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It looks like Huang was not the only person accosted by the police in this incident. Again, all these incidences of journalists being "targeted" have a familiar

It looks like Huang was not the only person accosted by the police in this incident. Again, all these incidences of journalists being "targeted" have a familiar theme: a journalist is embedded within a mob, and the actions of the mob lead police to arrest the mob (including the journalist). From your article: > Huang was filming a handful of men who had gathered outside the hospital making anti-police statements. > Huang said she followed deputies who were chasing one of the demonstrators after the small group dispersed. She began recording the protester's arrest when the deputies shouted at her to “back up," she said. > Sheriff Alex Villanueva refused to apologize for Huang's arrest and accused her of "crossing the line from journalism to activism" by coming too close to the scene of the protester's arrest. > "In the heat of the moment, when these protesters are calling or chanting for the death of the deputies in the emergency room, she picked the worst time possible to try to get an up-close of the deputies making an arrest," Villanueva said during a news conference on Monday. "And that's on her."

newacct583 6y ago
That statement is belied by the video of the incident, though. Go watch it. She's surrounded by about 8 cops and no one else is present. Note that Villanueva's original statement about this incident (that she had no credentials and did not identify herself) was a straight lie, again given clear video evidence. So I don't understanding why you're deferring to him here. Again: watch the video. It is ABUNDANTLY clear that the police knew she was a journalist and that they knew she wasn't part of the protest, and that they were punishing her for trying to record their actions. It really is. Is it really so hard to admit that, yes, cops do bad things sometimes, that we should track that via objective metrics like the linked article, and that this year they've done more of them?
- manfredo 6y ago
  I watched the video. The police were arresting her before Huang shouted that she's a journalist. How is this supposed to be evidence of the police targeting journalists? The video is less than a minute long. Both the police's account and the Buzzfeed article claim that Huang was with a group of people making "anti-police" statements (according to the police's account, these included death threats) outside of a hospital treating a pair of officers who were shot in an ambush. What happened between that and Huang's arrest is not captured on video. Yes, police do bad thing sometimes. But targeting journalists isn't one of them. This incident is not an example of that. There is no indication that Huang wouldn't have been arrested if she wasn't a journalist. It seems like the only thing that would appease you is if the police immediately ceased arrests when people claim to be a journalist. This is not feasible, because anybody can claim to be a journalist and the police have no immediate way of validating these claims. What they can do is proceed with the arrest and release the person if their claims of being a journalists are discovered to be true. Which is exactly what happened here: Huang was released and charges against her dropped.

newacct583 6y ago

That statement is belied by the video of the incident, though. Go watch it. She's surrounded by about 8 cops and no one else is present. Note that Villanueva's original statement about this incident (that she had no credentials and did not identify herself) was a straight lie, again given clear video evidence. So I don't understanding why you're deferring to him here. Again: watch the video. It is ABUNDANTLY clear that the police knew she was a journalist and that they knew she wasn't part of the protest, and that they were punishing her for trying to record their actions. It really is. Is it really so hard to admit that, yes, cops do bad things sometimes, that we should track that via objective metrics like the linked article, and that this year they've done more of them?

manfredo 6y ago
I watched the video. The police were arresting her before Huang shouted that she's a journalist. How is this supposed to be evidence of the police targeting journalists? The video is less than a minute long. Both the police's account and the Buzzfeed article claim that Huang was with a group of people making "anti-police" statements (according to the police's account, these included death threats) outside of a hospital treating a pair of officers who were shot in an ambush. What happened between that and Huang's arrest is not captured on video. Yes, police do bad thing sometimes. But targeting journalists isn't one of them. This incident is not an example of that. There is no indication that Huang wouldn't have been arrested if she wasn't a journalist. It seems like the only thing that would appease you is if the police immediately ceased arrests when people claim to be a journalist. This is not feasible, because anybody can claim to be a journalist and the police have no immediate way of validating these claims. What they can do is proceed with the arrest and release the person if their claims of being a journalists are discovered to be true. Which is exactly what happened here: Huang was released and charges against her dropped.