Journalist Amy Goodman Faces Riot Charges For Covering Pipeline Protest
”I wasn’t engaging in a riot, I was doing my job as a journalist by covering a violent attack on Native American protesters,“ the ”Democracy Now!“ co-host says
Amy Goodman, the progressive journalist and co-host of “Democracy Now!” will turn herself in Monday to authorities in North Dakota, where she said she has been charged with participating in a “riot.”
“I came back to North Dakota to fight a trespass charge. They saw that they could never make that charge stick, so now they want to charge me with rioting,” Goodman told Democracy Now!
“I wasn’t trespassing, I wasn’t engaging in a riot, I was doing my job as a journalist by covering a violent attack on Native American protesters.”
On Sept. 3, Goodman filmed security guards using dogs and pepper spray to attack people at a protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which had turned violent, according to authorities.
“Once protestors arrived at the construction area, they broke down a wire fence by stepping and jumping on it,” the Morton County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement at the time. “According to numerous witnesses within five minutes the crowd of protestors, estimated to be a few hundred people became violent. They stampeded into the construction area with horses, dogs and vehicles.”
Local authorities issued a criminal complaint and warrant for Goodman’s arrest on trespassing charges on Sept. 8. State Attorney Ladd Erickson dropped that case, but filed new charges on Oct. 14 charging Goodman with participating in a “riot.”
“Divergent” star Shailene Woodley was arrested on Oct. 10 for participating in a protest of the pipeline.
9 People Fired or Suspended for Black Lives Matter Comments (Photos)
In light of the recent fatal shootings of Keith L. Scott and Terence Crutcher and the subsequent protests, TheWrap looks back at the people who expressed their grievances on social media during the Dallas shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling and the demonstrations that followed. Here are 9 individuals whose voices were heard -- and who got in trouble for it.
Nate Weekley, a Detroit detective, was demoted to officer after posting on Facebook that "the only racists here are the piece of s--- Black Lives Matter terrorists and their supporters," reported the Detroit News.
The Daily Mail reported that Weekley's brother, Joseph Weekley, was a cop who was charged with involuntary manslaughter after accidentally killing a 7-year-old black girl during a raid.
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The first black Miss Alabama, Kalyn Chapman, was placed on administrative leave from her job at a South Florida PBS station after she posted a video in which she called the Dallas sniper a "martyr."
In her video she stated: "I'm dealing with a bit of guilt" because "I value human life. And I want to feel sad for them, but I can't help but feeling like the shooter was a martyr."
TheWrap
She later told news outlet WPMI that what the shooter did "was wrong, period," adding, "maybe martyr wasn’t the right word but it was what came to mind at that time.”
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Charles Beau Menefee lost his job as a news producer at CBS46 in Atlanta after a slew of Facebook posts, including one in which he said "it would be cool if someone rained gunfire down on to the ignorant human turds at the next #blacklivesmatter March."
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A South Carolina fire captain, Jimmy Morris, was fired after saying that he was going to run over Black Lives Matter protestors on Facebook, The State newspaper said. The Miami Herald reported that two other firefighters were fired in association with Morris' post.
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An Overland Park, Kansas police officer was fired after posting a menacing comment on a woman's Facebook photo, according to local channel KCTV.
A North Carolina deputy, Andrew Sutton, was suspended after joking on Facebook about killing people and calling Black Lives Matter followers "ignorant blind sheep."
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A Tennessee deputy, Jeremy McNary, was suspended after saying Black Lives Matter protestors should be hosed for blocking a highway, according to the New York Daily News.
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McNary's uncle told the Daily News that his nephew had served in the Marines and that he is not a racist nor bad cop, referencing a time he saved a child from drowning.
New York Daily News/Facebook
Diane Amoratis, a Jefferson Health employee, condemned Black Lives Matter protestors and praised police for dealing with a "fat, braided hair, piece of s--- troublemaker..." Philly.com reported. She added that a BLM protest should have been "bulldozed."
Jefferson Health ended up posting that "the individual is no longer at Jefferson."
Philly.com
Sgt. Derek Hale, a Louisville corrections sergeant was suspended after posting a contentious Facebook meme, according to WDRB. It featured an officer with the words: "If we really wanted you dead all we’d have to do is stop patrolling your neighborhoods... and wait."
BLM opponents suffered consequences for airing grievances after the protests
In light of the recent fatal shootings of Keith L. Scott and Terence Crutcher and the subsequent protests, TheWrap looks back at the people who expressed their grievances on social media during the Dallas shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling and the demonstrations that followed. Here are 9 individuals whose voices were heard -- and who got in trouble for it.
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