Federal authorities arrested journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for filming a protest at a St. Paul church, sparking controversy and raising questions about press freedom and the role of law enforcement. The incident occurred during a protest at Cities Church, where a pastor also serves as an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor and NBC correspondent, was detained on Thursday night while covering the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. His arrest followed a magistrate judge's rejection of prosecutors' earlier attempt to charge him. Lemon's attorney, Abbe Lowell, criticized the Trump Justice Department's focus on arresting journalists instead of investigating the federal agents involved in the killing of peaceful protesters.
Georgia Fort, an Emmy-award-winning journalist from the Twin Cities, was arrested after filming a short Facebook Live video around 6:30 a.m. on Friday. She was advised by her lawyer to accompany the federal agents to a grand jury. Fort emphasized that her arrest was related to her role as a member of the media, asserting her First Amendment rights as a press member.
The charges against Fort included conspiracy against the right of religious freedom and interfering with the exercise of religious freedom at a place of worship. Despite prosecutors' efforts to have her held in jail, she was released on Friday afternoon. Two others, Black Lives Matter activist Trahern Jeen Crews and lobbyist Jamael Lydell Lundy, were also arrested in connection with the protest.
The protest at Cities Church, a Southern Baptist Convention church, was led by civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong and St. Paul School Board Member Chauntyll Allen. They interrupted the service with chants demanding justice for Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent earlier in the month. The demonstrators aimed to highlight the contradiction between the pastor's role in ICE and his Christian teachings.
Nekima Levy Armstrong, a former president of the Minneapolis NAACP and a reverend herself, was arrested on January 22 along with Allen and another demonstrator. She was charged under 18 USC 241, felony conspiracy to violate others' civil rights, which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described as a 'riot'. The White House's handling of the situation drew criticism, as they shared a doctored photo of Levy Armstrong, which legal experts deemed prejudicial and potentially violating her rights.
Cities Church supported the charges and is considering legal action. The church's lead pastor, Jonathan Parnell, urged the governor, attorney general, and mayors to turn from their sins and trust in Jesus Christ. The Minnesota journalism community, along with other news outlets, condemned the arrests, emphasizing the importance of press freedom and the role of journalism in holding power accountable.
