U.S. Press Freedom Tracker

Independent journalist Jon Ziegler arrested in St. Louis for second time

Incident Details

Date of Incident
October 3, 2017
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
Targets
Jon Ziegler

Arrest/Criminal Charge

Charges
Unnecessary use of force?
No
The Young Turks

A screengrab of a video filmed by The Young Turks shows Jon Ziegler (in purple) sitting on the ground shortly before being arrested by St. Louis police on Oct. 3, 2017.

— The Young Turks
October 3, 2017

Independent journalist Jon Ziegler was arrested in St. Louis on Oct. 3, 2017, after livestreaming a demonstration on Highway 40. Ziegler was previously arrested in St. Louis on Sept. 17, while covering another protest.

On Oct. 3, protesters in St. Louis shut down Highway 40, marching on the interstate and blocking traffic. The demonstration was a response to the acquittal in September of of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.

Ziegler was one of the journalists who provided live coverage of the march. Once the group of protesters exited the highway, lines of police officers enclosed them in a "kettle" and then ordered them to sit on the ground and began to arrest them. Ziegler and other journalists covering the march were also arrested.

Ziegler's livestream of the march captured his arrest and the arrest of other journalists.

St. Louis police perform a mass arrest of protesters, legal observers, and journalists.

Rebelutionary Z

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