Unlawful Arrest at the RNC

Amy Goodman of ‘Democracy Now!,’ was assaulted and detained while doing her job outside the Republican National Convention.

Here are some excerpts, but you can read the whole account here (Truthdig).

I was arrested with my two colleagues, “Democracy Now!” producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, while reporting on the first day of the RNC. I have been wrongly charged with a misdemeanor. My co-workers, who were simply reporting, may be charged with felony riot.

Behind all the patriotic hyperbole that accompanies the conventions, and the thousands of journalists and media workers who arrive to cover the staged events, there are serious violations of the basic right of freedom of the press. Here on the streets of St. Paul, the press is free to report on the official proceedings of the RNC, but not to report on the police violence and mass arrests directed at those who have come to petition their government, to protest.

I was at the Xcel Center on the convention floor, interviewing delegates. I had just made it to the Minnesota delegation when I got a call on my cell phone with news that Sharif and Nicole were being bloody arrested, in every sense. Filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films and I raced on foot to the scene. Out of breath, we arrived at the parking lot. I went up to the line of riot police and asked to speak to a commanding officer, saying that they had arrested accredited journalists.

Within seconds, they grabbed me, pulled me behind the police line and forcibly twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me, the rigid plastic cuffs digging into my wrists. I saw Sharif, his arm bloody, his credentials hanging from his neck. I repeated we were accredited journalists, whereupon a Secret Service agent came over and ripped my convention credential from my neck. I was taken to the St. Paul police garage where cages were set up for protesters. I was charged with obstruction of a peace officer. Nicole and Sharif were taken to jail, facing riot charges.

You can read a transcript of Goodman’s arrest here and see video.  Over at FreePress you can sign a petition to drop charges against journalists who were simply doing their jobs.

What strikes me from Goodman’s article and the transcript is how violently they were treated when they asked respectful, basic questions of the officers or Secret Service personnel.  Goodman had her press pass ripped from around her neck and one of her producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, had the plastic cuffs tightened by a man whom he had asked to loosen them because they were hurting him.  Obviously, at a full-blown riot the whole ‘innocent until proven guilty’ standard is difficult to follow, but these were well-known, accredited journalists trying to cover the protests as part of their job.  Where is the outcry?

 

Mocking Education at the RNC

I couldn’t believe my ears yesterday when Abel Maldonado, a Republican state senator of CA, mocked Barack Obama’s education. He invoked his hard-working father, who has just a fourth grade education.

Among the speech lines receiving the most applause: “My father knows more about economics than Senator Obama does with his degrees from all those fancy schools.” (Mercury News)

Was Abel Maldonado criticizing Obama for attending College and receiving an advanced degree? Would he prefer our nation’s leaders drop out of school and do manual labor?

I take his point, that his father has learned a lot about economics by running his own small business. That’s admirable and enviable in today’s economy. But why wasn’t Maldonado a bit concerned about bragging about his father’s skill at managing the family budget considering his state, California, is currently without a state budget and its public schools are facing a budget crisis?

And why wasn’t Maldonado, hand-picked by Bush to appeal to Latino voters, concerned that lauding his uneducated father’s story when Latinos in his state drop out at a staggering 30%?

I know this is politics and they’re trying to win an election, but imagine if Maldonado had stood up and talked about the need for a quality education so that Latinos from working class backgrounds, like himself, could share in the American Dream, which he claims to be living. How much of that dream is available to Californians with a fourth-grade education?