Not guilty pleas for independent journalist Georgia Fort and activist Trahern Crews
- Binta Kanteh
- 39 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Award-winning independent journalist Georgia Fort and long-time activist Trahern Crews appeared Tuesday in federal court in downtown St. Paul for arraignment hearings in the Cities Church protest case.
Fort and Crews entered pleas of not guilty. The hearing for both totaled nine minutes.
Fort, 37, and Crews, 51, are among the nine individuals arrested by federal agents for their connection to a protest that took place at Cities Church in January. The protesters, followed by three journalists, went to the chapel to express concerns about one of the church’s pastors – David Easterwood – leading the ICE field office in St. Paul.
Civil rights advocate Nekima Levy Armstrong, United States military veterans Ian Austin and William Kelly, St. Paul School Board Member Chauntyll Allen and Minnesota State Senate candidate Jamael Lundy, all arrested for the January protest, were present at the arraignment hearing on Tuesday to show their support for Fort and Crews.
Judge Douglas Micko asked attorneys for both the government and the defendants if there would be a motion in the near future to designate the case as “complex” because of the number of defendants involved. The government said it is planning to bring this motion forward, as previously stated this past Friday at the arraignment hearings Levy-Armstrong, Allen, Kelly, Don Lemon and Jerome Richardson – the latter two who were serving to report on the protest. Attorneys for Fort and Crews stated they would oppose the motion if it is filed as expected. The designation of complex requires extra judicial oversight that could impact the pace of the case.
In an impassioned address to the media following the hearing, Fort described a number of instances when global, national and local journalists were arrested, attacked and killed over the past five years for covering the news.
“The attack on the press did not start or end with my arrest,” Fort said. “If you stand for truth, I need you to stand up today.”
Crews noted the parallels between his case and broader patterns of institutional racism across many spheres of life.
“We call on all religious institutions to combat white nationalism and institutional racism within their organizations,” Crews said.
A crowd composed of advocates, community leaders, friends and family turned out to support Fort and Crews. A date for next hearings has yet to be determined.
Editor’s note: Georgia Fort is president of the Center for Broadcast Journalism, parent organization of Power 104.7 FM.