The media is NOT being suppressed by law enforcement in Ferguson

Before I begin my arguments, I'd like to preface this by offering some perspective from my point of view. I am a former crime reporter for a medium sized newspaper in a medium sized southern town with more than 55 percent black population. We have had very similar situations to what has happened in Ferguson. I have seen the way it should be handled, and I have been on the ground covering peaceful protests and angry mobs both. This is where my passion for the first Amendment comes from. A deep, and heartfelt desire to give the people access to the truth. So when I see people defend a police crackdown on the media, it hurts my heart. It makes me tremendously sad to see people unwilling to fight for the truth I and other journalists fought so hard to bring them. On to the arguments! A: Police "arrested" several reporters, later released them without charges or paperwork. A.1. Aug 13, Two reporters arrested on private property by police for filming officersA.2 - Ryan Riley and Wesley Lowery were arrested, and their gear seized from a McDonald's where they had permission to film and relay reports. (1) (2) (3)Police actively prevented Riley from tweeting about the arrest, until they were forced to release both men. No paperwork was filed, no arresting officer was named. (both of these are standard protocol for any arrest)(4)There are several pictures and tweets from the reporters pre and post arrest, but the Ferguson police suppressed both men for nearly an hour, not allowing them to communicate with the public in any way. Sources: (1) Interview with Reiley describing the arrest- . https://soundcloud.com...(2) Tweets from Riley and Lowery, following their release - . http://news.yahoo.com...(3)Police arresting Reiley (4) Politico story on the matter for balance -. http://www.politico.com...B. - Al Jazeera crew shot by teargas, their equipment seziedB.1 - Aug 14, The crew is well illuminated, and quite obviously media, yet they are attacked by police with teargas. (5)B.2 - The attack was also captured on camera by a local news crew reporting a school closure. (6)B.3 - That same news crew was also shot with a beanbag while filming the Al Jazeera crew being attacked. (7)SOURCES:(5) The camera crew filmed the attack - . http://america.aljazeera.com...;(6) (7) The angle from the second news crew (listen for the thunk of the beanbag hitting their gear) - . http://www.ksdk.com...C. Police actively threaten to shoot a reporter filming atop a news van. Suppression through intimidation. C.1 - "Get the F*** out of here, Turn off that light, how dare you, if you turn on that light, you're getting shot with this" (8)C.2 - "I'll bust your a$$, I'll bust your heard right here," Officer tells Al Jazeera journalist. Threatens to arrest them and take their film. (9)C.3 - The Intercept reporter Ryan Devereaux, and a German correspondant were shot by rubber bullets and arrested. They were detained so long, the editors of The Intercept wrote an editorial on the fact they could not get in touch with him (10)Sources: (8) - . http://www.youtube.com...Alternative source if the above video link doesn't work (8) - . http://www.vox.com...(9) - . http://america.aljazeera.com...(10) . https://firstlook.org...D. - Getty Images photographer Scott Olson was arrested, his press tags are clearly visible. His camera is clearly visible. It was daylight. E. Sports Illustrated’s Robert Klemko, the Telegraph’s Rob Crilly and the Financial Times’ Neil Munshi all arrested in a single night. No charges filed, no arresting officer named. (11) Munsi was handcuffed when the officer noticed he was still filming. This alone, is proof the police are suppressing the media. The below link contains dozens of tweets from individuals who witnessed police threatening jounalists. Including the three arrests detailed above. SOURCE: (11) . http://www.poynter.org...F. CNN's Don Lemon was broadcasting live from one of the town's designated protest areas when a police officer began shoving him in an attempt to physically force him to leave the area (12)SOURCE: (12) . http://www.rawstory.com...G. MSNBC's Christopher Hayes threatened with mace. (13)SOURCE: (13) . https://twitter.com... F. Local reporter with KSDK was shot with a beanbag while filming riot police beat a protester. (14)SOURCE: (14) . http://www.ksdk.com...;G. Police arrested Antonio French, St. Louis alderman and citizen journalist: "Then eventually an officer opened my door, pulled me out and arrested me. I asked him why I was being arrested and he said because ‘I didn’t listen,’” French said. No charges were filed, no paperwork was filed, but he was detained for several hours to prevent him from reporting the truth. (15)SOURCE: (15) . http://www.kmov.com...H. Matthew Giles, journalism student at New York University was "arrested" no charges, but they took his phone and camera to prevent him from reporting the truth. (16)SOURCE:(16) . https://twitter.com...;I. Breitbart journalist arrested while walking to a designated media staging area. (17) Her camera and phone were confiscated. The police, hours later apologized, but not before preventing her from doing her job. SOURCE: (17) . http://www.breitbart.com...J. Frank Hermann of Der Standard was also arrested, I'm sorry I couldn't find an English source. I only know a smattering of German, but I blieve the video speaks for itself (18). SOURCE: . http://www.welt.de...K. Ansgar Graw, another German correspondent from Die Welt was arrested. That reporter is also mentioned in source (18) So I will not bother providing an additional source. L. Lukas Hermsmeier was the German reporter arrested alongside Ryan Devereaux who I mentioned above. (19)SOURCE: (19) . http://www.cnn.com...M. Today, Bilgin #0;a#1;maz of Anadolu Ajansi was also arrested. The suppression continues. sasmaz was wounded by police while covering the protests in Ferguson and remained in detention for 5 hours. During the arrest, they damaged his camera to prevent the evidence from being broadcast. (20)SOURCE: (20) . http://www.aa.com.tr...There is no doubt the media is being actively targeted by this police force in an attempt to subvert the truth and prevent reporters from exercising their first Amendment freedom. The active intimidation and suppression of media is egrigious and cannot be denied.