Petitions call for dropping charges against journalists

Last update: September 5, 2008 - 10:57 PM

Petitions containing 51,000 names and demanding that charges be dropped against journalists arrested while covering protests outside the Republican National Convention were delivered Friday to city and county offices in St. Paul.

"The targeting and harassment of journalists that we've seen during the RNC sends the message that the Twin Cities don't value the essential role that journalists play in a democracy," said Nancy Doyle Brown of Twin Cities Media Alliance.

The petitions were taken to the offices of Mayor Chris Coleman, City Attorney John Choi and Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner.

City spokesman Bob Hume said that Coleman values the First Amendment -- which protects press freedom -- and that charges are being reviewed. "It's something we take very seriously," he said.

KEVIN GILES

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