Police in Annandale, VA, violently arrested Shareblue reporter, Mike Stark, at a public parade that included Gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.
As explained by Shareblue:
After months of being harassed by Ed Gillespie’s campaign for simply trying to ask the Republican gubernatorial nominee questions, Shareblue Media reporter Mike Stark was violently arrested Saturday while filming the annual Annandale parade.
...
The evasion came to a head when Stark stood filming Gillespie’s campaign vehicle as it pulled up to the Annandale parade.
A Fairfax County Mason District police officer demanded that Stark cease filming the vehicle and move back farther than the 20-yard distance already separating him from the vehicle. He was accompanied by a woman who had raised an objection to Stark’s presence at a Gillespie campaign event just the evening prior.
After a brief back and forth, during which the police officer made clear that Stark would not be able to ask the gubernatorial candidate any questions at the public campaign event, Stark responded “f— this.” At that point, the officer moved to handcuff Stark.
The disturbing footage below shows a second officer sweeping Stark’s legs from underneath him, violently throwing him face first into the sidewalk. More officers ran over and five men piled onto Stark’s back as he begged to free his arm from underneath his own body and the weight of the police. Multiple witnesses report that Stark was punched repeatedly in the legs during the altercation.
Shareblue has a video of the arrest on their website.
Stark is disliked by the Gillespie campaign because he asks uncomfortable questions. He is fully credentialed but the campaign has sought to bar him from attending events and/or participating in press scrums. Saturday, the campaign upped the ante by using the police to violently target an American journalist.
Vote, Virginia. Vote.