An Iowa prosecutor on Thursday defended his failed pursuit of charges against a journalist who was arrested while covering a Black Lives Matter protest, explaining that he believed the evidence was strong and that dismissing the case would have amounted to special treatment.
Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, a Democrat who has held office since 1991, dismissed the outrage he has faced for his decision to prosecute Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri as unwarranted.
A Des Moines police officer pepper-sprayed and arrested Sahouri last May while she was on assignment reporting at a chaotic Black Lives Matter protests outside a mall. Sahouri, 25, was charged with disobeying police orders to disperse and interfering with the officer who arrested her.
A jury acquitted Sahouri of both misdemeanors on Wednesday after a three-day trial. Outside observers said they were surprised by the weakness of the prosecution’s evidence and baffled by Sarcone’s decision to pursue the case for nine months.
‘We felt there was more than sufficient facts to establish the case. Based on the facts and the law, we proceeded,’ Sarcone told correspondents by phone Thursday. ‘We bring cases to jurors and let them decide. What I have a hard time understanding is how everyone wants to short-circuit the jury process.’
Dozens of press freedom and civil liberties groups asked Sarcone to dismiss the charges last year, saying Sahouri was doing her job and that journalists must be free to cover protests.
Sarcone said he could not let outside pressure or criticism influence prosecutorial decisions. He also denied that he had any “ulterior motive” in pursuing a case against a newspaper that has been critical of him in the past.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
