Minnesota ICE live: Protests erupt nationwide as Bruce Springsteen performs at fundraiser for Renee Good and Alex Pretti

Attorney General Pam Bondi has warned that the Trump administration is “coming after you” if you violate the “right to worship freely and safely.”

Bondi’s comments come after Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested in connection with a protest against ICE activities that disrupted a Minnesota church service, which the two independent journalists covered.

The family and friends of Georgia Fort, an Emmy-Award winning reporter from Minneapolis, have warned that her arrest and the arrest of other journalists by federal authorities, set a “dangerous precedent” for press freedom, the rule of law and democracy.

They were speaking at Minneapolis City Hall hours after Fort, along with three others, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, were arrested separately by federal agents on Friday over an anti immigration enforcement protest on January 18, which they covered. The protest disrupted a service at a Minnesota church and heightened tensions between residents and federal officials.

Lemon has been charged with federal civil rights crime – but it is not clear what charges Fort faces.“Journalism is under attack. The First Amendment is under attack, and democracy is crumbling,” warned Harry Colbert Jr, a friend of Fort and vice president of the Center for Broadcast Journalism, who himself was arrested during protests following the killing of Daunte Wright in 2021.

He told The Independent that journalists have been arrested before, but usually by state police or local authorities.“

“Our fear is that they might try to charge Georgia with a felony for doing her job, for going to cover an event.”

He said it could have a chilling effect on reporting across the country.“ I’m scared. Other journalists are scared. We are still going to do our job, but we recognize that we are under attack.”

Fort’s 17-year-old daughter also spoke, on the verge of tears, saying her baby sisters “woke up today without a mom”.

“I’m demanding that my mom gets released,” she said. “It is wrong. This goes against her First Amendment rights as a journalist, and those rights are being challenged today.”

These calls were joined by major journalism and rights organizations, including the National Association of Black Journalists, which said it was “outraged and deeply alarmed.” The International Women’s Media Foundation called it an “outrageous violation of reporters’ First Amendment rights.”

Cynthia Wilson, president of the Minneapolis branch of the NAACP, warned that “this is a humanity issue.”

“This is as blatant as it gets. Number 47 is trying to be a dictator, and he is looking to take away all of our rights.”

The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday.

Pretti was killed by Border Patrol agents in the streets of Minneapolis last weekend. The Department of Homeland Security has framed the shooting as self-defense.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI will be looking into the matter, which Blanche said was “standard” procedure.

“I don’t want the takeaway to be that there’s some massive civil rights investigation that’s happening. This is what I would describe as a standard investigation by the FBI,” Blanche said. “That investigation, to the extent it needs to involve lawyers at the Civil Rights Division, it will involve those.”

The network of Trump loyalists behind his brutal crackdown on immigration into the U.S is getting fairly substantial at this point.

The president’s plan to deport tens of thousands of people has seen ICE agents and National Guard troops surging into U.S. cities, including Minneapolis which has become a flashpoint for the crisis.

Here’s a helpful recap on who’s who behind the surge:

Hours after a freshly dispatched Tom Homan suggested that the Department of Homeland Security could reduce the number of agents and officers deployed to Minneapolis in the wake of the fatal shooting of nurse Alex Pretti, President Donald Trump appeared to contradict his border czar.

Andrew Feinberg has the full story:

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced she will introduce a new bill to stop ICE agents from deputizing local police to help with immigration efforts.

“When power is abused, New York will act. Today, I’m announcing new actions to keep local police focused on local crime and protect New Yorkers from ICE overreach,” Hochul posted on X Friday.

“Local cops should be focused on local crime. Today I’m announcing the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act to stop ICE from deputizing police to do a federal agency’s job.”

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has accused the Trump administration of “escalating” tensions following the arrest of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort.

Former CNN anchor Lemon was arrested in LA Thursday night, ahead of the Grammy Awards on Sunday.

“Don Lemon, an internationally known and renowned journalist and friend, was arrested last night by federal agents and is now in custody in Los Angeles – simply for doing his job and following a protest into a church in Minneapolis while reporting the story,” Bass wrote on X.

“Emmy-winning news producer and Minnesota-based journalist Georgia Fort – another widely respected Black journalist – was also arrested by federal agents in Minnesota for reporting on the same protest.

“The arrest of journalists for going into a church in the course of reporting is shocking enough, but what’s even more alarming is that it’s no secret that Don Lemon is a Trump critic.”

Bass added: “Let me be very clear – President Trump is not de-escalating anything after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents. In fact, the arrest of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort demonstrates quite the opposite – he is escalating.

“First, Trump’s agents shoot and kill people exercising their First Amendment rights, and now we’re arresting journalists going into a church. It’s an egregious assault on constitutionally protected First Amendment rights.

“I have reached out to the U.S. Attorney to check on Don Lemon’s status.”

Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist and Georgia Fort in Minneapolis.

“RSF has learned that award-winning journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort have been arrested for simply doing their jobs as journalists — another attack on every American’s press freedom, said Clayton Weimers, executive director of RSF North America.

“The Trump administration cannot send federal agents after reporters simply because they don’t like the stories being reported — especially after already failing multiple times to obtain a warrant from the courts for Lemon’s arrest.

“Lemon and Fort should be released immediately. They have RSF’s full support.”

The Freedom of the Press Foundation has slammed the “outrageous attack” on press freedom following the arrests of former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort.

“The government’s arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are naked attacks on freedom of the press,” FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said,

“These arrests, under bogus legal theories for obviously constitutionally protected reporting, are clear warning shots aimed at other journalists. The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them.

“Fort’s arrest is meant to instill the same fear in local independent journalists as big names like Lemon.”

Stern continued: “The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment.

“If the Trump administration thinks it can bully journalists into submission, it is wrong.”

Three other people were arrested alongside former CNN anchor Don Lemon, on Thursday.

Trahern Jeen Crews, Jamael Lydell Lundy and Georgia Fort, were also detained “in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

Fort, an independent journalist, was also arrested Thursday evening, she said in a Facebook live video.

“I don’t feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press,” Fort said in her video. “Because now federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago.”

It is unclear what the charges are against Fort or the others.

Crews is a former Democratic political candidate, while Lundy is a criminal justice reform advocate.