Journalist Don Lemon walked out of a Los Angeles courtroom on Friday (Jan. 30) after federal agents arrested him for his coverage of a Minneapolis protest. He and another independent reporter, Georgia Fort, were hit with serious civil rights charges now raising concerns about First Amendment protections.
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Both journalists are members of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). The organization’s president and editor-at-large of The 19th, Errin Haines, told The Root Fort and Lemon’s arrests should have every American paying close attention.
“The public understands that when journalists are arrested for documenting events of public concern, everybody’s right to know is at risk,” Haines said. Lemon and Fort were both reporting from inside the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., where peaceful anti-ICE protesters disrupted a Jan. 18 church service.
We previously told you the Department of Justice later accused the organizers as well as the two journalists of obstructing worshipers’ First Amendment right to practice their religion. Fort and Lemon adamantly deny they participated in the demonstration.
“People understand if a well-known journalist can be detained while trying to document a protest, their risk is even greater,” the NABJ president continued. “For local reporters like Georgia Fort, freelancers, journalists of color, who don’t have institutional protection, this matters.”
The arrests marked the latest — and perhaps most profound — escalation in attacks against the press by President Donald Trump’s administration. The president has previously sued networks like CNN, cut funding to PBS and even banned The Associated Press reporters from the White House press circle.
Despite these shocking recent events, however, Haines acknowledged the country’s long checkered history with Black journalists.
“It is not unprecedented. I mean, this is historically familiar,” she said. “We know that Black journalists– from Ida B. Wells to today– have long been surveilled and arrested and targeted for just trying to expose injustice.”
Fort and Lemon were two of nine accused of conspiracy and violating the First Amendment, according to the federal indictment. Following his release from custody, Lemon vowed to never stop covering the news. Haines echoed his sentiment, telling us “Journalists have a fundamental responsibility and a constitutional protection” to report on events around the world, including the demonstrations in Minneapolis. Without reporters, democracy is in danger, she added.
“You can’t have a healthy democracy without a healthy and truly representative press,” Haines said. The journalists’ arrests triggered global responses largely condemning the charges brought against them.
“Press freedom is not conditional. It’s not about political convenience,” the NABJ president said. “We have to speak up and speak out against this because like we said in our statement, the First Amendment is not optional.”
The organization released a separate statement condemning the Trump administration’s actions. “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,” it read.
“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.”
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