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Journalists Face Jail Time After Reporting on North Dakota Pipeline Protest (techcrunch.com) 357

Investigative reporter and co-founder of Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, is now facing riot charges in the state of North Dakota after her report on a Native American-led pipeline protest there went viral on Facebook. From a TechCrunch report:Democracy Now! issued a statement about the new charges against Goodman late Saturday. Goodman's story, posted to Facebook on September 4th, has been viewed more than 14 million times on the social media platform, Democracy Now! said, and was picked up by mainstream media outlets and networks including CBS, NBC, NPR, CNN, MSNBC and The Huffington Post. Additionally, documentary filmmaker Deia Schlosberg, is facing felony and conspiracy charges that could carry a 45-year sentence for filming at the protest, IndieWire reports.
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Journalists Face Jail Time After Reporting on North Dakota Pipeline Protest

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  • Get it MFers? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    No. Dissent. Allowed.

    • Re:Get it MFers? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Hylandr ( 813770 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:57PM (#53092837)

      How is it Reporters covering real injustice are put in jail for inciting riots but race-baiters like al sharpton get off scott-free for inciting riots and inciting police murders?

      Wtf?

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by NatasRevol ( 731260 )

        Or a Trump supporter making direct threats to take out Clinton?

        https://www.buzzfeed.com/tasne... [buzzfeed.com]

      • Re:Get it MFers? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Vermonter ( 2683811 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:28PM (#53093187)
        Because race-baiters aren't a threat to the establishment and serve to keep the public distracted from real issues.
      • Re:Get it MFers? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:59PM (#53093537)

        Well the real question is what are the details that may not be in the story?

        Journalists tend to protect themselves so to expect full reporting on what the journalist may had done in excess of just covering it, may be left out.

        I know this is circular reasoning but I would like to figure out the other side before I go all crazy.

        • by sjames ( 1099 )

          In Schlosberg's case, the charges don't even make sense. For example, theft of property or service. Do they allege that she stole the pipeline? Or that she caused it to carry her own crude oil without paying?

          As for Goodman, here's the video [facebook.com].

        • "The new charge comes after the prosecutor dropped criminal trespassing charges. State’s Attorney Ladd R. Erickson filed the new charges on Friday before District Judge John Grinsteiner who will decide on Monday (October 17) whether probable cause exists for the riot charge. Goodman has travelled to North Dakota to face the charges and will appear at Morton County court on Monday at 1:30 p.m. local time (CDT) if the charges are approved. "I came back to North Dakota to fight a trespass charge. They sa

    • Re:Get it MFers? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:22PM (#53093105)

      Have you looked at any of these videos? The few I've seen look a lot less like protests and more like sieges. Some of the "protestors" have literally broken into pipeline facilities using bolt cutters and started turning valves to disrupt the system. The specific case I believe where this reporters charges are based was from what I have seen several hundred people attacking a pipeline crew (from the clip I saw it looked like one woman tried to break through a line of workers, they tackled her, and protesters swarmed on the workers throwing punches/kicks and chasing them on horseback). If she was merely there as an observer then the charges should be tossed, if she was a part of the acts then she was about as much of a reporter as someone videotaping a dog fight to make a promo video for it. Protesting allows you to make your discontent known by marching and speaking out, not breaking/entering and assault.

      • Re:Get it MFers? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Aaden42 ( 198257 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:33PM (#53093227) Homepage
        I have no first person knowledge, but having followed Amy Goodman's career for the last 15 years or so, it's inconceivable that she would be active in any attack or sabotage in anything short of a self defense situation if she were sucked into the fray. She's one of a dying breed of people who deserve to hold the title "journalist."
  • Hmm... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:25PM (#53092459)

    I feel like I'm not getting the full picture here

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You don't need the full picture You must only feel rage.
      • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jedidiah ( 1196 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:35PM (#53092585) Homepage

        In that part of the country they have laws intended to suppress reporting of negative things about agribusiness and such. The reporter might have run afoul of one of those.

