Iowa Reporter Mentioned By Trevor Noah at Correspondents Dinner

The White House Correspondents Dinner was officially back in 2022 after being in hiatus for three years. If you're not familiar with the format, it is an evening attended by the sitting president, in this case, President Joe Biden, and also features some commentary from a well-known comedian or two. This year's choice was the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, Trevor Noah.

And while Noah's speech largely centered on jokes at the expense of the president and other Washington insiders, he took a moment during his speech to get a bit more serious. The Des Moines Register reports that Noah honored reporters across the country who "give a voice to those who otherwise wouldn't have one". He went on to speak about reporters not in the room, including "that daring reporter at The Des Moines Register...".

That daring reporter is Andrea Sahouri. According to the Register, Sahouri was in the parking lot near Merle Hay Mall covering protests in the wake of the George Floyd killing on May 31st, 2020. A Des Moines police officer arrested her saying that she failed to disperse when police asked her to. The Register reports that Sahouri told authorities that she was a journalist doing her job. The officer then pepper-sprayed her in the face and zip-tied her hands behind her back.

Even though she continued to tell police she was a reporter, Sahouri was placed in a van and taken to jail. The Register reports that she was charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts. She went to trial in March of 2021 and was acquitted of all charges in less than 2 hours. Upon hearing that Noah mentioned her, Sahouri stated that "I'm most proud of us as local journalists. We were recognized and that recognition is so deserving".