Getty Images photographer Scott Olson was arrested and released Monday night in Ferguson, Missouri. Olson was back to work a couple of hours after police led him away in zip cuffs.
Getty photojournalist Scott Olson who was wrongfully arrested earlier for shooting is now back to work in #Fergurson pic.twitter.com/heY1GvUQVR — Alex Wroblewski (@alexwroblewski) August 19, 2014
“I want to be able to do my job as a member of the media and not be arrested for just doing my job,” Olson said in a statement from Getty Images. The company “condemns Scott’s arrest,” vice-president for news Pancho Bernasconi said.
Fellow Getty photographer Joe Raedle documented Olson’s arrest.
Olson was arrested for “not getting out of the way fast enough,” according to Rob Crilly, a journalist from The Telegraph who was detained and released Sunday.
Olson was across the street from the area police set aside for media when he was arrested, according to The Guardian’s Jon Swaine.
An Instagram video clip from journalist Amy Nelson shows Olson explaining to those around him he’s a photographer from Getty and that he’s being arrested. Police officers can be heard on the clip telling the crowd to “keep moving.”
Obama: "Police should not be arresting journalists for doing their jobs." #Ferguson, now: @GettyImages' Scott Olson. pic.twitter.com/2XAJPwSEiD
— Matt Galloway (@mattgallowaycbc) August 18, 2014
Olson is one of several journalists who have been arrested in Ferguson since the protest began. On Wednesday night, Huffington Post reporter Ryan J. Reilly and Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery were arrested while leaving a McDonald’s on police orders. Those arrests were condemned by media organizations.
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