FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UPDATE May 1: Here is the final release. Please use this one.
Keene, N.H., April 30, 2009 – Video journalists in Iran aren’t the only ones at risk for due process violations. That’s what journalist Sam Dodson learned when he was arrested April 13th at Keene District Court for videotaping in the lobby.
Dodson is being held indefinitely in unsanitary conditions on $10,000 cash bail and without access to legal representation because he refuses to disclose his legal name to authorities at Cheshire County Correctional Facility. Dodson is on a hunger strike.
“It is not supposed to work to where somebody in America is thrown in a jail cell and left there to rot until they cooperate and give up their rights in order to get whatever rights the government wants to hand out.” Dodson said during a live interview on the radio show Free Talk Live.
Grassroots support for Dodson made him the top choice of internet TV show “Freedom Watch on Fox” viewers in a recent poll, ahead of celebrities such as entertainer Penn Jillette and former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson.
More than 40 friends attended a candlelight vigil for Dodson in Keene April 19th. Some have also demonstrated in front of the jail where he is being held.
Letters from Dodson while he is in jail are being published at freekeene.com.
About Sam Dodson
Sam Dodson was living the American Dream in his native Texas when a series of events transformed him from unhappy corporate lackey to activist, filmmaker and entrepreneur. Sam’s media company, Obscured Truth Network, educates viewers about the inner workings of government. Sam’s videos can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ObscuredTruth. Sam is also a co-host of the syndicated talk radio show Free Talk Live.
Press Contacts
George Donnelly
(941) 538-6817
[email protected]
Patrick Shields
(913) 484-3434
[email protected]
Plain text version available here
Please distribute this press release far and wide. Please send it to your favorite news outlets and blogs. Feel free to edit it as you like and republish it. If you have any ideas for getting it greater exposure or have already done so (yay!) I would be most grateful if you’d share them in the comments.
Thanks to Patrick, Liberty Snippet, Sams Dad, Ian, Ivy, antijingoist, LibertyTiger, Mikearchy and everyone else who helped me with this. It would not have been 1/10th of what it is without their help. Thanks especially to RevDebbie for the idea.
2 replies on “Press Release: Exercising Right to Remain Silent Lands Video Journalist in Jail Indefinitely”
Keep fighting the good fight George. Expose this as far as you can…more people need to know This kind of authoritarian thuggery is going on.
This is what Castro and Stalin did. Land of the free my ass.
Thanks Mike. Working on getting it distributed via PRWeb.com but they want a partial rewrite.