AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show looking at the arrests of two American journalists for covering a protest at the Cities Church [in the Minnesota Twin City of] St Paul, where a top ICE official serves as pastor.
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort from the Twin Cities were released last Friday after initial court hearings.
A federal grand jury in Minnesota indicted Lemon and Fort for violating two laws, an 1871 law originally designed to combat the Ku Klux Klan and the FACE Act, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which was written to protect abortion clinics.
The indictment names a total of nine people, including the two journalists. US Attorney General Pam Bondi took personal credit for the arrests of Fort and Lemon and two others on Friday, posting on X that the arrests occurred at her direction.
Don Lemon, who was arrested late Thursday night by the FBI in Los Angeles, had been reporting on the church protest in St Paul in January as an independent journalist.
His attorney, Abbe Lowell, described the arrest as an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration.”
On Friday afternoon, Don Lemon vowed to continue reporting after appearing court in Los Angeles.
DON LEMON: “I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now.
“In fact, there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.
“Again, I will not stop now. I will not stop ever. … The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless of other journalists who do what I do.
“I stand with all of them, and I will not be silent. I look forward to my day in court. Thank you all.”
AMY GOODMAN: Don Lemon attended the Grammys on Sunday night.
Also arrested Friday was Georgia Fort, an independent journalist from the Twin Cities. She posted a video to Facebook just as federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration were about to arrest her and take her to the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis.
GEORGIA FORT: “I wanted to alert the public that agents are at my door right now.
“They’re saying that they were able to go before a grand jury sometime, I guess, in the last 24 hours and that they have a warrant for my arrest.
“I’ve talked to my attorney, and I’m being advised to go with them, I guess, down to Whipple. And my children are here. They are impacted by this.
“This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media. We are supposed to have our constitutional right of the freedom to film, to be a member of the press.
“I don’t feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press, because now federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago.”
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined now from Minneapolis by that longtime independent journalist Georgia Fort, whose reporting has been recognised with three Midwest Emmys.
‘Journalism Is Not A Crime’ Video: Democracy Now!
GEORGIA FORT: Good morning, Amy.My home was surrounded by about two dozen federal agents, including agents from DEA and HSI. I asked to see the warrant. My mother was here. My mother asked to see the warrant. They did show us an arrest warrant, which was then sent to my attorney, who verified its legitimacy.
Since it was an arrest warrant, we decided that it would be safest for me to exit through the garage, so that we could lock the door to our home behind me.
And so, I surrendered. I walked out of my garage with my hands up. And I asked the agents who were there to arrest me if they knew that I was a member of the press. They said they did know that I was a member of the press. I informed them that this was a violation of my constitutional right, of the First Amendment.
And they told me, you know, “We’re just here to do our job.” And I said, “I was just doing my job, and now I’m being arrested for it.” And so, by about 6:30 a.m., they had me in cuffs in the back of the vehicle. We were headed to Whipple.
What I later learned, after I was released, is that these agents stayed outside of my home for more than two hours. And when my 17-year-old daughter felt, you know, threatened, felt scared that these agents weren’t leaving, she decided that it would be safer for her to drive to a relative’s home.
And so she loaded up her sisters, who are 7 and 8, and they went to leave, somewhere where they could go and feel safe. And these agents stopped my children on their way trying to leave because they were scared that these agents were not leaving even after two hours of me being apprehended.
My husband also. He was trailing them. He drove out at the same time that they drove out. They stopped him, questioning him, asking them if they were taking my belongings away, when they were simply trying to leave, because no one could understand, if I was arrested at 6.30 in the morning, why were all of these agents still just sitting outside of my home at 8:30, 9 am.
AMY GOODMAN: And so, how long were you held? And if you could respond to the charges that were brought against you — ironically, violating an 1871 law originally designed to take on the Ku Klux Klan and the FACE Act, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which is supposed to protect abortion clinics and people going into them for healthcare?
GEORGIA FORT: Well, Amy, to answer your first question, I was detained at Whipple for several hours. Then I was transferred to the US Marshals prison, which is connected to the federal courthouse.
So, I was at Whipple for maybe two or three hours and then transferred to this other facility. I had to be booked into both of them. They collected my DNA. They collected my fingerprints at both of those facilities.
And then, by 1.30, I was able to go before a judge, who did approve my release under normal conditions until this case continues to play out in court. And so, I ended up being released by the afternoon, I think about maybe by about 3.00 the same day.
Now, in terms of the charges that I am facing, I think it’s really absurd to weaponise a law that was meant to protect Black people, and weaponise it against Black people, specifically members of the press. We are at a critical time in this country when you have members of the press, award-winning journalists, who are simply showing up in their capacity to cover the news, being arrested for doing their jobs.
I think I’m not — I wouldn’t be the first person to say this, but we’re having a constitutional crisis. If our First Amendment rights, if our constitutional rights cannot be withheld in this moment, then what does it say about the merit of our Constitution?
And that was the question that I asked right after I was released. Do we have a Constitution? If there are no consequences for the violation of our Constitution, what strength does it really have? What does it say about the state and the health of our democracy?
AMY GOODMAN: Two judges said that you, the journalists, and specifically dealing with Don Lemon, should not be arrested. And yet, ultimately, Pam Bondi took this to a grand jury.
GEORGIA FORT: It goes back to the merit of our Constitution. Who has power in this moment? And I think what we’re seeing here in Minnesota is the people are continuing to stand. They are continuing to demand that our Constitution be upheld.
I believe that journalism is not a crime. And it’s not just my belief; it’s my constitutional right as an American. And so, I’m hopeful that I have a extremely great legal team, and so we’ll continue to go through this.
But, you know, I’d ask the question — I think you played the clip earlier: What message does this send to journalists across the country who are simply doing their jobs documenting what is happening? But the reality is, when you’re out documenting what’s happening, you are creating a record that can either incriminate or exonerate someone, and so what we do has so much power, especially in these times.
And so, I believe that is why journalism is under attack, media is under attack.
This would not be the first time in the last 12 months where we have seen a tremendous force come against people who are speaking truth to power on their platforms. Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off air. The nation was outraged about it. There was a segment that was supposed to air on 60 Minutes that was pulled. This isn’t the first time, I mean, and we can even historically go back. There have . . .
AMY GOODMAN: Though that, too, ultimately, was played, after enormous outcry, only recently.
GEORGIA FORT: Absolutely, absolutely. And I was going to say, you know, we could even go back further and look at the recent exodus of Black women in mainstream media: Joy Reid, Tiffany Cross, Melissa Harris-Perry, April Ryan.
So, there has been — this is not new in terms of the attack on media and journalism, the attack on Black women who are documenting what’s happening.
And so, I will say I am extremely grateful that the National Association of Black Journalists issued a statement on behalf of myself and Don Lemon, which was signed by dozens of other journalism agencies and institutions.
I am the vice-president of my local chapter. We saw the International Women’s Alliance of Media issue a statement. We saw our local media outlets here, Star Tribune, NPR, Minnesota Reformer, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder and Sahan Journal, so many media and journalism institutions standing up and speaking out against this attack on the free press and the violation of our constitutional right.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Georgia, I want to thank you so much for being with us, and we will continue to follow your case. Independent journalist Georgia Fort, speaking to us from Minneapolis. She and former CNN host Don Lemon were arrested last week for covering a protest inside a St Paul church where a top ICE official serves as a pastor.
The original content of this programme is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States Licence. Republished under Creative Commons.
