When I was up in San Francisco speaking at the Meet the Vloggers event two weeks ago, I was make more aware of the details of Josh Wolf, Bay Area video blogger who was jailed for refusing to turn over a tape he made (of the SF G8 protests for his vlog) to the federal authorities.
Wolf was present at, and reporting on, a protest on July 8, 2005, in the Mission district against the Group of 8 (G8), meeting in Scotland at the time. Numerous witnesses at the demonstration reported that a police vehicle was driven into the crowd of protesters. This action was followed by two police officers exiting the vehicle and violently assaulting multiple people on the street. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Finigan is supposedly seeking video footage for what the government claims is attempted arson on a San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) vehicle. However, no damage has ever been reported by SFPD.
When Josh refused to hand the tape over, they threw him in federal prison on contempt charges. He could be there for up to a year, apparently.
So anyway, I'm not sure what I can do to help the situation other than to spread the word that this stuff is happening. And really, I'm not happy about it. This trend of slowly peeling away our rights is really starting to worry me. Knowing that if I decide to cover some event for Moron Life that I could theoretically be jailed for what I video tape... don't like it. Nope. Not one bit.
Anyway, I'm spreading the word. If you feel the same way, please do the same. If you don't, all rational arguments will be entertained. Insults and flames will be deleted.
me
Hating to have to be political, but realizing I have less and less of a choice...
