AFP journalist films her own arrest at Occupy protest in NYC

Video Link.

NYPD is facing growing condemnation for its treatment of journalists covering Occupy Wall Street marches and encampements in the city.

About half a dozen journalists were arrested during and soon after Tuesday's massive police operation against the protest tent camp in Zuccotti Park. In this video, a freelance video journalist working for AFPTV captures her own arrest on camera near Zuccotti Park, despite her clearly indicating that she is a working member of the media.

"Somebody lock her up!," the officer shouts, ignoring her increasingly anxious cries of, "I'm with the press!"

• [Zero Sonico]

  “Somebody lock her up”

  The land of the free.

• [Bob N Johnson]

  Well, all they needed to do was pay a tiny bit more in taxes, show a little compassion, and don’t do anything to inflame the general population’s sense of fear and distrust. Had they done this the OWS movement would either not exist at all, or run it’s course.

  However, they did just the opposite. Greed, is not the problem, short-sighted greed is the problem. Instead of taking the long view that a few simple, inexpensive concessions and an insincere show of compassion would return the population to their usual complacent state of I-Got-Mine, they opted to be stubborn and foolish.

  Their foolishness and desperation is never more evident than in their attempts to prevent the media from covering the after midnight evictions of protesters, while thousands of phones click away.

  Well, you get what you pay for and instead of spending a little more for complacency, they fueled a movement.

  This country has the highest ratio of CEO to worker pay. While many like to characterize the U.S. worker as lazy and in possession of an inflated sense of entitlement, we are in fact some of the most productive workers in the world. We tend to work longer hours, and take fewer and shorter vacations. As our standard of living continues to slip, we work harder and longer.

  We spend twice as much on healthcare per person, have a lower life expectancy, and are the only industrialized country not to provide universal healthcare.

  This country ranks as average or below average in education. While advances in technology require more proficiency in math and science, we are making higher education unaffordable.

  The infrastructure of this country is reaching a critical point and unemployment is becoming systemic, yet they refuse to spend money on public works projects.

  At the same time they continue to spend billions on drug prohibition, money we can not afford to spend, on a public policy that is more costly and destructive than the drugs themselves. Over the course of the last fifty years this policy has destroyed more families, cost more money, and ended more lives than any act of terrorism to date.

  We rank number one in imprisoning our citizens.

  All this while we call for more drug testing of the poor, while the real gluttons at the government trough get a pass on corporate welfare and tax breaks in the billions.

  Meanwhile, the rhetoric gets thicker and thicker. They purposely created an environment that breeds hate, instead of buying peace at a bargain-basement price. They have eroded this country’s standard of living in nearly every measure, yet they still have half the population believing their lies. At one time disinformation was their one shining success, but even this is losing its sheen.

  Well, you get what you pay for, and instead of spending a little more for complacency they went cheap and fueled a movement.

• [grs]

  AFP nixed the embed of the video.

• [silkox]

  As if getting arrested wasn’t bad enough, now she’ll probably get fired for becoming part of the story….

• [lavardera]

  Mr. Bloomberg, there are two paths open to you. The first is where you reverse your position and protect and aid the protests moving forward.

  From what I’ve seen I think the other path ends with you hiding in a sewer pipe. Choose wisely, choose soon.

• [Richard]

  And here is a blog post by a photographer who managed to not be arrested:

  Occupy Wall Street Pre Dawn Raid: A Photojournalist’s Account
  http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/11/occupy_wall_str_34.php

• [Deidzoeb]

  Is this like the situation with AP reporter who dropped their scoop on twitter when they got arrested? Don’t scoop yourself in formats that don’t make money for the company?

• [Mike Hathaway]

  When do these cases start hitting the courts.  I know most arrested press are charged and released with a court date.

  Is the ACLU getting lists of all these press arrests and planning some sort of first amendment action?

• [nobodyman]

  Honestly it would have been more upsetting to me if the cop had said “Oh, you’re in the press?  Well you’re free to go then”.  Maybe if the media experiences the injustice first hand it will be more broadly (and accurately) reported.

• [D Wyatt]

  The revolution just might be televised!
  The Revolution must not be censored.
  Right and Wrong are much more important that legal and illegal.
  THE END IS NOT NEAR.
  THE END IS NOW.

• [promethean]

  I’m no fan of oppressing demonstrators, but it seems to me that, as a cop trying to breakup a situation that has the potential to turn in to a riot, you don’t worry too much about if someone is in the press or not– you clear out everyone and arrest anyone who won’t leave ASAP.

  • [donovan acree]

    Yeah, can’t have protests and riots in NYC. I mean, what would our founders think of us? Of yeah, they did exactly the same thing. http://investigatinghistory.ashp.cuny.edu/images/m2/reports.htm#holt

• [chris coreline]

  holy hell… how delishoushly meta.

• [xenphilos]

  Seriously, do the police really hope the courts will process so many arrestees? Do they even care?