Journalist organizations condemn Mario Guevara’s arrest during live protest coverage

Independent journalist Mario Guevara, who was arrested by police during a “No Kings” protest outside Atlanta on June 14 while livestreaming coverage and spent several days in jail, has been transferred to ICE detention, where he remains. He now faces deportation proceedings.

Police charged Guevara with obstructing police, unlawful assembly, and improperly entering a roadway. His attorney, Giovanni Diaz, has repeatedly stated to various press outlets and on social media that Guevara was simply doing his job as a journalist and committed no crime. Diaz also says Guevara has legal authorization to live and work in the U.S.​ and a pending green card application, and​ no criminal record.

Multiple media outlets, including the AP and New York Times, that reviewed the video or were present at the time of the arrest describe Guevara standing on a sidewalk with other journalists, with no large crowds or confrontations visible at the time of his arrest.

Guevara, through his independent online news site MGNews​ – which has over 1.5 million followers on Facebook and TikTok​ – has been covering immigration raids in the Atlanta area for years.

Guevara fled El Salvador with his family in 2004 after he said his work as a photojournalist for the newspaper La Prensa Gráfica led to attacks and death threats for his reporting, prompting him to apply for asylum in the U.S. He discussed this experience in a 2019 New York Times mini documentary.

The journalist and his family immigrated to Georgia, where he worked for the Spanish-language newspaper Mundo Hispanico before launching MGNews.

In 2012, Guevara spoke with Media Moves about the denial of his asylum case and how media coverage, along with community support, rallied to call for a halt to his deportation proceedings.

Guevara’s arrest and detention have been condemned by journalism organizations including the Committee to Protect Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), and PEN America.

You can see his livestream and the moment he’s arrested, as he identifies himself as a member of the media, here: