Amy Goodman and Democracy Now Producers File Lawsuit Over RNC Arrests

[G_j]

Source: Democracy Now!

Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! Producers File Lawsuit Over RNC Arrests

Democracy Now! host and executive producer Amy Goodman along with producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar are filing a federal lawsuit today that challenges the police crackdown on journalists at the Republican National Convention in 2008.

Democracy Now! host and executive producer Amy Goodman along with producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar are filing a federal lawsuit today that challenges the police crackdown on journalists at the Republican National Convention in 2008.

The suit is filed against the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments, the Ramsey County Sheriff and unidentified Secret Service personnel. The lawsuit challenges the policies and conduct of law enforcement during the RNC that resulted in the arrests, one of dozens among journalists arrested in St. Paul.

The lawsuit seeks compensation and an injunction against law enforcement’s unjustified encroachment on First Amendment rights, including freedom of the press and the independence of the media.

Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/5/amy_goodman_and_democracy_now_producers

[WhiteTara]

1. good for them

I'm sure they will win.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MarinCoUSA]

41. Absolutely! They deserve to win, too.

N/t

[upi402]

2. When Amy Goodman gets a daytime spot on MSNBC

I will have hope for American democracy again.

[truedelphi]

11. Same here. Marvelous news comes to us daily from the

Democracy Now people.

The only complaint I ever had was they would never ever cover Nine Eleven truth movement, and they were skeptical of the "Stolen Election, and hackable election machinery" stories until very late in the game.

[rurallib]

16. I wonder if she would take such a spot. As is, she doesn't

have much interference in how she presents things.
I watch her on Free Speech TV. She is also on Link-TV.

[pattmarty]

23. About 5 yrs ago or so, she used to be on as a guest on "Tweety's"...........

...........every so often. My guess is the reason she isn't on anymore is she doesn't take any shit and is kind of "deadpan". I think she probably is better off where she is having more control over what and how the news is presented on DN.

[rurallib]

33. I remember seeing her on there. She looked confined

Her answers never fit into the allotted 30 seconds or so. I remember Tweets cutting her off mid sentence several times.

[louis-t]

56. He cuts everyone off..

:shrug:

[No Elephants]

46. If I were a TV personality of substance and convictions, I would not visit the Tweety Show either.

[EFerrari]

24. Amy is a journalist. She'd never work for MSNBC.

[RufusTFirefly]

27. +1

She's not a performer. She's a journalist.
Her job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, not build her own personal brand.

[EFerrari]

30. Amy was almost killed covering East Timor during the Indonesian

invasion and occupation -- which was supported by Dennis Blair.

I guess once you are beaten with rifle butts paid for by American tax payers, Tweety doesn't seem all that impressive. lol

[RufusTFirefly]

31. Haha. Nope.

And she pissed off Bill Clinton during what he thought was going to be a softball interview.
Bill obviously underestimated Amy.

It's not always true, but in general if you piss off people in power, you're probably doing a good job. Modern reporters have grown way too cozy with the people they should be grilling.

Amy's a hero of mine. One of my other heroes, the late George Seldes (who lived to 104) got kicked out of both Fascist Italy and the Soviet Union. He was clearly doing a good job.

Meanwhile, Dorothy Thompson, the international correspondent who was allegedly the inspiration for Katharine Hepburn's character in Woman of the Year got kicked out of Nazi Germany after writing a book and some articles that pissed off Hitler. Once again, she was clearly on the right track.

I think Amy Goodman is following in the footsteps of Seldes for sure and to a lesser extent in those of Thompson, who was a lot more flamboyant than Amy is or probably will be. And I think it's fair to say that the great Helen Thomas helped pave the way for people like Amy. Thomas is another one who hasn't forgotten why she's there.

[U4ikLefty]

44. Oh,I remember that interview with Clinton.

He really was pissed. I'm going to go look for that one...got to see it again.

[RufusTFirefly]

45. He said something like "You're very rude."

What he meant was, "How dare you ask me substantive questions during what I thought was going to be the interview equivalent of a photo op?"

Amy is a national treasure.

[avaistheone1]

53. Anyone have a link to that interview?

I don't want to miss it.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

57. Link is here ...

... with transcript:

http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in

From the last paragraph:

"First of all, we hadn’t agreed to any ground rules. Clinton called us. Second, we wouldn’t have agreed to any. The only ground rule for good reporting I know is that you don’t trade your principles for access. We were treating the president not as royalty, but as a public servant accountable to the people."

[avaistheone1]

59. Thank you.

:dem:

[valerief]

47. Hey, Amy could replace Joe Dead Intern Scabby in the morning!

Wouldn't that be refreshing!

[No Elephants]

48. Oh, noes!!!!111!!! Whoever would Mika, Geist and Barnicle fawn on then?

[valerief]

55. Their ilk on Fox, of course. nt

[upi402]

60. Can you imagine what Goodman would do with that Mika woman?

I'd tune in as if it were blood-sport or something...
Mika's lineage as Zbigniew's daughter is betrayed by her laughable smarm.

[Duval]

52. And, Freedom of the Press! Sigh!n/t

[katandmoon]

3. K&R!

[Downtown Hound]

4. Nicole Salazar's arrest right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d9wmqO2Khw

For this, she was initially charged with FELONY CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT RIOT.

This in spite of the fact that she was wearing her press badges around her neck and says to the officer while she's on the ground being assaulted by him, "PRESS! PRESS!"

May both of them make out big on this travesty that was the police response to the RNC.

K&R!

[activa8tr]

5. How much does th RNC have in savings??? I hope Amy's crowd cleans

it out!

