Arrested US journalist pleaded with officer: 'This is my job'

An Iowa journalist covering a protest for racial justice was temporarily blinded after a police officer shot pepper spray at her and then jailed despite telling him repeatedly that she was just doing her job, according to video played Tuesday at the reporter's trial.

Body camera video captured by Des Moines Police Sgt. Natale Chiodo showed Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri in custody on May 31, 2020, her eyes burning from pepper spray. She said she was with the newspaper and asked Officer Luke Wilson why he was arresting her, adding that she was in pain and couldn’t see.

“This is my job,” Sahouri says on the video. “I’m just doing my job. I’m a journalist.”

Sahouri’s defense played the video for jurors on the second day of a trial in which Sahouri and her former boyfriend, Spenser Robnett, are charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts. The prosecution has drawn widespread criticism from media and human rights advocates, who say that the charges are an attack on press freedom. The pair face fines and potentially even jail time if convicted.

—THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

[stevebell]

Just because she is a reporter does not make her above the law. She needs to be held accountable for what she did. A little jail time will help her straighten out.