Courage has joined more than 20 national and local press freedom and civil liberties organizations calling on the DOJ to drop the charges brought against Indian Time reporter Isaac White. The charges arise from May this year when White was arrested while covering a demonstration opposing a proposed settlement of a land claim by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe.
In a letter addressed to District Attorney Gary Pasqua, media freedom advocates emphasize that White was not accused of doing anything illegal besides failing to disperse when police broke up the protest. They point out that even according to DOJ’s own interpretation of the First Amendment, police dispersing protesters canโt also disperse journalists covering the protests, because how police respond to protests is news.
“The First Amendment requires that any restrictions on when, where, and how reporters gather information ‘leave open ample alternative channels’ for gathering the news. Law enforcement did not communicate a specific dispersal point for White or the others arrested that day, let alone one in a location from which White could effectively report.”
The signatories stress that the DOJ, courts, and legislatures must all recognize the rights of journalists to document how police respond to protests, and demand charges against White to be dropped.