Senator Smallwood-Cuevas Releases Statement on Journalist Don Lemon’s Arrest and Attacks on the Right to Protest

Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) released the following statement today on journalist Don Lemon’s arrest and attacks on the right to protest:

“I am alarmed and outraged by reports surrounding the arrest of journalist Don Lemon, who was in Minneapolis in his role as a journalist reporting on the ground, and the arrest of independent journalist Georgia Fort. These were not bystanders. They were members of the press documenting events in real time. Targeting journalists for doing their jobs is an attack on the First Amendment and a direct threat to the public’s right to know.

“As a former journalist, I know this work is not about comfort. It is about accountability. It is about asking hard questions, bearing witness, and ensuring the powerful cannot operate in the dark. The Constitution protects a free press precisely for moments like this, when those in power would rather avoid scrutiny.

“When journalists are treated as enemies instead of as essential to democracy, it sends a chilling and dangerous message across this country. It signals that transparency is optional, dissent is suspect, and truth telling may be punished. That is not democracy. That is authoritarian behavior, and we must call it what it is.

“In my community of Los Angeles, we know all too well, and the rest of the nation is now witnessing, the pain of families living in fear and being torn apart by state violence. Law enforcement must be held accountable. Racial profiling is immoral, and the killing of our people must stop. These are lived realities, not political talking points.

“Communities I represent in Senate District 28 are already facing aggressive immigration enforcement, economic hardship, and deep uncertainty about their rights and safety. At a moment when families are demanding answers about these crises, arresting journalists and suppressing protests looks like a deliberate attempt to intimidate the public and distract from policies that are harming our communities.

“As a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus, I stand in a long tradition of Black journalists and Black media who have exposed injustice when others looked away. Undermining press freedom does not just target individual reporters. It threatens the public’s right to truth, especially in communities of color that have historically been denied transparency and justice.

“We cannot normalize this. We cannot be silent. We must defend the First Amendment, protect the right to protest, safeguard journalists, and demand accountability from those who abuse their power.

“Silencing the press and criminalizing dissent will not solve the crises people are living through every day. Truth, transparency and accountability will.”

Senator Lola Smallwood Cuevas represents the 28^th Senate District, which includes the communities of South Los Angeles, Mid City, Culver City, West Los Angeles, Century City and Downtown Los Angeles. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas spent more than two decades serving as a worker rights and racial equity advocate before her election to the State Senate. She resides in the View Park community of South Los Angeles with her family.

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