Alexei Wood

Journalist Alexei Wood arrested at Inauguration protest

July 26, 2017

Independent photojournalist Alexei Wood was arrested while covering protests on the day of the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Wood was among more than 230 people arrested in Washington on Inauguration Day after some individuals set fire to a car and broke windows of downtown businesses.

Wood told the Freedom of the Press Foundation that, when he was arrested, he was carrying a lot of professional equipment — including a Canon 7D camera body with a 16–35 L lens, at least four memory cards with over 200 GB of photos, a Rode external microphone, a monopod, and an Android phone (which he used to livestream the protest on Facebook Live). 

All of his equipment was seized and searched by police after he was arrested. The lens was later returned to him, but the rest of his equipment was not.

Like other journalists arrested during the Inauguration protests, Wood was initially charged with one count of rioting, a felony which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in jail. 

But on April 27, a grand jury indicted him on eight separate felony counts:

  • Five felony counts of destruction of property
  • One felony count of inciting a riot
  • One felony count of engaging in a riot
  • One felony count of conspiracy to riot

The eight counts carry a combined maximum sentence of more than 60 years in prison.

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected]

October 31, 2017 Update

Wood tweeted that his trial is scheduled to begin on November 15, 2017.

December 1, 2017 Update

Judge Lynn Leibovitz, who is presiding over the trial, ordered that two of the felony charges — engaging in a riot and conspiracy to riot — be downgraded to misdemeanors.

These are the charges that Wood currently faces:

  • Five felony counts of destruction of property
  • One felony count of incitement to riot
  • One misdemeanor count of engaging in a riot
  • One misdemeanor count of conspiracy to riot

November 20, 2017 Update

The criminal trial of Wood and five inauguration protesters began on November 15, 2017, with the start of jury selection.

On November 20, federal prosecutors and attorneys representing Wood and the other defendants made their opening statements to the jury.

December 13, 2017 Update

Judge Leibovitz ordered that the felony charge of inciting a riot be dropped, because there was no evidence that Wood or the others on trial directed protesters' behavior.

These are the charges that Wood currently faces:

  • Five felony counts of destruction of property
  • One misdemeanor count of engaging in a riot
  • One misdemeanor count of conspiracy to riot
December 21, 2017 Update

The jury returned "not guilty" verdicts for Wood and all other defendants on all charges.

January 16, 2020 Update

Almost exactly three years after Alexei Wood and Aaron Cantú were arrested while covering protests around the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the freelance journalists are suing Washington, D.C., and its police department.

According to DCist, the suit, filed Jan. 16, 2020, seeks damages for arresting them for protected speech and without probable cause, using excessive force and intentionally inflicting emotional distress.

Wood, a photojournalist, told the outlet that the arrests were an injustice used to silence dissent, a point that he can’t let go. “We need to have journalists be able to tell the stories and get to the bottom of things. Otherwise, we live in an utterly ignorant world,” he said.

In a statement published by DCist, independent journalist Cantú wrote that he is still very angry about what happened to him and Wood, and that the lawsuit is a way of holding the D.C. police accountable.

More than 200 people were detained as part of the mass arrests in the nation’s capital, and other lawsuits are underway, including a class action suit and one from the American Civil Liberties Union representing a photojournalist and other defendants.

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