first_published_at,last_published_at,title,slug,latest_revision_created_at,charges,legal_orders,updates,categories,links,equipment_seized,equipment_broken,targeted_journalists,authors,date,exact_date_unknown,city,state,latitude,longitude,body,introduction,teaser,teaser_image,primary_video,image_caption,arrest_status,arresting_authority,release_date,detention_date,unnecessary_use_of_force,case_number,case_statuses,case_type,status_of_seized_equipment,is_search_warrant_obtained,actor,border_point,target_us_citizenship_status,denial_of_entry,stopped_previously,did_authorities_ask_for_device_access,did_authorities_ask_about_work,assailant,was_journalist_targeted,charged_under_espionage_act,subpoena_type,subpoena_statuses,name_of_business,third_party_business,legal_order_target,legal_order_type,legal_order_venue,status_of_prior_restraint,mistakenly_released_materials,type_of_denial,targeted_institutions,tags,target_nationality,workers_whose_communications_were_obtained,politicians_or_public_figures_involved 2017-05-24 21:51:13.234889+00:00,2023-11-03 18:30:52.204992+00:00,Journalist Tracie Williams arrested at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tracie-williams-arrested-standing-rock/,2023-11-03 18:30:52.077971+00:00,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function (charges dropped as of 2018-07-11),,"(2018-07-11 17:20:00+00:00) Charges dismissed, (2018-01-29 12:00:00+00:00) Tracie Williams statement","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",Photojournalists Arrested at Protests Work to Have Confiscated Gear Returned (https://nppa.org/news/confiscated-cameras-returned),"camera: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1, recording equipment: count of 1, storage device: count of 3",,Tracie Williams (Independent),,2017-02-23,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"
Tracie Williams, an independent photojournalist, was arrested on Feb. 23, 2017, while covering events at the Dakota Access Pipeline camp. Police seized her phone, camera, lenses, external battery packs, blank flash cards, and data discs and held them as evidence.
Williams is charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. According to police records, Williams pleaded not guilty.
According to the National Press Photographers Association, Williams’ seized equipment was returned to her on March 1.
Williams is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
A law enforcement officer points his gun at two Water Protectors praying near a Dakota Access Pipeline resistance camp, on Feb. 23, 2017. Photojournalist Tracie Williams took this photograph moments before she was arrested.
",arrested and released,Morton County Sheriff's Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"environmentalism, protest",,, 2017-05-23 20:03:46.122162+00:00,2024-03-10 23:11:16.923821+00:00,Filmmaker Jahnny Lee charged with obstruction at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/filmmaker-jahnny-lee-charged-obstruction-standing-rock/,2024-03-10 23:11:16.780623+00:00,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function (charges dropped as of 2018-04-27),,"(2018-04-27 12:40:00+00:00) Charges dismissed, (2017-02-25 17:17:00+00:00) Law enforcement returns equipment seized during filmmaker’s arrest","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",Reed Lindsay's Facebook post about Jahnny Lee's arrest (https://www.facebook.com/reed.lindsay.33/posts/10154135894940653),"camera: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1",,Jahnny Lee (Sundance Institute),,2017-02-22,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Jahnny Lee, a filmmaker working with the Sundance Institute, was arrested on Feb. 22, 2017, while filming a standoff between police and protesters at Standing Rock. On the day of his arrest, Lee was filming on Highway 1806, along with Jack Smith IV. During his arrest, Lee’s camera and phone were seized.
Reed Lindsay, who witnessed the arrest, claimed on Facebook that police initially told journalists that they could film events on Highway 1806, but then later arrested journalists who did so.
Lee was charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. He is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
The Oceti Sakowin camp is seen at sunrise during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. November 2, 2016.
",arrested and released,Morton County Sheriff's Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"environmentalism, protest",,, 2017-05-23 20:20:24.754797+00:00,2023-11-03 18:32:42.789631+00:00,Reporter Jack Smith IV charged with obstruction at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-jack-smith-iv-charged-obstruction-standing-rock/,2023-11-03 18:32:42.632684+00:00,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function (charges dropped as of 2017-12-07),,"(2017-12-07 15:14:00+00:00) Charges dropped, (2018-02-01 00:00:00+00:00) North Dakota authorities return equipment a year after seizure, but with damage","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure, Equipment Damage",I watched Standing Rock protesters dance for victory. Then the police arrested us. (https://mic.com/articles/169482/i-watched-standing-rock-protesters-dance-for-victory-then-the-police-arrested-us) via Mic,"camera: count of 1, computer: count of 1, external battery: count of 1",camera: count of 1,Jack Smith IV (Mic),,2017-02-22,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Jack Smith IV, a journalist with Mic, was arrested on Feb. 22, 2017, while documenting law enforcement’s efforts to clear protesters from the Oceti Sakowin camp at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota.
