Twitter users lash out at veteran journalist’s arrest by New York City police

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) - Stephanie Keith, a seasoned photojournalist, was among some 10 people arrested on Monday during a vigil service for Jordan Neely, a homeless Black man killed last week in a chokehold at a subway station in New York.

After her police arrest was caught on camera, social media users took to Twitter to express frustration and outrage.

“This is messed up,” David M. Barreda, a photo editor at National Geographic magazine, said in a tweet.

“Stephanie Keith is a working journalist who is at every press event in Manhattan. I can’t imagine these police did not recognize her,” he added.

“She must be released with an apology and a statement acknowledging the First Amendment Rights violation,” Barreda added, referring to Article 1 of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition.

Josh Pacheco, another journalist, also lashed out at the New York police.

“I and several journalists were almost brutally arrested,” Pacheco said on Twitter.

“They just took photographer Stephanie Keith seen in video,” he added, posting a video of her arrest.

“Member of press violently arrested,” another Twitter user said, attaching footage showing footage of Keith’s arrest.

-Arrest of 'least violent people’

Oliya Scootercaster, another journalist, also threw her support to her colleague.

“Police just arrested credentialed press,” she said in a video tweet, referring to Keith’s press card issued by the New York Mayor's Office.

Another Twitter user, Mark Okern, also blasted the arrest.

“This is unmitigated bullsh*t,” he said.

“Stephanie Keith is an award-winning photojournalist and is one of the best in NYC.”

Todd Meisel, a contributing editor to the free tabloid AM New York, also lashed out at the police.

“I don’t know why The New York Press Photographers Association (NYPPA) photographer Stephanie Keith was detained, arrested,” he said in a tweet, also pointing to her press card credentials.

Another user, Eileen Clancy, also criticized the arrest.

“Another angle of photojournalist's arrest, a middle-aged woman. She's obviously working press,” she said.

“Photojournalists are the least violent people in any protest. They protect their equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars.”

After her arrest and the subsequent backlash on social media, Keith has now been released, according to locals on Twitter.

During a press conference, New York Police Department (NYPD) Patrol Chief John Chell said that Keith was charged with "disorderly conduct" and "interfering with three arrests."

On May 1, Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Queens, killed Neely by placing him in a lethal chokehold. Penny's subsequent release after being initially detained sparked outrage and led to a series of protests.