Brown: Arrest of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort escalates the constitutional crisis in Minnesota

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On Jan. 30, federal authorities arrested Minnesota independent journalist Georgia Fort at her home for covering an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in a St. Paul church earlier this month. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested Thursday night in Los Angeles for his role in covering the event. The specific charges were unknown at the time this column was published.

After her arrest, Fort was held at the detention center in the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis where so many people — including undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants and U.S. citizens alike — have been held this past month.

The arrests were condemned by a coalition of Minnesota newsrooms, including the Minnesota Star Tribune.

“We are alarmed by these escalating actions by the Trump administration that attack freedom of the press,” said Aleesa Kuznetsov, president-elect of the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists. “Journalists have not only the right but the responsibility to observe and report events in the public interest. It is not illegal to document a protest against the federal government. The fact that the protest took place in a church does not negate journalists’ First Amendment rights to report. The effort to punish independent reporting is an effort to weaken democracy.”

Fort’s credentials as a Minnesota journalist run deep. A St. Thomas graduate and longtime TV and radio journalist, she was also a former board member of the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists. In full disclosure, I am a current board member of the MNSPJ, along with many other journalists who seek to accurately report details of the federal enforcement surge in our state.

The arrest of journalists for covering news events in public places is another red line that must not be crossed. This episode is another sign of bad judgment and bad faith from this administration. Federal forces must be pulled out of the Twin Cities because it is evident that more innocent people will be killed and more constitutional rights will be trampled the longer they remain.

Reports of “de-escalation” by federal authorities have been proven wishful thinking. President Donald Trump has resumed his previous rhetoric. His administration continues to offer vague threats and warnings instead of accountability for the incompetence and cruelty his government has shown on the streets of Minnesota.

But “in Minnesota, we do not treat journalists like criminals for doing their jobs,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison. “No one should be arrested merely for holding a camera, asking hard questions, or telling the public what we have a right to know.”

The freedom of speech does not mandate we agree with protests or the content of news stories. Many expressed outrage when protesters interrupted the Jan. 18 service at Cities Church in St. Paul because one of the church’s pastors was discovered to be a field organizer for ICE. The methods of this protest are debatable. We have the right to disagree.

But the arrest of journalists covering the event is an authoritarian overreach. A magistrate judge previously declined to charge Lemon. Once again, Trump’s blatantly subservient Justice Department ignored the pushback of the judicial branch.

Trump‘s approval ratings are on a steady decline. Federal actions in Minnesota are deeply unpopular. They’re doing little to nothing to achieve their stated goal. This is a constitutional crisis in the making, generated by the out-of-control ego of one man and the fecklessness of his allies.

Despite recent statements, the Trump administration’s assault on civil liberties in Minnesota is worsening. The justification for the arrest of Fort and Lemon could be applied to any journalist. In fact, it would be prudent to expect more arrests as the brutality and ineptitude of the federal insurgency in Minnesota continues to be exposed by simple observation. As citizens, we must demand accountability for these abuses.

At this point, the best way to restore order is for federal authorities to step back. It’s time to withdraw these legions of extra agents and for our state to get back to business. Release anyone held without charges and let journalists do their jobs.