Feds charge journalists Don Lemon, Georgia Fort over Minnesota church protest
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Two journalists who accompanied protesters inside a St. Paul church and documented the action nearly two weeks ago have been arrested and charged.
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and Twin Cities-area independent journalist Georgia Fort were charged with conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers in connection with his coverage of an anti-immigration enforcement protest at Cities Church on Jan. 18. A total of nine people were indicted.
Fort posted a video on social media on Friday morning saying that federal agents were at her door. Fort said the agents brought an arrest warrant. She said her attorney advised her to go with the officers.
“As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago, and now I’m being arrested for that,” Fort said in the video.
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Fort’s attorney confirmed the arrest.
“The free speech and free press guarantees of the First Amendment fully protect such newsgathering and reporting activities and Fort’s arrest is a transparent and unconstitutional attempt by our federal government to intimidate journalists and chill their protected speech. She will be vigorously defending herself against these charges,” said Fort’s attorney Leita Walker in a statement. Minnesota Public Radio is one of Leita Walker's clients.
In 2025, at least 32 journalists were arrested on the job in the United States — most released without charges — and 90 percent of those arrests were at protests, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
But Lemon and Fort’s charges feel like an escalation, says Jane Kirtley, professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota.
“A felony charge strikes me as so over the top that I can only see it as retribution on the part of the Trump administration,” Kirtley told MPR News.
A statement posted by Lemon’s attorney on the journalist’s Facebook page said Lemon was arrested Thursday night in Los Angeles where he was covering the Grammy Awards.
“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” attorney Abbe Lowell wrote. “This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand.”
Lowell said Lemon will “fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
Since he left CNN, Lemon has joined the legion of journalists who have gone into business for himself, posting regularly on YouTube. He hasn’t hidden his disdain for Trump. Yet during his online show from the church, he said repeatedly, “I’m not here as an activist. I’m here as a journalist.” He described the scene in front of him and interviewed churchgoers and demonstrators.
Lemon’s arrest came after a magistrate judge last week rejected prosecutors’ initial bid to charge him.
Along with Fort and Lemon, federal authorities also arrested Trahern Crews and Jameel Lundy.
Crews is a longtime community activist based in St. Paul. He's a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota and a 2024 fellow at the Bush Foundation. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor and city council in St. Paul. He told the Bush Foundation that his favorite quote is “When we fight, we win,” by his mentor, the late Twin Cities journalist and activist Mel Reeves.
Lundy is married to St. Paul City Council Member Anika Bowie. He's the Democratic candidate for Senate District 65. In a social media post, Bowie described Lundy as a community organizer, son of two veterans and graduate of Mitchell Hamline School of Law. "As a wife, this is deeply traumatizing to have first hand experience of Trump's immoral weaponization of our justice system," Bowie said.
Three other people — including prominent Minnesota civil rights activists Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen — were previously arrested, charged and released from custody in connection with the protest.
Protest organizers said they wanted to raise awareness that a pastor at the church leads a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, amid the ongoing ICE operation in Minnesota.
On Friday, a judge released Fort, Crews and Lundy on bond, rejecting the Justice Department's attempt to keep them in custody. Not guilty pleas were entered. Fort's supporters in the courtroom clapped and whooped.
“It’s a sinister turn of events in this country,” Fort's attorney, Kevin Riach, said in court.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
— Brandt Williams, Jon Collins, Matt Sepic, Clay Masters and Gretchen Brown MPR News
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