Credentialed Activist Journalists Arrested for Asking Bloomberg a Question Plan Countersuit

Released We Are Change members tell of “inhumane, insane," and "surreal” experience.

We Are Change New York members have described the “inhumane, insane and surreal” experience of being arrested by police for asking Mayor Bloomberg a question, and promise that “the full story of this incident is yet to be heard.”

Luke Rudkowski, along with fellow We Are Change members Manny and Anthony, were all arrested on Saturday night for asking Bloomberg a question about 9/11 first responders outside the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue.

They followed orders by police to stay in one designated area, and yet were arrested for trespassing and were later hit with the charge of “impersonating a journalist,” despite having Infowars press credentials.

As The George Washington Blog points out today, “The media organization which sponsors Rudkowski is Infowars.com, a website which has many times the readership of small town “establishment” or “professional” newspapers. Indeed, given the popularity of Infowars and its sister sites, Prisonplanet.com and Jonesreport.com, the Infowars news network probably has more readers than all but the largest traditional newspapers. So the issue cannot be one of size or audience.”

A recent exclusive report from Infowars about the MIAC controversy became a national story, being covered by Fox News and the Associated Press, amongst hundreds of other mainstream news outlets. To claim that Infowars is not a genuine media outfit is manifestly absurd.

“Rudkowski’s arrest - like Amy Goodman’s arrest at the RNC convention for documenting violence against protestors - is an attempt to crack down on real attempts to question the powers-that-be and to document their actions,” concludes the George Washington Blog.

The We Are Change members have all now finally been released from Manhattan central bookings. They plan to air a live web broadcast at 10pm Eastern tonight to tell the full story and broadcast footage that led up to the incident. However, since the prosecution has seized all three of the group’s cameras and footage of the incident as criminal evidence, new cameras will have to be purchased.

We Are Change are asking all concerned activists to help them buy more cameras and create a legal defense fund by making a donation. They are also asking anyone who can offer legal services to contact bri.wearechange@gmail.com.

The court case will be in two months and the group is planning a countersuit on the basis of false arrest, official oppression and violation of the 1st amendment.

“You can try to stop me, but you cant stop the idea of CHANGE! This is not over by any means,” promises Luke Rudkowski.