        Whatever the excuse, hopefully it will get bitch slapped by the Supremes and struck down.

        • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by BlueStrat ( 756137 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:53PM (#53092797)

          In that part of the country they have laws intended to suppress reporting of negative things about agribusiness and such. The reporter might have run afoul of one of those.

          Whatever the excuse, hopefully it will get bitch slapped by the Supremes and struck down.

          It appears that the protesters were attempting to shut down pipeline pumping stations, and the charges against (at least in the filmaker's case) are "conspiracy to 'X'" type charges where the actual protesters were charged with "committing 'X'" type charges outright.

          It appears that the government's position in practice is that if a journalist suspects the subjects he is reporting on may commit a crime, the journalist is obligated to report them to authorities or face conspiracy charges.

          Hope everyone enjoyed that "freedom of the press" stuff while it lasted. Remember, a vote for anything other than (D) or (R) is a wasted vote!

          Strat

          • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

            by Archtech ( 159117 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:00PM (#53092859)

            Remember, a vote for anything other than (D) or (R) is a wasted vote!

            And a vote for (D) or (R) is a wasted vote. The Deep State will continue on its course, completely unaffected.

            • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Informative)

              by BlueStrat ( 756137 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:31PM (#53093203)

              Remember, a vote for anything other than (D) or (R) is a wasted vote!

              And a vote for (D) or (R) is a wasted vote. The Deep State will continue on its course, completely unaffected.

              I agree, as I suspect someone else might if he were alive today.

              "The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty

                      Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

                      It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

                      There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume." - George Washington's farewell address, September 17, 1796 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki... [wikisource.org]

              Strat

              • Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Informative)

                by DuckDodgers ( 541817 ) <keeper_of_the_wo ... .com minus berry> on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:53PM (#53093475)
                That's a great quote. But your signature is dishonest. Unlawful surveillance and torture of prisoners started under the Republicans.

                Or is the surveillance/police state fine, as long as it's not run by Democrats?
                • i didnt know FDR was a republican
              • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Interesting)

                by BlueStrat ( 756137 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @02:14PM (#53093691)

                I rarely reply to my own posts, but I felt that this was worth pointing out because it's so amazing.

                Whenever arguments over the Constitution come up (particularly the 2nd Amendment) there are those who argue that the authors could not anticipate the modern world.

                However, this portion of Washington's farewell address:

                It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

                It's like the man was reading our current news headlines!

                Science, medicine, and technology have advanced tremendously, but basic human nature remains little-changed since we first started using tools. The founders knew and recognized this and so designed a system of government that used those human tendencies in a balanced leverage against itself. That system has since been altered by those seeking power & wealth such that the balance required is gone, and so we get what we currently have.

                Strat

          • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Interesting)

            by imidan ( 559239 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:13PM (#53092999)

            It appears that the protesters were attempting to shut down pipeline pumping stations

            Huh? Did you watch the video that they're claiming is evidence of Goodman participating in a riot? Protesters were trying to stop bulldozers. They went over a fence and then a bunch of security goons pulled up and sicced dogs on them while spraying them with mace.

            They originally tried to charge the protesters with trespassing, but apparently the fence was not properly marked to make that charge stick, so now they've changed it to 'rioting'. Anyhow, it wasn't that Goodman interviewed some people who seemed likely to commit a crime. She was there with a camera crew when they went over the fence, and she covered the story. I don't know what it takes to convict a person of rioting in North Dakota, but I'd be pretty surprised if the charges are not dismissed.

          • by Pascoea ( 968200 )

            It appears that the government's position in practice is that if a journalist suspects the subjects he is reporting on may commit a crime, the journalist is obligated to report them to authorities...

            I wasn't there, so I can't do anything besides speculate. Was she inside the fence with the people attempting to shut off a pipeline valve? (unrelated, don't do that. It's fucking stupid) Or was she standing on public property filming? One of those would make her an accomplice, the other wouldn't.

