African human Rights Coalition Condemns Arrest of Journalists Don Lemon, and Georgia Fort

Statement from African Human Rights Coalition (AHRC) January 30, 2026 Melanie Nathan Commissionermnathan@gmail.com

African Human Rights Coalition (AHRC) unequivocally condemns the arrest of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for doing nothing more than reporting the news.

These arrests are a direct assault on the U.S. Constitution and a dangerous strike against the very foundation of our democracy.

Journalists are the public’s eyes and ears. Their role is to document, question, witness, and inform. They stand on the front lines of protests and crises so that the truth reaches the rest of us. No reporter should ever have to fear detention, intimidation, or arrest by their own government for fulfilling this essential civic duty. The First Amendment exists precisely to protect this work.

Yet this administration, leading to these arrests have portrayed them as the enemy of the state, out of the fascist playbook.

When governments begin handcuffing journalists, democracy itself is placed in handcuffs.

AHRC joins press freedom and civil rights organizations nationwide in demanding full transparency regarding the basis for these arrests and calls for the immediate release of both journalists.

Having long documented the repression of reporters in authoritarian and dictatorial regimes around the world, AHRC recognizes the warning signs. We refuse to accept those same tactics taking root here in the U.S.A. We stand in unwavering solidarity with journalists and the communities they serve, and we will not be intimidated or silenced in our own reporting and advocacy.

As NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists reminds us: “An attack on one journalist is an attack on press freedom itself. A free and independent press must be protected.”

AHRC will continue to bear witness, speak truth, and defend the fundamental freedoms that define a democratic society.