Jonathan Meador, Reporter, Films Own Occupy Nashville Arrest (VIDEO)

A reporter who was arrested during an Occupy Nashville Protest has posted video of his altercation with authorities. His employer says the video offers proof that the arrest was unlawful.

Jonathan Meador, who works for the alt-weekly Nashville Scene was arrested and charged with public intoxication, according to The Tennessean. Meador said he had one drink at dinner, but was not drunk, the paper reported.

In the video, troopers come up to Meador, who tells them "I'm a member of the media," and says "I'm getting off [of the plaza]."

Then Meador is presumably arrested, after which a trooper is heard saying, "Tell him when you get him up there to charge him with resisting arrest," to which another trooper responds, "Yes, sir."

The Nashville Scene posted a response to the video, which includes this contention:

What you will hear, very clearly, is a trooper telling another officer to book Meador for resisting arrest. You will also hear, very clearly, audio evidence of Meador's contention: that he was simply doing his job as a reporter and tried to get off the plaza to comply with the law

The Scene also denies the allegation that Meador was intoxicated and notes that there is no mention of this charge in the video.

The Tennessean spoke to Bill Hobbs, a media relations consultant and ex-Republican spokesman who said he talked to Meador at the protest and he did not seem intoxicated.

“He was not drinking, and he did not appear to be drunk,” Hobbs told the paper.

Meador's boss, Chris Ferrell, CEO at South Comm which owns the Scene, is demanding that Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam apologize for the arrest.

"What I simply asked for this morning was for the governor to acknowledge the mistake, apologize for it, and assure the citizens of Tennessee that he would uphold the Bill of Rights," Ferrell told News Channel 5.

Haslam's spokesperson, David Smith, told The Huffington Post that the state's Department of Safety is looking into the matter.

"We of course respect the rights of the media and by no means want to infringe on the rights of the media to do their job," Smith said. "The Department of Safety is looking at the situation and finding out exactly what happened."

Smith said it was premature to talk about an apology before the investigation is finished.

WATCH video of the arrest:

Comments

[Endogenous Light Nexus]

12:35 AM on 11/03/2011

NOTE TO COPS: your bullying lawbreaking comrades like these who abuse innocent people are the reason so many Americans have come to rejoice and cheer when one of you gets shot. Suggest you figure out a way to become more responsible and professional as a group and eliminate these kinds of bad apple cops before they ever have a chance to abuse people and generate the bad feelings that THEY deserve but which tarnish the reputations of the decent few among you.

[westreal]

02:14 PM on 11/02/2011

WOW! Just WOW!

[Johnny ElDrama]

10:01 AM on 11/02/2011

These officers have no brains whatsoever nor are properly trained. Bunch of fools with guns and sticks

[Seafarer61]

11:52 PM on 11/01/2011

All charges, if not already, will be dropped. This was handled poorly by the officers on the scene and many LEOs who I work with on a daily basis would be horrified to see how this was handled. As for the "he didn't sound intoxicated," that isn't, in of itself, a statement that immediately and correctly speaks for the reporter's condition. Many people who could legally test for public intoxication speak normally. What WAS obvious was the reporter identifying himself during his own walk away from the area that was being monitored by the officers. Had he run away, they would of chased him under "suspicious activity."

[Red45]

04:51 PM on 11/01/2011

All protesters are being released by Judge Nelson in Nashville. Check it out: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/28/tennessee-judge-orders-occupy-nashville-protesters-released/ This judge is a national hero!

[Red45]

04:49 PM on 11/01/2011

I heard on the radio yesterday that a Judge Nelson was throwing out all the Occupy Nashville arrests and refusing to indict a single person. If so, why aren't reading about it anywhere?

[Brandt931]

03:16 PM on 11/01/2011

Not only has our Governor Bill Haslam had these protestors arrested but has pushed his agenda of suppressing the Constitutional Rights of Tennesseans throughout his brief tenure in office from shooting down Nashville's anti-discrimination laws to creating the bill banning the use of the word "gay" in public schools. He's railroading civil liberties to the extent of making it illegal to upload a "potentially offensive image" to the internet this year. I addressed our Governor's antics with a visual commentary of him and his wife on my artist's blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/07/potentially-offensive-portrait-governor.html Drop by and let me know how you feel about our rights being infringed upon.

[Scar]

01:22 PM on 11/01/2011

It's obvious that the true thugs here are the Cops.

[Red45]

04:50 PM on 11/01/2011

And the thugs they report to.

[phantom power]

06:37 PM on 11/01/2011

especially the thugs they report to.

[dblshell]

09:33 AM on 11/01/2011

The "Freedom of Assembly" (ever so slightly different from the Right of Association), is used most often in the context of protest. It is granted in our constitution as well as many constitutions around the world. In fact, its universality is astounding. That is why when a nation does not afford its citizens the right to assemble, it is regarded as one of the benchmarks of a dictatorship.

Again in the U.S., we have a very broad interpretation of "Freedom of the Press" although conservatives have tried many times to weaken it.

In any case, this reporter is fairly clear to have is arrest expunged and in a better world, charge the arresting officers with violating his civil rights. If it ever got so far as court, where the officer would have to give testimony under oath, the officer could (and should), be on the hook for perjury as well. Unfortunately, we do not live in a country where laws bear the full weight of their meaning.