            If the cops roll up on a bank robbery in progress and you were found in the building with the people doing the robbing I'd suspect the cops aren't going to let you go because you had a video camera and claime

            • by Aaden42 ( 198257 )

              If the cops roll up on a bank robbery in progress and you were found in the building with the people doing the robbing I'd suspect the cops aren't going to let you go because you had a video camera and claimed you were making a documentary.

              Generally speaking, you're right, but if anything they'd hold you as a material witness, not charge you with robbery. Particularly if you had the press credentials and career accolades that Amy Goodman has.

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by taustin ( 171655 )

            A plausible theory. In the absence of any details (which we do not have), it is also plausible that the entire protest was staged for the cameras, at her instigation, which would, indeed, make her a conspirator (assuming the protest committed a crime).

            I doubt we'll ever get enough detail to tell.

            (You're right about sketchy laws in some parts of the country, but the pipeline protestors have engaged in organized violence against the pipeline before. I suspect it's more of a pox on all their houses situation.)

        • by amiga3D ( 567632 )

          Laws against reporting things tend to run afoul of the First Amendment.

    • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Informative)

      by hey! ( 33014 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:56PM (#53092833) Homepage Journal

      Well, here is what the AG told the local paper [bismarcktribune.com]:

      “She’s a protester, basically. Everything she reported on was from the position of justifying the protest actions,” said Erickson, adding that her coverage of the Sept. 3 protest did not mention that people trespassed during the incident or the alleged assaults on guards.

      In other words, he doesn't believe this person covered the government's position fairly, and therefore doesn't deserve to be considered a journalist.

      • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by NatasRevol ( 731260 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:11PM (#53092959) Journal

        Yep. That's exactly what China says when they shut up reporters too.

        • Unlike China, we have a legal system that involves a jury who must agree she is guilty before the charge sticks. Also, if a charge is wrongfully pressed she can sue for that too.

          This isn't a case of a journalist being 100% innocent and being arrested just because someone doesn't like her views. This is a case of a journalist allegedly willfully trespassing.

          Even when journalists are doing good things and for good reasons they still have to follow the law. They have no immunity, nor should they.

          • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

            by sjames ( 1099 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @02:58PM (#53094111) Homepage Journal

            You should review the saying "You can beat the rap but you can't beat the ride". Pressing charges that will never stick is a popular way of punishing inconvenient people.

            And actually, they dropped the tresspassing charges after she traveled to answer them (suggesting that they didn't actually believe they could convict), but made sure to press a new charge to start the process all over again.

      • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by bmo ( 77928 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:26PM (#53093149)

        This AG needs to be smacked with a civil rights violation charge and lawsuit.

        They first charged Amy Goodman with criminal trespass. The AG had to drop the charge, because it was laughably bogus, as I will demonstrate below.

        This is how dumb this AG is:

        1. The Native Americans wanted her there.
        2. It's their land.
        3. JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN EASEMENT DOESN'T MEAN YOU OWN THE FUCKING LAND. If you want to own the land under a pipeline, fucking /buy it/ instead of going the cheap route and getting easements.

        Ergo, there was no fucking trespass, let alone /criminal/ trespass.

        There are no charges for assault with a deadly weapon against the "security" idiots for using /dogs/ against the protesters.

        This AG doesn't even fucking understand simple trespass. Where did he get his law degree? From a Cracker Jack box?

        And now he "doesn't consider her a journalist" because he doesn't like her attitude. THAT DOES NOT NULLIFY AMY GOODMAN'S FUCKING FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS, YOU IDIOT.

        Amy Goodman got $100k out of the last time her civil rights were violated. She should go after the AG /personally/.

        --
        BMO

        • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by lgw ( 121541 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @02:04PM (#53093587) Journal

          A landlord can commit trespass on property rented or leased to another in many states. Just because you own the property doesn't make you immune to trespass charges. The fact that someone vaguely associated with you owns the property in no way protects your from trespass charges.

