@jeremyscahill: Confirmed: @the_intercept reporter @rdevro has been handcuffed & placed (Ferguson)

[Hissyspit]

Last edited Tue Aug 19, 2014, 06:34 AM - Edit history (1)

@jeremyscahill: Confirmed: @the_intercept reporter @rdevro has been handcuffed & placed in a police vehicle.

@jeremyscahill: Our detained journalist in #Ferguson, @rdevro, is a tenacious reporter who is guilty of one thing: being a journalist.

@jeremyscahill: Well, the "authorities" in Ferguson are really good at arresting journalists. Killer cops? Not so much.

@jeremyscahill: So... Capt. Johnson just said they know you're a *real* journalist if you have a "$50,000 camera." Otherwise, "We may take you into custody"

@ggreenwald: RT @PDPJ: @jermeyscahill @ggreenwald @johnjcook FYI your journalist @rdevro has been detained going to St. Louis County jail in Clayton

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/08/19/intercept-reporter-detained-covering-ferguson-protests/

VOICES
Intercept Reporter Detained While Covering Ferguson Protests

By John Cook

19 Aug 2014, 3:50 AM EDT 3

Intercept reporter Ryan Devereaux was detained this morning while on the ground covering the protests in Ferguson, Mo. According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer David Carson, who witnessed the apprehension, Ryan and a German reporter he was with were both taken into custody by members of a police tactical team. They were handcuffed and placed in a wagon, and Carson was told they were being taken to St. Louis County jail.

We haven’t been able to reach officials with the St. Louis County Police Department or Ferguson Police Department to find out if Ryan has been arrested or charged, or under what pretext he was detained. But needless to say, it’s an outrage that he was stopped and handcuffed by police in the course of lawfully doing his job on the streets of Ferguson. We are trying to contact Ryan now.

At a press conference early this morning, Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson told reporters in Ferguson that 31 arrests had been made, including members of the “criminal element” from “as far away as New York.” When asked by a reporter if any of those 31 had been reporters, he immediately–and falsely–replied, “these people were not journalists that were arrested.”

But he quickly admitted that in the “chaos” of the protests, officers may not be able to distinguish between reporters and other bystanders: “So yes, we may take some of you into custody. But when we do take you into custody, and we have found out that you are a journalist, we have taken the proper action.” This begs the question as to why police would be compelled to arrest an otherwise law-abiding non-journalist simply for attending a protest. But we insist that the St. Louis County Police Department, Ferguson Police Department, and Missouri Highway Patrol take the proper action and release Ryan Devereaux immediately.

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Hissyspit.

[Cha]

2. Wow.. how damn dumb are these Ferguson cops. Noooo Michael Brown wasn't

killed by Excessive Force.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

3. Where are the "freedom" fighters of the Tea Party on this?

** crickets**

[napkinz]

4. exactly ...

[pinboy3niner]

8. Good one, napkinz!

upstairsdereks did a great job there!

[Lochloosa]

12. That deseves it's own thread for exposure...do you mind?

[napkinz]

22. not at all, go ahead

[Ilsa]

9. The 2nd Amendment types know

Their weapons aren't good enough to fight the police and national guard. Or probably they just don't care to fight this one.

[tblue37]

5. So now only the rich are allowed to be journalists and to exercise First Amendment rights? nt

[ReRe]

6. What does a $50,000 camera...

... look like? Thanks for Jeremy's tweets. Good to know they have an eye on Ferguson, MO.

[kentauros]

14. He probably means a portable TV camera,

because I doubt if he's intelligent enough to recognize a Hasselblad still camera.

[ReRe]

16. "He", meaning...

Capt Ron Johnson or Jeremy Scahill?

[kentauros]

19. The captain,

considering this part of Scahill's quote:

Capt. Johnson just said they know you're a *real* journalist if you have a "$50,000 camera."

[ReRe]

20. Gotcha ;-) n/t

[Enthusiast]

7. Kicked and recommended!

When being a journalist and doing your job becomes criminalized...................well, you know the rest.

[justiceischeap]

10. Most pro cameras are in the 6-7k range

Not 50k. And with more and more photojournalists being replaced with iPhones, well, that was just a really stupid statement to make.

[Duppers]

11. please Mr. President, AG Holder

Call in Federal Marshals and take over all other law enforcement in Ferguson already. Before someone else gets badly hurt or killed.

[Blue_Tires]

13. I'm just surprised the Intercept even sent anyone to cover it

since their employees have spent the better part of a year telling me on Twitter what is or isn't "news"...

I look forward to Mr. Devereaux's "reporting" if and when he gets around to it...

[tkmorris]

15. You sound bitter

This thread really isn't about your Twitter account, or your perception of the quality of Intercept's reporting. It's a wee bit more important than that.

[woo me with science]

17. K&R

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”

― Frank Zappa

[starroute]

18. I remember when Devereaux was chasing around after OWS

I followed his stories and tweets then, and though he seemed a bit on the mainstream side compared to the Occupy protesters, I had a fair amount of respect for his dedication to following the story. Scahill's description of him as "tenacious" is right on the money.

[jwirr]

21. How about handing out press passes and opening the cages?

[WillyT]

23. HUGE K & R !!!