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SEEK THE TRUTH AND REPORT IT Des Moines Register journalist Andrea Sahouri faced trial after reporting on a Black Lives Matter protest this summer. Here’s how the trial went down. WORDS BY CALEB LILLQUIST | ILLUSTRATION BY AMANDA O’BRIEN
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t was a case that few thought would ever see trial. Des Moines Register journalist Andrea Sahouri was acquitted by a jury in a criminal case on March 10. The trial was held at the Drake University Law Clinic and lasted three days. Sahouri had been charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts during the summer of George Floyd demonstrations in 2020. The protests occurred in downtown Des Moines near Merle Hay Mall. She and her then-boyfriend, Spenser Robnett, who acted as a co-defendant in the case, were arrested when they were confronted by police at a local Verizon store, where Sahouri was pepper sprayed in the face and zip tied.
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Sgt. Wilson, the officer who carried out these actions, failed to use his body camera to record his interactions with Sahouri. Sahouri told the jury at the trial how she was told to “shut up” and “that’s not what I asked” when she screamed she was with the press as she was arrested. Wilson testified that he was not aware of his camera not working and that he could not hear Sahouri because he had a gas mask and tactical gear on. Sahouri was also told “not to come back,” by said officer. In total, 134 journalists had been arrested and detained during the summer of 2020 according to the US. Press Freedom Tracker. Most charges had been dropped by local prosecutors across the
