US: Arrested, Misgendered, and Convicted For Covering Police Sweep in Asheville
Location: US, North Carolina
Date: April 19, 2023*Updated on June 19, 2023
LGBTQI journalists Matilda Bliss, Veronica Coit, and David Forbes say their online news site Asheville Blade is repeatedly targeted by law enforcement. Bliss and Coit were convicted on April 19th, 2023, for trespassing while covering police clearing a homeless camp in Asheville.
“We were just observing and getting pictures and video. The next thing I knew, I was being told that I was being arrested and they were putting Matilda in handcuffs,” recalls Veronica Coit of Christmas night 2021, when Coit and colleague Matilda Bliss were thrown into a police van.
Bliss and Coit reported on police clearing a homeless encampment at a public park in Asheville, North Carolina, for the online news site Asheville Blade.
Editor of Asheville Blade David Forbes says the two reporters were sending her information and images of the incident, which she published on social media.
“We were in the middle of live covering it when both of them got arrested,” said Forbes.
As evident from that night’s police body camera footage, the journalists repeatedly identified themselves as press. The First Amendment of the US Constitution provides journalists the right to gather and disseminate news in public places, including public parks.
“I think it took both of us by surprise,” reporter Bliss told CFWIJ. “My press badge was around my neck. You can see that from the body cam footage. It is indicated pretty clearly.”
Bodycam footage
Trespassing conviction
On April 19, 2023, after numerous continuances, a North Carolina court convicted Bliss and Coit of trespassing.
At the court hearing, Judge James Calvin Hill said this is a “plain and simple trespassing case,” adding that there was no evidence presented in court to say Coit and Bliss were journalists.
Press freedom groups have expressed outrage at the verdict.
“It’s particularly disturbing that the judge reportedly questioned whether Veronica Coit and Matilda Bliss are journalists,” said Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. “They literally report for a news outlet, the Asheville Blade. Whether it’s a mainstream outlet or one that public officials like is entirely irrelevant. They’re journalists under any definition of the word and entitled to the full protection of the First Amendment.”
In an appeal on June 16, the court upheld the conviction. Asheville Blade journalists were convicted of second degree trespassing by a jury, ordered to each pay a $100 fine and cover court costs.
The motion for dismissal on First Amendment grounds was denied by Judge Tommy Davis of Buncombe County Superior Court, who also instructed the jury not to consider the constitutionality of the charges against Coit and Bliss.
Coit and Bliss will now take their case to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Search warrant and ban from public parks
In May 2022, the Asheville Blade revealed that Bliss obtained a copy of a warrant police sought to search her seized phone. The police department cited Bliss's alleged links to "extremist anarchist groups" as justification for the illegal phone search.
The federal Privacy Protection Act of 1980 prohibits investigators from searching journalists' equipment for evidence obtained during newsgathering. The warrant application failed to mention Bliss is a member of the press, despite the arresting officers being aware of this fact.
Asheville police also banned journalists Bliss and Coit from city parks for a year following their arrests. Neither journalist was informed about the ban, which was applied without approval from the courts.
This move is likely to be viewed as an unconstitutional prior restraint, as it prevents journalists from gathering news to publish, which is a clear violation of their First Amendment rights.
Not “real news”
On the night of their arrest, the journalists were taken to jail and presented in front of the magistrate. Coit heard a police officer tell the magistrate that they were a journalist.
“Is she real news?” Coit heard the magistrate ask the officer, who shook his head.
“If I worked for what he considered to be “real news” he probably wouldn’t have booked us because the magistrate has the ability to say no, to say I'm not going do that,” explained Coit.
During her arrest, Matilda Bliss, a trans woman, says officers purposely put her on the male side of the police van. “The officer actually opens what would've been the correct side and then thinks twice and opens the men’s side.”
“Matilda Bliss, a trans woman, says officers purposely put her on the male side of the police van”
She recalls one officer during their arrest that was “particularly transphobic.”
“He heard that my name was Matilda and kept trying to refer to me as a guy,” she said.
“Our cooperative is entirely trans and non-binary people,” editor Forbes says about Asheville Blade. “And we're the only journalists in Asheville who keep being arrested.”
“Our cooperative is entirely trans and non-binary people, and we’re the only journalists in Asheville who keep being arrested” ”
Reporter Veronica Coit was previously arrested in 2020 while covering a protest. Charges were later dropped.
A 2020 UCLA report found that LGBTQI people in America are particularly susceptible to police violence and discrimination.
Forbes believes their publication irks public institutions in Asheville with its anti-establishment stance.
“They’re particularly riled up about our publication in general,” says the editor. “There's a long history in Asheville, with it being a tourist town, that media are supposed to be positive. We're all supposed to work together. You're supposed to boost the city and make everything look good and not criticize officials.”
The Asheville Blade’s repeated investigations into poverty, protests, and housing challenge the image of a progressive, open-minded city that government bodies and tourist boards wish to convey.
“We're a leftist publication, which is a lot of the reason, along with us being non-binary, queer, and trans people, why we've been targeted the way we have,” says Forbes.
“We’re a leftist publication, which is a lot of the reason, along with us being non-binary, queer, and trans people, why we’ve been targeted the way we have”
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is alarmed by the arrests and convictions of Matilda Bliss and Veronica Coit.
The decision to prosecute this case in the first place is absurd. Journalism is not a crime, reporters have a right and duty to cover a police clearing at a public park.
The court’s dismissal of the journalists’ press credentials and their treatment by police is extremely concerning. The targeting of the LGBTQI publication covering crucial local issues is incredibly alarming. LGBTQI persons are particularly vulnerable to police harassment, trans women especially.
Bliss and Coit must be recognized as journalists and receive the same treatment as the press from any other publication. We demand that the Buncombe County prosecutor stops targeting news outlets they disagree with. We call on North Carolina Court of Appeals to overturn their conviction immediately.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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