Overview: Independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested in connection with a coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where they were covering an anti-ICE protest. Lemon was indicted for civil rights crimes, and Fort was recently released. The arrests have caused outrage among journalists and media organizations, who have called for the release of Lemon. The charges against the four individuals include “conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights” of congregants during the protest. The arrests have been seen as an attack on press freedoms and have sparked protests across the nation.
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Independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested on Jan. 29 under the direction of Minnesota Attorney General Pamela Bondi. Both were released without bail on Jan. 30.
On social media platform X, Bondi posted, “At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
Lemon and Fort are reporters while Crews is the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota and Lundy is a local activist.
Lemon was indicted for civil rights crimes. Lemon was interviewing protesters in the church, alongside other journalists. Fort was arrested in her home, which she recorded online. The video was sent to HuffPost deputy editor Philip Lewis. Fort was released on Jan. 30.
Thousands of journalists and media organizations were outraged, and called for the release of Lemon, who was arrested in Los Angeles on Jan. 29, and appeared in court on Jan. 30, according to court reporter Meghan Cuniff via X.
“These arrests follow Lemon’s and Fort’s coverage of an anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis at Cities Church and appear intended to single out such messengers who were simply onsite to do their jobs. “As journalists, our first obligation is to bear witness and to inform,” The Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) President Errin Haines said in a press release.
“When those obligations are met with detention or prosecution instead of protection, we must ask: What message are we sending about who gets to report and who gets silenced? A free press, not a penalized one, is essential to democracy; especially, when coverage intersects with contentious public issues,” Haines continued.
According to the Associated Press, the four individuals were charged with “conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights” of congregants during a protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18. Protesters claimed that one of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.
The arrests of notable journalists Lemon and Fort, who have been consistently covering ICE protests and the Trump administration, have amassed outrage across the nation regarding the attack on press freedoms.
“The arrest of Don Lemon, a veteran Black journalist with decades of experience, and independent Black journalist Georgia Fort for exercising their constitutionally protected right to report the news is deeply disturbing,” said California Black Media (CBM) Executive Director Regina Wilson.
“Those who value the First Amendment and a free press should be alarmed. Actions like these risk opening the door to the weaponization of government power against journalists of all backgrounds, chilling independent reporting and deterring coverage that is critical of government activity,” Wilson continued. CBM is a nonprofit organization and one of the largest aggregators of Black media organizations in the state.
In addition to the arrests of the four in St. Paul, Bondi also had lawyer and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong and Saint Paul School Board Member Chauntyll Allen arrested for their presence at the church protest. Both were released.
Protests in Minnesota and nationally have increased in result of increased ICE presences across the nation at the direction of the Trump administration. The deaths of Keith Porter, Renee Good and Alex Pretti have garnered public rage and outcry as ICE enforces deadly practices.
National strikes calling for no school, no work, and no buying have occurred across the nation, and across California in Los Angeles and Riverside, along with school walkouts by students in protest of ICE.