Charges against comic journalist Susie Cagle have been dropped according to Media Bistro. Susie was arrested on Nov 3 while she was covering the Occupy Oakland protest despite clearly showing her credentials. She was booked and charged with “being present at raid” – a misdemeanor.
The charges were dropped after Co-Chairs of the Freedom of Information Committee of The Society of Professional Journalists wrote a stern letter to the mayor and chief of police. The letter has been posted on Scribd and can be read below.
Susie tweeted her frustration that after a month of jumping through hoops and getting nowhere to have her charges dropped, it took the SPJ to get the city to drop the charges. She also noted that the District Attorney happily answered her questions when she introduced herself as press, but wouldn’t talk to her if she presented herself as an arrestee.
I hope she’ll send the DA a copy of the book she does about this experience.