Huffington PostThe Huffington Post’s Ryan J. Reilly and the Washington Post’s Wesley Lowery were arrested Wednesday evening while covering the protests in Ferguson, Missouri after the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by a police officer last week. The journalists were released unharmed, but their detentions highlighted the town’s ramped up police presence, which has left numerous residents injured by rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas during protests held every night after Brown’s death.
SWAT officers roughed up the reporters inside a McDonald’s, where both journalists were working. Reilly snapped a photo, prompting cops to request his identification.
“The officer in question, who I repeatedly later asked for his name, grabbed my things and shoved them into my bag,” said Reilly, who appeared on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” shortly after his release to recount the arrest. “He used his finger to put a pressure point on my neck.”
“They essentially acted as a military force. It was incredible,” Reilly said. “The worst part was he slammed my head against the glass purposefully on the way out of McDonald’s and then sarcastically apologized for it.”
@HuffingtonPost reporter @ryanjreilly arrested when police closed Ferguson McDonalds. #MikeBrown #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/rAz2A8eu31
— Robert Cohen (@kodacohen) August 14, 2014
Reilly said it will be difficult to hold the officer “accountable for his actions,” as the officer did not respond to Reilly’s repeated requests for his name or other identification. He said he can’t be “100 percent sure” whether the officer was aware that he’s a reporter, “but that really shouldn’t matter in this equation.”
Reilly believes he was arrested because he declined to present the officer his identification when asked for it, he said.
See tweets from Reilly and Lowery below:
SWAT just invade McDonald's where I'm working/recharging. Asked for ID when I took photo. pic.twitter.com/FOIsMnBwHy
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 13, 2014
https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/statuses/499705298932613120
Well, @WesleyLowery and I have been released. That was an experience.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 14, 2014
The Huffington Post called the Ferguson Police Department to inquire about the status of Reilly shortly after tweets indicated that he had been arrested. The person who picked up the phone — who identified himself as “George” — said he couldn’t give any information at this time and that there was no one who could do so. Asked for his last name, he mumbled something quickly. When pressed for the spelling of his name, he hung up.
The Huffington Post called back and again asked for information on Reilly. We were simply put through to the “Ferguson jail” voicemail. On the third try, George again insisted he didn’t have any information at this time and referred us to the city’s website for email information. When again asked for his last name, George simply hung up.
The Los Angeles Times’ Matt Pearce spoke with the Ferguson police chief:
https://twitter.com/mattdpearce/statuses/499719019747090433
After the incident, Lowery and Reilly both emphasized their experience was minor compared to those of other protesters who have been swarmed by SWAT teams and hit with rubber bullets and tear gas:
https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/statuses/499718241326215168
https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/statuses/499718284011638785
https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/statuses/499718358817075200
https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/statuses/499722117790048258
https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/statuses/499728492603256832
UPDATE: Aug. 13, 9:49 p.m. ET — Another Huffington Post reporter, Christine Conetta, tweeted at 9:44 p.m. ET she’d been hit with tear gas at a protest in Ferguson:
Just got hit with tear gas, hard to see or breathe. #ferguson
— Christine Conetta (@BmoreConetta) August 14, 2014
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/13/huffington-post-reporter-arrested-ferguson_n_5676829.html
Look at the makeup of those cops. A bunch of 3rd worlder monkeys doing the bidding of their white masters!
Zionist Masters!
hey Media!..are you now waking up to how you are also being USED by the PAB?
and if you didnt think they would ever attack you ..I say this ..Hahhahaha welcome to the party pal
quit covering for all the wrong that is being perpetrated upon us by covering it up or not even reporting it.. or you will also become discarded as the future steps past your uselessness
Pigs shot teargas at al-Jazeera news crew in Ferguson, too. Pigs trashed the cameras/lights left behind. Let the hordes tear the pigs apart.
““He used his finger to put a pressure point on my neck.”
“They essentially acted as a military force. It was incredible,” Reilly said. “The worst part was he slammed my head against the glass purposefully on the way out of McDonald’s and then sarcastically apologized for it.””
Yep, and you just stood there and took it rather than beat the shit out of the guy. But hey, that’s OK. Just stand there while he puts that bullet in your head, buddy. You’ll be fine.
Unfrigginbelievable….
What the F**K is it going to take for people to stand up and beat these bastards down?!! 😡
“Reilly said it will be difficult to hold the officer “accountable for his actions,” as the officer did not respond to Reilly’s repeated requests for his name or other identification. He said he can’t be “100 percent sure” whether the officer was aware that he’s a reporter, “but that really shouldn’t matter in this equation.””
This reporter is such a naive dumbass. Wake up, sheeple!