NORTH DAKOTA – A North Dakota state prosecutor has sought to charge American award-winning journalist Amy Goodman for participating in a “riot” for filming an attack on Native American-led anti-pipeline protesters.
State’s Attorney Ladd R Erickson filed the new charges on Friday before District Judge John Grinsteiner who will decide on Monday whether probable cause exists for the riot charge.
Goodman has traveled to North Dakota to face the charges and will appear at Morton County court on Monday at 1:30 pm local time (CDT) if the charges are approved.
Read More: VIDEO: American actress Shailene Woodley arrested during pipeline protest
“I came back to North Dakota to fight a trespass charge. They saw that they could never make that charge stick, so now they want to charge me with rioting, ” said Goodman. “I wasn’t trespassing, I wasn’t engaging in a riot, I was doing my job as a journalist by covering a violent attack on Native American protesters.”
On September 8th, a criminal complaint and warrant was issued for Goodman’s arrest on the trespassing charge.
“Filming Native Americans being violently attacked as they defend their land is not rioting, it’s called journalism, it is protected by the First Amendment, and indeed, it is an essential function in a democratic society,” said Professor Katherine Franke, chair of the board of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
The pipeline project has faced months of resistance from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and members of over 100 other tribes from across the U.S., Canada and Latin America.
US actress and activist Shailene Woodley was also arrested in North Dakota during a protest against a huge oil pipeline project that will cross four states.
