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Photo by Chris Schneider/Rocky Mountain News
Almost two weeks after St. Paul announced it will drop all charges against journalists arrested at the Republic National Convention, several independent media journalists still have felony charges hanging over them.
“They told me my charges have been reduced,” said Wendy Binion, pictured above, who was working for the Portland Independent Media Center when she was arrested for videotaping a protest.
Whereas before she was facing felony rioting charges, she is now facing “conspiracy to commit a riot, under investigation”, which means her case will remain open for at least a year, possibly longer.
“It basically means that they reserve the right to charge me whenever they want to,” she said in a recent phone interview with Photography is Not a Crime.
Adding insult to injury, Binion is still waiting for police to return her video camera.
“I’ve been having to play this game with them trying to find out where it’s at,” she said. “It’s not at the Ramsey County Jail, it’s in some impound yard.”
And considering that Binion is back in Portland, it makes it eve more complicated to get her camera returned to her.
“They say I need to get a public notarized statement to give a friend permission to pick it up,” she said. “They have to make a special appointment to get the camera.”
Other journalists waiting for their charges to be dropped are Alex Lilly of Portland Indymedia as well as members of the Glass Bead Collective, who are making a documentary about excessive police tactics used during the Republic National Convention.
For those of you who follow this blog, you may remember the Glass Bead Collective as the New York group of filmmakers who produced the following video of NYPD going berserk on Critical Mass riders in Times Square.
Meanwhile, the Denver police union is celebrating the end of the Democratic National Convention by handing out the following Constitution-mocking t-shirts to its officers.
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Here’s betting that Denver police officer Scott Stewart received at least two t-shirts for his courageous and valiant efforts at maintaining the peace.