A press freedom group applauded the release of journalist Mario Guevara from immigration detention, but continued to raise concerns that the government considers his coverage of a “No Kings” protest last month to be dangerous.
Guevara was released Tuesday from detention in Georgia, following an arrest that generated quick backlash from press freedom and civil rights groups. He was arrested by local officers, turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for detention, and was placed in deportation proceedings.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, which was among groups to protest Guevara’s arrest and detention, said in a statement it is “concerned by the government lawyer’s argument that livestreaming presented a danger to the public by compromising the integrity and safety of law enforcement activities.”
“The fact that Guevara was arrested while exercising his First Amendment rights as a journalist and was subsequently held for over two weeks by various law enforcement bodies sends an alarming message to the media and has effectively silenced Guevara’s coverage of his community,” said Katherine Jacobsen, U.S., Canada and Caribbean program coordinator at CPJ.
Guevara’s attorney has said his client entered the country legally on a tourist visa, has permission to work in the U.S. and has a pending legal permanent residency application.
Guevara, an award-winning journalist, reports regularly on ICE and other police and crime news. His Facebook posts show video of ICE activity, but also coverage of community, crime, culture, news from El Salvador and soccer.
His work and wide influence in the Atlanta area Latino community was the feature of a short documentary by the New York Times. He has been covering immigration raids in the Atlanta area since 2017, according to The New Yorker.
NBC News reached out to Guevara’s attorney and to Guevara through his Facebook page but have not received an immediate response.
Guevara was arrested June 14, while covering a protest in an Atlanta suburb. Body camera video showed he stepped from a curb into the street as an officer with a shield advanced toward him. Officers can be heard on the video saying he’d been warned multiple times to stay out of the street.
Guevara was charged with three misdemeanors: improperly entering a roadway, obstruction of law enforcement officers, and unlawful assembly.
Those charges were dismissed after the DeKalb County solicitor general said video evidence showed Guevara “generally in compliance” and didn’t show an intent to disregard law enforcement directives.”
DeKalb County authorities turned him over to ICE, which put a detainer on him.
Despite the solicitor general’s findings on the misdemeanors and their dismissal, Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary, said in a statement Wednesday that Guevara had obstructed Georgia police and did not comply with their orders to move out of the street. She said Guevara has been placed in removal proceedings.
McLaughlin also said Guevara had entered the country illegally in 2004, which is in conflict with his attorney’s statement that he entered on a visa.
Authorities filed additional charges against Guevara related to a May 20 stop — a month prior — when he was livestreaming while driving the actions of an immigration officer. An initial incident report states those charges were reported June 17, but the report gives no details and the names of the two deputies involved were redacted, The Associated Press reported.