Today it is critical that you make your voice heard in the Ramsey County Attorney and St. Paul City Attorney offices. Demand that they drop all pending and current charges against journalists arrested while reporting on protests outside the Republican National Conventions.
Filed under News
Government crackdowns on journalists are a true threat to democracy. As the Republican National Convention meets in St. Paul, Minn., this week, police are systematically targeting journalists.
Filed under Weekly Column
Links to video and articles about the arrest of Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar.
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Goodman Charged with Obstruction; Felony Riot Charges Pending Against Kouddous and Salazar
ST. PAUL--Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar have all been released from police custody in St. Paul following their illegal arrest by Minneapolis Police on Monday afternoon.
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Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her.
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Former Sen. John Edwards was supposed to speak in Denver at the Democratic National Convention, but he had an affair. Will the Democrats now forget about his signature issue?
Filed under Weekly Column
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on a book tour, where she is being hounded by activists and questioned about her pledge that “impeachment is off the table.” She responded on the TV talk show “The View,” “If somebody had a crime that the president had committed, that would be a different story.” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind may have provided the evidence she doesn’t want to see.
Filed under Weekly Column
Open opposition, the right to challenge those in power, is a mainstay of any healthy democracy. The Democratic and Republican conventions will test the commitment of the two dominant U.S. political parties to the cherished tradition of dissent. Things are not looking good.
Filed under Weekly Column
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LaSalle Parish school board member Billy “Bulldog” Fowler reveals the school district conducted an internal investigation about the Jena Six but the school board was not allowed to review it before they voted to uphold the expulsion of the six. The school board’s lawyer was none other than the prosecuting district attorney, Reed Walters. Asked if he felt that Walters had a conflict of interest that night, Fowler replied, “Well, I’m assuming that Mr. Walters knows the law.” [includes rush transcript]
Activists from across the country are heading to Jena, Louisiana for a major demonstration on Thursday to protest the treatment of six African American high school students who were jailed and faced attempted murder charges for taking part in a fight after nooses were hung from a tree in the schoolyard. Last night we interviewed activists in Harlem as they boarded buses bound for Jena. [includes rush transcript]
During a recent trip to Jena, Democracy Now! interviewed Billy “Bulldog” Fowler, a member of the La Salle Parish School Board. Fowler, 68, moved to Jena in 1940. He says Jena is being unfairly painted as racist. He feels the hanging nooses were blown out of proportion, that in the high school setting it was more of a prank: “This is the Deep South, and [older] black people know the meaning of a noose. Let me tell you something—young people don’t.” [includes rush transcript]
Former Assistant School Superintendent Cleveland Riser says local district attorney Reed Walters should have recused himself from the Jena Six case because he also serves as the attorney for the local school board. When the school board was asked to review the expulsion of the six students, Walters prevented them from reviewing an internal school district investigation. [includes rush transcript]