Ladd Erickson, McLean County state’s attorney who is assisting Morton County, said many of those arrested are claiming they were journalists, including people with cell phones who record videos for social media.

“You don’t want prosecutors deciding what is and what isn’t a journalist,” Erickson said. “I don’t know where those lines are ultimately drawn.”

Kirchmeier said arrestees should get their property back, but it’s possible some has been delayed due to the volume of processing some of the mass arrests.

Jack McDonald, attorney for the North Dakota Newspaper Association, said he questions the arrests of journalists.

“The basic fact of the law is the reporters have no greater rights than anybody else regarding lawful entry and trespass and things like that,” McDonald said. “On the other hand, the reporters have a job and a duty to try to cover current events or what’s happening. At times, this may take them into areas that would ordinarily be off-limits.”

Schrader, arrested during the Oct. 27 mass arrest when hundreds of militarized law enforcement officers removed people from the highway and property owned by the pipeline company, is facing the most serious penalties among those journalists arrested during Dakota Access protests.