Prosecutors in the US states of North Dakota and Washington should drop all charges against three independent documentary filmmakers arrested while filming environmental activists interfering with oil pipelines, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.
Filmmakers Deia Schlosberg and Lindsey Goodwin-Grayzel, as well as Goodwin-Grayzel's cameraman, Carl Davis, were arrested with activists from the group Climate Direct Action on October 11, and subsequently charged with a range of felonies, including conspiracy and burglary, as participants in the co-ordinated, multi state protest, according to press reports.
"Recording civil disobedience and arrests is news-gathering, not conspiracy," said Robert Mahoney, CPJ's deputy executive director. "Prosecuting filmmakers for covering protests sends a chilling message. We call on authorities in North Dakota and Washington to drop these troubling charges and to stop interfering with journalists doing their jobs." CPJ