US Election Censorship

[Christopher Hall]

The following article about the arrest of an ABC reporter by a Denver Police Sergeant at the request of a hotel (for filming the entry and exit of certain of its guests) is amazing: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Conventions/...8622&page=1

And notice that the guests he was filming were Democratic Senators and high level donors (aka lobbyists).

ABC News needs to go to bat for this reporter.

This reporter was doing his job on a city sidewalk and gets roughed up because the expensive hotel wants its guests to not have to worry about being filmed with each other.

ABC reporters and other reporters in Denver need to flock in droves to the police sergeant's house and to the Denver Police Chief's house to do a little more filiming and reporting.

The cops say they are charging him with trespass, interference (whatever that is - I must have missed the day in law school that we covered this crime) and failure to obey a lawful order. Since when is "quit taking pictures on a city sidewalk" a lawful order?

And the Denver Police Department took him down with a total of 6 officers. He doesn't look like much of a threat to me.

I hope that this reporter is acquitted and that he sues the City of Denver for violation of his civil rights and the hotel which called the law on him for wrongful prosecution and whatever tort may arguably apply to this kind of malicious harassment.

Most importantly, I hope that ABC stays on the "follow the money" line of stories that it is running and that it makes them a focal point of the next 2 and 1/2 months of coverage.

While the other media was chasing leads on the Recreate 68 group (you can't call a group of 50 people a crowd) and on the nonsense going on inside the convention center, this reporter was actually doing investigative journalism.

[Nathaniel Heidenheimer]

Along similar lines here is a report on the NSA-ATT party which. at this point, may as well be the Legislative Branch.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/26

[Christopher Hall]

The following contains some developments on this matter:

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/west...pdate_92980.asp

The sergeant who essentially pushes the reporter across the street should be relieved of his badge and gun.

I wouldn't trust him as a mall cop.