COVINGTON, Ky. - The ACLU of Kentucky and ACLU cooperating counsel Tom Pugh, Pugh & Roach, appeared in court today to defend a CityBeat intern who was arrested while covering a protest in Northern Kentucky at the Roebling Bridge. Lucas Griffith, a journalism student at the University of Cincinnati, faced only misdemeanor charges in Kenton County District Court after Kenton Commonwealth Attorney Rob Sanders abandoned the felony charge of rioting that Covington Police also lodged against them. Today, a jury found Mr. Griffith not guilty of three of the four charges they were asked to consider. They found Mr. Griffith guilty of one charge, failure to disperse, and assessed a $50 fine and court costs, totaling $219.
“The Covington Police Department arrested and charged our client despite being made aware that he was a journalist. The jury correctly rejected the prosecutor’s request to convict him of multiple offenses, opting instead to issue a guilty verdict on a lone charge and impose a minimal fine,” said Bethany Baxter, staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky.
The ACLU of Kentucky is committed to protecting individuals’ civil liberties, including those of the press, and to holding police accountable.
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