TODAY: Delivery of 60,000 Letters Demanding St. Paul Drop Charges Against Journalists

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- This morning, local advocates and independent journalists will deliver 60,000 letters to St. Paul City Hall calling on Mayor Chris Coleman and local law enforcement officials to drop all charges against journalists arrested while covering protests outside the Republican National Convention.

WHAT: Delivery of 60,000 letters demanding charges against journalists be dropped
WHEN: TODAY: Sept. 5, 10 a.m. CT
WHERE: St. Paul City Hall, 15 Kellogg Blvd.
WHO: Local advocates and independent journalists from KFAI Community Radio, National Lawyers Guild, Twin Cities Daily Planet, Twin Cities IndyMedia, Twin Cities Media Alliance and The Uptake.

On Monday, local law enforcement officials arrested Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and two producers from her show, Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke and several independent videographers while they were covering protests outside the Republican National Convention. On Thursday night, another two Associated Press reporters, Amy Forliti and Jon Krawczynski, MyFox journalists John Wise and Alice Kalthoff, WCCO-TV photojournalist Tom Aviles, KARE-11 TV photojournalist Jonathan Malat and more than a dozen other journalists were arrested.

"The targeting and harassment of journalists that we've seen during the RNC sends the message that the Twin Cities don't value the essential role that journalists play in a democracy," said Nancy Doyle Brown of Twin Cities Media Alliance. "From the pre-convention raids to the ongoing harassment and arrests of journalists, these have been dark days for press freedom in the United States. We're bringing Mayor Coleman 60,000 letters from people across the nation demanding that all charges pending against these journalists be dropped."

Following Monday's arrests, Free Press, the national media reform organization, circulated a sign-on letter demanding that Mayor Coleman and local authorities immediately "free all detained journalists and drop all charges against them" -- garnering 60,000 signatures nationwide in less than three days. Their call has been echoed by groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, The Newspaper Guild, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reporters Without Borders, the Society for Professional Journalists and the Writers Guild of America, East.

Watch the video of Goodman's arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

Watch other journalists being arrested, as recorded by The UpTake: http://theuptake.org/

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Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications. Learn more at www.freepress.net