[Reader-list] Arrests at American Theater of Absurd

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

Why We Were Falsely Arrested
Wednesday 03 September 2008
by: Amy Goodman, Truthdig

    St. Paul, Minnesota - Government crackdowns on journalists are a
true threat to democracy. As the Republican National Convention meets
in St. Paul, Minn., this week, police are systematically targeting
journalists. I was arrested with my two colleagues, "Democracy Now!"
producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, while reporting on
the first day of the RNC. I have been wrongly charged with a
misdemeanor. My co-workers, who were simply reporting, may be charged
with felony riot.

    The Democratic and Republican national conventions have become
very expensive and protracted acts of political theater, essentially
four-day-long advertisements for the major presidential candidates.
Outside the fences, they have become major gatherings for grass-roots
movements-for people to come, amidst the banners, bunting, flags and
confetti, to express the rights enumerated in the Constitution's First
Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances."

    Behind all the patriotic hyperbole that accompanies the
conventions, and the thousands of journalists and media workers who
arrive to cover the staged events, there are serious violations of the
basic right of freedom of the press. Here on the streets of St. Paul,
the press is free to report on the official proceedings of the RNC,
but not to report on the police violence and mass arrests directed at
those who have come to petition their government, to protest.

    It was Labor Day, and there was an anti-war march, with a huge
turnout, with local families, students, veterans and people from
around the country gathered to oppose the war. The protesters greatly
outnumbered the Republican delegates.

    There was a positive, festive feeling, coupled with a growing
anxiety about the course that Hurricane Gustav was taking, and whether
New Orleans would be devastated anew. Later in the day, there was a
splinter march. The police-clad in full body armor, with helmets, face
shields, batons and canisters of pepper spray-charged. They forced
marchers, onlookers and working journalists into a nearby parking lot,
then surrounded the people and began handcuffing them.

    Nicole was videotaping. Her tape of her own violent arrest is
chilling. Police in riot gear charged her, yelling, "Get down on your
face." You hear her voice, clearly and repeatedly announcing "Press!
Press! Where are we supposed to go?" She was trapped between parked
cars. The camera drops to the pavement amidst Nicole's screams of
pain. Her face was smashed into the pavement, and she was bleeding
from the nose, with the heavy officer with a boot or knee on her back.
Another officer was pulling on her leg. Sharif was thrown up against
the wall and kicked in the chest, and he was bleeding from his arm.

    I was at the Xcel Center on the convention floor, interviewing
delegates. I had just made it to the Minnesota delegation when I got a
call on my cell phone with news that Sharif and Nicole were being
bloody arrested, in every sense. Filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise
Films and I raced on foot to the scene. Out of breath, we arrived at
the parking lot. I went up to the line of riot police and asked to
speak to a commanding officer, saying that they had arrested
accredited journalists.

    Within seconds, they grabbed me, pulled me behind the police line
and forcibly twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me, the
rigid plastic cuffs digging into my wrists. I saw Sharif, his arm
bloody, his credentials hanging from his neck. I repeated we were
accredited journalists, whereupon a Secret Service agent came over and
ripped my convention credential from my neck. I was taken to the St.
Paul police garage where cages were set up for protesters. I was
charged with obstruction of a peace officer. Nicole and Sharif were
taken to jail, facing riot charges.

    The attack on and arrest of me and the "Democracy Now!" producers
was not an isolated event. A video group called I-Witness Video was
raided two days earlier. Another video documentary group, the Glass
Bead Collective, was detained, with its computers and video cameras
confiscated. On Wednesday, I-Witness Video was again raided, forced
out of its office location. When I asked St. Paul Police Chief John
Harrington how reporters are to operate in this atmosphere, he
suggested, "By embedding reporters in our mobile field force."

    On Monday night, hours after we were arrested, after much public
outcry, Nicole, Sharif and I were released. That was our Labor Day.
It's all in a day's work.

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    Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international
TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America.