Iowa reporter acquitted of 2 misdemeanors for covering Black Lives Matter protest

A jury took just two hours Wednesday to acquit an Iowa reporter on trial for two misdemeanors for her coverage of a Black Lives Matter protest in May 2020.

Andrea Sahouri, a Des Moines Register reporter, was found not guilty of failure to disperse and interference with official acts.

Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri testifies Tuesday during her trial at the Drake University Legal Clinic, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Kelsey Kremer/)

Sahouri and her then-boyfriend, Spenser Robnett, were arrested May 31, 2020, in Des Moines, while covering a protest six days after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone made the rare decision to push through with the charges. Sahouri’s case was the first time a U.S. journalist was put on trial since 2018, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

Press freedom advocates strongly criticized Sarcone’s decision, and celebrated his office’s defeat in court.

“The fact that the misdemeanor charges against Sahouri even went to trial is a misuse of our justice system and an unwarranted challenge to a constitutionally protected profession,” the Columbia Journalism School, where the 25-year-old Sahouri earned her master’s degree, said in a statement.

Prosecutors and police argued that Sahouri and Robnett, who was also acquitted, ignored orders to disperse. The arresting officer, Luke Wilson, did not turn on his body-camera prior to arresting the then-couple.

Sahouri said she immediately identified herself as a reporter but was met with pepper spray and handcuffs, the Washington Post reported. Robnett and another journalist, Katie Akin, backed up her recollection of the incident.

Prior to the trial, Sahouri rejected a deal to plead guilty to one of the charges in exchange for the other being dropped, saying it was important to win a full acquittal, according to the Register.

Though many reporters were arrested while covering Black Lives Matter protests last summer, the vast majority were released without charges or had their charges dropped. Still, around a dozen are awaiting trial, according to advocates.

With News Wire Services