Two reporters, one from the Washington Post, and another from the Huffington Post, were arrested at a McDonald’s in Ferguson, Missouri, during the Police crackdown on violent protesters.
The protests, which began after the killing of an unarmed 18-year-old black teen turned violent, and the two reporters got caught up in the middle ordeal when the police ordered the patron’s of the McDonald’s to vacate the building.Both reporters were inside the restaurant.
Wesley Lowery, a Washington Post political reporter, and Ryan Reilly, a Huffington Post justice reporter, were both cuffed by police, but not because they both write and report for two very liberal media publications, or because they tried to pressure an employee to sell them a Happy Meal, but because they did not pack their bags quickly enough.
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Lowery stated that he was roughed up by Police during the arrest.
The Politico has this:
Martin Baron, the executive editor of The Washington Post, said late Wednesday night that “there was absolutely no justification for [Lowery’s] arrest.”“He was illegally instructed to stop taking video of officers. Then he followed officers’ instructions to leave a McDonald’s — and after contradictory instructions on how to exit, he was slammed against a soda machine and then handcuffed,” Baron said in a statement. “That behavior was wholly unwarranted and an assault on the freedom of the press to cover the news. The physical risk to Wesley himself is obvious and outrageous.”
“After being placed in a holding cell, he was released with no charges and no explanation,” Baron continued. “He was denied information about the names and badge numbers of those who arrested him. We are relieved that Wesley is going to be OK. We are appalled by the conduct of police officers involved.”
According to the Washington Post, both reporters were taken to a police car where a member of the clergy was also being held, and then transported to a holding cell at the Ferguson police station. The Ferguson police chief was reportedly alerted to their arrests by Matt Pearce, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Pearce tweeted that when he informed the police chief of the reporters’ arrest, the chief answered “Oh God” and said the riot police were from St. Louis County and likely “didn’t know any better.”
About a half an hour after arriving at the holding cell, Lowery and Reilly were released without any charges filed, the Post reports.
Ryan Reilly told MSNBC the following (Of course it was MSNBC. Get it, MSNBC+Huffpo= White House Spox). Just kidding:“It was madness,” Reilly said. “[The officers] asked us to begin packing up our stuff. Evidently I was not moving quickly enough for their liking, at which point I was given a countdown, I was told I had 45 seconds, 30 seconds, pack up all my stuff and leave, at which point the officer in question… held me back, grabbed my things and shoved them into my bag, and basically he then arrested me. He hancuffed me… he used his finger to put a pressure point on my neck.”
“He would not tell me what I was under arrest for…he was in complete SWAT gear,” Reilly continued. “The most frustrating thing…I repeatedly asked over a dozen times for his name or ID number was never given it… The worst part was he slammed my head against the glass purposely on the way out of the McDonalds then sarcastically apologized for it.”
“It was just a terrible experience,” he continued. “I recognize I’m in sort of a place of privilege here both as a journalist and as a white person frankly, in that evidently the police chief made the decision to not hold us. … The mentality of the officers was extremely disturbing. They essentially acted as a military force.”
