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North Dakota gives up attempt to charge journalist who filmed pipeline protest
Charges against Amy Goodman bring national attention to a little-noticed protest.
Joe Mullin - 10/17/2016

A North Dakota prosecutor’s controversial case against journalist Amy Goodman is over.

On Friday, North Dakota prosecutor Ladd Erickson drew national criticism from press freedom groups when he filed charges claiming that Goodman had participated in a riot when she filmed Native Americans protestors clashing with police and guards in September. The Native Americans were protesting the beginning of construction work on the Dakota Access Pipeline.

District Judge John Grinsteiner dismissed Erickson’s charges against Goodman. The charges Erickson brought Friday were a substitute for his earlier criminal trespassing charge against Goodman, which he withdrew.

“This is a complete vindication of my right as a journalist to cover the attack on the protesters and of the public’s right to know what is happening with the Dakota Access pipeline,” said Goodman. “We will continue to report on this epic struggle of Native Americans and their non-Native allies taking on the fossil fuel industry and an increasingly militarized police in this time when climate change threatens the planet.”

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http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/10/north-dakota-gives-up-attempt-to-charge-journalist-who-filmed-pipeline-protest/