US journalist punched, arrested by officer outside Florida voting office

[chiburb]

They'll stop at nothing...

MIAMI (AFP) - A sheriff's deputy tackled, punched and arrested a US journalist for taking pictures of people waiting in line to cast early ballots in West Palm Beach, local media reported.


A sheriff's spokesman said later the deputy was enforcing a new county rule prohibiting reporters from interviewing or photographing voters lined up outside the polls, the Palm Beach Post said.


The deputy Sunday tried to grab the camera of James Henry, a freelance journalist who has written for The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Teresa LePore did not comment on the incident or the new rule, which had not been previously announced. LePore gained notoriety as the creator of the infamous butterfly ballot that confused thousands of voters in the chaotic and controversial 2000 election.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041101/ts_alt_afp/us_vote_media_violence

[kokomo]

1. Bush's Amerika sounds more fascist all of the time.

[kodi]

2. an unannounced rule? what is this, double, secret probation time?

how can one break an unknown law?

[Stephanie]

3. You beat me to it - frigging UNBELIEVABLE

How is this legal? She can arbitrarily outlaw journalism? On what authority?

[AntiCoup2K4]

6. On Satan's authority, like everything the Bushes do

:evilgrin:

[Stephanie]

7. It's unConsitutional - she has NO RIGHT

I hope a thousand Kerry lawyers descend on her.

[chiburb]

10. You remember this about her?

You probably have it archived somewhere:

Teresa LePore was Khashoggi's assistant in the 1980s and she was in charge of designing the voting ballots in West Palm Beach, Florida. Again Khashoggi was a large supporter to George W. Bush's campaign and in business with Bush's father G.H.W. Bush.

[Stephanie]

13. I do remember

She was Khashoggi's FLIGHT ATTENDANT. Good lord, who ARE these people?

[annabanana]

4. Disgusting!

I hope there were other photo journalists (or folks with camera phones) in the vicinity. I hope lawsuits throw those cops in the clink with their worst nightmares.

[RevCheesehead]

5. They're prob. trying to keep Michael Moore away.

He's sending camera crews EVERYWHERE!

[von Staufenberg]

8. I'm confused

I thought that LePore lost her bid for re-election as election supervisor. What gives? Anyone have any information?

[chiburb]

11. Yep, she lost but doesn't leave office 'till January!

How convenient...

[Devils Advocate NZ]

9. Why is he being labelled "a US journalist"?

Would this be ok if he was a foreign journalist?

[chiburb]

12. Of course it would.

Who cares about "them"?

[Bunny]

14. Here's a big question too. What were the sheriff's deputies doing there?

<snip>
Election monitors say sheriff's deputies themselves broke the law on Sunday by standing right outside polling offices while early voting was going on.


"We are considering filing a lawsuit," said Reggie Mitchell, a civil rights lawyer with the non-partisan Election Protection group that has deployed thousands of electoral monitors to Florida.


He said the law prohibits police from standing in the immediate vicinity of polling stations unless they are voting or called in to handle a disturbance.


Mitchell said deputies challenged Election Protection volunteers who were legally 15 meters (50 feet) away from the voting place.
<snip>