A student reporter at Stanford embedded with pro-Palestinian protesters. Cops arrested him alongside them, which he knew was a risk. What he didn't expect: Stanford pushing prosecutors to charge him criminally with burglary, vandalism, and conspiracy—all felonies. www.cjr.org/getting-the-... - ThreadSky

willoremus.com • 84 days ago

A student reporter at Stanford embedded with pro-Palestinian protesters. Cops arrested him alongside them, which he knew was a risk.

What he didn't expect: Stanford pushing prosecutors to charge him criminally with burglary, vandalism, and conspiracy—all felonies. https://www.cjr.org/getting-the-story/should-a-student-reporter-face-prosecution-for-embedding-with-protesters.php

Comments

caldesertsun.bsky.social•83 days ago

Calling yourself a Journalist is not a Get out Of Jail Free card. Co-mingling yourself with burglars, vandals, and conspirators is likely to get you called a burglar, vandal, and conspirator.
How or why would anyone know except that you keep insisting your innocence — just like all the others do.

harmonicalpha.bsky.social•84 days ago

The legal trade has failed us all , or this wouldn't have occurred, in first place.

Upon reading quite a bit, I found insider irrefutable evidence , stating that att these days are not trained properly in const law & civil r.

Citizens United is the BIG culprit of corporate socialism, by J Thom

michael5mackay.bsky.social•84 days ago

America is going to see a lot more of this going forward.

unawarewolf.bsky.social•84 days ago

First off, protest is speech and needs to be protected. Next, the press should also be protected, but there is a line. If a reporter assists and abets a serial killer he's profiling, he goes to jail. Accusations of burglary, vandalism, and conspiracy can be politically weaponized.

figgythebabycat.bsky.social•84 days ago

Wtf? No -this is bizarre and wrong. I think Stanford has become a bizarre right-wing place.

jaefgg.bsky.social•84 days ago

Has become? Brother, go read about the history of Stanford for 5 minutes: https://bookshop.org/p/books/palo-alto-a-history-of-california-capitalism-and-the-world-malcolm-harris/18512232

urisohn.bsky.social•84 days ago

@stephaniemlee.bsky.social
This seems relevant legal background since the protesters were trespassing
https://www.rcfp.org/journals/the-news-media-and-the-law-summer-2009/trespassing-get-story/

willoremus.com•84 days ago

This is a Stanford freshman we're talking about here. Wild to see a private university that has historically erred on the side of protecting if not sheltering its students openly calling for this 19-year-old student journalist to face criminal charges for doing what he thought was his job.

rogergathmann.bsky.social•84 days ago

The problem was that he was not a Stanford Rugby player accused of raping women, in which case they would have pushed to have the charges dropped. Stanford leads the nation in worstness - although it is a close race with its Epstein-lovin' competition at Harvard and MIT.

kimoco.bsky.social•84 days ago

So Stanford is not only anti-protesting in general, but anti-media. This is a bad move. And will destroy this kids life.

samwagg.bsky.social•84 days ago

Hate this. I think the university should err toward leniency in general for these young people. But in this case especially so. Even if there was something problematic about what he did (which I'm not conceding as I don't know) he was clearly trying to do journalism and is 19 effin years old.

lasunshine.bsky.social•84 days ago

“Embedded” in journalistic terms usually means that you have been traveling or accompanying a group over a period of time, they know you are a journalist and have given permission for (and your editors have cleared) your being there. There are things in this story that aren’t clear.

cave-malum.bsky.social•84 days ago

Obeying in advance thinking this might prevent spiteful repubs. from messing w/their funding. The end justifies the means apparently

richardchen.com•84 days ago

Same as in politics: when donors, bill payers, grant grantors, corporate football sponsors, endowment fund managers call, you answer

misternov3mber.bsky.social•84 days ago

Shameful stuff from both Stanford & the DA. When I saw the headline I figured there must be some ambiguity about whether he was there solely in a journalistic capacity, but this story suggests there's no evidence against it.

techiechar.bsky.social•84 days ago

oh, how far we have come...
"Trust is a careless pursuit at best... "

kgsbca.bsky.social•84 days ago

a stanford degree aint what it used to be

harmonicalpha.bsky.social•84 days ago

None at ivy law schools have any clue whatsoever, resulting in the trump mageddon for us all.

Had, DC swamp has failed us all, for not setting a higher bar, when we had the votes.

Maybe Raskin can fix it , at least, I do hope and think so.