          The first amendment gives you no right to trespass, riot, cause damage, or assemble in any way other than "peaceably".

          Journalists are just people. People have first amendment rights. Journalists are not nobility, not aristocrats, no matter how much they like to image that. They have the same rights as anyone else, no special privilege.

          And the rights of an ordinary person should be enough, assuming she wasn't actually committing crimes.

      • by Pascoea ( 968200 )
        Honest question. Is a bonafide journalist still trespassing if they are on someone else's property without permission. I didn't think a press pass gave them special privilege to go where they are not welcome.

        Second question, again, honest question. What does it take to be a bonafide journalist? If I'm recording a video of some act with the intent of publishing it on youtube am I afforded the same protections that a "real journalist" would be?

        • Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Informative)

          by Oswald McWeany ( 2428506 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:47PM (#53093403)

          It's still trespass if a journalist does it. They don't have any extra rights as an individual than any other citizen.

          It's why Paparazzi aren't allowed on a celeb's property, and hang from trees on the street to get a better view- or rent space overlooking their homes. If they could they would sneak onto their property legally.

        • Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by hey! ( 33014 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @02:49PM (#53094013) Homepage Journal

          IANAL, but I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability.

          (1) Sure reporters can be charged with trespass -- when they actually commit trespass. Trespass is normally a tort [wikipedia.org] and it is up to the land owner to pursue civil action; the AG has no standing in such cases. There is also criminal trespass, e.g., if you enter a property with the intent of committing certain crimes. It is a misdemeanor and the standards vary by jurisdiction; however it's pretty clear that the protesters' action did not meet the local standards for criminal trespass because the AG dropped those charges.

          (2) To be a journalist you have to engage in journalism. It doesn't have to be good journalism, or even fair journalism. It has to be intended as gathering and reporting facts.

          Why does that intent matter? Because intent is one of the key ingredients in establishing guilt for a crime. You can't accidentally murder someone, although you can be deliberately negligent for example. So let's imagine the protesters *did* riot. If you were along with the mob with the intent of being part of the mob, you share criminal responsibility for the riot. If you were along with the mob with the intent of documenting what the mob does, you only bear responsibility for your own actions (e.g. the trespass tort).

          So the AG's argument amounts to this: the person in question was sympathetic to the protesters, therefore she was one of them.

    • by Pascoea ( 968200 )
      Can't speak for the first one, but the second one, Deia Schlosberg, was caught trespassing with a group of individuals that were intending to "take matters into their own hands" but shutting off a valve on an in-service pipeline. (No matter your stance on the issue, this is an idiotic idea.) Here [trust.org] is one link. (Hard to figure out which ones are legitimate news sites, this may or may not be. When a website has a URL like "trust.org" I tend to do the opposite, but this one appears to be Reuters related.)
      • Really, you mean filming a protest...pull the other one Potsy.
        • by Pascoea ( 968200 )
          So I'm allowed to accompany any person committing a crime, so long as I'm filming it? Doesn't seem to hold water. The best I can tell, she was trespassing on Enbridge property, that makes her guilty of trespassing. And shutting down an active pipeline isn't a protest, aside from being a monumentally stupid idea, it is a crime.
    • Yeah I don't know what exactly happened, but I do see that two of the three links in the summary point to "Democracy Now!", an activist group founded by the defendant. That's about as objective as reporting about Trump's past based on what's donaldjtrump.com says about it.

      Not only is is linking to one side of the story, but Amy Goodman and her Democracy Now! organization routinely describe their activities as "war". "All's fair in love and war", they say, and since she describes what she does as "war" tha

  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:25PM (#53092461)

    Other than piss of people with a shit ton of money and expose their illegal activities.

    • by bluefoxlucid ( 723572 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:48PM (#53092751) Homepage Journal

      It's more-correct to say she did nothing illegal, and I'm not sure on the details. What I've heard on the matter is she grossly-violated journalistic ethic--which is not illegal. A lot of people are pushing the story that she was ignoring any arguments for the pipeline and soliciting opinions to build a case against the pipeline--i.e. rather than "investigative journalism" she was building a sensation piece and willfully-misrepresenting the situation. Again, that's not illegal; and I don't have enough information on the situation to say what was actually going on.

