St. Anthony woman wrongly charged with assaulting journalist

A St. Anthony woman was wrongly charged in September with assaulting a journalist during protests in downtown Minneapolis, according to recently filed court documents.

The Minneapolis City Attorney's Office dismissed charges Friday that it had filed against Lauren P. Peterson, 37. Peterson had been misidentified as someone who allegedly assaulted Alpha News videographer Rebecca Brannon on Aug. 24, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

The office initially charged her with one count of third-degree riot, two counts of fifth-degree assault and one count of disorderly conduct.

"The city filed a dismissal with the court after additional evidence showed that Ms. Peterson was not in Minneapolis at the time this offense took place," said a statement from the city Monday.

Alpha News, a conservative news outlet, had shared video of the incident captured by Brannon.

According to the charges, Brannon, who was not identified in the criminal complaint, was working as a journalist downtown when three or more protesters confronted her. They demanded that she leave. The video captured them hurling expletives while calling her fascist and racist.

"Several items were thrown at her, including water bottles," the charges said.

A woman allegedly yelled at Brannon, picked up an orange traffic cone and struck her with it. The woman also used it to push Brannon and allegedly struck her with a full water bottle, the charges said.

Brannon's phone was thrown into a water fountain by another member of the group; she recovered it.

The incident occurred about 10 p.m. near the intersection of S. 5th Street and S. 4th Avenue. Protesters were demonstrating because Jacob Blake, who is Black, had been shot and injured by Kenosha, Wis., police the previous day.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib