{"id":58731,"date":"2025-11-24T13:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T13:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/58731\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T13:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T13:14:09","slug":"tampa-photojournalist-arrested-outside-ice-detention-center-in-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/58731\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa photojournalist arrested outside ICE detention center in Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ADave Decker outside the Krome detention center in Miami, Florida on Nov. 22, 2025. Credit: Screengrab via sunrisemvmtgnv \/ Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

More than two dozen people were arrested outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Miami last Saturday afternoon\u2014including Tampa photojournalist Dave Decker.<\/p>\n

A rep for Sunrise Movement told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Decker was among more than 30 people arrested outside the facility.<\/p>\n

Decker, who was on assignment for three outlets\u2014News2Share, Zuma Newswire, and CL\u2014was covering a protest action by Sunshine Movement, which saw many of its members arrested after blocking the entrance to the facility on the southeastern edge of the Florida Everglades.<\/p>\n

In a social media video<\/a>, Miami-Dade police tell a videographer that the protesters are being arrested for \u201cobstruction of justice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Records from Miami-Dade County say that Decker, 52, is charged with trespassing on property after warning and resisting an officer without violence to his person.<\/p>\n

Decker was released on bond early Monday morning, and told CL he is working to recover his vehicle and gear from a Miami impound lot.<\/p>\n

A social media video<\/a> posted last Saturday by the Gainesville chapter of Sunrise Movement shows Decker photographing protesters on the side of the road as they hold signs that say \u201cA better world is possible\u201d and \u201cFuera ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n

This morning, Decker told CL that after that action, protesters moved to block the entrance to the Krome detention center. Miami-Dade Police then issued warnings. Florida Highway Patrol moved in soon after, Decker added, before issuing a final warning.<\/p>\n

\u201cA liaison for [Sunshine Movement], I heard them saying, \u2018As long as you stand on the grass, you\u2019re OK,\u2019\u201d Decker said, noting that there were concrete barriers acting like dividers. \u201cIt just felt normal to do the work of photojournalism and document from the sides, to document the detainments as they were happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Decker, who was wearing press credentials around his neck, said he received no warning before an officer made eye contact with him and soon felt cuffs on his hand as he was photographing officers arresting protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Hey officer, I\u2019m a member of the press.\u2019 They said, \u2018\u2019You were warned, you\u2019re getting arrested,\u201d Decker added.<\/p>\n

Decker said he had time to speak with a Florida Highway Patrol sergeant and explained that he was a working member of the press, and that what he heard officers saying was that they would arrest protesters if they did not stop blocking the road. He told the sergeant he was documenting and presented credentials for the National Press Photographers Association and his Part 107 drone pilot license.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018I don\u2019t care about any of this. And he said, \u2018You\u2019re going to get arrested too.\u2019 So he arrested me, and then he isolated me on another side of the road,\u201d Decker said, adding that eventually convinced the officers to put his gear in his car.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually, a trooper, a detective, took my gear, put it in my car, and then they impounded it and they did an inventory of it.\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

In a text message, Decker added that officers had protesters and him on the ground, cuffed and zip tied with hands behind their backs for hours while they processed everyone outside of Krome where mosquitos started to swarm as night fell upon the parking lot.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Decker has kept a regular presence in South Florida this year, after the opening of the so-called \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d facility, which is mired in litigation. He photographed the ICE\u2019s Krome detention center last May when activists protested accused overcrowding at the facility<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In prepared videos<\/a>, Sunshine Movement members detailed being ready to be detained as they protested ICE, which has been arresting people across the country as part of President Trump\u2019s immigration policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sunshine Movement\u2019s stated vision says: \u201cWe believe everyone should have access to clear air and water, full pantries of food, affordable housing, free public transportation, good and meaningful jobs, vibrant community centers, and lives filled with joy. We\u2019re building a movement to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

This reporter has set up a GoFundMe to help Decker\u2019s family <\/a>cover any costs associated with bail, legal fees, recovery of his vehicle and gear, along with time lost and the fallout of the arrest.<\/p>\n

Decker, whose work has been recognized as some of the best in North America<\/a>, has spent the last six years risking his physical and mental wellbeing to capture the world around him\u2014including the actions of those protesting injustice across the U.S. He has been on the ground in South Florida since \u2018Alligator Alcatraz\u2019 went online, and has been regularly traveling to Chicago where he was recently shot with pepper balls<\/a> while covering the city\u2019s Broadview detention facility.<\/p>\n

This is a developing post.<\/p>\n

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This article appears in Nov. 20 \u2013 26, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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