The Committee to Protect Journalists joined a letter to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon calling on his office to drop federal charges against journalist Georgia Fort and other members of the press. Fort was arrested on January 30 in connection with her coverage of a protest at a Minnesota church led by local activists against immigration enforcement. Journalist Don Lemon was also arrested in January, while producer Michael Walker Beute and independent photographer Junn Bollmann were indicted and arrested in February. All have been released and the case is ongoing.
They face charges including a felony of “conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights” and a misdemeanor violation of allegedly obstructing access to a house of worship under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Federal charges — especially felonies — against journalists are extremely rare. The charges were brought against Fort and Lemon through a grand jury indictment, despite both a federal magistrate judge and a federal appeals court rejecting the DOJ’s initial arrest attempts.
Led by Amnesty International USA and joined by 16 civil society organizations, the letter emphasizes the right to freedom of expression on World Press Freedom Day.
Read the full letter here.