Georgia jury acquits ‘citizen journalist’

DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — A Georgia jury acquitted a self-proclaimed citizen journalist of the most serious charges she faced after she was arrested while filming a Republican rally in 2014.

Nydia Tisdale was found not guilty Monday of felony obstruction of an officer and criminal trespass, The Times of Gainesville reported.

However, jurors did convict her of misdemeanor obstruction, the newspaper reported.

Tisdale was arrested Aug. 23, 2014, during the rally at a pumpkin farm in Dawson County, north of Atlanta. The charges stemmed from an altercation with a sheriff’s captain.

Tisdale was accused of kicking then-Capt. Tony Wooten of the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office in the shins and elbowing him in the face while being escorted off the property, as well as refusing to leave private property, The Times reported.

Tisdale said she did not know Wooten was a police officer when the incident occurred.

Tisdale had taken the stand during the trial, testifying she felt “pain and terror” as the sheriff’s captain hauled her from the rally and pinned

“With him pushing his groin against my buttocks I felt like I was being raped with my clothes on.”

— NYDIA TISDALE

her against a nearby counter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported previously.

“With him pushing his groin against my buttocks I felt like I was being raped with my clothes on,” Tisdale told jurors.

The verdict was handed down Monday after nearly four hours of jury deliberations.

Tisdale had faced up to five years in prison had she been convicted of the most serious charges.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 18.