      I've had issue with bullshit "investigative journalism" houses like ProPublica before (ProPublica's gross-misrepresentation of facts to generate ad revenue has actually hurt the most vulnerable of people and caused misappropriation of public funds in pointless Congressional investigations). No clue on if Goodman is going the same way or if people are full of shit.

      • by meta-monkey ( 321000 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:38PM (#53093305) Journal

        rather than "investigative journalism" she was building a sensation piece and willfully-misrepresenting the situation.

        CNN does that shit now with their BLM race baiting. Their pattern is to present the most sensational version of uncorroborated witness testimony as confirmed fact, while ignoring there even exists an alternative interpretation of the events. This is what led to the murder of 5 cops in Dallas. When they reported on the Philando Castille shooting over and over and over again they would state the girlfriend's story (pulled over for a broken taillight) without question while never mentioning reality (the police radio recording of the officer saying he was pulling him over for matching the description of an armed robber). Obviously any shooting of a suspect who wasn't trying to shoot at the cops is a tragedy, but "man matching the description of an armed robbery suspect shot during investigation" is far less inflammatory than "racist cop shoots kindly black man over broken taillight." A few days later the Dallas shooter cited this case as one of the motivations for his attack. I wonder if he knew about the armed robbery?

        It's unlikely Wolf Blitzer will ever be held responsible for his crimes, though.

    • Other than piss of people with a shit ton of money and expose their illegal activities.

      That's the only crime that matters in America.

  • Good luck (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MBGMorden ( 803437 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:27PM (#53092487)

    You know - I'm not even really against the pipeline. IMHO the protesters are over blowing the concerns and construction should have been going ahead.

    THAT SAID - the way the authorities have been treating the protesters is absolutely mind boggling. They have a right to protest - and people have a right to film it. Trumping up "riot" charges because you don't like what they're saying is not just sour grapes - it's unconstitutional.

    I'm not even sure about my position on the pipeline itself anymore, but everyone involved in the handling of the protests should be either voted out/recalled if elected, or fired if not elected.

    • Re:Good luck (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Karl Cocknozzle ( 514413 ) <kcocknozzle.hotmail@com> on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:30PM (#53092527) Homepage

      I was in favor of the pipeline until this all started happening. Now? Fuck 'em: Hope they lose their goddamn shirts. Because their investment isn't worth more than the first amendment right to protest, and the first amendment right to report.

      • either or (Score:2, Flamebait)

        by Thud457 ( 234763 )
        Against the pipeline?
        I hope a flaming oil train derails in your backyard Karl Cocknozzle.
        • Would that be a difference to a pipeline bursting and exploding in his backyard?

          Or are you simply glad that the pipeline won't run through your backyard?

          • oh come on, someone with the handle bickerdyke obviously knows what "flaming oil train" and "derail in your backyard" are euphemisms for.
            I was merely wishing Karl Cocknozzle a enjoyable Monday evening.
          • by Pascoea ( 968200 )
            Assuming I have a railroad and a pipeline running through my backyard, the difference would be likelihood of something bad happening and relative severity of each. I'll take the pipeline, all day every day.
      • Re:Good luck (Score:5, Interesting)

        by The-Ixian ( 168184 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:50PM (#53092769)

        I feel very similarly.

        Let the protesters protest. If they just took an indifferent approach, I don't think there would be any kind of a problem outside of local politics. People have a short attention span. A month down the road and people would be like 'what pipeline? oh yeah... how'd that turn out anyway?'. Instead, they have tapped in to the outrage machine of big government trying to gag the little guy.... that is a much more dangerous nerve to tread on....

