Riot charge against Brighton journalist dropped
Federal prosecutors have decided that Evan Engel, a 2004 Brighton High School graduate who was covering the pre-inauguration unrest in Washington, D.C., was a journalist and they have dismissed a felony rioting charge against him.
D.C. police arrested Engel, 30, as he was covering the protester-generated mayhem before the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Engel was reporting on the unrest for the web
"After consultation with the counsel for Mr. Engel, who is a journalist with Vocativ, as well as a review of evidence presented to us by law enforcement, we have concluded that we will not proceed with the charge against this individual," Bill Miller, a spokesman for the District of Columbia office of the U.S. Attorney's Office, said in a statement.
Engel expressed gratitude in a released statement. He said, "My thanks go out to all my colleagues and to the legal team Vocativ provided — as well as to everyone who reached out and shared their support. Today, my thoughts are with any other journalists who are facing charges for doing their jobs, as well as with journalists imprisoned around the world.”
The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecutes the bulk of crimes in the District of Columbia.
Journalists at Inaugural protests charged with felonies
The arrest of Engel and several other other reporters outraged professional journalism organizations, which quickly condemned the actions of the police.
The protests turned rowdy and destructive as demonstrators broke windows, set a limousine on fire, and clashed with police. D.C. police say an anarchist organization was at center of the chaos.
The police arrested about 230 people during the unrest.
Ben Rehinga, Vocativs' editorial director, said, "Learning that one of our journalists was arrested while on assignment served as a chilling reminder that we must never take our First Amendment freedoms for granted."
GCRAIG@Gannett.com