Amy Goodman Arrested at RNC; Reports of Tear-Gassing (UPDATED at 12:00AM EST)

Journalist Amy Goodman has been arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota:

Her arrest comes amid accusations of police brutality in St. Paul. I-Witness founder Eileen Clancy was arrested and detained last Saturday by the police in an apparent preemptive arrest. Clancy states she and her team were surrounded in the house they were staying at in St. Paul before they had the chance to video tape any protests.

The police handcuffed Clancy and her team and claimed they were waiting for their search warrant. The officers were armed and at least one police offer was carrying an M-16, Clancy wrote in her blog.

In addition to preemptive arrests, the police are responding aggressively to the presence of protesters. New video is appearing on YouTube of protesters being tear-gassed by the police:

UPDATE: Goodman was arrested along with Democracy Now producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. As of 9:15 PM EST, the Ramsey County jail has charged Goodman with "conspiracy to riot" and released her, but is still detaining Kouddous and Salazar. No charges have been pressed against them.

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Laurie, the phone operator at the County Jail says she "hopes charges will be presented within the hour." As of right now, Kouddous and Salazar are being held without charges.

9:50 PM EST: Kouddous and Salazar are still being held without charges. Laurie, the operator, now expects a few hours to expire before they are officially charged with a crime. She claims the slow process is due to an unusually high number of arrests coupled with many detainees using pseudonyms. More than 100 people were arrested along with Goodman and her producers.

Early reports indicate Kouddous and Salazar were originally arrested on suspicion of rioting .

11:00PM EST: The Ramsey County Jail redirected me to something called the "Joint Information Center." Under a little pressure, the operator finally revealed his name (Sgt. William Palmer,) though he asked for my name (had me spell it twice) and asked for my phone number in exchange. Friendly stuff.

Palmer informed me that Kouddous and Salazar will be held in jail overnight until they are taken to court tomorrow. No one knows what they are being charged with, but Palmer attributes their arrest to "suspicious behavior."

Kouddous and Salazar are still being held without any formal charges.

11:22PM: Apparently, one of the job qualifications for working at the JIC (Joint Information Center) is that you must have the scariest voice in the world. I spoke with a Coast Guard named Chief Bauman, who again took down my information: name, phone number, website I write for, etc. He had me spell my name twice and repeat my phone number three times.

The JIC seems to exist less to help media representatives and more to intimidate the hell out of them. For instance, I wondered allowed why I couldn't directly speak to a media representative and first had to pass through Bauman's filter. Bauman explained he was a conduit between reporter and information.

I then asked Bauman why the JIC was staffed with police officers and Coast Guards seemingly naive to the ways of media. He informed me that he was working at the JIC for "security purposes." I laughed and said, "Yeah, I see there's a lot of security at the RNC." He didn't laugh.

Bauman said he didn't know what court Kouddous and Salazar are being taken to in the morning. He said he would get back to me.

11:33PM: Kouddous and Salazar have been released. Sgt. William Palmer called me back and said they have been released with "Pending complaints," which essentially means they were not charged while in custody, but may yet be charged with some felony at a later date.

12:00AM: Democracy Now! has posted this update:

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.

On Tuesday, Democracy Now! will broadcast video of these arrests, as well as the broader police action. These will also be available on: www.democracynow.org

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.

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities' law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.

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.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States. She has received journalism's top honors for her reporting and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage. The arrest of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and the subsequent criminal charges and threat of charges are a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists.

Democracy Now! is a nationally-syndicated public TV and radio program that airs on over 700 radio and TV stations across the US and the globe.

Mayor Chris Coleman can be contacted at: 651-266-8510 or e-mailed at: https://mn-stpaul.civicplus.com/forms.asp?FID=69
Governor Tim Pawlenty can be reached at: [phone] or e-mailed at [e-mail]
Ramsey County Jail: 651-266-9350

Comments

[teamdp]

Listen, be gentle, take nothing away...

Why hasn't Obama commented? It shakes my faith and hope at a time when I just found them again after decades of near despair, and at a time when I (we) really need them!

[flip58]

Frankly this news should be the top news story on Huffington Post, CNN, CBS, ABC, etc. IT is the internet that tis getting the story out. Goodman is the best known and most respected journalist arrested, but she was not alone arrested.

http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/09/02/3-university-of-kentucky-journalists-jailed-at-rnc/

http://carlosmiller.com/2008/09/02/four-journalists-including-ap-photog-arrested-on-riot-charges-at-rnc/

http://www.riotwatch.com/2008/09/police-seize-journalists-notes-about.html

http://iwitnessvideo.info/blog/index.html

[betterthannader]

this is absolutely appalling!

even worse, i haven't heard any of the corporate presidential campaigns issue statements condemning this. i just saw that the Nader/Gonzalez campaign issued a statement about it.

[katya49]

WHY is info like this not being aired on national new stations? Viewing these clips I see POLICE STATE ACTIVITIES and they aren't being reported?!?!? When I inadvertently heard Fox or CNN referring to the "ANARCHISTS" protesting (NOT why they were protesting, just "arrest those anarchists!") a red flag went up for me, since this is exactly the sort of lead-in the neo-cons and their cronies will use to establish martial law in the good ol USA. Mentioned this to a friend the other day who responded: that "would never happen in the US". Well I believe it's already well underway: we see no coffins from Iraq (or other) wars (so we don't react and DO SOMETHING like we did for Vietnam!); we see NO NATIONAL NEWS about extreme violations of human rights like these happening in St.Paul all week now (so we don't react and DO SOMETHING like we did back in the 60's); until recently folks were scared to say ANYTHING AGAINST those in power in Washington...I mean people at all levels were basically cowed...not speaking their minds!!! PLEASE let's DEMAND the national coverage these reports merit! These journalists and activists arrested HAD DONE NOTHING WHATSOEVER! WERE ARRESTED BEFORE THEY EVER STEPPED INTO A PEACEFUL PROTEST OR WITNESS POSITION!!! PRE-EMPTIVE TACTICS JUST LIKE BLASTING IRAQ FOR NO REASON, JUST IN CASE THEY MIGHT DO SOMETHING WE DIDN'T LIKE!

