IAPE Condemns Violence Against Journalists

On Tuesday, Sept. 30, three journalists—Dean Moses, Olga Fedorova and L. Vural Elibol—covering immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in New York were violently grabbed and shoved by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Elibol required medical attention after the attack, and was transported to hospital. Moses and Fedorova weren't seriously injured, according to the Associated Press.

IAPE condemns the actions taken by these federal officers and violence against journalists in all forms.

The fundamentals of a free press require that journalists and media outlets exercise First Amendment rights and obligations to cover taxpayer-funded police activity. It should go without saying that journalists performing this valuable work need to be able to do their jobs without worrying whether they will be assaulted by law enforcement.

Journalism is not a crime. In a liberal democratic republic such as the United States of America, an assault on journalists by law enforcement is unacceptable.