In Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrest

As I sat there, many armed officers came in — some who were dressed as normal officers, others who were dressed with more gear.

Initially, both Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post and I were asked for identification. I was wearing my lanyard, but Ryan asked why he had to show his ID. They didn’t press the point, but one added that if we called 911, no one would answer.

In Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrest

It looks as if even media is unsafe in this area of the country. I listened to the Alex Jones livestream earlier today where the police was over a loudspeaker telling people to turn off and put away their cameras as well. This is getting ugly

a reply to: scghst1

Yeah, it's a good short and to the point article IMO. It really shows you that it doesn't matter who you are, or why you are there, the cops just don't give a rats ass about you, the law, free speech, or even just common basic respect for anyone.

Total disregard for the law is the worst part. In fact, it's not even that, they just make some stuff up and arrest you knowing that it's all a lie. Even while being recorded by someone from a major news outlet too.

Lawless, POS War Pigs all the way.

He made a good point in an interview .., paraphrasing...if this is how credentialed journalists, covering a story, lawfully and peacefully using a public place (McD's), cooperating with police...are treated - what happens if you are a young black male in Ferguson?

a reply to: mOjOm
Or maybe the police are vetting so that they don't get led into an ambush by a fake 911 call.

a reply to: kosmicjack

Exactly. I think we all already know what happens if that is the case. It's all muddied and reports are coming in all over the place since no true MSM is reporting live or hardly at all, its all reliance on these free-lance and field journalists, but even then, their stations aren't backing them up either.

This is easily my favorite part though.

We were in there for what felt like 10 or 15 minutes. Then the processing officer came in.

“Who’s media?” he asked. We said we were. And the officer said we were both free to go.

We asked to speak to a commanding officer. We asked to see an arrest report. No report, the officer told us, and no, they wouldn’t provide any names. I asked if there would ever be a report. He came back with a case number and said a report would be available in a week or two.

“The chief thought he was doing you two a favor,” he said.

Great logic!!

That's like someone saying "I'm going to do you a favor." Then handing you an Ice Pack right after they kick you in the balls.

How thoughtful of them!!

a reply to: scghst1

The cops are absolutely targeting journalist.



Freedom of the press my ass..

a reply to: alienjuggalo

This is Amerika now. This is what we are supposed to accept? If this came to my town I can certainly guarantee that if it broke out like that I would be hidden somewhere taking pot shots at the vehicles. Though I know two wrongs don't make a right, Our People are having their rights stripped from them even as we speak, and I for one would right die knowing I upheld what i believed in, than died to oppressors.

Slightly an off-topic rant, but this is just weighing on me right now. Take it with a grain of salt

This is proper LEO training, why aren't we proud of them? Why don't these officers have the pride in themselves to stand up and say,"I did this, exactly how I was trained. "?

This is how the police treat everyone now. There is nothing keeping you safe but, avoiding LEOs.

The combination of the journalist's personal story and the video makes it obscenely clear that the Ferguson Police have gone off the rails. I would wager that they anticipate the situation will get much worse (Do they know something we don't?), and they do not want a lot of witnesses to what might "happen".

originally posted by: mOjOm
a reply to: scghst1

Yeah, it's a good short and to the point article IMO. It really shows you that it doesn't matter who you are, or why you are there, the cops just don't give a rats ass about you, the law, free speech, or even just common basic respect for anyone.

Total disregard for the law is the worst part. In fact, it's not even that, they just make some stuff up and arrest you knowing that it's all a lie. Even while being recorded by someone from a major news outlet too.

Lawless, POS War Pigs all the way.

Funny you mentioned Lawless, I instantly thought of..

Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction - 2 Thessalonians 2:3

a reply to: scghst1

I find this greatly disturbing. Freedom of the Press is one of the most pivotal portions of our First Amendment in order that the public is adequately informed. I don't like it at all when the press gets meddled with.

This is the Executive Editor of the Washington Post's public statement, which is also a very good and straight to the point read. Short and sweet.

