Actor John Cusack, dozens of media orgs protest Asheville reporters' criminal convictions

More than 40 organizations as well as a politically active movie star are protesting the criminal convictions of two Asheville journalists.

The organizations, including the Society of Professional Journalists, advocacy group Freedom of the Press Foundation, media company TEGNA and individual news organization WFMY-TV in Greensboro, sent a May 3 letter to District Attorney Todd Williams and other local officials saying the 2021 trespassing charges against Matilda Bliss and Veronica Coit should be dropped.

"Their prosecution sends a harmful message to the press and public and tarnishes any efforts by your offices to pursue tolerance and transparency. It’s also a misuse of taxpayers’ funds, especially given the cost of discovery, a jury trial and potential civil litigation. There is no public benefit to prosecuting journalists who are not accused of causing any harm," the letter said.

"Further, the prosecution puts Asheville and Buncombe County officials in direct opposition to President Biden’s reaffirmation over the weekend that 'journalism is not a crime,'" it said.

The letter comes on World Press Freedom Day, declared by the United Nations to remind governments of the need to respect their commitment to free media.

Trials of journalists arrested while gathering news in this country are exceedingly rare, the letter writers said, with Bliss and Coit’s bench trial only the fourth of its kind in the last five years, according to the non-partisan U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which maintains data on press freedom violations across the country.

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Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams declined to comment, saying it was improper to speak about the case outside of court.

"Any statement made by the DA's office in a pending case will be on the record in open court or filed with the clerk of court in compliance with the North Carolina rules of professional conduct for lawyers," Williams said.

The Blade in a statement sent to the Citizen Times and posted on social media called the support given the reporters, a "thorough and powerful statement" and a "reminder of how obviously petty, corrupt and cruel the actions of Asheville authorities are in this case."

"The attacks on our reporters are part of a wider crackdown here on journalism, protest and mutual aid. We are glad the realities of Asheville's government and 'justice' system are getting wider attention. Every journalist, every activist, everyone who's ever criticized an official or a cop should be alarmed by what's going on in this city," the statement said.

In a message to the Citizen Times, Bliss said that she and Coit were "proudly critical" of local government and police. She said police got a search warrant for her phone, not to look for evidence of trespassing, which she said would have been "absurd" and rare."

"Police sought access to a newsgathering device to attempt to gather evidence for a different case, a blatant violation of federal law," Bliss said.

Actor John Cusack, a board member of Freedom of the Press Foundation, late last month criticized the arrest and conviction of reporters during what the journalists said was coverage of a demonstration against the relocation of homeless people.

"It should be a bigger story that Asheville journalists were convicted for recording cops at a city park," Cusack said on Twitter on April 26, adding, "Local govs harass them with trespass laws."

In a second tweet that day, Cusack noted the two, who work for the self-described leftist publication Asheville Blade, were being peaceful.

"Just because they don't work for a mainstream news outlet doesn't mean their First Amendment rights are less important," he tweeted.

Cusack has tweeted once before about Asheville, according to a Twitter search, when Sen. Bernie Sanders held a 2019 presidential campaign rally north of the city's River Arts District at the Salvage Station music venue. Like Sanders, Cusack identifies as a Democratic Socialist, according to his Wikipedia page.

The Citizen Times reached out to Cusack through the foundation whose other board members include internationally-known whistleblowers Edward Snowden ― who exposed a widespread U.S. government electronic surveillance program ― and Daniel Ellsberg, source for the secret "Pentagon Papers" documenting officials' true assessments of the Vietnam War.

The foundation was among several First Amendment advocacy groups that spoke out or became involved after the reporters' Christmas night 2021 arrests by Asheville Police Department officers on misdemeanor second-degree trespassing charges in Aston Park, in the South French Broad neighborhood just south of downtown. The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina and the foundation were among those who won the release of police bodycam footage through a Superior Court civil action.

Chief District Court Judge Calvin Hill ruled against the reporters on April 19, calling it a "plain and simple trespass case" and sentencing each to pay $25 fines and court costs. Coit was put on one year of unsupervised probation with a 10-day suspended sentence.

They have appealed to Superior Court with a jury trial set for June 12.

APD officers cleared tents and people from the park and arrested six people, including the reporters. Later 16 people were indicted for felony littering charges. A trial on the felonies was recently delayed after a judge learned the officers lost some evidence and turned over other evidence late to the defense.

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In the May 3 letter, the groups say "the sole basis" for the reporters' prosecution appears to be that they were in the park after its 10 p.m. closing time.

"A government interested in transparency should not want to set a precedent that journalists cannot cover newsworthy events, in plain sight and on public land, at night. The news does not keep regular business hours and citizens are entitled to know what police are doing at any hour," they said.

The groups said they should be commended, not tried, for spending Christmas away from their families to "perform the public service of documenting important news."

Police have said the pair's status as reporters was not relevant and they were arrested because the park was closed.

In bodycam video released after the ACLU court action, an officer can be heard asking Coit to leave the park repeatedly. Coit responded they were "covering a story."

Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times. 

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Actor John Cusack, media orgs protest Asheville reporters' convictions