Veteran journalist Don Lemon, Georgia Fort, and other Black journalists were arrested for doing their jobs. On January 18, Lemon, among others, reported on-site as Minnesota activists demonstrated at a St. Paul church whose pastor had been identified as an ICE agent. Now, the government is invoking an anti-KKK law to prosecute Black reporters and protestors.
The statute was enacted during Reconstruction to protect Black Americans who were trying to vote and engage in public life from the KKK's racial terror. It's now being weaponized against Black people reporting and resisting ICE terror, which is killing our people, too.
Don't be fooled. Policing the press is unconstitutional and Black journalists are being targeted. Trump's Justice Department should be investigating federal agents who kill people. Still, they're focused on attacking us instead, as indicated by this tweet from the White House official account after Lemon was arrested.
Policing began as slave catching. ICE agents aren't police, but they're moving and killing just like them. The system of policing has always been anti-Black and deadly for us. Those who came before us fought to abolish slavery tooth and nail, and we must do the same.
We must remain vigilant, united, and committed to resisting, documenting, and combating this unlawful terror. However you choose to contribute—whether on the front lines or through mutual aid—it's time to get in the field.