Journalists Covering Inauguration Protests Face ‘Felony Riot’ Charges
Multiple journalists arrested while covering PresidentDonald Trumpsinauguration in Washington have been charged with felony rioting, an accusation one of their employers called an affront to the First Amendment.
At least six journalists were among more than 200 people arrested during anti-Trump demonstrations on Friday, The Guardian reports. Most of those people face felony rioting charges, according to CBS.As of Tuesday evening, journalists facing felony charges included Evan Engel of Vocativ, Alexander Rubinstein of RT America, documentary producer Jack Keller, freelancer Aaron Cantu and independent journalists Shay Horse and Matt Hopard.
If convicted, they could be sentenced to 10 years in prison or $25,000 fines.
Though many protesters at the event were peaceful, some damaged property and threw objects. At least six officers suffered minor injuries.
However, none of the arrest reports for the journalists include any allegations of individual wrongdoing,according to The Guardian. Instead, the documents simply refer to large numbers of people being arrested for destroying property or violating rioting laws.
Similarly, probable cause documents for Engel and Rubinstein obtained by The Huffington Post describe a large group vandalizing property and starting fires, with some people throwing objects at officers. Both documents are identical, and each state that the defendant wasarrested as part of this group.
Rubinstein tweeted numerous photos and videos from the protests Friday. After the arrest, he tweeted that cops threw a flash grenade that temporarily left him unable to see. Cops encircled crowd when I couldnt see; arresting everyone, he wrote.
RT said in a post about the incident that Rubinstein showed police his media credentials but was arrested anyway.
Engel tweeted that he and Vocativ were fighting the charges, which Engels company slammed as a threat to constitutional rights.
The arrest, detainment and rioting charge against journalist Evan Engel who was covering the protests for Vocativ are an affront to the First Amendment and journalistic freedom, a Vocativ spokesperson said in a statement sent to HuffPost. Vocativ will vigorously contest this unfounded and outrageous charge.
Keller, Hopard, Cantu and Horse all told The Guardian they were innocent of any criminal wrongdoing.
The nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalistscondemned rioting charges against at least three of the journalists in a Tuesday release. The release referred to the arrests of Engel, Rubinstein and Cantu, though the organization noted they were still reviewing the other arrest reports.
These charges are clearly inappropriate, and we are concerned that they could send a chilling message to journalists covering future protests, CPJs Carlos Laura said in the statement.We call on authorities in Washington to drop these charges immediately.
This story has been updated to reflect that at least six journalists currently face charges.