    • Re:Good luck (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Wrath0fb0b ( 302444 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:06PM (#53092905)

      THAT SAID - the way the authorities have been treating the protesters is absolutely mind boggling. They have a right to protest - and people have a right to film it.

      They do not have a right to protest on private land. They don't have the right to obstruct construction crews with their protest. They certainly don't have the right to claim to be about "Democracy Now" based on the opinion of a few thousand (?) unelected protesters to overrule the US Congress and the State of North Dakota (plus a Federal Court and the Army Corps of Engineers).

      They certainly definitely don't have the right to break into pipeline control systems and start turning valves [reuters.com].

      I don't support punitive jail sentences for any of them, but at the same time I don't support the idea that if you have enough people, you can obstruct things you don't approve of (Planned Parenthood?!) and then hide behind the First Amendment. You have the freedom to express yourself, but no one has to listen or give a shit.

      • All of which says nothing about the reporter supposedly covering it, who was apparently tarred with the same brush. Was she in there turning valves, too?

      • Re:Good luck (Score:4, Informative)

        by oh_my_080980980 ( 773867 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @01:25PM (#53093137)
        And they have the right to build a pipe line through Native American land....think again Potsy.
        • by Pascoea ( 968200 )
          Care to provide any support for your claim that the pipeline is crossing Native American land? Best I can find is it crosses 1 mile north of the Standing Rock Reservation. (I mean, technically you ARE right, all of the land we are currently occupying was Native American land at one point. But I don't think that's what you are indicating)
    • You mean over blown by building a pipeline through native american land....yeah that's over blown *eye roll*
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:28PM (#53092489)

    She's charged for taking part in the riot - the evidence? She filmed herself trespassing on private property along with the rioters, filmed it, then turned around and claimed she's immune because she's a journalist.

    • Thank you, I was too lazy to read the article and figured there had to be more to this story. It almost made me read the original article. Now I don't have to.

      Yeah, if I robbed a bank as part of a gang and told the police that I was only along for the ride as a journalist and should be immune from charges, I kinda expect they'd not let me go. Can't feel too sorry for the journalist if she was actively trespassing.

      • Yeah, if I robbed a bank as part of a gang and told the police that I was only along for the ride as a journalist and should be immune from charges, I kinda expect they'd not let me go. Can't feel too sorry for the journalist if she was actively trespassing.

        Is your day job robbing banks or reporting news? Her day job is being a journalist, not protesting. She was there to cover the protest and protesters. If a reporter is embedded with solders and those solders commit a crime, is the reporter also guilty? Are they responsible for not stopping the crime?

        Reporters are, for good or bad, only supposed to cover events, not be part of them.

      • by hey! ( 33014 )

        Yeah, if I robbed a bank as part of a gang and told the police that I was only along for the ride as a journalist and should be immune from charges, I kinda expect they'd not let me go.

        What if you were covering a protest as a journalist? As I mentioned elsewhere the AG has dropped trespassing charges against Goodman, so how he thinks he can make rioting charges stick is beyond me. Maybe he's hoping that the more sensational-sounding charge will result in reverse jury nullification.

        • What if you were covering a protest as a journalist?

          Sounds like she wasn't charged with being in a protest, which is a legal activity. She was charged with trespassing and rioting. Admittedly, I haven't read the article, but if she was trespassing on someone's property she deserves to be arrested. Journalists don't have legal rights to trespass. If someone were doing a story on you, they wouldn't be able to march in your house and sneak under your bed.

          Similarly, rioting is not protesting. If you start acting violent or start destroying property you are

      • But that didn't happen so thank for proving you're an ass-hole.
    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      Trespass is not equal to or tantamount to rioting, otherwise you wouldn't need two separate crimes.

      In point of fact the AG dropped the trespass charge against Goodman. His argument for the riot charge is that she did not fairly (in his view) cover both sides and therefore was not engaged in journalism. You can judge for yourself by watching the video in question [facebook.com].

      • And if she did not commit rioting she should be found "Not Guilty", that's how the legal system works... ... and if the lawsuit was frivolous or wrongful, those responsible should be charged appropriately.

