Charges Dropped Against Democracy Now Journalists

by: Chris Bowers

Fri Sep 19, 2008 at 17:52


All charges against the Democracy Now! Journalists arrested at the Republican convention have been dropped:

Charges Dropped Against Democracy Now! Journalists - Investigation Needed

The St. Paul City Attorney's office announced Friday it will not prosecute Democracy Now! journalists Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman also issued a statement Friday that "the city will decline to prosecute misdemeanor charges for presence at an unlawful assembly for journalists arrested during the Republican National Convention."

Both announcements come two weeks after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention where over 40 journalists were arrested while reporting on protests taking place outside the convention center.

Upon learning of the news, Democracy Now! Host, Amy Goodman said, "It's good that these false charges have finally been dropped, but we never should have been arrested to begin with. These violent and unlawful arrests disrupted our work and had a chilling effect on the reporting of dissent. Freedom of the press is also about the public's right to know what is happening on their streets. There needs to be a full investigation of law enforcement activities during the convention."

An investigation is indeed necessary, but I am already pretty sure about what happened:

  1. In August, protesters at the 2004 RNC successfully won police brutality lawsuits against the New York City police department.
  2. So, a few days later, the Republican Party indemnified the St. Paul police for up to $10 million in the event that charges of police brutality would be brought against them.
  3. Then, at the convention, the police went out and illegally beat up $10 million worth of progressives, including progressive media. It was a free beating for them.

In short, the Republican Party paid for $10 million of thuggery against progressives. You know, like a garnish on their convention. How can a gathering of conservative authoritarians be complete without a good hippie beat down, anyway? Here is the video of one of the Democracy Now! Journalists being arrested, which I think tells a clearer tale of this than even the often viewed Amy Goodman video:


He is John McCain, and he approved this message.

Basically, with no cause, police ran over and beat up some members of the progressive media. They did it because the money they will lose from civil suits over the matter has already been paid. So, of course the charges were dropped. There were no real charges. It was beating, paid for by the Republican Party, pure and simple.

Chris Bowers :: Charges Dropped Against Democracy Now Journalists

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Charges Dropped Against Democracy Now Journalists | 17 comments
The Solution Is Equally Obvious (4.00 / 3)
Sue them for $100 million.  And don't settle until you've totally exhausted all avenues of discovery.

If you get enough to actually prove the collusion alleged above--which, quite honestly, makes perfect sense to me--then triple it to $300 million and add the RNC to the lawsuit.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

Other ways to make St Paul pay a price (4.00 / 3)
Was out there last week while friends of mine organized a picket at the mayor's fundraiser.
Upset over his handling of the RNC, about 40 people gathered for a peaceful picket at a fundraiser for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman on Friday night, September 12. Many of the mostly-DFL picketers attested to having attended this fundraiser as Coleman supporters in previous years.

This was actually a little shocking in this "Minnesota nice" town where the political class all know each other.

Can it happen here?

[ Parent ]
The RNC needs to become a pariah (4.00 / 2)
like the WTO. Let them hold their conventions in Qatar until they are ready to act like civilized people.

Montani semper liberi
[ Parent ]
You Know, I Never Thought Anyone Could Make Me Feel Sorry For Qatar (4.00 / 1)
But you just did!

Amazing!

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
If they don't sue, then they're whining. (0.00 / 0)
Here's hoping they have the integrity to see this through and make them pay. If they don't, it will just happen again.  
[ Parent ]
Indemnified, eh? (4.00 / 1)
I'm not a lawyer, but that's sounds like the smoking gun to me. I hadn't seen this video...makes me really angry.  

"This ain't for the underground. This here is for the sun." -Saul Williams
[ Parent ]
Batson suits, conspiracy, federal charges can be explored ... (0.00 / 0)
Maybe they shouldn't have done this when the statute of limitations for police assaults under color of law will extend into the Obama Administration.

