Judge dismisses charges against Cincinnati journalist covering ICE protest
Charges were dismissed Thursday against a journalist arrested this summer while covering a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Northern Kentucky, according to attorneys for the reporter.
Kenton County Circuit Judge Kenneth Easterling entered an agreed order dismissing the remaining charges against journalist Madeline Fening.
Fening, 34, an investigative reporter with CityBeat in Cincinnati, faced misdemeanor charges in Kenton County after a felony charge of rioting was dropped.
“We are pleased that our client has been fully exonerated,” said Bethany Baxter, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. “The press should not be punished simply for being present where the news is happening.”
Fening was first charged July 17 with failure to disperse, obstructing a highway, obstructing emergency responder violations and disorderly conduct.
“I was just doing my job,” Fening said. “I am relieved this is over, and grateful to everyone who stood with me. I look forward to publishing my full account of what transpired that day on the Roebling Bridge.”
Fening was one of two CityBeat journalists arrested while covering a protest calling for the release of Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian immigrant and former chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital who was detained by ICE July 9.
Lucas Griffith, 21, was charged with several misdemeanors: failure to disperse, second-degree disorderly conduct, obstructing a highway and obstructing an emergency responder. He was also charged with unlawful assembly and resisting arrest. Those charges were dismissed Sept. 17.
An additional charge of felony rioting against Griffith was also dropped. On Oct. 2, a jury found Griffith not guilty of three of the four charges they were asked to consider. Griffith was found guilty on one charge, failure to disperse, and assessed a $50 fine and court costs.
