An Iowa journalist has gone on trial after being arrested during a George Floyd protest in late May for failing to disperse, in a case that has triggered concern from rights activists over press freedom, NBC News reported
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th March, 2021) An Iowa journalist has gone on trial after being arrested during a George Floyd protest in late May for failing to disperse, in a case that has triggered concern from rights activists over press freedom, NBC news reported.
Andrea Sahouri, a Des Moines Register public safety reporter, was arrested alongside her boyfriend on May 31 as she covered a protest outside a mall in the Iowa city of Des Moines.
Prosecutors charge the two with failing to obey police order to disperse � reportedly issued 92 minutes before her arrest � after the protesting crowd resorted to vandalism and began hurling objects at officers.
The reporter's then-boyfriend, who reportedly accompanied her during the protest for safety reasons, is accused of trying to pull her away from the arresting officer. Both are facing fines and up to 30 days in jail.
The journalist, who is the first of 116 journalists arrested during Black Lives Matter protests to be taken to trial, insists that she repeatedly told the approaching officer: "I'm press. I'm press. I'm press," but "police deliberately took me, sprayed pepper spray on my face and then put me in zip ties and in the back of a cop car."
In his defense, the officer said he had not heard Sahouri say she was a member of the press, as he had been wearing a gas mask and riot gear. He added that the reporter was "dressed very casual and had the appearance of many other subjects on this date," the channel reported.
As for body camera, which could have shed light on the event, the officer said that he had forgotten to activate it amid the chaos during the protest.
The case of the Iowa reporter has provoked press freedom concerns from the journalistic community and rights activists. According to Amnesty International, Sahouri was arrested "simply for doing her job as a reporter" and demands last week that criminal charges against her be immediately dropped.
