Florida authorities drop charges against photojournalist following joint statement by CPJ, partners

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 22 press freedom and media partner organizations in a December 12 letter calling on Miami-Dade State Attorney Fernandez Rundle to drop charges against photojournalist Dave Decker. On December 16, all charges were dismissed.

Decker was arrested on November 22 while covering a protest near the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami. On assignment for three different outlets, Decker wore press identification and informed law enforcement that he was a journalist. Regardless, state and local law enforcement restrained him with zip ties, detained him, and impounded his equipment and vehicle. He was charged with trespassing after a warning, resisting an officer without violence, unlawful assembly, and obstructing a highway.

According to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, nearly every instance of journalists being arrested or detained this year occurred while they were covering protests, particularly on immigration issues. Decker himself was repeatedly shot with pepper balls while reporting on protests near the ICE Broadview Processing Center in Illinois in September.

Read the full letter here.