Independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort have vowed to continue reporting, following their arrests after covering an anti-ICE protest at a church in Minnesota.
Lemon, a former CNN anchor, and Fort, a Minnesota reporter, were released from federal custody on Friday, following criticism from human rights advocates and journalism organizations over their arrests.
A federal grand jury in Minnesota indicted Fort and Lemon on charges related to the interruption of a religious service at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor. Both Fort and Lemon have maintained that they were not participating in the protest at the church but were reporting on the incident as journalists.
Speaking during his YouTube show on Friday, Lemon said that this is a moment for journalists around the world "to stand up for each other."
"It may have started with people having their due process rights violated on the streets, violently violated on the streets. But now they're trying to silence journalists. And I will not be silenced," Lemon said on his show.
Fort, a Minnesota native who filmed her arrest as federal agents showed up to her home early Friday, told CNN's Anderson Cooper shortly after her release that she will "continue to tell the stories of my community." She also said the arrests have sent "a chilling message" to the media industry.
"As journalists, we never want to be the story. But unfortunately, I did find myself in a predicament where I felt that I needed to be able to tell my own story, that I needed the world to see that journalism is on trial," Fort said on Anderson Cooper 360°.
She added: "If they can criminalize a journalist here in Minnesota, whether you're independent or not, I think that we've seen a track record where this is just going to continue to escalate."
A federal magistrate judge previously declined to approve Lemon's arrest, citing a lack of evidence. A few days later, the chief federal appeals court judge in Minnesota rejected a prosecutor's appeal of the decision, writing that there was "no evidence" of any criminal behavior in Lemon's work.
Abbe Lowell, an attorney representing Lemon, called the arrest "an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment" in a social media post on Friday. Lowell also said Lemon will "fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court." Leita Walker, an attorney for Fort, told the Columbia Journalism Review that her client "will be vigorously defending herself against these charges."
Disclosure: This reporter and Don Lemon were colleagues at CNN from August 2019 to April 2023.
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