NABJ OUTRAGED AT ARRESTS OF DON LEMON, GEORGIA FORT ‘THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS NOT OPTIONAL’

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is outraged and deeply alarmed by the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort by federal agents, and by the government’s escalating effort and actions to criminalize and threaten press freedom under the guise of law enforcement.

Let us be perfectly clear: The First Amendment is not optional and journalism is NOT a crime. A government that responds to scrutiny by targeting the messenger is not protecting the public, it is attempting to intimidate it, and considering recent incidents regarding federal agents, it is attempting to distract it. 

These arrests follow Lemon’s and Fort’s coverage of an anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis at Cities Church and appear intended to single out such messengers who were simply onsite to do their jobs. “As journalists, our first obligation is to bear witness and to inform,” said NABJ President Errin Haines. “When those obligations are met with detention or prosecution instead of protection, we must ask: what message are we sending about who gets to report and who gets silenced? A free press, not a penalized one, is essential to democracy; especially, when coverage intersects with contentious public issues.”

This moment is bigger than two journalists. It is about whether the First Amendment has meaning when reporting is inconvenient to those in power. The selective targeting of journalists— especially, Black and LGBTQIA journalists— raises urgent concerns about unequal enforcement and retaliatory policing of the press. It also mirrors a broader pattern in which government actors appear quick to criminalize those documenting injustice, while accountability for official misconduct remains elusive.

When will this stop? When will journalists be allowed to do their jobs without becoming targets? When will the constitutional rights of the press stop being tested, stretched, and ignored to make an example out of those who tell the truth?

NABJ calls on federal authorities to immediately clarify the legal justification for these arrests and to halt all retaliatory posture toward journalists that undermine constitutional press protections. We further call on media organizations, newsroom leaders, press freedom advocates, civil rights groups, legal experts, and allies across the country to not only stand together, organize, and act, but to also closely monitor these cases and unapologetically speak out against any actions that threaten the ability of reporters to do their jobs safely and without interference. The normalization of arrests during lawful newsgathering poses risks to ALL journalists.

Journalism that holds power to account strengthens democracy. That mission must be defended, not punished. Not now. Not this way, and again, NOT ON OUR WATCH! 

In Solidarity, 

National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ)

Aegis Safety Alliance

Amnesty International USA

Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association

Asian American Journalists Association

Association of Foreign Correspondents in the USA

Capital B

Center for Journalism & Democracy

Committee to Protect Journalists

Defending Rights and Dissent

First Amendment Coalition

Free Press Action

Freedom of the Press Foundation

GLAAD

Human Rights First

Institute for Nonprofit News

International Women’s Media Foundation

Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)

James W. Foley Legacy Foundation

Journalism & Women Symposium

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Media and Democracy Project

Multicultural Media and Correspondents Association

National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ)

National Association of Science Writers

National Black Justice Collective

National Council of Negro Women

National Press Photographers Association

National Writers Union

Online News Association

PEN America

Radio Television Digital News Association

Reporters Without Borders

SAG/AFTRA

Society of Environmental Journalists

Society of Professional Journalists

South Asian Journalists Association

The 19th

The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists (NLGJA)

The Intercept/Freedom Defense Fund

The News Guild/CWA

The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education

The Trust Project

Tiny News Collective

Trans Journalists Association

URL Media

Whistleblower & Source Protection Program (WHISPeR) at ExposeFacts

WURD