Capital B stands in solidarity with journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, who were arrested today in connection to their coverage of an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest earlier this month at a Minneapolis church — an act of journalism unequivocally protected by the First Amendment.
We join statements by the National Association of Black Journalists and by The City, a local New York City publication, condemning these arrests as a deeply troubling moment for press freedom. As NABJ’s statement notes: “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.”
Journalists must be free to cover events in the public interest. When they are targeted and detained for doing their jobs, it signals a dangerous erosion of the press freedom that makes independent journalism possible.
There is history here that is not lost on us. Capital B is born out of the tradition of the Black press, which has always served as a mirror of America, reflecting both our highest ideals and deepest failures. Members of the Black press have faced disproportionate harassment, intimidation, and arrest while reporting on major events, social movements, and urgent matters in public life.
Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested in connection with that work. We remain committed to defending the rights of journalists, especially Black journalists, to report without fear of arrest, and we stand with other newsrooms not backing down from our responsibility to question power, tell the truth, and defend the right to speak freely.