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Comment by Boris on November 17, 2015 at 4:23pm

National Press Photographers Association and Reporters Without Borders condemn arrest of journalists in Minneapolis

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A TV reporter was among the first of 42 people arrested on a Minnesota highway Monday as law enforcement broke up a protest reacting to an officer-involved shooting in Minneapolis.

As the camera rolled, Jack Highberger of local Fox affiliate KMSP-TV announced that officers had begun to clear the road. "This is the first arrest right here; it's certainly not going to be the last," Highberger said into a camera, seconds before he, too, was cuffed.

"You want to be next? Then get going," a Minnesota State Patrol officer said, hardly waiting for a response before arresting Highberger. People with cameras crowded around to snap a shot.

Unicorn Riot, a media collective that covered the protest, said its press badge-wearing live stream reporter also was among th..., but only provided the person's first name, Niko, and did not respond to a request for comment.

As some of you may know, I was arrested this evening while covering a protest for Fox 9. I was processed(fingerprints & mugshot) and charged with a crime.Like all the other journalists on the side of I-94 Monday night, I was there for one reason. To do my job. I have no intention of stopping.

Posted by Jack Highberger on Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Journalism rights advocates say the charges against Highberger for unlawful assembly and being pedestrian on the freeway clearly should be dropped.

Delphine Halgand, U.S. director of Reporters Without Borders, says detentions of reporters such as Highberger, including at other recent protests against police-involved killings in Baltimore and Missouri, appear part of "an alarming trend of curtailing freedom of the press in the U.S."

"The ability of reporters to freely report should not be hindered by arbitrary arrests," Halgand says. "We urge the U.S. authorities to not leave police abuses unpunished and to do everything possible to guarantee the safety of American journalists."

[READ: Missouri Police Solicit Reports on 'Hurtful' Speech, Startling Scho...]

"Unfortunately we see this a lot," adds Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel of the National Press Photographers Association. "I would hope that when the prosecuting attorney looks at this, they will dismiss the charges against this reporter, because obviously it's a matter of public concern and should be reported on."