Saturday, June 9, 2007

REPORTER ARRESTED ON ORDERS OF GIULIANI


Well....we almost had it right. In a previous post called the FRED EFFECT, we told you about the mellow Rudy. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps it is his staff that needs a review.
Lepacek and Rudkowski were with Sabrina Rivera when she questioned Giuliani about WTC at the City Island campaign breakfast. See previous post titled the FRED EFFECT.

Aaron Dykes & Alex Jones / Jones Report June 5, 2007
http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/giuliani_reporter_arrested_on_orders_of_giuliani_press_sec.htm
Manchester, NH - Freelance reporter Matt Lepacek,
reporting for Infowars.com, was arrested for asking a
question to one of Giuliani's staff members in a press
conference. The press secretary identified the New
York based reporter as having previously asked
Giuliani about his prior knowledge of WTC building
collapses and ordered New Hampshire state police to
arrest him.

Jason Bermas, reporting for Infowars and America:
Freedom to Fascism, confirmed Lepacek had official CNN
press credentials for the Republican debate. However,
his camera was seized by staff members who shut off
the camera, according to Luke Rudkowski, also a
freelance Infowars reporter on the scene. He said
police physically assaulted both reporters after
Rudkowski objected that they were official members of
the press and that nothing illegal had taken place.
Police reportedly damaged the Infowars-owned camera in
the process.


Reporters were questioning Giuliani staff members on a
variety of issues, including his apparent ignorance of
the 9/11 Commission Report, according to Bermas. The
staff members accused the reporters of Ron Paul
partisanship, which press denied. It was at this point
that Lepacek, who was streaming a live report, asked a
staff member about Giuliani's statement to Peter
Jennings that he was told beforehand that the WTC
buildings would collapse.

Giuliani's press secretary then called over New
Hampshire state police, fingering Lepacek.
Though CNN staff members tried to persuade police not
to arrest the accredited reporter-- in violation of
the First Amendment, Lepacek was taken to jail. The
police station told JonesReport.com that Lepacek is
being charged with felony criminal trespass.
Lepacek did receive one phone call in jail which he
used to contact reporter Luke Rudkowski. According to
Rudkowski, Lepacek was scared because he had been told
he may be transferred to a secret detention facility
because state police were also considering charges of
espionage against him-- due to a webcam Lepacek was
using to broadcast live at the event. State police
considered it to be a hidden camera, which led to
discussion of "espionage."

Wearing a webcam at a press event is not an act of
espionage. Alex Jones, who was watching the live feed,
witnessed Lepacek announce that he was wearing a
camera connected to a laptop that was transmitting the
press conference live at approximately 9:20 EST. When
Lepacek announced that he was broadcasting live,
Giuliani staff members responded by getting upset at
his questions and ordering his arrest.
Freedom to Fascism reporter Samuel Ettaro was also
dragged out after asking a question on Giuliani's ties
with Cintra and Macquerie, two foreign contractors
involved with the contentious Trans-Texas Corridor
under development in Texas.

The entire incident took place in a large press
auditorium, apart from the debate stages where
authorized media were able to question candidates and
their handlers.

Since when do campaign operatives have the power to
order state police to arrest someone on false charges
or arbitrate who has the right to conduct journalism,
a right guarded by the Constitution?
A warning to the press-- if candidates or police don't
like your questions, you could be arrested for
trespassing and even espionage in the new Orwellian
America.

The state police in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where
the arrest was made, confirmed that Lepacek is in
custody on charges of criminal trespass. Police said
information on who filed the trespass complaint was
not yet available and would be filed in the police
report.

It is clear from talking to multiple eyewitnesses, as
well as the live webcam, that there could not have
been a complainant who originated police action,
because it happened spontaneously. The police need to
be very careful about violating the Bill of Rights and
falsely charging someone with a felony crime. This
constitutes extreme official oppression and is a total
violation of the reporter's civil rights. It would
have been bad enough if the reporter would have just
been thrown out, but to arrest him when he had a valid
press pass and CNN protested his arrest is an outrage.
The arrest-- which clearly violated the First
Amendment-- was recorded from two separate camera
angles, including a live feed recorded remotely-- so
the episode is on record in the event that police
destroy or lose tapes seized from Lepacek in attempt
to obfuscate the facts of the incident.

If you doubt that police would assault reporters,
seize video equipment and act on political orders,
then consider the experience Alex Jones had when Texas
state troopers arrested him for asking George W. Bush
a question during a press conference while he was
governor.


Reporters Matt Lepacek and Luke Rudkowski, both
members of WeAreChange.org , as well as freelance
reporters for Infowars.com, have also been previously
accused-- falsely-- of being terrorists with bombs
and have undergone multiple episodes of harassment
during peaceful demonstrations and attempts at
exercising the right of free press .

UPDATE : Comments on both the PrisonPlanet.tv message
board and Digg! report that indeed live audio
continued to feed from inside the police vehicle after
video was shut off by police. The live feed captured
the incident and arrest, but previous reports could
not confirm that the live report continued after
police confiscated the camera.


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