IOWA CITY, Iowa – A Des Moines police officer testified that he didn’t realize that Andrea Sahuri was a news reporter when he arrested her at an unruly Black Lives Matter protest in May. The officer, Luke Wilson, said Sahouri and a boyfriend had stayed after he sprayed a chemical irritant to disperse the crowd. He confirmed that he then grabbed Sahouri with his left hand while still holding the fogger in his right and kept spraying. Sahiuri’s boyfriend tried to pull her out of Wilson’s custody. In court Monday, Wilson recounted his version I=of what happened. It was the first day of trial for Sahouri and the boyfriend on misdemeanor charges of failure to disperse and interference with police. Sahouri was on duty for the Des Moines Register. Advocates for journalism and human rights have pressed Iowa authorities to drop the charges, arguing that Sahouri was simply doing her job by documenting the newsworthy event.
Journalist poster child. The First Amendment and journalistic community has risen to object to Andrea Sahouri’s arrest while covering a newsworthy event. Des Moines authorities have persisted with charges.