Filmmaker Faces 45 Years in Prison for Reporting on Dakota Access ProtestsBy Nika Knight Schlosberg was arrested in Walhalla, North Dakota on Tuesday for filming activists shutting down a tar sands pipeline, part of a nationwide solidarity action organized on behalf of those battling the Dakota Access Pipeline. The filmmaker was held without access to a lawyer for 48 hours, her colleague Josh Fox wrote in theNation, and her footage was confiscated by the police. Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 14, 2016 Deia isnt alone, observed Fox in an op-ed in the Nation.The arrest of journalists, filmmakers, and others witnessing and reporting on citizen protests against fossil-fuel infrastructure amid climate change is part of a worrisome and growing pattern. Indeed, the news of Schlosbergs arrest followedDemocracy Nows Amy Goodman announcementearlier this week that she will return to North Dakota to combat charges she faces as a result of reporting on the Dakota Access Pipeline protest last month. Goodman, whose camera crew filmed a private security team attacking peaceful Native American protesters with dogs and pepper spray, faces charges of criminal trespassingwhich many have said amounts to an assault on press freedom, asCommon Dreamsreported. It also emerged late Saturday that a North Dakota state prosecutor has dropped the trespassing charge and is seeking instead to charge Goodman with participating in a riot,Democracy Nowreported. 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 wasnt trespassing, I wasnt engaging in a riot, I was doing my job as a journalist by covering a violent attack on Native American protesters. A warrant for Goodmans arrest was issued September 8. Meanwhile, actor Shailene Woodley was arrested Monday while live-streaming a prayer action at a Dakota Access construction site. She was singled out, the police told her, because she was well-known and had 40,000 people watching live on her Facebook page, Fox wrote. Other filmmakers shooting protest actions along the pipeline have also been arrested. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Nika Knight is a staff writer for CommonDreams.org, where this article first appeared. Im not sure if you are aware but there are state and federal laws which make it a crime to witness a felony and not report it. There was obviously a crime in progress and she exploited that to further her own agenda. re:crime to witness a felony and not report it. So what if a journalist was filming a man raping a child? If she doesnt call the police it is a felony. Her being a journalist doesnt make her exempt from following the law dipshit. In that case you would be the one being fimled nothing your saying has any relevance to this story Guy typing at the bottom has no idea I blocked him, what an idiot. I hope these activists enjoy their lengthy prison sentences and most likely millions of dollars in fines. for reporting on an event? why? Im talking about the people that shut down the pipes. While I oppose arresting journalists for just reporting, they are idiot climate change propagandists, so being charged with facts that dont exist should be understandable to them. They arrest these people, but not hillary clinton.., if the protestors can delay things for a few weeks then the ownership deal might fall through. hes just a poor boy, wont you let him goNOwe wont Queen circa 1980 The principle is the point, not the subject of the protests. The conspiracy wording makes the law like Franz Kafkas The Trial. Where does conspiracy begin? Important for terrorist prosecution but how is this a good thing for journalists to be subject a law like this? The Obama administration has become infamous for prosecuting people to the fullest extent possible for whistle blowing and journalism. According to the logic, Americans are not allowed to know what the government is doing. After all, its not their government so why should the slaves know what their exploiters are doing. The election is coming up. I hope there is a real chance to remove reactionary governments such as North Dakotas and return sane governance to the States. Read the sixth amendment. Or, 