Journalists Wesley Lowery, of The Washington Post, and Ryan Reilly, of The Huffington Post, were arrested Wednesday in a Ferguson, Missouri McDonald’s, which they were using as an operating base because of its WiFi and recharging outlets.

There was no reason given for the arrests, no charges were placed, and the two were released from jail without explanation. During the arrest both journalists were handled roughly, which one of the journalists described as “assault.”

I encourage both reporters, and their newspapers, to sue, in federal court, those officers responsible for the arrests, and their departments, for the very clear and egregious violations of the First Amendment, not because the damages are so important, but because the preservation of our Constitution is so critical.

Below is a brief video of the encounter, followed by Wesley Lowery’s account, as printed in The Washington Post.

By Wesley Lowery, The Washington Post