Overview
- Federal prosecutors indicted about 38–39 people, including journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon, for their roles in a Jan. 18, 2026 anti‑ICE demonstration that entered Cities Church in St. Paul and charged them with conspiracy against religious freedom and a FACE Act offense.
- On August 6–7, 2026 Fort and Lemon each filed motions to dismiss arguing their presence was protected newsgathering, that the indictment fails to state the necessary crimes, and that the prosecutions were vindictive or politically driven.
- Defense filings detail factual errors by investigators, including prosecutors’ repeated claims that Fort chanted with protesters — a point prosecutors later conceded — and a judge has ordered review of grand jury materials connected to those statements.
- Courts have already limited some government attempts to seize reporters’ work and subscriber data under protections like the Privacy Protection Act, and at least one career prosecutor has resigned from the matter, raising concerns about investigative conduct.
- Lemon additionally challenges the FACE Act’s house‑of‑worship provision as potentially unconstitutional, a legal attack that could narrow how prosecutors use the rare statute and influence how journalists cover protests going forward.