– Quartzsite police arrested a reporter at an open meeting last week, and it’s not the first time she’s been arrested in the town.
Jennifer Jones, who owns and operates the Desert Freedom Press newspaper, was arrested during the call to the public portion of the June 28 public meeting. Jones, who was speaking out about a proposed tax as well as questioning the legality of the wording of the agenda, was arrested, cited and released for disorderly conduct for disrupting the meeting.
Video of the meeting shows Jones was yielded the floor by Mayor Ed Foster, who presided over the meeting. Other councilmembers then instructed the police to arrest Jones, who, along with Foster, tried fruitlessly to argue that she had done nothing wrong.
Since launching her newspaper in November, Jones said she has been arrested four times with 12 separate charges. None of those charges have gone to trial yet, she said.
During one of the arrests, Foster reportedly tried to prevent her from being arrested and was himself arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
During the most recent arrest, Jones said her arm was twisted by the arresting officer and she had to be taken to the hospital in Parker, where she had her arm set in a sling. She said she will be out of work – she also works as a dog groomer – for six weeks.