Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar were released but are still facing charges, Republicans and their libertarian wing (& corporate dems) need to ask themselves is there selfish greed worth a police state. As Glenn Greenwald noted this is no different to how China acted during the Olympics (and while the DNC was not quite as bad it was a repressive security state event with violent police attacks on dissent and the caging of free assembly and speech). China of course shatters the myth that free market capitalism equals a free society, the truth is neoliberalism leads to authoritarian corporatism, our financial sector is more unregulated than ever ask yourself how healthy your human rights feel. These are warning signs-
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were arrested on suspicion of rioting, a felony. While the three have been released, they all still face charges stemming from their unlawful arrest. Kouddous and Salazar face pending charges of suspicion of felony riot, while Goodman has been officially charged with obstruction of a legal process and interference with a “peace officer.”
Democracy Now! forcefully rejects all of these charges as false and an attempt at intimidation of these journalists. We demand that the charges be immediately and completely dropped.
Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities’ law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.
During the demonstration in which the Democracy Now! team was arrested, law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force against protesters and journalists. Several dozen demonstrators were also arrested during this action, including a photographer for the Associated Press.
