International condemnation; journalist Andrea Sahouri (Des Moines, George: school, university, live)

[smpliving]

DES MOINES, Iowa — Testimony was ongoing Tuesday in the trial of Andrea Sahouri, the Des Moines Register reporter who was arrested while covering racial justice protests last summer.

Sahouri's case has drawn widespread condemnation from journalism and free press organizations as she is one of just a handful of reporters still facing charges after being arrested during coverage of the protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

Jurors heard testimony Monday and Tuesday from police officers who responded May 31 to a protest where Sahouri was on assignment that had turned violent and devolved to looting and destruction of property ...


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...se/6926331002/

[smpliving]

The trial ends today in the prosecution of Andrea Sahouri, a Des Moines Register reporter covering a BLM protest in Des Moines last summer.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media...eporter-trial/
“Register reporter Katie Akin also took the stand, and testified that she had been reporting alongside Sahouri that day.

“I started to yell that we were reporters because I wanted to make it clear to officers that we were there to do our job,” Akin said. The police department is conducting a separate internal review over video showing an officer spray Akin in the eye with chemicals after she identified herself as a reporter 17 times within 30 seconds.

Authorities have otherwise said very little in public about the case in the 10 months between Sahouri’s arrest and her trial, despite protests from organizations including Amnesty International and more than 250 people affiliated with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where Sahouri graduated.

[smpliving]

After less than two hours of deliberation, the jury finds Des Moines Register reporter, Andrea Sahouri, not guilty of all charges while covering a Black Lives Matter protest in Des Moines days after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020.

If she had been found guilty, Sahouri’s misdemeanor charges could have resulted in fines and up to 30 days in jail.


https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-rel...nd-not-guilty/

[rayman29]

Breaking into a Target, a GameStop, or any other business to steal is not nor has it ever been protesting. The charges should have been dropped, but clearing out a mall that was closed and broken into is not the time to tell police you’re a reporter and don’t have to leave. The whole thing was ridiclious and never should have happened. Protesting racism and injustice is something much needed and appreciated, but chaos and anarchy are not.

[Tek_Freek]

So it should be ignored and not reported on? Sure, let the police do whatever they want with no oversight. Let looters get away with whatever they want with no oversight.