Crossing the Line: When Do Protest Observers and Journalists Become Lawbreakers?
A report on The Resistance vs. The Trump Administration and its immigration enforcement campaign
The Grey Zone: When Do Protest Observers Become Lawbreaking Participants?
When an ICE agent shot and killed Minneapolis resident Renee Good after she allegedly obstructed immigration authorities with her vehicle, disobeyed their commands, and attempted to flee – drawing fatal fire from an officer nearly struck by the vehicle – politicians and pundits decried her death as murder. They called it particularly unjust because she was not acting as a protester but a legal observer.
After federal agents arrested Don Lemon for allegedly disrupting a St. Paul church service in protest of the same Twin Cities immigration enforcement surge Good had opposed, his lawyer defended the former CNN anchor as a journalist, persecuted by the Trump administration for having carried out “constitutionally protected work” in violation of his First Amendment rights. So too did myriad media organizations ranging from the National Association of Black Journalists to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
While Good’s shooting presents a distinct issue, her case and Lemon’s highlight the complex legal issues surrounding those who claim to be chronicling protests. What happens when self-described legal observers and journalists act, or are seen by authorities as unlawful protestors rather than the neutral parties they are supposed to be? To what degree do their titles afford them special protections from prosecution in a court of law? Are these legal terms of art, or political ones?
As growing numbers of Americans have vowed to ramp up resistance to President Trump’s policies, and the administration remains committed to arresting what it deems unlawful actors, these definitions may take on added significance. Judges and juries will have to weigh First Amendment-protected activities against law enforcement imperatives and make judgment calls about where to draw the line based on the facts and evidence in each case. So too will prosecutors, often operating in Democrat-dominated jurisdictions, who must weigh these competing claims.
I’ve got the story of this burgeoning legal and political battle in a new report at RealClearInvestigations.
Ben, The attempt to conjure into existent this idea of a "legal observer" is imbecilic. It is a dog whistle term sent by the Democrat Party political machine to its apologists and propagandists in the media. The Democrat Party is trying to bring this ridiculous and false term into the national zeitgeist. No one gives the term anything but ridicule, expect for a few gullible Substack writers X trolls, and social media nut balls. Goode foolishly taunted and obstructed and threatened federal officers while they were conducting a dangerous arrest. Lemon committed trespass, harassment and battery in an attempt to manufacture a leftist propaganda story. Sadly, the body politic is being infected and suffering a mass epidemic of these narcissistic malcontents.