Burlington Free Press Blog: Vermont reporter’s arrest one to watch

Reposted from Burlington Free Press Blog.

It is a fairly rare event in the world — let alone in Vermont — when a reporter is arrested on the job. That makes the case of Chris Braithwaite an interesting one to watch.

Braithwaite, publisher of the Barton Chronicle, was arrested Dec. 5 and cited with trespassing on the construction site of Green Mountain Power Corp.’s Lowell wind project. He is due in court in Newport on Tuesday, when he plans to plead not guilty.

Braithwaite was there as six protesters were seeking to halt Green Mountain Power’s earth-moving machines atop the mountain. When Orleans County Sheriff’s deputies told Braithwaite to leave, he refused, saying he was there to observe the arrest of the protesters.

Was Braithwaite a nuisance who was defying police orders or a journalist serving as the public’s eyes and ears to record an event that was public yet fairly inaccessible?

Braithwaite said his lawyer, Phil White, will argue the latter, seeking to have the charges dropped by making a First Amendment freedom-of-the-press argument.

Braithwaite said he’s been a journalist in the Northeast Kingdom for 37 years. Covering the Lowell wind project, with its mountaintop protests, poses unusual challenges, he said.

“What do you do when you’ve got this kind of protest going on and it’s not in front of City Hall? It’s on top of this mountain,” Braithwaite said Monday. “I just didn’t know any other way to cover it.”

He said he learned of protesters’ plans at 11 p.m. that Sunday to climb the mountain at 5:30 a.m. Monday with the intent of getting arrested in hopes of putting the project back in court. Braithwaite said he couldn’t very well call Green Mountain Power at that hour and ask permission to be on the site, nor did he think he could count on the utility to deliver him to the protest spot so he could observe the arrests.

Green Mountain Power Corp. spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure said she doesn’t know if the utility will ask the prosecutor to drop the charge. The utility didn’t specifically request that he be arrested, she said, but also couldn’t allow anyone on the construction site who had not gone through a brief safety training and was accompanied by Green Mountain Power staff and wearing a hard hat and orange vest.

She also indicated that the utility is none too pleased with Braithwaite. He has editorialized against the project and spent a fair amount of time covering the protesters, she said.

Orleans County State’s Attorney Alan Franklin couldn’t be reached for comment Monday afternoon to say whether he plans to pursue the charge against Braithwaite. If he does, it would be highly unusual.

For journalists, this case holds the potential to set a scary precedent. The Hardwick Gazette and Caledonian-Record have weighed in with editorials in support of Braithwaite and the Vermont Press Association issued a statement.

“If I were Green Mountain Power, I would welcome the presence of the press. The presence of an outside observer is important to provide an objective report on what is happening at this remote site. It serves as a check on the authorities and the protesters,” VPA President Maria Archangelo said.

The Hardwick Gazette argued, “The health and safety of American democracy require that the press be allowed to report the news.”