Arab-American journalist Andrea Sahouri found not guilty

Press freedom organisations welcome decision but express concern that case even made it to court

'Des Moines Register' reporter Andrea Sahouri listens to closing statements in her trial after being arrested while covering a protest last summer, March 10, 2021. The Register/USA Today Network via RShow more

Palestinian-American journalist Andrea Sahouri was found not guilty on Wednesday after being arrested last summer while reporting on Black Lives Matter protests.

Sahouri, of the Des Moines Register in Iowa, was acquitted on misdemeanour charges in a case that attracted national attention.

She was being prosecuted for not moving away while covering the George Floyd protests on May 31 in the Des Moines city centre.

“I put up my hands and said, 'I'm press, I'm press', and he grabbed me and pepper-sprayed me and told me, 'That's not what I asked',” Sahouri said, telling the court that these were the last words she spoke before her arrest.

Other reporters were detained across the US for similar reasons but charges against them were dropped by the prosecution.

Her partner at the time, Spenser Robnett, who was with her at the protest, was also acquitted.
While giving evidence, Sahouri said she was simply doing her job by being on the scene.

“It's important for journalists to be on the scene and document what's happening," she said.

"Protests erupted not just across the country but all over the world. I felt like I was playing a role in that. I know we are a small city, but I felt like I was playing a role in that."

The prosecution argued that Sahouri and Robnett knew of the dispersal order 90 minutes before their arrests, but failed to leave the area.

They said her status as a journalist was irrelevant.
Sahouri's acquittal was welcomed by press freedom organisations but that the case even made it to court elicited condemnation.

Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said his organisation was heartened by the jury’s decision.

“The jury apparently saw this case for what it is: a disgraceful use of prosecutorial resources and an assault on fundamental principles of press freedom,” Mr Timm said.

“Andrea Sahouri should never have been arrested while reporting at that protest in May.

"Once that egregious mistake was made clear, the charges should never have been filed or immediately dropped.

"That these charges were pursued all the way to trial is a shame and an embarrassment for press freedom in the United States."

The Committee to Protect Journalists also welcomed the decision and said “reporting is not a crime”.

“Polk County prosecutors never should have filed charges against her in the first place.”

According to the Des Moines Register, Sahouri is a Palestinian American, born in Flint, Michigan.

She graduated from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and before that studied American Culture and Arab and Muslim-American Studies at the University of Michigan.