The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement this Friday (30) condemning what it called an escalation of attacks on the press in the USA following the arrest of two journalists during protests in Minnesota.
Don Lemon, former presenter of the American broadcaster CNNwas arrested Thursday on charges of violating federal law while covering a protest at a Saint Paul church against anti-illegal immigration operations. Filmmaker Georgia Fort was arrested on Friday.
CPJ said in the statement that the two faced “extreme” accusations while covering the protests. Lemon was at a protest on the 19th, in which a group of protesters interrupted a church service to demonstrate against their pastor, who worked for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), chanting slogans such as “Out with ICE!”.
Jodie Ginsberg, director of CPJ, said “this is a blatant attack on the First Amendment and the ability of journalists to do their jobs.”
“As an international organization, we know that the treatment given to journalists is an important indicator of the condition of a country’s democracy,” he argued. “These arrests are just the latest in a series of growing threats to the press in the United States — and an attack on people’s right to know.”
The Justice Department accused Lemon and Fort of obstructing the entrance to the church and thereby depriving people of their civil rights and violating a law prohibiting the use of force or threats to prevent access to places of health and worship. See the full statement here.
