Fwd: Bodycam footage shows police targeted journalists

Sat Mar 4 12:51:41 PST 2023

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Freedom of the Press Foundation <newsletter at freedom.press>
Date: Fri,  3 Mar 2023 20:32:35 +0000
Subject: Bodycam footage shows police targeted journalists
To: fuzzytew at gmail.com

Florida continues its anti-speech crusade

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Dear friend of press freedom,

Here are some of the most important stories we’re following from the
U.S. and around the world. If you enjoy reading this newsletter,
please forward it to friends and family. If someone has forwarded you
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Courtesy of Veronica Coit/Asheville Blade

Body camera footage released this week
(https://freedom.press/news/bodycam-footage-confirms-asheville-police-targeted-journalists/)
following a court petition filed by Freedom of the Press Foundation
(FPF) reveals that Asheville, North Carolina, police targeted
journalists for recording them during a homeless encampment sweep in
2021.

An officer can be heard telling his colleagues to arrest journalists
first, before protesters and residents of the encampment, “because
they’re videotaping.”

Police then proceed to handcuff Asheville Blade journalists Matilda
Bliss and Veronica Coit, despite both of them repeatedly explaining
that they are members of the press. They’re charged with trespassing
for reporting from the public park shortly after its closing time.

Bliss and Coit were not charged with endangering or obstructing anyone
and the video confirms that they recorded from a distance and did not
impede police. Nonetheless, the Buncombe County district attorney
continues prosecuting them. After repeated continuances, their case is
scheduled for trial
(https://wlos.com/news/local/city-moves-forward-with-trial-plans-for-journalists-accused-of-trespassing-at-aston-park-protest-aclu-freedom-of-the-press-foundation-asheville-police-department-homeless-encampment)
on April 19.

We told the Asheville Citizen Times
(https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2023/02/27/watch-now-asheville-police-release-bodycam-from-aston-park-protests/69949665007/?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot)
“it’s disturbing and striking that Asheville, which markets itself as
this progressive oasis in the South, wants to distinguish itself as
the place where journalists are tried for doing their jobs at a public
park.” Other cities, like Phoenix and East Palestine, Ohio, have
dropped charges shortly after arresting journalists.

We explained in a press release that
(https://freedom.press/news/bodycam-footage-confirms-asheville-police-targeted-journalists/)
“it’s bad enough when rogue officers arrest journalists but the
ongoing prosecution means the mayor, city council and District
Attorney all endorse these unconstitutional arrests.”

** Florida continues its assault on the First Amendment
------------------------------------------------------------

Last week Florida legislators introduced a bill, vocally supported by
Gov. Ron DeSantis, that would open the floodgates
(https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/23/florida-gop-desantis-proposal-sue-media-00084023)
for retaliatory defamation lawsuits by the wealthy and powerful
against their critics.

Then this week, the same state senator who carried DeSantis’ water on
that anti-press bill proposed new legislation that would require
“bloggers” who are compensated for their content to register with the
state if they write about “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a
Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature.”

They’d need to disclose the amount and source of their compensation
for each article. It’s a flagrantly unconstitutional content-based
restriction on speech that treats critics of elected officials like
sex offenders so the government can maintain a blacklist of its
detractors.

DeSantis has previously sought to frame his attacks on the press as
necessary to save “the little guys” from large media conglomerates.
That was always nonsense
(https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2023/02/15/gov-desantis-hides-behind-little-guys-silence-his-critics-column/)
, and now his allies in the legislature are coming directly after the
“little guys” themselves. Either DeSantis will denounce this fascist
bill immediately or it’s exactly what he intended all along.

** FPF demands NC court lift gag order, unseal documents
------------------------------------------------------------

A federal judge in North Carolina entered an order
(https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-bars-media-from-publishing-on-expelled-student-suing-unc-system/)
sealing court records in an expelled UNC student’s lawsuit against the
university. Not only that, the judge ordered the defendant not to
disclose any information about the case and to inform unnamed media
outlets that they’re prohibited from reporting on it.
We joined the ACLU of North Carolina and Prof. Eugene Volokh in moving
the court (https://reason.com/volokh/2023/02/28/aclu-of-n-c-free-press-foundation-and-i-are-challenging-sealing-of-documents-related-to-gag-order/)
to lift the seal and the unconstitutional gag order, following a joint
request from the parties. The court lifted the gag order the day after
we filed, but the filings that would explain the reasons for entering
it in the first place remain sealed. The public is entitled to know
what persuaded a federal judge to enter a fundamentally
unconstitutional prior restraint on the press.