I speak only for myself, not for those voices in the next room that won't leave me alone.
[ Parent ]
you gotta love (0.00 / 0)
the protect and serve motto of the police, fascists never protect and they only serve their rw masters who also believe in fascism, power to the people who are the real heros in america.
Is this kind of prepaid impunity (0.00 / 0)
a usual or standard kind of thing? Did the Dems do the same? Or is this yet another example of the change that the GOP is bringing to America?
This has gone on at least since 2000 (0.00 / 0)
The GOP Convention in Philadelphia in 2000 was open season on lefty activists.  The BS had exactly the same profile:  liability insurance against lawsuits, pre-emptive detentions, infiltration of activist groups by undercover cops (who also acted as instigators trying to start violence), police brutality, illegal arrests.

Here is a Nation story about the 2000 RNC and the aftermath.  Everyone ended up being acquitted, IIRC.

All of this happened pre-9/11, of course -- and under a Democratic Mayor and Democratic President.

$10M probably wont cut it (0.00 / 0)
it could easily cost them a lot more, depending on how long the detentions were and if there was on assault on people.

But what will happen is it will take years and years to litigate. RNC 2004 in NYC is still in discovery. The fighting over discovery alone has take years. its not a fun battle suing over this stuff.

Michael Bloomberg, prince of corporate welfare

who is the mayor? (4.00 / 1)
why would you agree to a deal like that?
Insurance & bailouts, Not Freedom (0.00 / 0)
It has been reported -- sorry I don't have a link -- that the City of St. Paul took out insurance against claims stemming from treatment of protestors at the 2008 Convention.  Perhaps from AIG?  Perhaps the taxpayers will bail them out on this one too?

The truth is that for large events like Conventions or Inaugurations, it just is not a free country anymore.  It is, instead, to borrow the title of Rick Perlstein's monumental book, "Nixonland", not the United States that I love.  People are not free to demonstrate, the press is not free and preventitive detention is the rule, not the exception.  The 2004 New York Convention was the worst but St. Paul was bad, Denver was just a little better and the far-right still loves the police riot from 1968 in Chicago.  There will be payouts from lawsuits but they will be much, much smaller than 100 million.  This is the land of the bailout, not the land of the free.

initial settlement offers (0.00 / 0)
will run in the $20,000 per range for straightforward arrests, maybe double where there's an un-necessary force element.

Insurance companies  more likely to seek quick settlements than municipalities on their own, where the Mayor can kick the budget impact down to a successor by stalling.



This is a Test of the Emergency Free Speech System. This is only a Test. In an actual Free Speech Emergency, I'll be locked up.

Standard discovery (4.00 / 1)
includes disclosure of the insurance policies. And like the commenters on the talk left item, I'd love to see this policy. While I suspect that Chris is right in how the dynamics played out (RNC pays for beatdowns) it's so contrary to how insurance works. You don't get a homeowners policy and then set your house on fire. Or, more to the point, if your policy has coverage for "personal injury" defined as resulting from assault, you wouldn't feel suddenly emboldened to go out and get in bar fights.

It's generally against public policy to insure against intentional acts and insurance companies are not shy about applying that exclusion. The RNC might have bought some coverage, but I suspect it will end up only covering defense costs and not the actual judgments. I don't see how you could write a policy that would cover such wanton illegality. I could see an insurance company deciding not to challenge the indemnity issue against the city if some sort of fix were in. But even then... it would be totally contrary to how insurance companies operate to ignore an easy way to avoid paying ten million.

I've had cases with specific policy language covering  the claimed tort and no evidence that the insured intended to cause the injury (this is how intentional torts survive the "intentional acts" exclusions) and the insurance company just boldly declares "no coverage." I've rather developed the impression that they offer these additional coverages with no intention of ever paying them out, so I wouldn't be surprised if they do the same to St. Paul.

It's Called "Moral Hazard" (0.00 / 0)
Or, more to the point, if your policy has coverage for "personal injury" defined as resulting from assault, you wouldn't feel suddenly emboldened to go out and get in bar fights.

And the right wing has been obsessing over it for 30 years now, seeing it as a plague upon the land.

So of course they would do it.  Don't they always do everything they worry that other folks will do?

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
both conventions (0.00 / 0)
lest we forget, there were lots of illegal and unnecessary arrests at the DNC in Denver, too.  There should be investigations in Denver, too!
Charges Dropped Against Democracy Now Journalists | 17 comments
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