I'd like to talk about a story that's a big deal in Georgia, but isn't breaking through the current news cycle nationally; specifically the arrest and presumed attempted deportation of influential Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara for, I shit you not, "improperly entering a roadway, obstruction of a law enforcement officer and unlawful assembly" during an anti-ICE protest in the Atlanta. This June 16th Guardian report by George Chidi is enlightening in terms of what it can tell us about topics we've already been discussing on this blog; like the Gestapo's targeting of journalists during protest events, the regime's attempts to use immigration laws to silence its critics, and the types of protests our fascist police state will tolerate as opposed to those it will not.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/16/journalist-ice-protest-arrest-mario-guevara

Spanish-language journalist to be turned over to Ice after protest arrest

"Mario Guevara, a prominent Spanish-language journalist in metro Atlanta who frequently covers immigration and customs enforcement raids, will be turned over to Ice detention after being arrested by local police while covering the “No Kings” protests.

Guevara, 47, was born in El Salvador and has been in the United States for more than 20 years. He recorded his own arrest on Saturday during a raucous street protest in the Embry Hills area of north DeKalb county, an Atlanta suburban neighborhood with a large Latino population. The protest ended with riot police throwing teargas and marching protesters down the street after declaring an unlawful assembly."

I think it's important to read this article carefully, because the author does not come right out and say this is targeted fascist repression against a prominent media critic of the Gestapo, but the information you need to reach that conclusion is scattered throughout the piece.

For starters, Guevara is not a random YouTuber the feds wouldn't know from Adam; he's an Emmy award-winning criminal justice reporter who founded his own news organization to focus on ICE immigration enforcement. At the time of his arrest, he was streaming to over 1M viewers which the article notes, outdrew both CNN and Fox News combined. Because of his work exposing ICE abuses, this guy is more or less public enemy number one for the Gestapo in Atlanta, so when they tell you that he was arrested and they want to deport him for blocking a roadway and "obstruction," you should be extremely fucking suspicious of the feds' motives here. Although the author does not say so, what they describe in the piece is clearly a targeted abduction of an independent journalist the Gestapo hates.

"About 35 minutes into the video Guevara was live-streaming on Facebook to more than 1 million people, he can be first seen on the sidewalk, then backing away from a police officer approaching him. As he backed into the street, two other police officers immediately arrested him."

This then brings us to the transfer of Guevara to ICE detention due to his status as a migrant who has lived in the United States for over 20 years; a clear precursor to deporting him. Obviously an award-winning journalist whose crime appears to be stepping into a road to avoid a physical confrontation with a murderpig, is not a violent "criminal" nor any sort of danger to the community; a fact confirmed by his "release" on a a recognizance bond. So, what are we left with? A prominent journalist critical of the Gestapo was arrested on trumped up charges and the government is now going to try to deport him for purely ideological reasons. He exposes ICE's fascist abuses, and stands up for the rights of migrants, so they're sending him back to El Salvador despite the fact that he's been a pillar of his community and an important voice in our media for decades; full stop. In fact, I expect Trump's hate goblin Stephen Miller to brag about removing "another criminal" from our streets if they're successful in deporting Guevara, even though the charges are clearly bullshit.

Finally, don't sleep on what Chidi wrote about the difference in how Atlanta area police handled the more mainstream-liberal No Kings protest earlier that day, as opposed to the violence they displayed against the browner, less affluent Party of Socialism and Liberation protest Guevara was arrested at.

“The decision to deploy teargas – particularly in a neighborhood context with nearby homes and businesses – raises serious questions about the proportionality and justification of the county’s response to peaceful civil action,” he wrote."

In the end, I guess that's the most frustrating part of the story; were it not for Trump's ongoing fascist takeover of US life, this would be just another day in Amerikkka where brown anticapitalists get teargassed and affluent whiter people get a police escort. The reality is that Trump's takeover is real however, and that makes the targeting of Mario Guevara a part of our larger story about the (short) descent of America into a fascist dictatorship.