** Daniel Ellsberg’s message following cancer diagnosis
------------------------------------------------------------

Our co-founder, our stalwart board member since 2012, our hero, Daniel
Ellsberg, eloquently wrote
(https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/daniel-ellsberg-pentagon-papers)
about how he is facing terminal cancer and discussed his ambitious
plans for his final months: “I work better under a deadline. It turns
out that I live better under a deadline!”

He reflected on expecting, after copying the Pentagon Papers in 1969,
that he would spend his life behind bars. Instead, he was able to
devote the decades since to “doing everything I could think of to
alert the world to the perils of nuclear war.” That’s not to mention
his vocal advocacy for the First Amendment rights of whistleblowers
(https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-63832899) .

He concluded that "my wish for you, my friends, is that at the end of
your days you will feel as much joy and gratitude as I do now."

** What we’re reading
------------------------------------------------------------

Man charged in the shooting death of Spectrum News reporter
(https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spectrum-news-13-reporter-killed-photographer-shot-while-reporting/)
: A man has now been charged with first-degree murder for last week’s
shooting death of Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons and attempted
first-degree murder of photojournalist Jesse Walden. Keith Moses was
also charged with the murder that Lyons and Walden were reporting on
when they were shot as well as murder, attempted murder and armed
burglary in connection with another shooting that left a woman wounded
and killed her 9-year-old daughter.

Collateral murder and the persecution of Julian Assange
(https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/collateral-murder-julian-assange?link_id=3&can_id=76c060043cbfdf3919db72dd186dbac9&source=email-stand-up-for-press-freedom-3&email_referrer=email_1829506&email_subject=the-future-of-journalism-is-in-good-hands)
: “The effects on the First Amendment and press freedom will be severe
if Julian Assange is extradited and successfully prosecuted. His
persecution and torture already serve as a warning to journalists
worldwide. And morally, Julian Assange’s imprisonment obstructs any
reckoning we in the U.S. must do to contend with our wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq and their victims.”

DeSantis ‘review’ of public records can add months of delays, newly
uncovered log reveals
(https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2023/02/28/desantis-review-of-public-records-can-add-months-of-delays-newly-uncovered-log-reveals/)
: Various Florida agencies forward requested public records to the
governor’s office for review before releasing them to citizens and
journalists, adding weeks and months of delay. That means that at the
same time he’s proposing unconstitutional legislation to crack down on
reporters using anonymous sources, DeSantis is creating unnecessary
bottlenecks to prevent them from accessing official sources.
Apparently he’d prefer journalists don’t report on the government at
all. Plenty politicians agree — hence, the First Amendment.

**
New Digital Security Digest newsletter
------------------------------------------------------------

FPF has a new weekly newsletter on digital security and journalism!
It’ll be a short update on digital security news, what you can do
about it, and other news from our team. Subscribe here
(https://freedom.press/training/digisec-subscribe/) .

** Freedom of the Press Foundation is hiring
------------------------------------------------------------

FPF is thrilled to be hiring for two important roles
(https://freedom.press/jobs/?gh_src=0e756c475us) . Please apply by
March 10 if you’re interested, or forward to anyone you know who wants
to make a real impact in the fight for press freedoms.

Deputy Director of Advocacy

We’re seeking a deputy director of advocacy to help lead our efforts
to protect the rights of journalists and whistleblowers. The role
includes plenty of writing (perfect for current or former journalists)
as well as organizing advocacy campaigns to protect journalists and
whistleblowers at both the national and local levels. Apply here
(https://grnh.se/408aa9ce5us) .

Deputy Editor

We’re also looking for a deputy editor to help further our impact
through editing and engagement. The deputy editor will work across FPF
with our advocacy, digital security and U.S. Press Freedom Tracker
teams as we defend press freedom worldwide. Apply here
(https://grnh.se/26ebb38b5us) .

— Seth Stern, Director of Advocacy
https://twitter.com/freedomofpress
https://www.facebook.com/FreedomOfThePressFoundation/
https://freedom.press/

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