Arrested journalist pleaded with officer: 'This is my job' (update acquitted)

[Omaha Steve]

Last edited Wed Mar 10, 2021, 05:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: AP

By RYAN J. FOLEY

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa journalist recounted getting pepper-sprayed and arrested while covering a protest for racial justice last year, testifying in her own defense Tuesday at her trial on charges stemming from the incident.

Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri told jurors she was running away from a scene where riot police had shot tear gas and were advancing to disperse protesters outside a mall in Des Moines, Iowa. She said that after she rounded the corner of a Verizon store, she saw an officer charging at her and put her hands up.

“I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Sahouri said. “I said, ‘I’m press, I’m press, I’m press.’ He grabbed me, pepper-sprayed me and as he was doing so said, ‘That’s not what I asked’.”

Sahouri said the pepper spray was “extremely painful” and made her think she was going to go blind.



Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri listens to opening statements in her trial in which she is charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts while reporting on a protest last summer, Monday, March 8, 2021, at the Drake University Legal Clinic, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Kelsey Kremer/The Des Moines Register via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/andrea-sahouri-trial-fe036a8663c704b7669ce5a91f504e20

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See reply #30 about the acquitted update!

[hlthe2b]

1. This is absolutely disgraceful. I hope that judge is smart enough to dismiss & the paper files a

countersuit. (or ACLU on her behalf)

[Harker]

2. +33. n/t

[spooky3]

4. +1

[rsdsharp]

21. If the judge was going to dismiss the charges it would have been done before trial began.

You can’t file a “counter suit” to a criminal charge.

[hlthe2b]

22. 1st: The article states the judge IS considering a motion to dismiss by defense counsel.

2nd, of course, I am referring to a civil action against the police--either by the newspaper's attorneys or the ACLU. That IS how one counters such indefensible actions by a local police authority.

[rsdsharp]

23. Instituting an independent civil action against the police would not be a counter suit.

And the judge just charged to jury.

[hlthe2b]

24. Not when the article was written. And yes a countering action is a civil suit.

You really ought to have your facts right before launching a condescending attitude toward and attacking other posters. Not sure what your problem is, but welcome to ignore.

[rsdsharp]

25. You should learn what the terms mean before you

attempt to sling the slang.

[hlthe2b]

26. You don't know anything about me and you are quite wrong, but back at you.

You can go find someone else to sling your insecurity-based insults at now. Others will see through you as I do, however.

[rsdsharp]

27. I thought I was on ignore.

[FlyingPiggy]

28. it's ridiculous that the journalist is in court and not the police officer.

Unbelievable that the actions of the officer has not been addressed. His reaction to this situation is glaring proof he should not have a gun much less a badge. He is a threat to society.

[ashredux]

3. These guys don't want to just arrest , they want to punish. That's why he pepper sprayed her

That same mentality killed George Floyd

[ForgoTheConsequence]

7. She was leaving the scene.

Lick those boots a little more, they're not shiny enough.

[Happy Hoosier]

9. That's not exactly correct. Read the First Amendment again.

And then read the facts. It's plain and simple that this cop saw her as an enemy and acted accordingly.

[mjvpi]

10. The officer didn't have his camera on.

Credentialed Press can obviously get caught up in evolving situations, but having an officer of the law attack them one on one doesn’t fit that scenario. The officer should have been bright enough to know when his body cam was on. For his own protection. If he had pictures of him doing nothing wrong, they wouldn’t be sitting in court.

The Fourth Estate holds a special place in our Democracy. They can’t be intentionally attacked while doing their job.

[MineralMan]

11. You are incorrect. Woefully so.

Hmph!

[Kid Berwyn]

6. Iowa has sunk so low.

Thanks, GOP.

[marble falls]

12. Its sad. NE Iowa was a wonderful place when we lived there.

[Happy Hoosier]

8. How the fuck did this get to trial?

The prosecutor should dropped this. This judge should summarily toss it.

[Escurumbele]

13. The one being tried should be the cop, not her

Reverse justice, USA of Bizarro World.

[LiberalArkie]

14. The one thing I noticed right off the bat is that she is not white enough to skip the trial.

[BobTheSubgenius]

15. It's hard to believe that this "case" made it into a courtroom.

Clearly, press coverage and the light of day shining on their actions cannot be tolerated. At least, by them.

[SharonClark]

16. The jury is receiving instructions now.

https://live.drake.edu/

[augyboston]

17. The only person who should be on trial here...

The only person who should be on trial here is the thug cop who assaulted her!

It's imperative that we have a robust forth estate and long past time that the courts start punishing these authoritarian thugs who call themselves cops!

[displacedtexan]

32. I would also add the prosecutor & the District Attorney.

[augyboston]

33. Good point. I totally agree.

[orangecrush]

18. This is total bullshit

Iowa is turning into Afghanistan.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. it may not be coincidence that they allowed the white journalist Katie Akin to leave

without arrest, but arrested the Palestinian-American Sahouri. And still think they have some valid form of charge to lay against her.

[Oldem]

20. Surely there are grounds for multiple law suits, whether she's exonerated or not:

false arrest, racial profiling, violation of the 1st Amendment, etc.. Suits might be lodged against the city, the police force, and/or the offending officer.

[Jimvanhise]

29. Nothing like wasting the court's time

The police must have leaned on the prosecutor to push this ahead to make "an example" out of her. If there's one thing police dislike as much as black people, it is journalists.

[NutmegYankee]

30. BREAKING: Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri acquitted after trial on charges from George F

Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was acquitted Wednesday in a trial stemming from her arrest while covering the George Floyd protests in May 2020.

Sahouri was charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts, both simple misdemeanors. Police claimed she remained in the area of the Des Moines protest despite orders to leave, and tried to pull away when a Des Moines police officer pepper-sprayed her and tried to arrest her.

After a three-day trial, the six-member jury returned a verdict of not guilty on both charges. Sahouri's then-boyfriend, Spenser Robnett, was arrested with her and faced the same charges, and he also was acquitted on both counts.

Her arrest — and the fact that the charges went to trial — were widely criticized as an attack on press freedom. The three day trial did not broadly discuss the First Amendment issues but Sahouri, a colleague who was with her and Register executive editor all testified that Sahouri's presence in the protest area was the very core of what journalist do.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2021/03/10/andrea-sahouri-trial-des-moines-register-reporter-acquitted-george-floyd-protest-arrest/6933780002/

Good! Now arrest and try the prosecute for willful deprivation of rights.

[apnu]

31. Cops have a switch that gets flipped.

I used to work 3rd shift at a gas station that sold beer after the bars closed in the mid 90s. I had problems with drunks at least once a week and the cops got to hanging around the station. I got to know them, got friendly with them. They all had a nice side and dark side. Every single one showed it to me at some point. Even the rape crisis officer. She came in after beating the fuck out of a suspected rapist and took a victory lap. She was also of the nicest cops I've ever known, smart engaged, checked up on well being, but she could beat the shit out of people like everybody else in uniform.