{"id":61892,"date":"2025-11-26T19:39:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T19:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/61892\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T19:39:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T19:39:35","slug":"tampa-photojournalist-arrested-while-covering-ice-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/61892\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa photojournalist arrested while covering ICE protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Tampa photojournalist was arrested Saturday while covering a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Miami.<\/p>\n

Deputies from the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office arrested 30 activists from the Sunrise Movement after the protesters blocked the entrance to the Krome North Service Processing Center, according to a news release from the social justice organization. The group said it was protesting to \u201cdemand the federal government shut down the facility and release unlawfully detained community members.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Decker, 52, was taking photos and video of the demonstration for Zuma Press, News2Share and Creative Loafing. He told the Tampa Bay Times he was arrested despite wearing visible press credentials and informing law enforcement officers he was not part of the protest.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Decker was arrested on charges of trespassing after warning and resisting an officer without violence, according to court records. Both are misdemeanors. He was released on a $500 bond early Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Decker had been to the area a few times before as a freelance photojournalist, including for the opening earlier this year of the South Floridaimmigrant detention center named Alligator Alcatraz.<\/p>\n

He alsocovered ICE protests earlier this year at the Chicago area\u2019s Broadview ICE detention center, where he said he was shot with pepper balls by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Decker had documented an earlier protest by the group at Alligator Alcatraz before they moved to the Krome facility.<\/p>\n

Decker\u2019s footage of the demonstration showed the group marching toward the gate atKrome while chanting songs from the Poor People\u2019s Campaign of the 1960s and holding placards denouncing ICE.<\/p>\n

The group eventually blocked the entrance to the detention center. Law enforcement from the Florida Highway Patrol and the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office arrived at the scene, and they could be heard issuing warnings that protesters would be arrested if they did not move.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my mind, it\u2019s just another day of covering a protest action,\u201d Decker said. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t anything in my mind that made me feel like I was going to get arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was surprised when law enforcement told him he was being detained alongside the activists. In the footage, he can be heard telling officers that he was not a protester.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not with them, bro,\u201d Decker said.<\/p>\n

A voice can be heard responding, \u201cWell, you\u2019re here. Anybody that\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Decker said he spent the next several hours in handcuffs while deputies processed those being arrested. He and the protesters were taken to jail, and his car was impounded.<\/p>\n

Decker said he was surprised that law enforcement did not seem to make the distinction between journalists and protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese cops are around press all the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Argemis Colome, a detective with the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office, told the Times that deputies ordered the protesters to disperse from the area and arrested them after they would not move.<\/p>\n

Asked about Decker\u2019s press credentials and comments to law enforcement that he was not a protester, Colome said Decker will have legal recourse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he doesn\u2019t agree, everybody has their day in court,\u201d Colome said. \u201cThat is something that he or an attorney can present.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott McKiernan, the founder of Zuma Press, told the Times he has always seen Decker as a reliable photographer with an eye for story.<\/p>\n

\u201cDave has always been very professional, and he cares about that,\u201d McKiernan said.<\/p>\n

In addition to freelance work, Decker operates a multipurpose photography studio in Tampa.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in putting a lens on these situations,\u201d Decker said. \u201cI feel an obligation to cover both sides of it. Our job is to tell the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe campaign has raised over $21,000 to help Decker cover the costs of legal assistance, recovering his car and replacing any damaged camera equipment.<\/p>\n

He told the Times that one of his immediate priorities is to find legal counsel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not an activist protest photographer,\u201d Decker said. \u201cI\u2019m a photographer that documents life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Tampa photojournalist was arrested Saturday while covering a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[37329,37330,36038,11611,37332,35816,1598,3278,135,19880,137,136,37331],"class_list":["post-61892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-dave-decker","tag-david-decker","tag-detention-center","tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-facility","tag-krome-north-service-processing-center","tag-law-enforcement","tag-miami-dade-sheriffs-office","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-times","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-zuma-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}