TPUSA Frontlines Journalist Arrested: ‘I Now Know What Over-Policing and a Power Trip Looks Like’

Original article here

Turning Point USA Frontlines journalist Jonathan Choe was arrested and jailed in Las Vegas over the weekend while actively covering a protest, according to a statement Choe posted Monday night on X.

Choe traveled to Las Vegas to report on a “No Kings” protest when the situation escalated around him. He was taken into custody on a misdemeanor jaywalking charge — a first in his life, he noted.

“Over the weekend, I was arrested for allegedly jaywalking on Las Vegas Blvd. Yes, jaywalking,” Choe wrote in his statement.

The incident occurred while Choe was filming from the sidewalk as activists confronted Christians and TPAction volunteers during the demonstration.

Choe says he briefly stepped off the sidewalk to avoid a collision with others in the crowd, at which point a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer moved in and placed him under arrest.

Officer Schmidt claimed Choe had been warned to stay on the sidewalk. Choe says he never heard any such warning amid the chaos of the demonstration.

“Instead of giving me a warning, I was taken to jail in handcuffs,” he wrote.

Choe was held for more than 12 hours following his arrest.

During his time in custody, Choe was placed in a cell alongside individuals facing significantly more serious charges and was required to exchange his clothing for jail-issued attire.

“I spent more than 12 hours in jail with a DUI suspect, accused wife beater, and a homeless drug addict,” Choe wrote. “They made me strip down and change into an orange jumpsuit.”

Choe was not alone in his arrest. He reports that two elderly men were also taken into custody under comparable circumstances during the same event.

All three were released Sunday morning and are scheduled to appear before a judge the following month.

Choe says he has video evidence showing other individuals walking in the roadway in front of officers without being stopped or cited.

“The inconsistent enforcement is so obvious and egregious,” Choe stated.

Despite the experience, Choe made clear he remains a supporter of law enforcement as a whole.

“I am still pro-police. But for the first time in my life, I now know what over-policing and a power trip looks like,” he wrote.

Choe and his attorney are preparing to fight the misdemeanor charge in court and intend to file formal complaints against Officer Schmidt and the Las Vegas Police Department.

“While the charge is only a misdemeanor for jaywalking, my attorney and I plan to vigorously fight this in court,” Choe said. “We also plan to file complaints against this officer and Vegas PD.”

Choe has stated his intention to submit complaints to both the Internal Affairs division and the Citizen Review Board, and the two plan to request official body camera footage and police reports tied to the arrest.

“The burden is on the cops to show I was intentionally walking on the roadway and was warned numerous times not to do so,” he wrote.

Choe also expressed interest in bringing the matter to the attention of Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, a Republican and former Clark County sheriff.

Choe reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for comment following the arrest but had not received a response as of the time of his statement.

“In the end, I hope Vegas PD uses this as an opportunity to reexamine their enforcement procedures during protests,” he said.