former CNN Broadcaster Don Lemon, now a freelance journalist, and Georgia Forte, a freelance reporter based in Minnesota, covered and photographed a protest organized by local residents on January 18 against a church pastor who also reportedly serves as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
On Friday morning, federal law enforcement agents detained the two journalists, accusing them of a “coordinated attack on the urban church.” The Department of Homeland Security said Lemon was running Charged conspiracy and interference with congregants’ First Amendment rights, and cited the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act — a law that prohibits intimidation or use of force against people trying to access reproductive health services but also contains provisions covering places of worship.
Local political candidates Traherne Jane Cruz and Jamal Liddell Lundy were also arrested for protesting. It was the fort Released Friday afternoon.
“I should be protected by the First Amendment,” she said upon her release. “I have been defending journalists in mainstream media who have been brutalized for months. Do we have a constitution? This is the pressing question that should be at the forefront of everyone’s minds.”
Weimers stressed that federal authorities had previously filed a criminal complaint against Lemon over the protest, but it was rejected by a federal magistrate judge, who “angry” Prosecutor Pam Bondi.
“We see again and again the Trump administration clamping down on freedom of expression instead of upholding human rights. Black and brown journalists in particular have been targeted for exercising their rights to free expression.”
Amnesty International USA also stressed that the arrests were not just attacks on the rights of Limon and Fort, but also a “serious threat to our human rights.”
“US authorities must immediately release journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Forte,” He said Tara Demant. “Journalism is not a crime. Covering protests is not a crime. Arresting journalists for their reporting is a clear example of an authoritarian practice.”
“Today’s arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering an anti-ICE protest are a blatant attempt to intimidate others into covering criticism of the administration and its policies,” Demant said, noting that the arrests came as senior Trump administration officials and agents on the ground made clear that the White House views people who film ICE agents — an act broadly protected by the First Amendment — as “domestic terrorists.”
“We see again and again the Trump administration clamping down on freedom of expression instead of supporting human rights,” she said. “Black and brown journalists have been particularly targeted for exercising their rights to free expression.”
Chip Gibbons, policy director at Advocacy and Dissent male That “journalists have an important role to play in covering protests” such as those in Minneapolis and across the country against Trump’s deployment of federal immigration agents to detain and deport immigrants and American citizens alike, the majority of whom have no criminal backgrounds despite the president’s claim that the operation targets “the worst of the worst.”
“Social movements are often vital parts of our nation’s history and it is essential that they are documented in real time,” Gibbons said. “By covering the protesters and their message, journalists are helping to enrich our public debates, helping Americans gain vital information about aspects of the issue that would otherwise be ignored.”
He added: “This is precisely why we have repeatedly seen journalists covering protests across the United States subjected to brutality, false arrests, and false charges.” “The arrests at Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are clearly part of this disgraceful practice… Exploiting the legal process to make retaliatory arrests of a journalist is an attack on our democracy. We demand that the charges be dropped and any public officials involved must immediately resign from their positions.”
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is also chaired by Damon T. Hewitt male “The targeting of two well-known black independent journalists for criminal prosecution sends a chilling message at a time when independent black media is more essential than ever.”
“Freedom of the press is not optional, but rather the foundation of a thriving, multiracial democracy and a vital barrier to government overreach,” Hewitt said. “Not only does this stifle dissent, it is intimidating rhetoric that stifles basic access to information and facts, targets viewpoints the administration does not like, and retaliates against law firms, universities, nonprofits, and now reporters who value truth, equality, and justice. This is tyranny. And it must not continue.”
Emily Peterson Cassin, Policy Director at Demand Progress, He said The Trump administration was “trying to intimidate journalists from covering events in Minnesota” by arresting Lemon and Fort.
“It is clear that the Trump administration is waging an ongoing, unconstitutional campaign to intimidate a free and bold press into submission and must be held accountable,” she said.
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