A reporter live-streamed his own dramatic arrest by ICE while covering an anti-Trump protest.
Journalist Mario Guevara, 47, was broadcasting live from a ‘No Kings’ protest in Atlanta on Saturday when he was handcuffed.
He now faces misdemeanor charges including obstructing police, unlawful assembly and improperly entering a roadway.
Guevara was released from the DeKalb County Jail on a recognizance bond, which is standard for misdemeanor offenses, on Wednesday. However, he was immediately handed over to ICE custody, the New York Times reported.
The seasoned journalist was one of eight individuals detained during the June 14 ‘No Kings’ protest, part of a nationwide demonstration spanning more than 2,000 US locations to oppose the 47th President’s political agenda.
Video footage captured the moment Guevara stood on a sidewalk with fellow journalists, live-streaming the protest, when police handcuffed him despite his protestations.
‘I’m a member of the media, officer,’ he can be heard saying in the clip.
Speaking in Spanish while inside a police van, Guevara asks for his lawyer.
Journalist Mario Guevara (left), 47, was broadcasting live from a ‘No Kings’ protest in Atlanta on Saturday when he was handcuffed
Police tell Guevara (in red) to move back during a protest on ICE raids and deportation arrests in Atlanta on Saturday, June 14
‘By any chance, are we still live? Someone please call the lawyer Giovanni Díaz, my lawyer, so he can pull the strings he needs to pull,’ Guevara can be heard asking.
‘Yes, we’re still live, right? Please, someone let lawyer Giovanni Díaz know what just happened,’ he continued.
An arrest warrant issued by the police stated Guevara ignored repeated commands to move off the roadway, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
But his legal team, led by Díaz, insists he was simply performing his journalistic duties and broke no laws.
Díaz also noted during a Tuesday night news conference that Guevara was the only reporter arrested at the protest.
Just before Guevara’s arrest, officers had deployed tear gas for the third time and were attempting to clear the area of reporters and protesters, the Atlanta Civic Circle reported.
DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry has since called for an investigation into the police’s use of tear gas at the event.
Video footage captured the moment Guevara stood on a sidewalk with fellow journalists, live-streaming the protest, when police handcuffed him despite his protestations
An arrest warrant issued by the police stated Guevara ignored repeated commands to move off the roadway. Pictured: An officer stands over the filming journalist as he is arrested
He now faces misdemeanor charges including obstructing police, unlawful assembly and improperly entering a roadway. Pictured: Mario Guevara during his live-streamed arrest by ICE agents on Saturday
‘The decision to deploy tear gas – particularly in a neighborhood context with nearby homes and businesses – raises serious questions about the proportionality and justification of the county’s response to peaceful civil action,’ he wrote.
Guevara’s arrest has become a flashpoint in growing tensions between journalism and state authority, especially during the nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests, held on Trump’s 79th birthday to call for an end to what organizers describe as authoritarian governance.
With more than 782,000 followers on Facebook, Guevara is one of the most prominent Spanish-language reporters covering immigration issues.
His supporters claim the actions against him reflect a broader crackdown targeting immigrants, even those with legal status.
Journalistic watchdogs and civil liberties advocates, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), have also condemned Guevara’s arrest as a blow to press freedom. They warn that even credentialed reporters may now be vulnerable if their coverage places them at odds with law enforcement.
Katherine Jacobsen, US, Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator at CPJ, called for Guevara’s release.
She said: ‘His ongoing detention signals a frightening erosion of press freedom in the US,’ The Guardian reported.
She also wrote to DeKalb County officials urging them to drop the charges.
Just before Guevara’s arrest, officers had deployed tear gas for the third time and were attempting to clear the area of reporters and protesters
Guevara (pictured) runs the online news outlet MGNews
‘Continuing to pursue these charges against Guevara would not only set off a costly legal battle about journalists’ established First Amendment rights to report matters of public interest,’ she said, ‘it could create a pathway to deport a man who has been a valuable member of the Atlanta community for over 20 years.’
As protests continue across the country – including a planned rally in Lawrenceville on June 21 – media and immigrant-rights advocates are closely watching Guevara’s case.
