UPDATE: The DeKalb County solicitor-general dismissed charges against Mario Guevara on June 26. Guevara still faces charges in Gwinnett County and remains in ICE custody. We will continue to speak out until he is free.
The National Writers Union condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the arrest and kidnapping of independent journalist Mario Guevara, who was arrested during a “No Kings” protest in Doraville, GA, on June 14. He was transferred to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center, where he is currently being held and threatened with deportation, despite a state judge having granted him release without bail.
Mario came to the U.S. in 2004 after facing death threats for his reporting in El Salvador, and he began his own well-known outlet titled MG News where he covers immigration arrests and other news for the Latino community. He was arrested while livestreaming the “No Kings” protest—and continued to livestream his arrest—despite wearing a clearly marked press vest and identifying himself as a journalist.
Mario’s arrest is a product of the fascist anti-immigrant campaign being waged by the Trump administration and the intensified attacks on media workers and journalism. Currently there are 51,000 immigrants locked up in ICE detention centers across the U.S., and the Freedom of the Press Foundation reports that at least eight other journalists have been arrested while covering anti-ICE protests this year. In Los Angeles, reporters for The New York Times, New York Post, an Australian TV station, and a UK cameraman were all targeted and hit with rubber bullets while covering the rebellion. Many others were pushed and threatened.
Mario’s case reminds us of another Salvadoran immigrant journalist, Manuel Duran Ortega, who was arrested by Memphis police on April 3, 2018, while covering a local immigration rights protest during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Despite wearing a press badge, police arrested him and then dropped the charges and turned him over to ICE, where he spent more than a year in the ICE detention center in Jena, Louisiana.
NWU worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center and a coalition of groups that eventually won Manuel’s freedom. We will do no less for Mario Guevara. We are a Sanctuary Union, committed to the fight against fascism here and around the world. Our members have participated in recent anti-ICE demonstrations and covered them for major media. We will fight to free Mario Guevara, to end the attacks on journalists from L.A. to Gaza, and to stop racist deportations. Join us!
