After months of uncertainty, an Iowa journalist who was arrested after covering a Black Lives Matter protest has been found not guilty. Although her charges were dropped, her arrest has drawn national attention regarding the constitutional protections of the free press.
Andrea Sahouri, who is a reporter for the Des Moines Register, was covering one of the many Black Lives Matter protests that blanketed the nation last spring. During her coverage, Sahouri was pepper-sprayed and arrested along with her boyfriend, Spenser Robnett, who was at the protest acting as her security. Throughout the altercation with the police, Sahouri repeatedly identified herself as “press” but was taken into custody regardless. Soon after she was arrested, Sahouri shared a video on Twitter where she explained that she was just reporting the events. She recounts, "As I was seeing if his leg was O.K., police came closer and we went around the corner and I was saying, 'I'm press. I'm press. I'm press.'" Sahouri faced charges of failure to disperse and interfering with official acts. Both charges are misdemeanors and carry with them up to 30 days behind bars as well as possible fines.
Sahouri's arrest drew national and international criticism because of infringement of press freedoms. According to the attorney for Polk County John Sarcone and Des Moines police, Sahouri was not identifiable as a member of the press because she was not wearing any press credentials during the time of the arrest. Additionally, police maintain that there was an order to disperse the area over an hour and a half before Sahouri was arrested.
The executive editor of the register, Carol Hunter, explains that Sahouri’s credentials were left in a vehicle but that it was irrelevant because constitutional protections do not require press credentials in order to enjoy the freedom of the press. Hunter explained, "Freedom of the press rests on newsgathering. This really is an attack on a fundamental part of being able to bring people the news." Prosecutor Bradley Kinkade hit back, stating that the charges against Sahouri are “irrelevant” to her being a journalist. Instead, Kinkade explains that the pretrial hearing is a “standard misdemeanor trial.”
Advocacy groups were quick to come to the defense of Sahouri. Amnesty International described the charges against Sahouri as “spurious” and explained that Sahouri was simply doing her job as a reporter. The director of Amnesty International Eric Guevara-Rosas explained, “The charges against Andrea Sahouri represent a clear violation of press freedom and fit a disturbing pattern of abuses against journalists by police in the USA. It’s deeply troubling that the prosecutor would push these bogus charges all the way to trial.”
Guevara-Rosas goes on to describe Sahouri’s detention as a violation of human rights. He adds that journalists like Sahouri are key to helping keep police activity transparent. Guevara-Rosas urged that the charges against the reporter be dropped. Amnesty International covered Sahouri's story in depth in their August 2020 report titled, The World is Watching: Mass Violations by US Police of Black Lives Matter Protesters’ Rights.
Another organization, the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, has expressed their concern with Sahouri’s case. They argue the fact “That this trial is happening at all is a violation of free press rights and a miscarriage of justice.”
As the trial against Sahouri began on March eighth, a motion was put forward to dismiss the criminal charges. The court, however, rejected the motion. As part of the trial, it was expected that the prosecution would likely bring in text messages that occurred between Sahouri and an organizer of the Back Lives Matter protest, Matè Muhammad.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented a significant increase in the number of journalists who have been arrested or detained in 2020. In 2019, nine journalists were arrested as compared to 130 that were arrested or detained in 2020. The uptick in arrest for last year is likely related to the protests that swept the nation. While many were peaceful, a select few turned violent and disorderly.
Polk County attorney John Sarcone has not weighed in publicly with his opinion of the matter, but he did share with the Des Moines Register, “We strongly disagree with how this matter has been characterized and will do our talking in the courtroom, which is the proper place to deal with this case."