[THEhillbilly]

"Journalist Amy Goodman has been arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota:"

Ah, success.

"Goodman was arrested along with Democracy Now producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar."

"Dmocracy Now" is an amusing name for something that won't allow even a hint of diverse views.

"Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar Released After Illegal Arrest at RNC..."

You might be taken seriously if you could quell your compulsion to proclaim yourself the arbiter of what's illegal and what isn't.

I wish you had included a word or two about what the distant left crusaders were doing, and how strenuously they resisted arrest. Just enough to force the police to answer in kind, eh?

[JoDeeVa]

Thanks, Allison..the links led from one to another onandonandon. UNBELIEVABLE! How can this country claim any kind of moral high ground on civil rights/ liberties? Similar actions, here in the Pacific Northwest, have had a chilling effect on dissent and protest. "Domestic terrorism" is paranoid euphemistic doublespeak, that has legitimized and sanctioned oppression of protest, especially regarding government/ corporate enterprise and protection of their agendas. Under the broad umbrella of AETA/ Patriot Act, the feds have usurped activism/ free speech, in targeting anyone and any group they so choose, labeling them as anarchists/ eco-terrorists, etc., thus justifying abusive police actions with complicity of the courts.

I-Witness's excellent video documentation of protests/ police actions and Democracy Now's journalistic reputation in reporting them, obviously preceded them and made them game for intimidation and arrests. These incidents need wider exposure and I hope HuffPost takes the lead, philosophically and literally in reporting them!

[lthuedk_1]

These cowardly fascists arrested Goodman on an obviously contrived charge. It's more than simple false arrest. Theirs was a right wing conspiracy to act illegally.

Arrest these model Fourth Reichers and charge them with kidnapping. This is an outrage.

[LWkcma]

"Send Lawyers, guns and money.....Warren Zevon

[realpolitic]

Goodman is a political prisoner. Her crime is speaking her mind.

[LarBear]

I will not trust anything Amy Goodman has to say... She went looking TO CREATE A STORY and got one.... Her violating Police Directions and getting arrested amongst other stories... Good for the Police, and Now pay the price, AMY and Crew... The Officer was clearly telling Amy to back off... Break the Law and pay the price... Don't spin and whine and try to shift the blame and the story...

I'm 100% for peaceful Protests... Not all set out to have a peace filled Protest... My Protest is to Judges who let rioting protestors off easy... When someone sets out to break the Law, they ought not to be let off easy....

Those with very biased comments..... Why bother??? You're simply looking to blame and blast Republican's and the Police...... Is it that you consider "O" so weak, he will NOT make it on his own Merits? You have to make others "Bad," or look bad, to make you/ him look better?

[ljbucar]

The Police State going after Amy carries terrible and violent dangers -- a violence that will be used to destroy any hope of rescuing Democracy.

If "middle America" can be made to believe that there is an effective violent underground /terrorist/domestic threat, that fear will be turned against the Constitution, you, me and Obama. Corporate news has been making a huge deal out of the "Anarchists" in St. Paul.

ROVE IS BEHIND MCCAIN'S CAMPAIGN.

People who are afraid, will be told to look at Obama's organizing power, his false/manufactured relationships with the "violent Left," the fact that he is the "most liberally-voting senator," (whatever the hell THAT means), his charismatic appeal, his CULT, his Star Quality.


People WILL be made to fear him. (And, he's warned us this will happen) That sounds a little like Genesis, I know; but it's true. He has said from the very beginning that all the stops will be pulled out to keep the American people from having a choice. ALL the stops. He knows the threat that an organized American public poses to the oligarchists.)

People who are afraid will return to FOX. People don't like to be afraid, but worse: people are afraid of NOT being afraid when they should be (complacency, which is another favorite word of the oligarchists who are stirring fear.) FOX will tell us it's appropriate to be afraid AND FOX will give them a comprehensive list of things/groups/people/leaders to fear.

[bogues]

This is the way the GOP always operates. I remember vividly seeing people jerked up and dragged out by the collar if they dared to disagree with George Bush as he campaigned. Just holding up a sign that the GOP does not like can get you arrested in this country that McCain claims to love so much. Of course they are and will blame it on the Democrats. They always do! AMERICA, it is time to take our country back and put it in the hands of those who respect all of us, not just the ones who share our political or religious beliefs. VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN.

[foxfan]

Has anyone here seen the many different videos of the masked (too cowardly to show their faces?) hoodlums who are breaking windows, trashing vending machines, and the like? I can't address individual cases, and if the above is true it needs to be investgated and prosecuted, but it isn't like the crowds are sitting around doing needlepoint when the gestapo rolls over them with tanks. It may be a small percentage of the crowds, but they are violent and dangerous and the police should use any means to stop them.

[mooph]

Amy, Sharif and Nicole were on the Thom Hartmann Radio Program this morning.

Sharif, I believe, also told of a New York Post photographer being arrested at the same time.

[DontBeFoolish]

Is this America? WHAT THE ?.