Las Vegas TV journalist released from jail after arrest at tax protest

The television journalist arrested Saturday at a protest outside the Trump International is out of jail.

KLAS-TV, Channel 8 Vice President and General Manager Lisa Howfield said photojournalist Nebyou Solomon was freed Saturday night, hours after he was arrested while covering the off-Strip protest. More than 200 people demonstrated in front of the hotel, urging President Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

Solomon was filming the protest from a sidewalk when Metropolitan Police Department officers detained him for what they said was trespassing on private property owned by the Fashion Show Mall. In a statement Saturday, Metro said Solomon had not cooperated with officers, had refused to provide identification information, and had declined to sign a misdemeanor citation for trespassing. Solomon was booked into Clark County jail.

In its Saturday statement, Metro said it is “committed to transparency and creating and maintaining public trust. We work with our local media partners, including KLAS-TV, on a routine basis.”

Solomon’s arrest caught the notice of Nevada’s branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Legal director Amy Rose said the group has litigated similar public forum issues for more than two decades; areas of question included the Fremont Street Experience and sidewalks in front of The Venetian.

“The courts have consistently found that sidewalks on Fremont and on parts of the Strip are traditionally a public forum,” Rose said Saturday, adding that obstruction of press freedom was the immediate issue following Solomon’s arrest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Matthew Crowley at mcrowley@reviewjournal.com. Follow @copyjockey on Twitter.