(See UK photographers released from jail)
Steve Lannen
slannen@herald-leader.com
UPDATED: Three photographers with connections to the University of Kentucky’s student newspaper were arrested Monday night at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
James Winn, the photo adviser for the Kentucky Kernel, and Ed Matthews, a student photographer at the paper, were arrested Monday night and booked into the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center in Minnesota on charges of felony rioting, according to staff at the jail. Britney McIntosh, also a Kernel student photographer, was charged with rioting.
Police use pepper spray to break up a group of protesters during a rally at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A Western Kentucky University graduate and photographer, Nathan Weber, was arrested on a charge of gross misdemeanor rioting.
As of Tuesday night, none had been formally charged. That could come Wednesday, a jail staffer said, adding that several hundred people faced similar charges. A total of 284 people were arrested, according to several news reports.
The arrests came Monday after a planned march in downtown St. Paul. “Breakaway anarchists” who left the parade route caused havoc in parts of the city, leaving slashed tires, broken windows and glass bottles heaved at police, according to TwinCities.com and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Police used pepper spray, tear gas and Tasers to subdue some crowds.
Jonathan D. Woods, a Western Kentucky graduate and photographer for the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette covering the convention, saw the arrests take place.
About 5 p.m. Monday, police ordered about 300 protesters to disperse from an area near Seventh and Jackson streets in downtown St. Paul. After multiple warnings they used pepper spray, rubber bullets and then tear gas to break up the protesters. Between 60 and 100 people broke off from the group and ran through the streets, blocking intersections, Woods said. Some threw sandbags and newspaper racks into the streets.
Eventually police cornered the protesters in a parking lot, ordered them to the ground and placed zip-tie restraints on them, including the photographers from Kentucky.
“These photographers were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Woods said. “They were acting responsibly as photojournalists and capturing some good moments, and everything went south pretty fast.”
Brad Luttrell. the Kernel’s editor in chief, said that the photographers arrested were not covering the convention for the Kernel and had gone with the understanding that their photos would not be published in the paper. That decision was made because similar coverage was not planned for last week’s Democratic National Convention, Luttrell said.
He did agree to let them write about their experiences and publish their photos in a blog about photojournalism, linked to the Kernel’s Web site.
“From what I understand, they went out there with every intention to be photojournalists and do good documentary work and in no way did they have any intention to do any protesting or participate in any rioting,” Luttrell said. “I don’t know how many other journalists were arrested. I don’t know how they (police) decided who was who or if they just arrested everybody and decided to sort it out later.”
Rather or not they were on assignment is irrelevant. If they were not on assignment why were they not in class where they were suppose to be at the time. I know some will say Monday was a holiday but I will say that Tuesday was not and there was no way these people would have been back in time for class on Tuesday. Secondly if this happened to one of the UK athletes they would have serious consequences upon their return. I wonder if the same will happen for those involved with this arrest.
“the Kernel supports their First Amendment rights”. Your actions taken under cover of the First Amendment cannot infringe on another person’s rights. These “Young Americans” need to learn that they have to be responsible for their own actions and I hope that the court system gives them a wake up call.
Is the Republican convention being held in China?
What morons… It really speaks volumes about a persons character if they must break the law in order to make their political opinions known. They’re unable to use their brains to express themselves so they turn to physical violence, harming innocent people and business owners.
The way I see it, it really helps McCain because it clearly shows that an element of Obama supporters are law breaking idiots. I’m sure Obama is proud of their actions too.
I don’t know what it is about college that inspires young people to become liberal hippies that feel like they must revive the 1960’s era attitudes toward our own government. I’ve been there and done that and THANK GOD we generally get wiser with age. These photographers do not understand how the real world works and that my friends is why they are in jail.
Hopefully they will keep these communists in jail up there and out of Kentucky.
If these are the kinds of people that the kernel is hiring, then we need to look at the Kernel and make some major changes.
Perhaps we need some more details before name calling and judging these individuals. Wrong place wrong time could explain their arrest. I’ll wait for the facts to come out. Good to know some of us already (apparently) know everything they need to know. Evil kids must support a democrat.
