Josh Wolf still in jail
Josh Wolf Still In Jail Josh was video blogging the G8 Protest in SF a little while ago, and I guess the protest got pretty rowdy. Josh caught it and put it on his vlog. The Feds, apparently, now want to take the video "because Josh's video contained federal property in it, they had a right to it". Sketchy. Extremely sketchy. Does that mean that if I video the WHite House they can take it? How about I-95? Or the Statue Of Liberty? Or the Grand Canyon? Tags:Josh Wolf |
posted by moleboy at 3:29 AM
Comments on "Josh Wolf still in jail"
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-jf said ... (5:23 PM) :
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moleboy said ... (5:26 PM) :
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-jf said ... (7:46 PM) :
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moleboy said ... (3:51 AM) :
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-jf said ... (6:19 PM) :
post a commentno, they have the legal right to subpoena the video because it is reasonably suspected that it contains footage of the commission of crime against federal property. specifically, a police cruiser.
that's what this is about: some punks bashed up a cop car while another punk videotaped it. there is no issue of even the faintest whiff of something approaching a question of "jornalistic freedoms" here.
instead, here is what is at stake: any witness close to any defendant can defy any subpoena by claiming the satus of "journalist" by virtue of having posted about it on the internet.
i hope instead he is arraigned on obstruction of justice charges.
If you review the article, you'll see that they don't actually come out and say why they want the video, just that its suddenly their property because it contains federal footage.
That, to me, is no good.
You want to subpeona the thing, go nuts, but you can't just say "Give this to me because I say so"
you mean the blog post which linked to an indymedia rant? is the chron not pleading his case hard enough?
"...jailed today for refusing to give videotapes to a federal grand jury that show an anarchist protest in San Francisco in which a police car was allegedly set on fire. ... Prosecutors contend that burning a police car is a federal crime because the San Francisco Police Department receives federal funds."
Well, I'm man enough to admit when I was wrong.
However, it remains an interesting case regarding the status of bloggers and the 'shield law'. BTW, even the chron refers to him as a journalist.
"...even the chron refers to him as a journalist."
true. i really don't understand that sort of masochism. the chron building was the target of another arson attack by "anarchists" who were marching in a maoist parade that same year.