Ohio journalist convicted after arrest while covering Kentucky protest

Washington, D.C., October 3, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed after a six-person jury on Thursday convicted Ohio journalist Lucas Griffith of failure to disperse while covering a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions, and imposed a $50 fine.

“It is outrageous that journalists in the United States have faced trial in relation to their reporting activity,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “We are disappointed by the jury’s decision finding journalist Lucas Griffith guilty of failing to disperse while he was reporting. Griffith was covering a matter of public importance and should not be penalized for his work. We are saddened that local authorities saw fit to continue Griffith’s prosecution, using local tax dollars to send a chilling message about journalists’ First Amendment rights.” 

Griffith, a University of Cincinnati journalism student, was working as an intern for the Ohio weekly publication CityBeat when he and reporting colleague Madeline Fening were arrested July 17 while following the protests as they crossed a bridge from Ohio to Kentucky. Both faced charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing a highway, obstructing an emergency responder, and failure to disperse. Griffith and Fening were each charged with a felony rioting charge as well, which was dropped during a July 23 hearing.

Fening’s trial was postponed until January 2026. 

The Kenton County Attorney did not respond immediately to CPJ’s request for comment about why decided to pursue charges against Griffith and Fening.  

CPJ has previously signed on to a letter to the County Attorney, led by Freedom of the Press Foundation, that called for charges against Griffith and Fening to be dropped.