COVINGTON, Ky. — Misdemeanor charges against a reporter covering a protest on the Roebling Bridge were dismissed on Wednesday.
Madeline Fening, an investigative reporter with Cincinnati CityBeat, was arrested alongside CityBeat intern Lucas Griffith as Covington police officers and protesters clashed at the Roebling Bridge in July.
Fening and more than a dozen others were charged with first-degree rioting — a felony — along with disorderly conduct, obstructing emergency responders and more. Their rioting charges were dropped at a hearing in July, but their misdemeanor charges were upheld.
We break down the protest and arrests in the video below:
Her trial was scheduled for January. However, the ACLU of Kentucky announced this week that the court entered an agreed order dismissing all remaining charges.
"I was just doing my job," Fening said in an ACLU press release. "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."
Griffith’s trial occurred last month. A jury found him guilty of failure to disperse but not guilty of disorderly conduct, obstructing an emergency responder and obstructing a highway. He left the trial owing the court $219 in combined costs.
"We are pleased that our client has been fully exonerated," said Bethany Baxter, staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky. "The press should not be punished simply for being present where the news is happening."
