DENVER, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Reporters Without Borders is calling on Denver officials to drop charges against ABC News producer Asa Eslocker.
The group said in a statement Thursday that Eslocker was in Denver for the Democratic National Convention. He was collecting video footage in front of Brown Palace Hotel when a Denver sheriff's officer asked him to move.
Video allegedly shows the officer pushing Eslocker into oncoming traffic after he did not immediately comply, the group said. ABC News said Denver Police arrived two hours later and arrested Eslocker.
"The use of unnecessary force and the arrest of a journalist who was reporting an important political story is deeply troubling and unacceptable," Reporters Without Borders said. "The attempts at intimidation that were evident in the captured images of Eslocker's arrest simply because he refused to leave a shared, publicly used space reflect negatively on the Denver police and sheriff's departments' commitment to uphold a journalist's right to gather important news."
Eslocker was charged with trespassing, interference and refusing to obey a lawful order. He was released after posting a $500 bond.
