A Michigan police chief apologized and dropped a charge against a Black journalist who was arrested while covering a far-right rally
- Police in Kalamazoo, Michigan, apologized for arresting a journalist who was covering a far-right group's demonstration in the city on Saturday, the journalist's employer, MLive, reported.
- Samuel J. Robinson, a reporter with MLive, was arrested Saturday and charged with "impeding traffic" while he was live-streaming a demonstration that featured a violent clash between the far-right organization the "Proud Boys" and counterprotesters.
- Despite wearing credentials and identifying himself as a reporter, the video he recorded shows an officer bringing him to the ground and arresting him.
- The police chief on Sunday apologized to Robinson, who is Black, for "the trauma" the arrest caused and the city's mayor said the charges against the reporter had been dropped.
A journalist covering a far-right protest in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was arrested over the weekend for "impeding traffic," but police have since dropped the charges and apologized, admitting on Sunday the arrest never should have happened.
"KD PS arrested an MLive reporter who they believed to be interfering or obstructing with their operations," Kalamazoo Police Department Chief Karianne Thomas said during a Sunday press conference. "This person was wearing visible credentials and should not have been arrested."
"I apologize for the trauma that it caused to this young man. We all respect the sanctity of the press," she added.
According to MLive, 23-year-old reporter Samuel J. Robinson, who is Black, was arrested while he was covering a demonstration by the "Proud Boys" in the city of Kalamazoo on Saturday, broadcasting for the news outlet on Facebook Live. The Proud Boys are a far-right organization classified as a hate group with ties to white nationalism and other extremists, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Robinson had been charged with "impeding traffic" and was released on a $100 bond, according to MLive. The charges were dropped as of Sunday afternoon, the city's mayor said at a press conference, according to the report.
According to MLive, Robinson 1:49 p.m. noted on Twitter he hadn't seen a police presence at the demonstration, which featured both the Proud Boys and counterprotesters who came out against the far-right group, known for violent clashes with their opponents. Not long after his tweet, dozens of police officers, some wearing riot gear, descended on the scene, according to MLive.
Robinson recorded his own arrest, where he repeatedly said he was a member of the press
In a video Robinson recorded of the incident for the news outlet, he kept the camera on the officers who interacted with, and appeared to arrest, demonstrators. Robinson made a brief on-camera appearance as officers approached him, noting that they had been absent for much of the day's demonstrations. Then, officers inched even closer before the video ends with his arrest.
"I'm being arrested," Robinson said at the end of the two-minute video as he's brought to the ground by at least one police officer. "I'm being arrested now," he continued, also repeating he was a member of the press.
Robinson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Monday.
"He was just crouching down, video recording (the officers) the whole time nobody had a problem with it then the cops started pushing back," Jeremiah Rubert, who was at the counterprotest, told the Western Michigan University student newspaper the Western Herald.
He continued: "He tried to stand his ground, still video recording, but after that, the cops started running and then after that I didn't see what happened to him I just know he was taking pictures and the next thing you know there are 40 cops rushing behind everybody throwing people to the ground."
Other videos shared by Robinson prior to his arrest show violent clashes between members of the far-right organization, who used both US and "Trump 2020" flags as weapons against the counter-demonstrators. Members of the "Proud Boys" also used pepper spray against the counterprotesters, which Robinson tweeted Saturday he had been sprayed with.
Rupert and others who came out to protest the Proud Boys' presence told the student newspaper it even appeared police officers had protected the Proud Boys while they targeted the counterdemonstrators.
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety did not return Insider's request for comment on Monday. According to the Western Herald and MLive, while nine people were arrested on the Saturday protest, no members of The Proud Boys were arrested.
"I don't have all that information right now. I just know he was at the county jail for an hour and five minutes," Thomas said Sunday when asked why Robinson had been arrested despite wearing credentials and declaring himself a journalist.
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