Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri, facing, hugs her mother, Muna Tareh-Sahouri, after being found not-guilty at the conclusion of her trial at the Drake University Legal Clinic, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, a Democrat who has held office since 1991, dismissed the outrage he has faced over his decision to prosecute Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri as unwarranted.
A Des Moines police officer pepper-sprayed and arrested Sahouri last May while she was on assignment reporting at a chaotic Black Lives Matter protest outside a mall.
Sahouri, 25, was charged with disobeying police orders to disperse and interfering with the officer who arrested her.
People can’t defy those lawful orders," Sarcone said.