Pending charges from the Republican Convention against Amy Goodman and two producers from Democracy Now! were dropped on Friday.
The St. Paul City Attorney’s office announced Friday it will not
prosecute Democracy Now! journalists Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous
and Nicole Salazar. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman also issued a
statement Friday that “the city will decline to prosecute misdemeanor
charges for presence at an unlawful assembly for journalists arrested
during the Republican National Convention.”
Both announcements
come two weeks after the conclusion of the Republican National
Convention where over 40 journalists were arrested while reporting on
protests taking place outside the convention center.
Upon
learning of the news, Democracy Now! Host, Amy Goodman said, “It’s good
that these false charges have finally been dropped, but we never should
have been arrested to begin with. These violent and unlawful arrests
disrupted our work and had a chilling effect on the reporting of
dissent. Freedom of the press is also about the public’s right to know
what is happening on their streets. There needs to be a full
investigation of law enforcement activities during the convention.”