ABA prob hates me, but I sent a proposal, ignored 🤦😂

kremepuff.bsky.social•84 days ago

Actions have consequences.

catherineboyle1.bsky.social•84 days ago

Shameful of Stanford

anneliseorleck1.bsky.social•84 days ago

Our student reporters at the Gaza encampment were originally arrested and charged but pressure from journalistic orgs moved the college to press for charges to be dropped, which they were. Perhaps will happen at Stanford too. But these crazy felony charges.....

fbajak.bsky.social•84 days ago

I think “embedded” may not be the best word choice, Will. “Accompanied?” When reporters embed with military units they usually agree to certain ground rules. I’m not sure that’s what happened here but could be wrong.

clancyny.bsky.social•84 days ago

He walked thru a door. During hundreds of campus protests last year, students went into buildings and walked out after. It was reasonable for a reporter to go in.

He was clueless they intended to lockdown–that shows he wasn't part of it. Other students left the building w/o arrest. ⬇️ Why not him?

fbajak.bsky.social•84 days ago

Grueskin’s story does make it seem like university officials sought to make an example of Gohill to discourage news coverage. No evidence he did anything but report. The “trespass” argument is often used effectively against reporters. But to claim Gohill did anything more is dishonest.

clancyny.bsky.social•84 days ago

He's a 19 y.o. who starts doing his homework. His only worry–getting to class on time. He hasn't grokked things have gone pear-shaped. Farthest thing from an activist. :) (No shade.)

I agree. V. similar to cop saying to reporter on sidewalk,
"Stand there." Then making arrest anyway. Capricious.

torrleonard.bsky.social•84 days ago

“Gohill and his editors thought he’d be treated with some deference. “I was told by my editors, ‘When they [deputies] walk in, step to the side and tell the police you’re press. They’ll let you go,’” he told me.

Why the fuck did they think that??

My god, have they never met a cop before?

headoverhills.bsky.social•84 days ago

If they're all underclassmen then they actually legitimately might not have. They just know what copaganda shows in shows

torrleonard.bsky.social•84 days ago

Well, I’ve never actually met a cop before either, and yet somehow I know that they’re sacks of shit.

They work for a student newspaper, perhaps they heard about a little moment we had a few years ago called Black Lives Matter??

headoverhills.bsky.social•84 days ago

Hey, I'd hope they'd know better too but if they're 19 now then they were 14-15 then and I just don't have high expectations for what young teens have or haven't heard about if I'm honest (cynical) about it. I'd be damn disappointed if they hadn't, but they also might've thought 1/2

headoverhills.bsky.social•84 days ago

it didn't "apply to them" if they're not POC or come from a background that tends to believe that cops are believable. 2/2

willoremus.com•84 days ago

Probably an unpopular opinion here, but having met plenty of cops over the years I can say with some conviction that they are not all sacks of shit. The profession draws more than its fair share of macho jerks and spiteful cowards, but they're all people and some are genuinely kind and caring.

torrleonard.bsky.social•84 days ago

Of course I don’t mean that they’re literally *all* awful.

I mean that a *majority* of them are awful.

And we know that to be true based on… their actions at every turn.

Remember when tons of cops wouldn’t even wear a mask for Covid?

willoremus.com•84 days ago

yeah i just happen to think it's counterproductive to paint all cops as irredeemably evil. it empowers the worst of them, demeans the best of them, and gives tacit license to all the ones in between

willoremus.com•84 days ago

Speaking from some experience, treatment of reporters at protests really can vary depending on the cops and the tenor of the situation. I think it's easy to say they were naive in hindsight. But it's not like treating journalists as bystanders is a crazy idea. It's a principle of international law.

harmonicalpha.bsky.social•84 days ago

Since CU, it got worse , because w free flow of dark money in politics ,corruption trickles into law enforcement and legal trade https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained

Point being: Thanks to CU engineered by SC Thomas , Special interests take precedent over Constitutional law and Civil Rights ,

torrleonard.bsky.social•84 days ago

I agree, but most American cops suck!

So there should be *zero* expectation that you will ever be treated in the appropriate and legal(!) way by a cop.

glitterati.bsky.social•84 days ago

Yeah, cops DNGAF about international law lol. Or law in general if it's in the way of something they want to do.

But I (ugh) can't fault the cops here, they were going in to clear out a building and "uh yeah I'm not with them" is not a thing that's ever going to work lol