Student Journalists Arrested at Republican National Convention

Two student journalists from the University of Kentucky were arrested at the Republican National Convention (RNC) last week. Edward Matthews and Britney McIntosh, both journalists and photographers for the Kentucky Kernel, traveled to the RNC to cover the political event as a learning experience and not for assignment. Matthews and McIntosh were photographing a group of angry and destructive protesters. Eventually a riot broke out, and Matthews and McIntosh were arrested along with their photo advisor from the Kentucky Kernel, Jim Winn.

The three University of Kentucky journalists were arrested with a large group of the protesters. According to reports, all three journalists were clearly taking photographs and wearing press passes. Matthews, McIntosh and Winn were later released after spending more then a day in jail. The charges against them were dropped pending further investigation.

Comments

[Diana G.]

I find this story to be quite shocking. It seems quite absurd for these journalists to have been arrested and held in jail for over a day. It is understandable for police to take quick action in situations where riots may break out. Many times the only alternative available for police officers in these situations is to arrest the masses. In this case however, these individuals were clearly marked as journalists. They all had on press passes and made it known they were journalists covering the story. Even in a state of chaos, the officers should have been more aware of who they were arresting. Even if they made a mistake due to all the commotion of the riot, which is understandable since it is quite crazy in that type of atmosphere, it is unacceptable to keep innocent people in jail for over a day. Their situation should have been looked into as soon as possible by the department and once their identities as journalists, and not rioters, were confirmed they should have been immediately released.