Journalist Georgia Fort pleads not guilty to felony charges stemming from church protest

Independent journalist Georgia Fort pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to federal felony charges stemming from a protest that she filmed in January inside a St. Paul church where a pastor is also an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Fort was charged along with former CNN anchor Don Lemon, his producer Jerome Richardson, civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, St. Paul School Board Member Chauntyll Allen and three more demonstrators who pleaded not guilty on Friday. Black Lives Matter activist Trahern Jeen Crews, who was present during the protest, also pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

Fort’s supporters filled the courtroom and an overflow room at the Warren E. Burger Federal Building in downtown St. Paul for the hearing that took less than 10 minutes before Judge Douglas Micko. Fort exited the courthouse holding her husband’s hand to cheers from around three dozen demonstrators.

Addressing the press following the hearing, Fort listed some of the many other journalists who have faced intimidation, harassment and prosecution: Mario Guevara, who was deported after being arrested covering an anti-Trump protest; Jana Shortal, a KARE-11 anchor sprayed with chemical irritants covering the killing of Alex Pretti; and CNN reporter Omar Jimenez, who was arrested live on TV by state troopers in 2020, among others.

“The attack on the press did not start with my arrest,” Fort said. “If you stand for truth, I need you to stand up today. And not just for me. And not just for all journalists. But for anyone who is having their First Amendment violated.”

Fort and Lemon face the same felony charges as the seven other defendants: conspiracy against the right of religious freedom at a place of worship and injuring, intimidating and interfering with the exercise of right of religious freedom at a place of worship.

On Jan. 18, Fort and Lemon filmed demonstrators interrupting the service at Cities Church on with chants of “Justice for Renee Good,” who was shot and killed by an ICE agent nearly two weeks earlier as the Trump administration sent thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota as part of “Operation Metro Surge.”

One of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, is an ICE field director in St. Paul, but did not appear to be present at the service during the protest. Demonstrators sought to point out the contradiction between working for ICE and preaching the Christian Gospel.

Micko declined to sign off on charges against Fort, Lemon and several demonstrators. Prosecutors then went around him and petitioned the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, but were again rebuffed. As a last attempt, federal lawyers went to a grand jury, where enough jurors agreed there was probable cause for arrest.

Fort was arrested early in the morning on Jan. 30 at her home by Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Federal prosecutors sought to have her held in jail, arguing the offense was violent in nature, but she was released later that day.

“This case doesn’t just leave me fighting for my freedom, it is the government trying to muzzle me  — to make me unable to report on one of the most historic cases not just in our state but in our country,” Fort said on Tuesday.

Cities Church, which belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention, supported the charges and is “prayerfully considering” its own legal action.

In an interview with Fox News, Cities Church’s Lead Pastor Jonathan Parnell said his message for the governor, attorney general, mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the “agitators” is to “turn from your sin, trust in Jesus Christ and be saved. He is our only hope.”

(Attorney General Keith Ellison is Muslim and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is Jewish.)

The Reformer joined a consortium of news outlets including the Star Tribune, the Spokesman-Recorder and MPR News in condemning the arrests in a statement.

“The First Amendment recognizes the press as holding a distinct and protected role in our democracy. In America, we do not arrest journalists for doing their jobs. The Minnesota journalism community stands united in defense of press freedom and the essential role reporting plays in holding power to account, now more than ever,” the statement reads.