Overview
- Fort entered her plea Tuesday in federal court and faces counts of conspiracy against religious freedom and interfering with worship under the FACE Act.
- The charges arise from a Jan. 18 demonstration inside Cities Church in St. Paul, where protesters chanted for justice for Renee Good and highlighted a pastor’s dual role with ICE.
- Former CNN anchor Don Lemon, civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, producer Jerome Richardson, school board member Chauntyll Allen, and others have also been charged and previously pleaded not guilty.
- After magistrate refusals on emergency warrants, prosecutors secured grand jury indictments; in court Tuesday they said they will seek a complex-case designation that defense attorneys plan to contest.
- Cities Church has backed the prosecutions, with its lead pastor calling the protest an attempt to incite violence, while Fort and co-defendants urge dismissal on First Amendment grounds.