Typical. How many protests with arrests were there in Denver? How many conservative school kids wnet out to rant adn rave and protest and break stuff? Oh that’s right. None. The democrats profess to wanting to rid us of the “corruption” of Bush and Republicans and present us with change. Evidently that change is that the government will control every aspect of our lives. the young idealistic idiots that have never had to work for anything at all embrace this, and advocate it so much that they will break the law and destroy public and private property in an attempt to show how mych better a social state would be than a free republic. Well, they just got a small tasts of socialism all right. Protest, go to jail. No $200, no passing go, no breaks. Liberals are truly advocates of slavery, and Democrats that embrace them just enhance that feeling. THey will give the poor and disenfranchised JUST ENOUGH to say look what I did, and endear themselves to the masses, meanwhile they’re laughing, knowing those impressionable idiots are now beholden to them. Wake up SHOULD be the catch phrase. Wake up and learn to be self sufficient. Victims my a$$. Those idiots got what they deserved.
can we get Minnesota to keep these left wing nut cases up there and out of the state of KY. I call upon the administration at UK to suspend these ungrateful characters as they would an athlete.
Funny conservative sheeple commenting on here prove just how easy it is to herd you all together.
Thank god your party and its power is on the way out the door.
There were no young people protesting in Denver because the party of the sheeple has scared their own young away, there are none to protest the Dems.
Are none of you aware that journalists are often targeted at these events regardless of their actions? These photographers were there to cover the news, which happened to be a large amount of protesting which was met by aggressive tear gassing by police - the actions of the St. Paul police were being questioned throughout the last 2 nights as being overly aggressive.
I’ve seen video clips of these specific photographers’ arrest on CNN and I can tell you there was no hostility, no aggression and no resistance, their biggest concern was their photo gear.
A New York Times intern, on assignment and wearing credentials, was tear gassed during Denver protests last week - yes, for those not watching, there were Denver protests. And the Denver policed actually issued an apology saying that he was unfortunately mistaken for a well-known anarchist leader - a press badge wearing photographer carrying camera gear, photographing a protest.
These are young, passionate, driven young people who were documenting an important time in our history, and I for one applaud the Kernel’s support and hope that they are given quick, due process and are released as soon as possible. It’s unfortunate that these officers who were I’m sure overwhelmed by the protests which have escalated since the arrest of these photographers, maybe saw them just as many of you do, as young dumb liberal kids - forget the fact that some of them are award-winning journalists on the national level and its their documentation of the major events of our society that sets them apart and gives them experience a Lexington classroom never could.
A number of photojournalism students missed classes after 9/11 to cover the unity and grieving of New York City, and they weren’t told never to return to their home state, instead they were given an award for their thoughtful, beautiful coverage of such a trying time. The full story is certainly needed here. An NBC photojournalist was reporting last night that photographers were also being attacked by protesters who were trying to steal their press passes. Being the person willing to get beaten up or put in jail to bring you the reality of your news isn’t an easy job, and I commend these young people for their work.
Man, what a bunch of nutjobs you have there in Lexington.
Some students are picked up while covering a news story (pronounced “learning their trade”) and your think it serves them right because “they’re a bunch of communists?” who ought to be suspended? What school did you attend, commrade?
My republican party used to be in favor of less government authority and less government interference with thought. My republican party used to hate seeing indiviual rights trampled by an overzealous government.
I guess you didn’t read that far into the article, but UK couldn’t sanction their trip because they hadn’t covered the DNC and they wanted to be balanced. Spend more time thinking and less time drinking the kool-aid. My buddies and I won the war against the fascists long ago … whats wrong with you?
There is a big difference between the motives of the protestors and that of the photographers recording them. Calling the photographers evil or communist makes no sense to the true content of this article.
Ron…
Let’s see your reaction when you’re arrested for taking photos in a public place! You talk about responsibility…there is the right for people to take pictures in any public place, and so far that I see, those 3 had the right to take the pictures.