        I don't have facebook, so can't see video. Sounds like the original trespass charge was an open/shut case but there might not be enough evidence of rioting.

      • by Arkham ( 10779 )

        His argument for the riot charge is that she did not fairly (in his view) cover both sides and therefore was not engaged in journalism. You can judge for yourself by watching the video in question [facebook.com].

        By that argument, FoxNews is guilty of inciting riots, as is MSNBC. That's not a reasonable standard.

  • No where does it state she actively participated in the protest. I highly doubt they will be charged and I feel sorry for the judge that has to see this case. Though I do think Snowden's tweet is ironic, he got 30 for hundreds of govt secrets to protect the common man and she might get 45 for doing her job.
    • Though I do think Snowden's tweet is ironic, he got 30 for hundreds of govt secrets to protect the common man and she might get 45 for doing her job.

      Isn't it the NSA's job to protect our communications? Seems like Snowden was doing the job too well.

  • by BenBoy ( 615230 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @12:36PM (#53092613)
    The large-media coverage on this has been near nonexistent. NYTimes is carrying one AP wire story about it, but no editorial comment. CNN has literally *nothing*. This has been news for weeks (thought the charges were changed from trespassing (after it seemed hard to make that stick) to rioting). Rolling Stone had been reporting on it, but really? Why do I have to get important political news from a music mag (or from, say, a tech website)? Why do I hear so much more about Trumps hand size and sexual escapades than I do about obstruction of freedom of the press? I mean, yeah, I know why, really (a generation fed on intellectual pap); just whining, I guess. Now GTF off my lawn, 'k?
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by geek ( 5680 )

      The large-media coverage on this has been near nonexistent. NYTimes is carrying one AP wire story about it, but no editorial comment. CNN has literally *nothing*. This has been news for weeks (thought the charges were changed from trespassing (after it seemed hard to make that stick) to rioting). Rolling Stone had been reporting on it, but really? Why do I have to get important political news from a music mag (or from, say, a tech website)? Why do I hear so much more about Trumps hand size and sexual escapades than I do about obstruction of freedom of the press? I mean, yeah, I know why, really (a generation fed on intellectual pap); just whining, I guess. Now GTF off my lawn, 'k?

      Because the press doesn't care anymore. James O'Keefe broke a story today with video evidence of Hillary's campaign working illegally to create violence at Trump protests and the media won't report it. Wikileaks has broken so much info the last 3 weeks that Hillary should already be under indictment but the press won't report it.

      If you look at who runs the news orgs, every single one of them are either a brother of a DNC operative or married to a DNC operative. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Who's in power right now? A

    • I just cancelled my 99 cent subscription to WaPo over this. It's all Trump, all the time, everywhere you look. The fucking election was over a year ago.
  • That liberal North Dakota government is trying to take away our First Amendment rights. Thanks a lot, Obama.

  • http://www.rcfp.org/browse-med... [rcfp.org]
    https://www.rcfp.org/browse-me... [rcfp.org]

    I don't think being a journalist allows you to trespass. However, if there were to be such an exemption, I would expect that it would only be given if the journalist were truly just a neutral observe.
  • I have no trouble believing that police got hostile to people with cameras. At the same time, it's also possible that the Democracy Now reporters were arrested for actually becoming violent.

    The fact that the headline is so vague and weaselly makes me think that someone is trying to put a spin on it. You might as well say that they "face jail time after brushing their teeth" and they "face jail time after getting out of bed in the morning" and it would literally be true.

  • With the best legal system money can buy.

  • by apenzott ( 821513 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @02:00PM (#53093541)
    N. Dakota charges reporter with 'riot' for covering protest--but gets slapped down by judge
    http://www.latimes.com/busines... [latimes.com]
  • by hey! ( 33014 ) on Monday October 17, 2016 @04:44PM (#53095015) Homepage Journal

    According to the local paper [bismarcktribune.com].

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