IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa journalist on Monday faces charges arising from her coverage of a protest action against racial injustice, a case that prosecutors have continued despite international condemnation of free press lawyers who says she just did her job.
The case of Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri, who was pepper sprayed and arrested while reporting a clash between protesters and police, will highlight an aggressive response from Iowa authorities against those who organized and attended protests that broke out last summer and sometimes became violent.
Sahouri and her ex-boyfriend are charged with failure to distribute and interfering with official acts, offenses that could result in fines and up to 30 days in prison. They face a two-day trial at Drake University over what the US press freedom crackdown is says it could be the first time for a working journalist since 2018 nationwide.
Sahouri’s newspaper, the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and Amnesty International is among press attorneys who have demanded that Polk County drop the charges, calling them an abuse of power that violates the first amendment to the Constitution.
‘It’s outrageous. Reporting on the protest as a working member of the media is not a crime. This is a right that must be protected, “Amnesty International said.
Des Moines police and County Sheriff John Sarcone claim Sahouri does not carry press statements and appears to be taking part in an illegal meeting, saying journalists do not have a free pass to ignore distribution orders. The only such order identified in court documents was issued about 90 minutes before the arrest.
Prosecutor Bradley Kinkade argued at a pre-trial hearing on Friday that Sahouri’s employment as a reporter was “irrelevant to her charges.”
“It’s a standard misconduct,” he said.
Sahouri, recently honored by the Iowa Newspaper Association as one of the state’s best young reporters, covered public safety while the charges got under way.
While 126 journalists were arrested or detained during the 2020 unrest, most were not charged, or the charges were dropped, the Press Freedom Tracker said. Fourteen are still facing charges.
The determination to prosecute Sahouri surprised observers, noting that the courts in Iowa are lagging behind with crimes due to the coronavirus pandemic. Critics say authorities are apparently seeking a conviction to justify an officer’s decision to use force unnecessarily against a reporter who builds trust with victims of crime and underrepresented communities.
“It’s like someone with a hand in the cookie jar: they can not admit they made a mistake,” said Des Moines’ civil rights lawyer Glen Downey, who is not involved in Sahouri’s case. “The case is important because of the aspect of journalism, but it is also indicative of how they treat all the protesters.”
Sahouri, 25, was discussing a Black Lives Matter protest in the Merle Hay shopping center as tensions between participants and police escalated. Her then-boyfriend, Spenser Robnett, accompanied her for safety reasons.
Protesters vandalized a Target store, smashed windows, blocked an intersection and threw water bottles and stones at rioters.
Sahouri discussed the protest live on Twitter and reported that officers entered a shoe store with guns and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Sahouri said she was walking away from the gas when Robnett was hit with a projectile, and she paused briefly to examine him before going around the corner from a Verizon store. That was when Officer Luke Wilson approached, shot pepper spray in her face and restrained her with zippers, she says.
Sahouri has repeatedly identified herself as a press, but has nevertheless been jailed. His report her arrest directly in the back of a police van.
Wilson claims he was unaware that Sahouri was a reporter until he detained her and Robnett intervened, saying she worked for the Register and tried to pull her away. Wilson says he failed to activate his body camera.
Judge Lawrence McLellan on Friday ordered prosecutors to provide training materials for body cameras to Sahouri’s defense, which he said had to be transferred in response to an earlier court order.
The defense argues that Wilson could and should have obtained the video of the arrest after the fact, but refused to do so, possibly to avoid embarrassment. McLellan said he would later rule on whether to order judges to destroy the evidence.
According to Des Moines Register executive editor Carol Hunter, Sahouri’s lack of press credentials, which she left in her car, has a ‘red herring’ because police immediately knew she was a journalist and a peach sign. necessary to enjoy constitutional protection. Reporters should be free to experience protest marches and hold participants and police accountable, Hunter said.
“Freedom of the press is based on news gathering,” she said. “It really is an attack on a fundamental part of the fact that our people can bring the news.”
The newspaper finances Sahouri’s defense, led by former U.S. Attorney Nick Klinefeldt.
Prosecutors tried to get text messages between Sahouri and Matele Muhammad, leader, a week after her arrest. Her lawyers say the texts are irrelevant and show a reporter’s routine factual meeting with a source.
Muhammad, who fought complaints due to protests, said he did not know Sahouri when she was arrested, but the two have since developed a professional relationship. He calls her ‘extremely diligent’ in researching information and gathering different perspectives.
“We enjoy not working with her because we consider her an activist or on our side,” he said, “but because we consider her fair.”