Arresting journalists
Was the cops' rough takedown of a videographer a mistake or "street justice"?

By Camille T. Taiara

Mark Burdett, a videographer with the Independent Media Center, was filming an afternoon breakaway march during the March 20 antiwar protests. He ran across Market Street to get a shot of police arresting a Food Not Bombs activist, Burdett told the Bay Guardian, and was tackled by three cops.

The journalist – who said he was wearing a clearly visible, San Francisco Police Department-issued press pass around his neck – wound up with a chipped bone in his thumb, a large contusion on his head, and a smashed camera before being hauled off to jail.

The city later dropped a misdemeanor charge against Burdett for allegedly interfering with other arrests. "I was 30 feet away [from the arrest I was filming]," he told us.

Burdett's case revives questions about what level of force police may use to control protesters. Officers receive specific training on how to control demonstrators without causing bodily harm, and Burdett claims he did not resist arrest.

"The police inflicted street justice on [Burdett] by breaking his finger," National Lawyers Guild attorney Rachel Letterman said.

Burdett wasn't the only one to suffer injuries at the hands of the SFPD during the antiwar actions that weekend. Christina Aanestad told us she was beaten with a billy club while trying to help another woman off the ground during a March 19 breakaway march – and has photos to prove it. Another activist had his arm broken, according to Letterman.

As a result, Letterman is compiling testimony from Burdett, Aanestad, and others in anticipation of taking legal action against the SFPD.

Burdett's case also brings up the issue of the press's right to document demonstrations – and officers' conduct during such events. While journalists must heed police orders, they also have a right to cross police lines to carry out their jobs so long as they don't interfere with police operations.

Sgt. Neville Gittens of the SFPD told us he couldn't comment on cases under investigation. But he did say some of Saturday's breakaway protesters were equipped with smoke bombs and homemade weapons and charged at the police at one point that afternoon.

He also said the SFPD usually releases any journalists rounded up by mistake – a fact that only partly concurs with Bay Guardian reporters' own experiences during last year's antiwar protests. (While several Bay Guardian reporters were let go, two were arrested despite having shown police their press credentials. The charges were later dropped.)

"If there was any misconduct on the part of any of our officers, there are measures for making complaints," Gittens added. "If those measures are followed, the incidents will be investigated."

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