He was illegally instructed to stop taking video of officers. Then he followed officers’ instructions to leave a McDonald’s — and after contradictory instructions on how to exit, he was slammed against a soda machine and then handcuffed. That behavior was wholly unwarranted and an assault on the freedom of the press to cover the news.

Statement from Martin Baron on the Arrest of Wesley Lowery

I'm so glad that Lowery's boss made good on his promise when he told them this story was going to be on the front page of the Washington Post. Kudos to Martin Baron for that.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

Btw, in an odd bit of surprise from the front page of CNN.com:
www.cnn.com...

It's sad that I'm surprised that they reported on this and included the editors of both Washington Post and Huffington Post's statements. In fact, they also confirmed that Al-Jazheera got caught in the crossfire.

Elsewhere in the area on Wednesday evening, a number of reporters said they were doused with tear gas when authorities tried to disperse crowds. Ash-Har Quraishi, a correspondent for Al Jazeera America who previously worked for CNN, said his crew was in a place "we believed to be safe" when people started running toward them.

"Rubber bullets were fired on us, and then a canister," he said. "We had to retreat into the neighborhood."

Honestly, I am torn on this one. I am all for our constitutional rights, please don't get me wrong. I can also understand why the cops would do such a thing. Who knows what kind of spin a reporter is going to put on what happens. A good writer/ journalist can fuel a fire better than anyone else. The right picture coupled with the right words and he/she becomes famous and fattens his/her bank account. Meanwhile, all hell breaks loose and its up to the cops to put the fire out. Obviously by fire I mean riots. If you want to put a fire out, you need to take its fuel away. If you want to stop a riot you take the journalists away.

Again, I am not saying its ok. I am just saying I can understand why the cops are doing this.

Judging by the attire worn by the cops...

If they showed up wearing togas, it'd be a party.

I wonder what percentage of these cops are second-guessing their own personal constitution?

Just to note, in the video, there is nothing to indicate the person confronting the journalist is a specific LEO .just para-military garb right? Why no insignia or unit number or name/badge number? Just "POLICE". How is that much different than the tactic used by Russia in Crimea? It's simply using anonymity for cover and deniability.

Also, in an interview, one of the reporters indicated that the McD's employees remained to close down the restaurant. What authority do the police have to storm the restaurant - where nothing unlawful is happening and arrest peaceful patrons and interrupt commerce?

I'd be very interested in hearing what McDonald's has to say about this incident ...

wow
St. Louis County police will no longer be involved in policing of Ferguson, Mo., Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., says - @dwallbank, @jonallendc

More: Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, who will announce St. Louis County police taken off duty, has not specified who will take over policing - @dwallbank

originally posted by: mrsdudara
Honestly, I am torn on this one. I am all for our constitutional rights, please don't get me wrong. I can also understand why the cops would do such a thing. Who knows what kind of spin a reporter is going to put on what happens. A good writer/ journalist can fuel a fire better than anyone else. The right picture coupled with the right words and he/she becomes famous and fattens his/her bank account. Meanwhile, all hell breaks loose and its up to the cops to put the fire out. Obviously by fire I mean riots. If you want to put a fire out, you need to take its fuel away. If you want to stop a riot you take the journalists away.

Again, I am not saying its ok. I am just saying I can understand why the cops are doing this.

The videotaping of the event by Mr. Lowery actually pretty much corroborates a good portion of his story. There is NO call for the police to manhandle a news reporter, particularly ones wearing big lanyards that say PRESS in a non-volatile situation. Some police assaulted a reporter from the NY Times who happened to be directly in the fraya few years ago during Occupy Wall Street. Even though THAT made me angry, whether they deliberately went after journalists or not is still questionable.

These journalists were NOT in the middle of the protest. They were in a calm setting at a McDonald's doing nothing more than taking a break and doing some work. There is no excuse. There is no cause. There is nothing here except for the cold hard reality that they went very over the line and breached the Constitution.

That is also likely one of the reasons why the governor is pulling the St. Louis PD out of Ferguson--because what they did to those two journalists and more is front page everywhere.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

If confirmed this is huge..because the timing makes it seem as though Anon's efforts to impact the behaviors and actions of LEO in Missouri / Ferguson worked.