Photo by Alex Edelman.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. announced on Friday that it was dropping the felony rioting charge against Evan Engel, a journalist arrested while covering an Inauguration Day protest.

“After consultation with the counsel for Mr. Engel, who is a journalist with Vocativ, as well as a review of evidence presented to us by law enforcement, we have concluded that we will not proceed with the charge against this individual,” said U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. spokesperson William Miller.

Engel, who lives in New York City, is one of 230 people arrested after protesters clashed with the police on Inauguration day, and one of at least six journalists who were charged with felony rioting after arrests. The charge carries a maximum 10 year sentence and $25,000 fine.

“My thanks go out to all my colleagues and to the legal team Vocativ provided — as well as to everyone who reached out and shared their support,” Engel said in a story published by Vocativ after news of the dismissal. “Today, my thoughts are with any other journalists who are facing charges for doing their jobs, as well as with journalists imprisoned around the world.”

Lawyers and legal observers have called the mass felony charges a break from common practice in D.C.

Engel was in custody for more than 24 hours after his arrest, and was arraigned on Saturday. At the time of his arrest, he had been covering a black bloc demonstration in downtown D.C. where some protesters smashed windows and set fires.

A class action lawsuit filed that day over false arrests and excessive force alleges that many of the people taken into custody had nothing to do with the property destruction.

The suit claims that a group that included media, medics, legal observers, lawyers, and protesters who did not destroy property were surrounded by D.C. Police without warning or an order to disperse. Police then “indiscriminately and repeatedly” used chemical irritants, batons, and flash-bang grenades against those people, the suit alleges. (MPD denies it used flash-bang grenades, though eyewitnesses and multiple media reports say otherwise.)

“It’s obviously a major concern and threat to the First Amendment when police don’t differentiate between individuals who may have engaged in misconduct, individuals who are peacefully protesting, and individuals doing their job to report on their news,” said Jeffrey Light, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit.

Monica Hopkins-Maxwell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of D.C., said that, “as more details emerge about the conduct of the Metropolitan Police Department on Inauguration Day,” her organization is “concerned that law enforcement may have violated demonstrators’ rights” by indiscriminately corralling people, including legal observers and journalists; by “using pepper spray without justification;” and by keeping people outside for long periods of time without access to bathrooms or food.

“Learning that one of our journalists was arrested while on assignment served as a chilling reminder that we must never take our First Amendment freedoms for granted,” said Ben Reininga, Vocativ’s editorial director. “We are pleased that charges against Evan were dismissed and we look forward to continuing to do our work.”

Earlier this week, the senior Americas program coordinator for the Committee to Project Journalists, Carlos Lauría, said the charges were “clearly inappropriate, and we are concerned that they could send a chilling message to journalists covering future protests.” CJR called on D.C. to drop the charges against journalists.

According to Miller of the USAO, the office is “continuing to work with the Metropolitan Police Department to review evidence related to the arrests on Jan. 20. As in all of our cases, we are always willing to consider additional information that people bring forward.”

Those charged with felony rioting have preliminary hearings scheduled throughout February and March. DisruptJ20, the group that organized many of the Inauguration day protests, is raising money for its legal fund.

Despite the arrests, DisruptJ20 has no regrets about the protests. “We made history on Friday,” says spokesperson Lacy McAuley. “We set the tone for resistance.”

Notice of Dismissal for Evan Engel by Rachel Kurzius on Scribd