Democracy Now is seeking support in attempting to get the charges against Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar dropped.
Today it is critical that you make your voice heard in the Ramsey County Attorney and St. Paul City Attorney offices. Demand that they drop all pending and current charges against journalists arrested while reporting on protests outside the Republican National Conventions.
Below the fold is the email I sent to the officials in Minnestoa.
The journalists of Democracy Now are a valuable resource to the public in this age of corporate owned media which is dominated by sensational stories which play well to focus groups but that have very little impact on the lives of viewers. DN's reporters cover many stories and issues that are ignored by most other news organizations but which are quite important to maintaining a free flow of information in our democratic republic and which allow their viewers/readers to make informed political decisions.
I consider the actions of the arresting credentialed journalists who are covering a legitimate news event to be outrageous. If government agencies are allowed to arrest and intimidate members of the media in the name of "preserving order", what kind of chilling effect does this have on the public's right to get information that is not filtered through the lens that these same agencies wish to portray. Lack of transparency is the single greatest threat to holding public officials and agencies accountable for their actions. Without this transparency, our most basic freedoms are violated, and corruption, criminality, incompetence are allowed to flourish, free from oversight or accountability by its citizens.
While you are no doubt receiving many emails in which the authors implore that you drop the charges against Ms. Goodman et. al., I instead suggest that you charge them to the fullest extent available to you. I would like to see charges brought against them in a public trial in a court of law. I would hope that this would lead to more publicity about the outrageous actions of the police during the RNC convention. I would also hope that civil suits will be filed against all of the offending state and police agencies involved in this matter if charges are filed and successfully tried.
Thank you for time in considering my comment about the arrests of Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar at protests during the RNC convention.
Michael White
Please take the time to send an email voicing support for the Democracy Now staff. I'm sure most of you already realize what a treasure we have in their organization, but if you are unfamiliar with them, check them out and I'm sure you will not be disappointed.
When you do send an email in support, please be sure to maintain a civil tone. There is no point in making DN supporters look like a bunch of raving maniacs.
I know that it is easy for me to suggest that they get charged and go to trial to generate greater publicity as I am not threatened with fines, jail time, a blot on my record etc. IMHO though, I think that if the charges are dropped, it will allow the officials in Minnesota to get away with their outrageous actions.
This story has gotten so little coverage in the MSM, while the rights of protesters as well as the journalists who cover them are important to maintaining a healthy republic. I feel that it is extremely important to make more people aware of the consequences of allowing the government to bully reporters who are performing legitimate and important work.
Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner
RCA at co.ramsey.mn.us (cc: dropthecharges at democracynow.org)
651-266-3222
Susan Gaertner for Governor
info at susangaertner.com (cc: dropthecharges at democracynow.org)
(612) 978-8625
(612)804-6156
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St. Paul City Attorney John Choi
john.choi at ci.stpaul.mn.us (cc: dropthecharges at democracynow.org) (651) 266-8710