Protect Journalists Covering Protests

Reed Dunlea arrest courtesy Stephanie Keith

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Keith

Journalists have the right to cover protests and demonstrations.

Protests are one of the most dangerous places for journalists in America. Journalists are routinely prevented from gathering the news, illegally arrested, and attacked by law enforcement and demonstrators.

Journalists have a First Amendment right to cover public protests. Protecting and expanding that right ensures that the public can learn what’s happening at protests and how they are policed.

Tell your lawmakers to stand up for journalists victimized by ICE

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Edit this message so that it is unique to you: Dear Member of Congress, Federal immigration agents have engaged in a myriad of alarming abuses, but I’m writing about one particular kind — assaults of journalists. These attacks not only impact the immediate victims but all of us who rely on a free press for information about what our government is up to. In New York, for instance, ICE agents assaulted at least three journalists at an immigration court. None of them was doing anything but their jobs. One of them was hospitalized because he was unable to get up after being slammed to the ground. This followed months of reports of ICE agents intimidating and bullying journalists doing their jobs at the court, including by taking photographs of their press credentials. A journalist who reported on those earlier abuses was among those assaulted. In Illinois, ICE has assaulted numerous journalists covering protests outside its facility in Broadview, near Chicago. Journalists have also been baselessly arrested while covering protests. By all accounts, the protests were peaceful and the attacks were unprovoked. In Minnesota, journalists have been shoved, doused with pepper spray, hit with crowd-control munitions, and threatened with arrest by federal agents while covering protests over ICE raids, resulting in injuries to at least two journalists that required hospital visits. In Los Angeles, federal agents have repeatedly assaulted journalists at protests against immigration raids, which led a federal court to issue injunctions against both federal and local authorities. Journalists in other communities across the U.S. have been similarly brutalized by ICE for doing their jobs. This situation is unacceptable. Whether one is for or against the Trump administration’s immigration policies, ICE raids and protests against them are of the utmost public concern. Journalists need to be able to report the news without fear of being assaulted and injured. Please use your platform to investigate, speak out against, and otherwise rein in these appalling attacks on core constitutional rights. URLs are not allowed in this message.

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Thank you for encouraging Congress to speak out against ICE’s appalling attacks on journalists.

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Join me in telling lawmakers to take action to stop ICE’s attacks on journalists around the country. ICE raids and anti-ICE protests are some of the most important stories of these times. The press must be able to report freely.

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