An RT crew was recently arrested by US police while filming protests near the Fort Benning military base in the US state of Georgia. Correspondent Kaelyn Forde’s and her cameraman Jon Conway were detained while covering a rally protesting the School of the Americas. They were arrested after the demonstration was over and everybody, including correspondents, was leaving the area. The arrests were rough and included the use of hard plastic hand cuffs, the same type commonly used by US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, injuring Kaelyn Forde’s wrists. At the time of their arrests the correspondents were not told what crime they were being charged with. They were held as protestors even though they presented valid press credentials to the court. Currently out on bail after 32 hours in custody, Forde and Conway were eventually charged with partaking in an illegal protest and disobeying the orders of law enforcement officers. Davis Swanson, author of the newly released book, “War is a Lie” said this case is a disturbing trend in America, and the constitutional rights of both the press and the activists were violated by the police. He explained the rights of a free press and free assembly seem to be thrown out when it comes to coverage of the US government, military, congressional campaigns and political parties. “There is the freedom of assembly as well as the freedom of the press in our First Amendment, and it is being attacked,” Swanson said. “This is something that has been growing in recent years.” There is a growing police presence at peaceful rallies and events, explained Swanson. Police are increasing their efforts and hostility at non-violent rallies. The event was a Christian protest, made up of activists that included priests, nuns, elderly individuals and minors. “It is a growing problem that ought to concern all of us,” he said. Swanson argued there was no justification for the police to violate the people’s first amendment rights. Increasing arrests, hostility and preemptive targeting of activists is unjust. “There seems to be a crack down on people protesting even as the protests diminish in size,” he added. The US military targets the media. The uses intimidation and releases tailored stories to the media, and most US media simply bend to the power and intimidation of the government, Swanson argued. “We have a campaign of intimidation that is very very successful,” he said. “There are two disgraceful things that happened here. One,an arrest of journalists and activists, and two, most US media outlets not there, not risking arrests, complying withthe desires of those in power or successfully intimidated.” Radio host Alex Jones said the arrests are a frightening sign and an attempt by the government to further curb American freedoms. Having been arrested in the past as a member of the press, Jones said Forde’s story is all too familiar. First, the police force you to move, and then move you again, and when you comply they arrest you anyway, he explained. “This is part of an ongoing program to persecute protestors and the press,” he said. “Now they’re trying to pass legislation where the Justice Department can shut down any website they want without a judge or jury. Tyranny is coming to the United States.” “This is really US tactics that are increasingly used against journalist around the world now coming back here to the United States,” she said. “We’ve seen time and again in war zones the journalists who are independent journalists who are targeted and then it’s labeled an accident. So, some o those same tactics come back here in an effort to shut down peaceful protests which is entirely legal, this was a permitted demonstration, and yet both the demonstrators and members of the media who were covering it were arrested for no reason whatsoever except an act of intimidation. Flounders argued that the military and the media are tied to one another. Thus US media rarely covers these events. She contended that the roll of the US media is shaped by the government, both in content and in how stories are covered. Blogger David Lindorff from ThisCantBeHappening.net argued police are using peaceful protests to study and intimidate activists. added by: MotherForTruth