So no, I'm afraid I would have to disagree with those posters who say "When the police tell you you have to go, you have to go." That's not how our constitution works and for Pete's sake should NOT work.

[Kalzakath]

03:15 PM on 11/01/2011

F and F thanks for a thought ful post

[dblshell]

04:19 PM on 11/01/2011

Thank you Kalzakath, I look forward to reading more from you.

[Randy McKenzie]

06:13 AM on 11/01/2011

It's crazy that the police there would just arrest the guy without any concern about who he was or why he was there. A reporter is NOT a protester and they should not have arrested him. Police all over the country have been pushing the limits of the law lately and I think they're testing the waters to see how much we will take without fighting back.

[piercingeyes7]

07:14 AM on 11/01/2011

There just getting caught now on tape

[NHGranite]

11:53 AM on 11/01/2011

There, where?

[Scar]

01:23 PM on 11/01/2011

No one should be arrested for peaceful protest.

[piercingeyes7]

06:00 AM on 11/01/2011

purpose of peaceful demonstrat­ion is to specifical­ly break unjust laws to draw attention to them. Laws which are specifical­ly targeted, because they oppress and exacerbate the cause the demonstrat­ors are fighting for. The permitting process is cloaked in the veil of public safety , but it is used to undermine the ability of citizenry to have the voice, the founding fathers intended to empower them with. Municipali­ties have been misusing this set of laws since their inception. A group is not just required to notify of a protest, they must be approved for a permit. That approval is very subjective­.
This is exactly the kind of thing, this movement is against. The hijacking of the power structure, monetary institutio­ns, public services, public domain, infrastruc­ture, and justice system, of the people against the people for the needs of an elite few. So it is not OWS that is provoking these confrontat­ions with authoritie­s, it is the authoritie­s that are making the confrontat­ions inevitable by not issuing the permits. A permit that is unconstitu­tional to begin with, and a police force that could choose to just not enforce it, but does, and then lies to meet its objectives”

[Thaag Tidestalker]

06:23 AM on 11/01/2011

Permits for protesting makes no damn sense anyway. Peaceful public protest is a RIGHT guaranteed by the First Amendment. What's next, getting a permit if you want to make a petition? Speak your mind? Be Baptist?

[NHGranite]

12:06 PM on 11/01/2011

Here's an idea for OWS. Show up with unconcealed weapons strapped to your hip. Wear a tricorn hat with teabags as fringe. Wave a big yellow Gadsden flag. Nobody bothers you! You are protesting the same things the Tea Party was protesting till it went to you younger people. So, spray your hair gray and they'll come out in droves to support you! And the cops will never touch you, if they show up at all.

[mikenomgi]

05:56 AM on 11/01/2011

Good job, police. This "reporter" was obviously just another hippie rable-rouser.

[rusty apache]

09:01 AM on 11/01/2011

Why do you hate America?

[chucknchar]

09:33 AM on 11/01/2011

And you're an Okie from Muskogee

[jhozef]

05:51 AM on 11/01/2011

This is nothing new or shocking, Cops can do whatever they want and charge you with whatever they please and theres nothing you can say to a judge to change their minds. They hold the power to ruin a persons life by giving them a criminal record which basically sentences you to a life of poverty and joblessness. I hope videos like this open peoples eyes to the abuses of law enforcement but sadly the majority could care less.

[angeleyez111979]

05:50 AM on 11/01/2011

Very clearly, he was told to leave and he didn't. He thought he could press his luck because he was with the media and was wrong. Suck it up, you're not special. You get told to leave, you go. You don't, you go to jail. Suck it up and quit cryin, you're not special.

[Thaag Tidestalker]

06:24 AM on 11/01/2011

Soviet Russia called. They need that attitude back.

[NHGranite]

12:08 PM on 11/01/2011

Constitution much? Get over your harsh self and hit the books.

[Gail Cerridwen]

05:43 AM on 11/01/2011

This bothers me for more reasons than the obvious: There's also the unspoken assumption that arresting a reporter is almost as bad as . . . maybe arresting someone in uniform (of almost any kind)? In other words, you're considered better/more important than other citizens if you have more worldly power. (And in case you didn't yet realize it, participating in the national narrative IS powerful; just look at all the ways they try to control that.)

Look at the poor vet who was critically injured by cops at a protest; if it would've been a regular person, think we would've heard about it at all? It's always bugged me that a cop getting hurt takes precedence over . . . say, a college student? A child? Anyone else at all?

[piercingeyes7]

07:08 AM on 11/01/2011

Where as I agree about the getting assaulted part of this comment, the press is guaranteed autonomy in this society by the constitution. The media is considered the watch dog, when all else fails effort check and balances, of power abuses, in this country, and to arrest them as if they are part of an event, instead of covering it, undermines the entire fabric of freedom this country is built on

[Gail Cerridwen]

04:28 AM on 11/02/2011

I completely agree with all you say. Was simply trying to broaden the perceived impact of the unconstitutional search and seizures of all kinds going on so pervasively now to ALL citizens.

Peace.