Charges dropped against Tampa photojournalist arrested at Miami ICE protest

Anthony Nicotera, Tampa Bay Times on Dec 16, 2025

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TAMPA, Fla. — All charges were dropped Tuesday against a Tampa photojournalist who was arrested while covering a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Miami.

David Decker, 52, was arrested alongside protesters outside of the Krome North Service Processing Center on Nov. 22. 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.

Decker was charged with trespassing after a warning, resisting an officer without violence, unlawful assembly and obstructing a highway, according to court records.

Decker’s attorney, Barbara Llanes, told the Times that the charges were dismissed at his arraignment Tuesday morning.

“I am grateful for the outpouring of support from my colleagues, my community and from media organizations following my arrest while documenting an ICE protest,” Decker said in a statement. “I also want to thank the state attorney’s office for recognizing the First Amendment interest at stake and for dismissing the case. I appreciate everyone who stood up for press freedom and the fundamental right to record events in our communities.”

Decker has covered protests throughout the country, including earlier this year at the Chicago area’s Broadview ICE detention center, where he said he was shot with pepper balls by law enforcement.

He told the Times that since his arrest, he has traveled to New Orleans to cover immigration protests.

In addition to freelance work, Decker operates a multipurpose photography studio in Tampa.

Last month, Decker filmed members of the Sunrise Movement, a social justice organization, marching toward the gate at Krome while chanting songs and holding placards denouncing ICE.

The group eventually blocked the entrance to the detention center. Law enforcement from the Florida Highway Patrol and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene, and they could be heard in body camera footage issuing warnings that protesters would be arrested if they did not move.

“In my mind, it’s just another day of covering a protest action,” Decker told the Times last month. “There wasn’t anything in my mind that made me feel like I was going to get arrested.”

Decker was surprised that deputies detained him with the protesters.

“I’m not with them, bro,” Decker can be hard saying in the footage.

A voice can be heard responding, “Well, you’re here. Anybody that’s here.”

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.

He was released on a $500 bond early the next morning, according to court records.

A GoFundMe campaign raised more than $26,000 to help Decker cover the costs of legal assistance, recovering his car and replacing damaged camera equipment.