The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C. has dropped charges against four of six journalists arrested while covering protests against President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this month.

Evan Engel of Vocativ, Alexander Rubinstein of RT America, documentary producer Jack Keller, freelancer Aaron Cantu and independent journalists Shay Horse and Matt Hopard had been charged with felony rioting, an accusation one of their employers called an “affront to the First Amendment.”

The nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists condemned rioting charges against “at least three” of the journalists in a release on Jan. 24. CPJ referred to the arrests of Engel, Rubinstein and Cantu, though the organization noted it was still reviewing the other arrest reports.

“These charges are clearly inappropriate, and we are concerned that they could send a chilling message to journalists covering future protests,” CPJ’s Carlos Lauría said in the statement at the time. “We call on authorities in Washington to drop these charges immediately.”

Many protesters at the inauguration event on Jan. 20 were peaceful, but some damaged property and threw objects. At least six officers suffered minor injuries, and more than 200 people were arrested.

However, none of the arrest reports for the journalists included any allegations of individual wrongdoing, according to The Guardian. Instead, the documents simply referred to large numbers of people being arrested for destroying property or violating rioting laws. Keller, Hopard, Cantu and Horse all told The Guardian they were innocent of any criminal wrongdoing.

Similarly, probable cause documents for Engel and Rubinstein obtained by The Huffington Post described a large group vandalizing property and starting fires, with some people throwing objects at officers. Both documents were identical, and each stated that the defendant was “arrested as part of this group.”

Rubinstein tweeted numerous photos and videos from the protests. After the arrest, he tweeted that cops threw a flash grenade that temporarily left him unable to see. “Cops encircled crowd when I couldn’t see; arresting everyone,” he wrote.

Here is the flash grenade they used that blinded me and left my ears ringing. Cops encircled crowd when I couldn't see; arresting everyone pic.twitter.com/bL2ulgv9DR — Alexander Rubinstein (@AlexR_DC) January 20, 2017

RT said in a post about the incident that Rubinstein showed police his media credentials but was arrested anyway.

Chants of "1, 2, 3 / f*ck the bourgeoisie / 4, 5, 6 / f*co the bourgeoisie" at anti-capitalist #DisruptJ20 march #Inauguration pic.twitter.com/ydKsUy7HAk — Alexander Rubinstein (@AlexR_DC) January 20, 2017

Engel tweeted that he and Vocativ were fighting the charges, which Engel’s company slammed as a threat to constitutional rights.

Vocativ and I are fighting these charges and I’ll have more to share as soon as the legal process has run its course. Thanks all! — Evan Engel (@evanengel) January 24, 2017

“The arrest, detainment and rioting charge against journalist Evan Engel who was covering the protests for Vocativ are an affront to the First Amendment and journalistic freedom,” a Vocativ spokesperson said in a statement sent to HuffPost. “Vocativ will vigorously contest this unfounded and outrageous charge.

On Friday, after learning that the charges against him had been dropped, Engel tweeted:

Case DISMISSED. Thanks to @vocativ, the legal team, & all who reached out with support. My thoughts are with all journalists still charged. — Evan Engel (@evanengel) January 27, 2017

Willa Frej contributed reporting.

This story has been updated to reflect that the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C. dropped charges against four of the six journalists who were arrested.