A reporter live-streamed his personal dramatic arrest by ICE whereas overlaying an anti-Trump protest.
Journalist Mario Guevara, 47, was broadcasting stay from a ‘No Kings’ protest in Atlanta on Saturday when he was handcuffed.
He now faces misdemeanor costs together with obstructing police, illegal meeting and improperly coming into a roadway.
Guevara was launched from the DeKalb County Jail on a recognizance bond, which is commonplace for misdemeanor offenses, on Wednesday. Nevertheless, he was instantly handed over to ICE custody, the New York Instances reported.
The seasoned journalist was one among eight people detained throughout the June 14 ‘No Kings’ protest, a part of a nationwide demonstration spanning greater than 2,000 US areas to oppose the forty seventh President’s political agenda.
Video footage captured the second Guevara stood on a sidewalk with fellow journalists, live-streaming the protest, when police handcuffed him regardless of his protestations.
‘I am a member of the media, officer,’ he will be heard saying within the clip.
Talking in Spanish whereas inside a police van, Guevara asks for his lawyer.
Journalist Mario Guevara (left), 47, was broadcasting stay from a ‘No Kings’ protest in Atlanta on Saturday when he was handcuffed
Police inform Guevara (in pink) to maneuver again throughout a protest on ICE raids and deportation arrests in Atlanta on Saturday, June 14
‘By any likelihood, are we nonetheless stay? Somebody please name the lawyer Giovanni Díaz, my lawyer, so he can pull the strings he wants to drag,’ Guevara will be heard asking.
‘Sure, we’re nonetheless stay, proper? Please, somebody let lawyer Giovanni Díaz know what simply occurred,’ he continued.
An arrest warrant issued by the police acknowledged Guevara ignored repeated instructions to maneuver off the roadway, in accordance with The Atlanta Journal-Structure.
However his authorized workforce, led by Díaz, insists he was merely performing his journalistic duties and broke no legal guidelines.
Díaz additionally famous throughout a Tuesday night time information convention that Guevara was the one reporter arrested on the protest.
Simply earlier than Guevara’s arrest, officers had deployed tear gasoline for the third time and have been trying to clear the world of reporters and protesters, the Atlanta Civic Circle reported.
DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry has since referred to as for an investigation into the police’s use of tear gasoline on the occasion.
Video footage captured the second Guevara stood on a sidewalk with fellow journalists, live-streaming the protest, when police handcuffed him regardless of his protestations
An arrest warrant issued by the police acknowledged Guevara ignored repeated instructions to maneuver off the roadway. Pictured: An officer stands over the filming journalist as he’s arrested
He now faces misdemeanor costs together with obstructing police, illegal meeting and improperly coming into a roadway. Pictured: Mario Guevara throughout his live-streamed arrest by ICE brokers on Saturday
‘The choice to deploy tear gasoline – significantly in a neighborhood context with close by houses and companies – raises severe questions concerning the proportionality and justification of the county’s response to peaceable civil motion,’ he wrote.
Guevara’s arrest has grow to be a flashpoint in rising tensions between journalism and state authority, particularly throughout the nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests, held on Trump’s 79th birthday to name for an finish to what organizers describe as authoritarian governance.
With greater than 782,000 followers on Fb, Guevara is likely one of the most outstanding Spanish-language reporters overlaying immigration points.
His supporters declare the actions in opposition to him replicate a broader crackdown focusing on immigrants, even these with authorized standing.
Journalistic watchdogs and civil liberties advocates, together with the Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ), have additionally condemned Guevara’s arrest as a blow to press freedom. They warn that even credentialed reporters might now be weak if their protection locations them at odds with legislation enforcement.
Katherine Jacobsen, US, Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator at CPJ, referred to as for Guevara’s launch.
She mentioned: ‘His ongoing detention indicators a daunting erosion of press freedom within the US,’ The Guardian reported.
She additionally wrote to DeKalb County officers urging them to drop the costs.
Simply earlier than Guevara’s arrest, officers had deployed tear gasoline for the third time and have been trying to clear the world of reporters and protesters
Guevara (pictured) runs the web information outlet MGNews
‘Persevering with to pursue these costs in opposition to Guevara wouldn’t solely set off a expensive authorized battle about journalists’ established First Modification rights to report issues of public curiosity,’ she mentioned, ‘it may create a pathway to deport a person who has been a priceless member of the Atlanta group for over 20 years.’
As protests proceed throughout the nation – together with a deliberate rally in Lawrenceville on June 21 – media and immigrant-rights advocates are intently watching Guevara’s case.
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