State watchdog group blasts UNM police for arrest of journalists at Duck Pond

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

May 16—The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said it was "blatantly unconstitutional" for police to arrest two journalists during a pro-Palestine protest on the University of New Mexico campus.

UNM police arrested Bryant Furlow and his wife, Tara Armijo-Prewitt, alongside five protesters — among them two UNM students — on Wednesday morning at the Duck Pond.

All seven were charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and wrongful use of public property.

Furlow is an investigative reporter whose work has been featured in New Mexico In Depth and other publications. Armijo-Prewitt is a photographer whose work has also been featured in New Mexico In Depth.

In a statement released Thursday, Furlow said he had joined his wife at the Duck Pond "as a journalist interested in possibly reporting on this operation by the UNM Police Department and the State Police."

He said they were arrested while taking pictures and after asking a State Police officer for his name and badge number.

"As I was being arrested, I said I was a member of the press repeatedly and loudly," Furlow said, adding that the couple spent 12 hours in jail and planned to fight the charges.

UNM Police, with assistance from State Police, made the arrests around 7 a.m. Wednesday after giving the protesters notice to vacate more than 12 hours earlier.

The protesters had established an encampment at the Duck Pond for nearly three weeks by then, demanding better treatment of Palestinians and for UNM to divest itself from companies that invest in Israel.

UNM spokeswoman Cinnamon Blair, when asked about the arrests of Furlow and Armijo-Prewitt, said, "The people that were arrested were not complying with the directions of law enforcement officers and were charged accordingly."

FOG Executive Director Melanie Majors said the arrests of Furlow and Armijo-Prewitt violated the First Amendment, and UNM Police should drop the charges "immediately."

"Arresting journalists for reporting the news is blatantly unconstitutional," she said in a statement. "... The officers involved either knew the arrests were unconstitutional and proceeded anyway or do not realize their actions are completely indefensible under the First Amendment."

Majors said it is important organizations like FOG, reporters, government officials, media outlets and residents to support journalists "who become the target of such odious practices."

"Our democracy hangs by a thread," she said. "... This solidarity is necessary because another reporter may become the next target — a detriment to us all."