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InvestigateWest photographer detained in Copenhagen

SEATTLE -- A  journalist on assignment for InvestigateWest to cover
protests outside the United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen
was arrested Tuesday -- the second time he has been arrested while
photographing demonstrators. This time, demonstrators were attempting
to enter Copenhagen’s Bella Center, the site of the international
climate talks.

Christopher Crow of Bellingham was taken into custody by police, who
are empowered under a new law to hold demonstrators for up to 12 hours
without filing charges. He was arrested at about Noon local time and
remained in custody as of 6 PM local time.

Crow was previously arrested Sunday and released after 3 ½ hours
without any charges being filed.

In both cases, the officers took Crow away despite the fact that he is
a credentialed journalist carrying out his duty as to document the
unrest in the streets and not a participant in the demonstrations.
Demonstrators are angry about an emerging United Nations treaty that
would allow some companies to profit from fighting climate change.

After his first arrest, InvestigateWest executive director and editor
Rita Hibbard had issued the following statement:

"This is an outrageous affront to the freedom of the press. Reporters
are obligated to cover civil disturbances like the protests in
Copenhagen, and police who arrest journalists are violating their
human rights. Christopher and InvestigateWest are owed an apology by the
Danish authorities and we will be filing a formal protest."

Members of the InvestigateWest team in Copenhagen available for
interviews via Skype.

Try not to get arrested.

That was my advice to the young journalists traveling thousands of miles to cover the United Nations climate-treaty negotiations going on in Copenhagen this month. I said it because it's a truism: a journalist in jail can't file. He or she is not able to do what he or she is there to do -- send back information for the world to see. And we knew there were likely to be some massive arrests as young activists sought in Copenhagen to spur real commitments to tackling climate change.

Fortunately, InvestigateWest Editor and Executive Director Rita Hibbard was part of the discussion. She quickly followed up my admonition with something like: "But make sure you're close enough to capture the action." She emphasized that we can't very well cover a protest march without being pretty close to the marchers, and that we had a right to be there.

InvestigateWest photographer Christopher Crow found himself yesterday trying to balance those two pieces of advice in the blur of a fast-moving demonstration. He was in a group of about 275 demonstrators arrested when Copenhagen cops cracked down on a protest that, to that point at least, had been peaceful. (It should be said, though, that the protesters had been pretty open about the fact that they were trying to shut down Copenhagen's harbor.)

Now, Chris probably could have gotten away. InvestigateWest correspondent Alexander Kelly, photograph Mark Malijan and videographer Blair Kelly were there and managed to scoot. But should Chris have been arrested? Absolutely not! It really honks me off that the police not only detained him at the scene -- it's possible to make a mistake in the heat of the moment -- but insisted on taking him to one of the makeshift holding areas that are serving as jails for the climate protesters.

Editor's note: Near the site of the United Nations climate talks in Copenhagen, a spokesman for Climate Justice Action acknowledges that the protesters arrested yesterday intended to shut down the city's harbor. Instead police moved in on what was up to that point a peaceful protest, stopping the marchers far from the harbor. InvestigateWest photographer Christopher Crow was arrested along with about 275 protesters.

In this interview with InvestigateWest correspondent Alexander Kelly and videographer Blair Kelly, Ed Thompson of Climate Justice Action explains the demonstrators' reasoning, and says more big protests are planned later this week:

OK, now that InvestigateWest photographer Christopher Crow has been released by Danish authorities, we thought we should offer a look at what he was capturing when he was so unfairly swept up by police while covering protests of the emerging United Nations climate treaty.

These shots are from just before Chris was arrested, as protesters tried unsuccessfully to shut down the harbor in Copenhagen, where negotiators from around the globe are trying to lay the groundwork for a global pact to rein in global warming:

[caption id="attachment_7230" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="InvestigateWest photo by Christopher Crow"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_7231" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="InvestigateWest photo by Christopher Crow"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_7232" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Danish cop ties protester's hands. InvestigateWest photo by Christopher Crow."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_7241" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Once trapped inside the police barrier, demonstrators were informed they would be searched before the demonstration would be allowed to continue.