Roughly one year after the death of Michael Brown at the hands of Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, The St. Louis County Police Department have filed formal charges against Wesley Lowery, who was arrested at a Ferguson Mcdonalds last year for trespassing. Lowery is a reporter with the Washington Post and was covering the then-growing unrest in Ferguson. As The Washington Post reports, Lowery and Ryan Reilly, a journalist with the Huffington Post, were arrested last August inside a McDonald’s that many reporters had been using as a refuge while covering the Ferguson protests.
“This latest action represents contemptible overreaching by prosecutors who seem to have no regard for the role of journalists seeking to cover a major story and following [the] normal practice.” Martin Baron, executive editor of The Post, said in a statement today.
Lowery is back in Ferguson today, covering the growing tensions as peaceful demonstrators have been arrested during protests commemorating the one year anniversary of the Michael Brown shooting. According to the St. Louis County municipal code, Lowery and Reilly could face a possible fine of $1,000 and up to a year in a county jail if found guilty. Lowery is set to appear in court on August 24th.