United States: CFWIJ condemns the unlawful arrest of Ayano Nagaishi and Alison Cutler

May 20, 2021- Ayano Nagaishi and Alison Cutler, watchdog reporters associated with The News Leader were arrested on Wednesday, May 19. Both women journalists were wearing their press vests when they were arrested while covering a protest in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The protest was held against the decision of a prosecutor for not convicting three sheriffs for shooting an unarmed black man, Andrew Brown Jr. last month. Ayano Nagaishi was live-tweeting her coverage from the protests. She was tweeting how police were arresting the protesters. The journalist filmed the scenes where police officers were carrying zip-ties and were arresting demonstrators. As the reporters were doing their job, they were approached by an officer who detained them. In the police van, Alison was able to make a call and confirmed that she and Ayano have been arrested. Both women journalists were released around 10:30 pm EDT. CFWIJ condemns the blatant harassment towards Ayano and Alison. We believe that both of the correspondents were doing their job efficiently with all their dedication when they were legally harassed and arrested by the police. We demand an apology from the relevant law enforcement authority for the mistreatment of the journalists. 

Ayano and Alison were reporting the situation at the protests via posting videos from the site on Twitter. An officer can be heard asking the reporters “come here- you too, yes”. When Allison inquired the officer why they were being arrested, he told them, “for standing in the middle of the roadway”. The journalists identified themselves as press and shouted “USA TODAY” while they were getting zip-tied but it did not stop the officers from arresting them. The scene of their arrest was recorded by a citizen who was filming it on Ayano's phone. An officer later retrieved the phone and placed it in Ayano’s pocket. They also confiscated Alison’s phone after it was used for live streaming from the police van. They were released around 10;30 pm and it is unclear if there were any charges pressed against both journalists. 

Executive editor for USA TODAY, William Ramsey, shared the details of their arrest on Twitter and mentioned that both women journalists have faithfully reported on the tribulations of the Elizabeth City residents on two different trips for the network, travelling four hours from Staunton, Virginia, to tell the stories on the ground. He also stated that Ayano and Alison are easily among the most professional and ethical reporters he has ever worked with. Both were doing a public service in Elizabeth City. 

Ayano also shared her sentiments in a Tweet, stating that she and Aison were safe. She also appreciated the support of the local community, friends, and co-workers from the USA TODAY network. Alison also quoted Ayano and thanked everyone for their support. She also highlighted that two of them were arrested with many other people by the police and it was an important night to be present in Elizabeth City as a journalist. 

President of the USA TODAY, Maribel Perez Wadsworth said in a statement that, “We are grateful that Ayano and Alison have now been released. These senseless attacks against press freedom must stop.”

The Coalition For Women In Journalism endorses the statement by Maribel Perez and considers this arrest tactic a clear violation of journalists’ rights. We hope that Elizabeth City Law enforcement authorities will hold the responsible officers accountable for violating their code of conduct.