Letter also sent to military leaders requesting fair treatment of journalists at protests
The Society of Professional Journalists, its three California chapters and several other media groups in California and nationwide have signed two letters opposing law enforcement officers’ treatment of journalists covering recent ICE operations and related protests in Los Angeles.
SPJ joined the California First Amendment Coalition, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Los Angeles Press Club — among a total of 23 press rights and civil liberties organizations — in a letter to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to a June 12 SPJ statement.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation also sent a letter to the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, the statement said.
In a separate statement, SPJ said it also joined more than a dozen press freedom organizations in a letter to Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau, urging military leadership to protect journalists’ rights during protest deployments in Los Angeles, Texas and beyond.
“Like Marines and Guard troops, journalists are being sent to do a job. They have a lot in common in this respect. In the case of journalists, the job is to report back to the community,” the statement quotes the letter as saying.
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SPJ: Phoenix, Arizona Chapter 