Federal agents arrest journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort in what press freedom groups say is an escalation

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that she had instructed federal agents to arrest independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, along with two others, in connection with an immigration protest at a Minnesota church.

Both Lemon and Fort had livestreamed the Jan. 18 protest, where activists disrupted a service at Cities Church in St. Paul over a pastor there who also worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In an X post announcing Lemon’s and Fort’s arrests, Bondi characterized their involvement as part of a “coordinated attack” on the church. Both Lemon and Fort have said they were at the event as journalists documenting a newsworthy event, not as protesters.

Press freedom advocates have denounced the arrests as attacks on Lemon’s and Fort’s First Amendment rights, noting that they come just days after two different courts blocked federal efforts to get arrest warrants. The federal government’s decision to pursue criminal charges regardless — Fort said she was told the government had obtained a grand jury indictment  — marks an escalation from previous examples of journalists being detained while covering protests, said experts.