Exactly one month ago today, freelance journalist Josh Wolf (pictured) was jailed for refusing to give a federal grand jury a videotape he shot of an anarchist demonstration in San Francisco in which a police car was torched and an SFPD officer was injured. Today, the Reporters without Borders organization reiterated its call for Wolf’s release. The press freedom organization also urged the federal courts in San Francisco not to jail Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada of the Chronicle for refusing to identify who gave them federal grand jury transcripts detailing the case against Barry Bonds.
The SF Bay Guardian has been investigating the Wolf case and reached the following conclusions:
- • SFPD asked the feds to take over the anarchist protest investigation because they feared local District Attorney Kamala Harris wouldn’t move fast enough or aggressively enough against those who injured the officer and torched the police car.
• The goal of the feds in jailing Wolf might be to get him to identify anarchists in exchange for his freedom.
• Feds are trying to prove Wolf is not a journalist even though local TV stations paid to use his video on their newscasts.