Comedian Robin Williams and actress Lauren Bacall died. That news made me sad.
Reporters from the Washington Post and the Huffington Post were arrested last night by police who refused to provide their badge numbers. The reporters were covering the ongoing tension between police and crowds protesting the death of an unarmed teenager, who police say resisted arrest, but who witnesses say was shot in the back with his hands in the air.
This news makes me more than sad. You pick the appropriate adjective.
An officer with a large weapon came up to me and said, “Stop recording.”
I said, “Officer, do I not have the right to record you?”
He backed off but told me to hurry up. So I gathered my notebook and pens with one hand while recording him with the other hand.
As I exited, I saw Ryan to my left, having a similar argument with two officers. I recorded him, too, and that angered the officer. As I made my way toward the door, the officers gave me conflicting information. —The Washington Post.
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I was only barely paying attention to Ferguson this week because there are a lot of terrible things to pay attention to, but that arrest caught my eye. Arresting journalists (especially ones who aren’t even being belligerent or getting in anyone’s face) is a marker in my mind for people trying to hide egregious things.