Josh Wolf and the Big Bad Federal Government

On July 8, 2005, Josh Wolf, blogger, activist, and amateur journalist, armed himself with a camera and set out to tape a San Francisco protest staged by a group called “Anarchist Action” against the G8 summit meeting in Scotland.

Following the demonstration, Wolf posted clips of his tape on his website, as well as selling part of it to a local news station, KRON-TV. Due to the violent nature of the protest, the Federal government swooped in, claiming jurisdiction because demonstrators had attempted to light a bottle rocket under a police car, a police car paid for in part by Federal dollars. Incidentally, the only actual damage done to the vehicle involved a broken tail light. Wolf was then subpoenaed and ordered to turn over his footage to the grand jury. Though he had not shot the car incident, Wolf was targeted by Federal officials because he had shot other scenes of protesters. He refused to comply.

On August 1, 2006, a U.S. District Judge ordered that Wolf be thrown in jail for contempt of court until he complied. On August 31, 2006, the Federal Appeals Court granted him bail. After being released briefly, but then had his bail revoked, due to his continued refusal to hand over the tape. The Court of Appeals has refused Wolf’s subsequent appeals. Roughly seven months later, Wolf has served, and continues to serve, the longest contempt-of-court term ever by a journalist (if you are inclined to consider him as such.) He will likely be in prison until the grand jury term expires in July 2007.

In an interview with Frontline, shortly before being sent to prison, Wolf explained his position. His main concern was that in turning over the tape he would open the floodgates to questioning about the identities of those on tape. He called it a “never-ending witch-hunt” on the part of the Federal government, in their attempts to create a “database of civil dissent.” In that same interview, former assistant U.S. Attorney, Randall D. Eliason said, “it not really his to decision as to what’s important and what isn’t in a Federal grand jury investigation. We don’t really know what exactly the government is looking at in this case.”

Some say that Wolf's reasoning behind withholding the video, and refusing to testify, is unclear. The videotape was shot in a public place, and there are no confidential sources involved in the case. What's more, He had sold a portion of the tape to a local television station and put other clips of it on his blog. Wolf addressed this in his Dateline interview. “There was a trust established between people involved in the organization that I was covering and myself into the fact that what I chose to release was what I chose to release and that I wasn’t an investigator for the state turning over piles of tape for a fishing expedition.”

Support for Wolf from the journalist community has generally been positive thus far. In 2006, Josh was given the “Journalist of the Year” award from the Society of Professional Journalists for “upholding the principles of a free and independent press.” Journalists Without Borders have called for his immediate release and the Independent Press Institute and the Professional Lawyers Guild have both condemned Wolf’s continued imprisonment. U.S. Federal Attorney Kevin Ryan, on the other hand, said in a court filing that Wolf's resistance "is apparently fueled by his anointment as a journalistic martyr" and that he needs "to come to grips with the fact that he was simply a person with a video camera who happened to record some public events."

But if the Federal Government truly believes he is not a real journalist, why did they feel the need to circumvent the authority of the local courts with this trumped up excuse of a Federally-funded police car, thereby avoiding state shield laws? California courts protect journalists and their sources, but there is no such law at the federal level - seems convenient. The other question is, what are they really looking for? Wolf contends that the unedited version of the tape contain no evidence of a crime. What the tape does contain is interviews with protesters without their identities concealed – one of Wolf’s prime reasons for concern.

So is Josh Wolf a journalist with an interest in activism, or is he an activist with a video camera? One supposes that once you open the journalistic door to any blogger, it will muddy the waters. But the problem is, in this country, journalism has become elitist. News outlets such as The New York Times, NBC, and Newsweek have set themselves up in a position of power over the people they are meant to cover. Journalism is not like medicine or law, there is no one governing body to regulate it, and no official certification in order to practice it.

Still, I believe the greater issue at hand is the Federal government overstepping its legal bounds. In the post-9/11 political climate we are experiencing in the United States, Wolf’s claims of a “database of dissent” are completely legitimate. Though perhaps somewhat misguided, because he did videotape people in a public domain where there was no expectation of confidentiality, Wolf’s ideals are in the right place.

The Federal government is clearly using the argument of funds for the damaged police car to gain access to the identifications of those that would dare speak out against the government. We do not live in a police state. This is a democracy and the right to criticize the government is supposed to be essential to that democracy. Of course, no one is condoning violence as a means to an end, and Anarchist Action would likely be more effective by working within the system instead of outside of it. But we have to allow for dissent in this nation. We have to allow for people to criticize the administration, the president.

What’s more, Wolf has offered to show the tape to U.S. District Judge William Alsup “in camera,” who could then decide if it contained any evidence of a Federal crime. The judge, who has described Josh as an “alleged journalist,” declined.

Some might argue that Josh Wolf made this choice in order to become a media martyr. But the truth is, by keeping Wolf incarcerated for such an extended period of time, it is Federal officials who have placed him in the role of martyr. The longer he stays in jail, the more he becomes a champion for the cause of freedom of the press. It becomes a David and Goliath scenario, as a 24 year-old amateur journalist and blogger goes up against big government. At a time when the Federal government is struggling with its popularity, actions such as these are not aiding their image.