The Los Angeles District Attorney refused to indict KPCC reporter and LAist correspondent Josie Huang, who Sheriff’s deputies arrested for allegedly interfering with the arrest of a protester who was mocking two deputies who had gotten shot, the LAist reports.
Huang was recording the arrest of a protester outside a hospital where two deputies were being treated after being shot on August 12th. She was well away from the scene when another deputy threw her to the ground and handcuffed.
Huang had identified herself as a reporter, as is evidenced by a deputy saying to her, “Do what you’re told if you’re a reporter.” This directly contradicted LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s claim that Huang didn’t identify herself as a reporter.
“Ms. Huang was in a public area filming a protest. When asked to back up she is almost immediately grabbed by deputies and taken to the ground giving her little if any time to comply,” a statement from the DA’s office said. “It does not appear that she was intentionally attempting to interfere with the deputies, but merely trying to record the occurrence.”
When arrested, Huang was charged with a statute that specifically states that filming police in a public place is not interference and not a violation of the law.
Numerous Los Angeles public officials have called for Villanueva in the wake of this and other incidents, a move the sheriff claimed was a “proxy war” against him.