Incident details
- Date of incident
- January 16, 2017
- Location
- Morton County, North Dakota
- Targets
- Jenifer Stum (Independent)
- Arrest status
- Arrested and released
- Arresting authority
- Morton County Sheriff's Department
- Charges
-
-
Trespassing: criminal trespass
- Jan. 16, 2017: Charges pending
- Oct. 8, 2018: Charges dropped
-
Rioting: engaging in a riot
- Jan. 16, 2017: Charges pending
- Oct. 8, 2018: Charges dropped
-
Trespassing: criminal trespass
- Unnecessary use of force?
- No
Arrest/Criminal Charge
A man walks through the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., Jan. 24, 2017.
Case dismissed against journalist arrested at Standing Rock protest
The case against independent journalist Jenifer Stum, stemming from her January 2017 arrest while filming an anti-pipeline protest at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, was dismissed on Oct. 8, 2018, according to the Morton County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Stum was charged with trespassing and engaging in a riot. A group of press freedom advocacy groups, including Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, wrote a letter in March 2017 to the Morton County State’s Attorney asking for the charges against Stum and other journalists arrested during the protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline to be dropped.
Nevertheless, Stum was initially scheduled to go on trial in April 2018.
But the case was dismissed later that year per an agreement between her and prosecutors, the State’s Attorney’s Office told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Stum, an independent journalist, was arrested on Jan. 16, 2017, while filming an anti-pipeline protest on a bridge at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota.
She was charged with criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor, and engaging in a riot, a class B misdemeanor. If convicted, she faces 60 days imprisonment and a $3,000 fine.
Stum is scheduled to go to trial in April 2018.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
