St. Paul Under Fire for RNC Policing of Journalists

Photograph by Matt Rourke © 2008 Associated Press

By Mirel Ketchiff

According to the Huffington Post, Mayor Chris Coleman of St. Paul, Minn. is facing intense pressure to drop all charges filed against the journalists that were arrested this past week during the Republican National Convention. By the end of the convention around 800 people had been arrested; about 20 were journalists.

The mayor and prosecuting attorneys have received more than 60,000 letters that had been gathered by Free Press, a nonpartisan media reform group, urging city officials to drop any charges and apologize to the journalists. Various journalism groups, including the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Society for Professional Journalists, also have expressed concern the law enforcement’s actions and are asking why journalists were kept in detention even after they had shown their credentials. Many are convinced that police at the convention were targeting members of the media and are concerned over this restraint of the press.

Minnesota's Star Tribune reported that many of the reporters and photographers arrested had been attempting to cover a large anti-war demonstration that was taking place Thursday night. As the demonstrators marched into downtown St. Paul police detained both marchers and journalists covering the event. Most were detained for a few hours before being ticketed with criminal citations and released.

Among those arrested were local television photographers, AP reporters, an AP photographer, student journalists and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!. According to the Star Tribune, police actions during the RNC in St. Paul will be formally reviewed to investigate claims of excessive force.