Contact: Michael Cardenas, 619-318-9730, San Diego Independent Media
Center

What: Press Conference

Where:
Hall of Justice
330 W. Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101

When: 12:00PM

While George W. Bush was making proclamations about freedom, in San
Diego, journalists were being arrested for simply documenting the
protests happening here. The United States is rated 24th in press
freedom by the international human rights group Reporters Without
Borders, ranking lower than Bosnia and Lithuania. Reporters without
borders reports that “the arrest of several journalists during anti
Bush demonstrations” is one of the main causes for the low ranking. [1]
The Bush administration is clearly tied to the complete suppression of
speech and dissent with policies like the Patriot act.

A reporter with the San Diego Independent Media Center and radioActive
sanDiego was arrested last night at a demonstration and is being
accused of hitting a police officer. Not only was she reporting on the
event and would in no way hit an officer, she is well known and
respected in the San Diego community.

As the motorcade drove down Pennsylvania Avenue yesterday with the
illusion of a unified country, demonstrators in DC were being subject
to tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. Is this the kind of
Freedom we want to export to Iraq? There were so many demonstrators
that the motorcade was temporarily brought to a halt. [2] While some
television stations like CBS aired images of peaceful demonstrators
being tear gassed, other stations like CNN chose to censor the images.

In addition, her bail, and the bail of the other demonstrators arrested
last night, was set at the excessive amount of $5,000. San Diego is a
city that is openly hostile to free speech. Not only did the police
beat demonstrators, they “hog-tied” one arrestee and they repeatedly
threatened a completely peaceful demonstration with the use of chemical
weapons.

These actions taken by the San Diego Police department are
unacceptable, and the officers responsible must be held accountable.
While the police claim that their goal is to protect the free speech of
the demonstrators, they beat demonstrators, block them into small areas
of the street and violently arrest them without any kind of
provocation, which leaves them with no choice but to make up completely
false and unsupported charges.

The freedom of the press is guaranteed under the first amendment, as
the right to express ourselves through publication and dissemination is
critical [3]. The arrest of journalists is part of a larger campaign by
the Bush administration to attack and erode the bill of rights. Without
a press which is safe to operate without fear of arrest, we cannot have
democracy.

We demand the immediate release of the reported who was arrested last
night, who will remain unnamed for her protection.

We also call on the people of San Diego to call the City Attorney, City
Council and the Mayor to demand that the absolute hostility to free
speech in San Diego be stopped immediately.

[1] http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Am_index_Eng_2004.pdf
[2] http://dc.indymedia.org/feature/display/115229/index.php
[3] http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html

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