the bus as fast as possible. Has been since at least post-WWII as far as I can see from history. And this is just where we are now. On the road to Fascism and no one even has a road map, let alone the good sense to stop at a gas station and ask for directions.
What this country has left as far as room for acceptable political debate can be seen on the two sides of the table on any cable news talk show, and that’s about the extent of it.
It sure does seem a lot like that old saying, “First they came for the… and I did nothing….” No blame to you Steven D. You are writing about it all everyday. But when we don’t all stand together for the least of us, as the fascists get emboldened, then I guess we end up with a culture that allows Amy Goodman to spend some time in the freezer nursing her bruises. At least we are only halfway down the road. At least they released her without torturing or killing her. Maybe there is still time for the “left” to come together and forcefully respond.
The freedom of speech and assembly has never been free. Not in this country. We have a long history of abusing anyone who is perceived to have stepped accross the line of acceptable discourse. And usually that has meant discourse on the left being suppressed, not discourse on the right.
Unlike Chicago 1968, when war protests at the Democratic convention was interrupted, and the MSM was there with cameras rolling, one just can’t see a thing in the MSM today about these arrests by the police, which have been pretty rough.
Makes you wonder, why?
That’s strictly a rhetorical question, right?
Instead of “The whole world is watching!” the chant is, “No one is watching.”
There is another difference between 1968 and 2008. Back then the coverage of the police riots helped to defeat the Democrats. Now, the lack of footage of the brutality will help the Republicans. So the difference in coverage is really all about supporting the MIC.
I’ll bet the cops told the nets to stay away from the protests or get arrested, so they did. After all,an AP reporter “dumb enough” to show up was arrested too. I think the MSM, not inclined to cover these protests anyway (not with a hurricane to cover and the Palin controversy) said to themselves we don’t need the headaches. So they didn’t cover them and they won’t. They’ll just repeat what the police spokespeople tell them happened. Sort of like in Baghdad.
“Mayor Bloomberg’s mass arrests in NYC in 2004 were just the beginning.”
Just the beginning? Have you forgotten the rest of American history? How the Democrats under Wilson arrested and imprisoned thousands for protesting their latest illegal war? How the Democrats during the 60s violently attacked and arrested thousands? Have you forgotten how many millions of lives have been destroyed becaues of the War on Drugs, which the Democrats have backed just as strongly as the Republicans (if not more)?
Sorry, but the hypocrisy is a bit much too bear. How long are you folks going to go on deluding yourself into thinking that the Democrats are any different or better than the Republicans? Come on, folks, get real. The Democrats, like the Republicans, are extremely violent, nasty, warmongering people with a long history of treating human rights with contempt. How many lives have to be destroyed before people wake up?
Agreed, poor choice of words.
This is very disturbing. No outcry is more evidence we’ve crossed the Rubicon.
This is despicable, but let’s also not forget is was a certain Clinton Administration under which it became perfectly acceptable for the cause to relocate protesters away from this convention hall or that speaking engagement location and across town where they’d not be photographed or videoed anywhere close to the candidate — where all the “respectable news folks” were covering the story. More than a few protesters back then were manhandled by the authorities, but because they were up in arms about cigars in the oval office and a little lady named Monica… well, that was insufficient cause to care about their first amendment rights.
Again, you can’t have it both ways:
Either way, this police state behavior ought to be fought.