Smith described his arrest in a first-person account published on Mic:
When it came time for police to move in, they slowly marched forward in a line on the road above the camp. They stopped at the head of a camp entrance, flag road, leading many to believe the media could be at a safe distance to film while police entered camp.
But the police didn't veer down the hill along a separate entrance into the camp, as expected. Instead, they sprinted forward on the road toward a handful of protesters and the media covering them, batons waving in full riot gear. Burdened by the weight of luggage, a camera and a hefty portable battery there was no way I was going to continue to retreat quickly enough. They were five feet away. I dropped to my knees, head bowed, hands up. Nine of us were arrested at first — me, an independent journalist and seven water protectors — charged with obstructing a government function (Mic is contesting this charge).
Smith was charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. Police also seized his camera and laptop, which have not been returned to him.
Smith is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
Jack Smith IV on the ground at Standing Rock
",arrested and released,Morton County Sheriff's Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"environmentalism, protest",,, 2017-05-24 22:01:58.221086+00:00,2024-03-22 15:16:04.235104+00:00,Journalist Tonita Cervantes arrested at Standing Rock,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tonita-cervantes-arrested-standing-rock/,2024-03-22 15:16:04.069366+00:00,obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function (charges dropped as of 2017-07-09),,"(2022-12-19 00:00:00+00:00) Freelance photojournalist sues ND county, city, officers for wrongful arrest at pipeline protest, (2024-03-01 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist’s suit against North Dakota law enforcement dismissed","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 1, camera lens: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1, external battery: count of 1, storage device: count of 14",,Tonita Cervantes (Freelance),,2017-02-22,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Tonita Cervantes, a freelance photojournalist, was arrested on Feb. 22, 2017, while covering events at the Dakota Access Pipeline camp. Police seized her phone, camera, lenses, external battery packs, blank flash cards, and data discs and held them as evidence.
Cervantes is charged with physical obstruction of government function, a Class A misdemeanor that could result in a year in jail. According to police records, Cervantes pleaded not guilty.
Cervantes’ seized equipment was returned to her on March 1, according to the National Press Photographers Association.
Cervantes is scheduled to go to trial in June 2018.
Photojournalist Tonita Cervantes was arrested shortly after taking this photo of law enforcement officers enforcing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s evacuation order for the Oceti Sakowin camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on Feb. 22, 2017.
",arrested and released,Morton County Sheriff's Department,2017-02-23,2017-02-22,True,1:22-cv-00211,['DISMISSED'],Civil,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"environmentalism, protest",,, 2017-11-06 23:57:34.133926+00:00,2023-11-03 18:38:17.736430+00:00,"Sara Lafleur-Vetter arrested, charged with three misdemeanors at Standing Rock",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sara-lafleur-vetter-arrested-charged-three-misdemeanors-standing-rock/,2023-11-03 18:38:17.603264+00:00,"rioting: disobedience of safety orders during a riot (acquitted as of 2017-10-18), obstruction: disorderly conduct (acquitted as of 2017-10-18), obstruction: physical obstruction of a government function (acquitted as of 2017-10-18), rioting: engaging in a riot (charges dropped as of 2017-06-08), trespassing: criminal trespass (charges dropped as of 2017-06-08)",,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"camera: count of 1, storage device: count of 8",,Sara Lafleur-Vetter (The Guardian),,2016-10-22,False,Morton County,North Dakota (ND),None,None,"Sara Lafleur-Vetter, an independent photojournalist and filmmaker, was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors while filming protests at Standing Rock for The Guardian U.S. on Oct. 22, 2016.
Lafleur-Vetter told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that Morton County police arrested her while she was filming a prayer walk near the construction site of the Dakota Access Pipeline near State Highway 1806 in North Dakota.
Lafleur-Vetter said that she identified herself as a journalist to the police, and a video of her arrest posted on Facebook shows another person informing police that Lafleur-Vetter was a member of the press. Still, police arrested her.
“It didn’t matter to them who was and wasn’t press,” Lafleur-Vetter said.
She said that she was swept up in a mass arrest of over 140 people and was held in jail for two nights. She said that police seized her camera and SD cards. When she was released from jail, police returned her camera but not the SD cards.
Lafleur-Vetter was initially charged with criminal trespass and engaging in a riot. Those charges were dismissed on June 8, 2017.
But on May 17, 2017, Lafleur-Vetter was charged with three other misdemeanors: physical obstruction of a government function, disobedience of safety orders during a riot, and disorderly conduct.
On Oct. 18, nearly a year after she was first arrested, Lafleur-Vetter appeared at the Morton County courthouse for a trial before surrogate judge Thomas Merrick. She was the first journalist to be tried in connection with the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. She was acquitted on all charges, according to the Tribune.
“There's no evidence against her," judge Merrick said at the trial. "All it shows is she was working."
After the trial, police returned Lafleur-Vetter's SD cards to her.
Lafleur-Vetter said that she believes that the charges brought against her were intended to scare other journalists and deter them from covering protests.