Independent media activism

Even after being subjected to the chemical weapons, arrested, and having my camera destroyed and footage stolen at the conclusion of September's G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, I still had two charges that I needed to fight. I was charged with failure to disperse and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. So I journeyed back to Pittsburgh in hopes of getting the charges completely dismissed.

Upon arrival, I noticed the city was much more peaceful and “normal” without the barricades, military-style check-points, and the ever constant presence of the police photographers snapping pictures of everyone. At about the same time as I had arrived, my attorney was presenting evidence of my Twin Cities Indymedia press passes that I was wearing during my arrest. However, the district attorney chose to take a hard-line position and refused to outright dismiss my charges unless I was “credentialed” by the Secret Service. This was not a qualification that all media personnel could make though four journalists were able to get their charges dismissed this way, one from the Post-Gazette, a local mainstream paper and two from the University of Pittsburgh’s publication, the Pitt News.

Related: TCIMC G20 Coverage Archive | TCIMC Journalist, Other Mediamakers Arrested as Pittsburgh Says No to G20 (with video) | Pittsburgh IMC | G20Media.org

from the open publishing newswire: I came to Honduras as part of a delegation of concerned activists who went to witness and accompany the daily protests, monitor human rights violations, and report back to the international community on conditions since the June 28^th military coup. On that day, democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya was forcibly removed from office by the Honduran military and expelled from the country.  In the aftermath there has been an immediate popular uprising in his support, with many instances of severe police and military repression which continue today.  The following is a reflection on time spent in and around Tegucigalpa during two critical weeks in August.

Last night as I was packing my bags to go to Honduras, I heard that the military repression was getting worse.  One hundred and fifty arrested, many wounded.  I sit in the airport waiting room and scan CNN.  Not a mention on the world news.