Dear #Ferguson PD: stop arresting journalists

It’s become almost impossible to ignore the reports coming out of Ferguson, Missouri in the past 12 days, but if you aren’t in the know; on Aug. 9, Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, 28, shot and killed an unarmed black youth; 18-year-old Mike Brown. The killing has since sparked protests and skirmishes between crowds and an incredibly militarized police force. The ordeal has left the streets of the St. Louis suburb resembling a war zone.

Details about what’s happening in Ferguson have been hard to come by and even harder to confirm. The police force’s side of the story seems to be changing depending on which outlet you go to. Even their own official reports seem to be revised after the fact.

These discrepancies could be due to the fact that coverage has been jeopardized by police hostility toward reporters who are engaged in lawful news gathering activities.

On Aug. 14, St. Charles County SWAT team members fired a tear-gas canister at a camera crew from Al-Jazeera then proceeded to swarmed in with guns drawn to tip over the crew’s lights and tripod.

While the crew fled up the street shouting “We’re the press,” St. Louis station KSDK caught the interaction on camera. If you view the footage, the benefit of the doubt cannot be given to the SWAT team, this was not “just an accident.” Why the police chose to attack the crew and advance on their postition while using such a threatening posture remains an unanswered question.

As of Tuesday, 11 journalists and photographers have either been arrested or detained in Ferguson, Missouri.

Reporters serves as  watchdogs to ensure that the police are acting appropriately, but judging how the police are treating reporters, we can only infer something nefarious.