Judge orders federal government to hand over grand jury transcripts in St. Paul church protest case
A U.S. magistrate judge on Friday ordered the federal government to hand over transcripts given to the grand jury before it charged more than 30 people for their alleged roles in an anti-ICE protest inside the Cities Church in St. Paul.
Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were among those who were federally indicted after the demonstration. Both have argued that they are protected under the First Amendment and pleaded not guilty.
Fort's lawyer, Matthew Ebert, submitted a motion on June 1 arguing that the government made "numerous material misrepresentations of fact" about Fort's conduct in sworn affidavits submitted to the court.
Ebert argued that the government falsely stated under oath that Lemon's livestream of the event showed Fort chanting. However several other livestream videos and statements from eyewitnesses show that Fort did not chant and she was there to act "purely as a professional journalist," he wrote.
In the motion, Ebert says that the government has refused to produce grand jury transcripts "necessary to evaluate whether those allegations were repeated or abandoned before the grand jury."
The judge ordered the government to produce the transcripts by the end of the business day on Wednesday.
The protesters were accused of violating two Civil Rights laws; a misdemeanor offense in the FACE Act, which prohibits people from intimidating or interfering with people exercising their constitutional freedom to practice religion. The other is a felony charge of conspiring to interfere with individuals' religious rights.
Court documents say the protesters interrupted services at the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, also led the local ICE office. The St. Paul city attorney said last month that the group will not face state charges.
