Watch the 1st Amendment Die as Journalist Arrested at Press Conference for Not Being Mainstream
By Matt Agorist
ActivistPost.com
JANUARY 31, 2019
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Las Vegas, NV — A rather disturbing situation unfolded in Las Vegas on Wednesday as two independent journalists—attempting to exercise their First Amendment right of the press—were arrested and cited for trespassing. Joey Lankowski, Kelly Patterson, and Ronald Mecklosky were at the Las Vegas police station attempting to cover a press conference about one of their officers shooting at a man for holding a cane.
Lankowski tells the Free Thought Project that he’d been in contact with the Metropolitan Police Department so he could get the details of another press conference over police shooting another man and attend it. However, according to Lankowski, officials from the department lied to him and refused to tell him when the actual press conference would take place and held it in secret on Monday.
On Wednesday, Lankowski eventually found out through a source that this new press conference would be held on Wednesday, so he, Mecklosky and Patterson grabbed their cameras and went down to the station.
The interaction was captured on multiple cameras and the video is nothing short of infuriating. As Lankowski enters the room in which dozens of other journalists are allowed, he is quickly approached by police who tell him he is not part of the media and must leave.
Clearly, these officers have forgotten their oaths they swore to uphold the Constitution which protects Lankowski’s presence in that room to cover the event as media.
As the Public Information Officer approaches Lankowski, he begins degrading him and telling Lankowski that he is not a part of the media. To be clear, Lankowski is a journalist for Nevada Cop Block and also hosts a weekly podcast for the group. By all standards, what he is doing is being the media.
What’s more, the fact that the officer didn’t recognize this fact is irrelevant as his rule book, the Constitution, guarantees this right.
Nevertheless, as other media outlets continue to fill the room, the officer tells Lankowski that he needs a “credentialed” media pass to be in this public space to report on a public press conference.
The Rest…HERE