I'd say a cool fifty million would help advance Democracy Now.

[SpiralHawk]

7. Actually, the RNC blew a big wad at the Faux Diaper Bondage Lesbian Sex Club

- The RNC ran up a stiff one on their Republicon Family Values credit card, so they are probably a little short (as most Americans would expect of republicons based upon their, um, lack of performance).

[pscot]

14. "Ran up a stiff one" ?

The most graphically accurate description so far of how it went down.
:rofl:

[SpiralHawk]

17. Well, Americans know for a fact that republicons cannot save money

Since over the 8 years of the Bush-Cheney chickenhawk Administration they blew the HUGE freakin budget surplus Clinton (D) left them, and borrowed-and-spent the USA deep, deep, deep into a debt that will take decades to pay off...

What bullshit when republicons claim to be 'conservatives.' Thankfully, most Americans now know that its BS.

[RantinRavin]

10. RNC is not being sued

From the OP:

The suit is filed against the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments, the Ramsey County Sheriff and unidentified Secret Service personnel.

[tsuki]

12. But didn't the RNC buy insurance of 10 million for the city?

[annm4peace]

19. the RNC 10 million is only for city of St Paul for lawsuits

Minneapolis (where many of the cops were from) is not covered by the RNC lawsuit money.

[tsuki]

35. Cool, or is it kewl. nt

[annabanana]

6. GOOD. That police action was inexcusable.

I couldn't believe it was happening. It tarnished my view of St. Paul particularly and Minnesota in general...

[Enthusiast]

8. They are right and

they should win.

[Cleita]

9. It's about time. No political party should be allowed to get away

with fascist shit like that.

[thereismore]

13. Hell yeah, clean them out. nt

[colsohlibgal]

15. Great news!

Way to go Amy and all, time to go after this 'brown shirt" example.

Oh, Amy would be great on MSNBC, but I highly doubt that would ever happen.

[femrap]

18. If there isn't a Free Press,

there isn't Democracy.

[No Elephants]

49. Our press is not free, by any means. Cons have paid big, big bucks to

take over our media and book publishers. Nothing free about it.

[MarshalltheIrish]

20. I'm glad to hear this!

Watching those raw videos I couldn't believe how flagrant the abuse was, even with their press credentials well-displayed. This would be a huge victory for freedom of speech and the press. Go DN! They're my number one news source and a refreshing reprieve from the corporate-controlled swill of Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc.

[sce56]

28. The only news outlet below DN is The Daily Show

It is a crying shame that in this country you get more news from a comedy show than a MSM news show

[MarshalltheIrish]

29. Yes

I'm almost ashamed to admit sometimes that I've gotten a great deal of news and knowledge from The Daily Show (no disrespect to it, it is excellent), but they DO make it memorable and entertaining. Bonus points for the wide array of guests from all sides that Jon features.

[No Elephants]

50. Stewart is simultaneously tickled and incensed to be the most trusted news source in America.

A satirist, the most trusted news source in the nation?

Now, THAT's American exceptionalism.

[annm4peace]

21. One of the lawyers, Bruce Nestor, for Democracy is Defending one of the RNC 8

Mr Nestor is an incredible and very articulate lawyer.

Right now the pre-trial hearing is going on for the RNC 8. The organizers with the RNC Welcoming Committee that were setting up the logistics for the protesters coming to the Twin Cities.

I was able to watch Mr. Nester on MOnday and part of Tuesday as he questioned the witness, which are the Ramsey County Sheriff dept Inspector and a Commander.

It was great watching him.

I think it is great Amy has selected his law-firm as Mr Nestor along with the other lawyers representing the RNC 8 have been volunteering many of their hours and often represent many people who try to bring peace and social justice.

See here what I posted on Monday if you want to read more: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8270421

[Jefferson23]

32. That is good to know, thanks for the info.

I hope her lawyers are successful.

[slipslidingaway]

22. knr nt

[katty]

25. good!!

[PatrynXX]

26. About damn time

Have the idiotic tea party protests bitching about big government.. where were they in 2008 when we has police states cropping up across the nation conducting pre offense arrests.


They didn't just got after journalists that might be liberal, remember one group getting beat up by batons and they were screaming hey we're from Fox.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

34. Good Luck to them

That was truly appalling.

[Mosaic]

36. Win One for Democracy Amy!

We don't need to show off pistols on our belts, we have something much more powerful on our side, common sense and justice!

[kas125]

38. I hope they win. I was at the RNC and the things that

happened there were ridiculous and scary. I saw things I never thought I'd see in America that week...

[crim son]

39. Good.

I wondered at the time why I didn't hear about any action resulting from the arrests. I hope the "law enforcement" gets nailed to the wall.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

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[peacetalksforall]

42. I am thrilled. The entire RNC police ss sheriff coalition was weird and unnecessary

and it has been bugging me. I lost respect for Minneapolis Hennepin St Paul Ramsey Minnesota State and federal law enforcement. Many weird things happened and it was a case of illogic that was either made to happen for propaganda purposes or is a perfect USSR People's Republic reaction.

I hope that all the weird things come out. The people don't deserve a Convention like that one to be repeated again. It was shameful.

[sabrina 1]

43. I am so glad they are doing this!

Good for them ~

[No Elephants]

51. As a payer of Boston real estate taxes, I am grateful no one sued

Boston in 2004 over the "First Amendment cage" a couple of blocks from the entrance to the building where the DNC was being held.

Frankly, the sight of that pen sent chills up my spine.

Just sayin'.

[Blue Owl]

54. Up with freedom!

Down with the police states!

[Uncle Joe]

58. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, G_j.