"The justice department's arrest of journalists reporting on anti-ICE protests is extremely alarming, especially given that multiple judges refused to approve arrest warrants just last week, Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said. Reporting on protests isn't a crime it's protected by the first amendment. We are especially concerned about these arrests because they take place against the background of a broader effort by the Trump administration to tighten the vise around press freedom."
"The arrests of two independent journalists doing their jobs is a shocking and disturbing escalation of the Trump administration's campaign against the free press in America. This is an unequivocal attack on the first amendment and the American people's right to know, he said. The outcome of this case will have direct consequences for the future of free media and free information in America."
Federal agents arrested two independent journalists, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, in connection with coverage of an 18 January anti-ICE protest at the Cities church in Saint Paul. A magistrate judge had declined to sign off on charges against Lemon a week earlier, and multiple judges recently refused to approve arrest warrants tied to the protest. Reporter Georgia Fort posted a live stream of her arrest on Facebook. Press freedom organizations condemned the arrests, called for the journalists' release and dismissal of charges, and warned that targeting reporters covering protests undermines First Amendment protections amid broader government pressure on the press.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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