Oppose Federal Charges Against Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action against the dangerous federal civil rights violation charges filed against journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. These independent journalists were arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota, not for violence or inciting chaos, but for performing core journalistic duties: documenting events and interviewing people at a church protest. The government alleges that Lemon interfered with parishioners' right to worship. This claim inverts reality. Lemon's presence protected that right by creating an independent record of how protesters, parishioners, and law enforcement interacted. He interviewed multiple parties including protesters, the pastor, and frustrated parishioners, allowing all sides to be heard in real time. This is accountability and transparency, not interference. Throughout American history, we have only targeted journalists during our most shameful chapters when fear outweighed principle and those in power prioritized controlling narratives over truth. Journalists are threatening to authoritarian systems because they give voice to the people, reveal dissent rather than create it, and expose injustice rather than invent it. When journalists show up, they bring sunlight, making lies harder to sustain. Lemon and Fort are particularly vulnerable because they are independent journalists who cannot be silenced through corporate pressure or phone calls to bosses. Since leaving CNN, Lemon's reach has expanded significantly across social media, reaching younger audiences beyond traditional cable news. This independence makes them targets. As Thomas Jefferson warned, liberty depends on press freedom that cannot be limited without being lost. Rights survive in public view, not in darkness. I urge you to publicly condemn these charges, demand their immediate dismissal, and introduce or support legislation that strengthens protections for journalists performing their constitutional duties. Our democracy depends on a free press that can operate without fear of federal prosecution.