Documents unsealed Tuesday in federal court show a federal judge pushing back forcefully on investigators involved in the cases of 38 people charged for a protest at a St. Paul church this winter.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John Docherty denied requests in February for five separate search warrants, including for YouTube information of independent journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon. The judge said the search warrant requests didn’t meet basic legal standards. In late March, prosecutors withdrew the search warrant requests. Docherty ordered the search warrants and his order denying them unsealed late last week.
Protesters targeted Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18 because one of the church’s lead pastors, David Easterwood, was leading the local ICE field office. It came as the state braced under a surge of federal agents, who often used violent tactics against observers or immigrants they detained. Protesters captured on video at the church chanted, “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.”
Following the protest, federal officials quickly took to social media to condemn protesters and promise to prosecute them. More than three dozen people were charged for interfering with the exercise of religious freedom at a house of worship. The White House posted an altered photo of civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong that made it appear she was crying after her arrest.
All 38 remaining defendants in the church protest case have pleaded not guilty.
Homeland Security Investigations agent Timothy Gerber made the five search warrant requests. They included requests for YouTube account information from independent journalists Lemon and Fort, as well as phone information from Levy Armstrong, Ian Austin and William Scott Kelly, who goes by the name “Da Woke Farmer” on social media.
The judge said in his order denying the search warrants that “none of these probable cause statements actually set out probable cause.” Docherty also noted other major errors in the search warrant applications, including that the requests referred the court to the indictments to establish probable cause for the search warrants.
Search warrant applications are supposed to be self-contained, but Docherty said he looked at the indictment anyway and found no basis for establishing probable cause there either.
Gerber also asked the court to allow a search of Fort and Lemon’s YouTube accounts, including subscriber information like names, emails, addresses and phone numbers. Docherty said “it’s hard to see how such information could be relevant to the commission of a crime.”
This isn’t the first apparent misstep for investigators in this case. Charges were dropped against one woman after it became clear she didn’t even attend the protest, but merely had been in a grocery store parking lot that organizers used to stage before going to the church.
Across the country, judges and grand juries have pushed back on criminal charges filed by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.
In Minnesota, about three dozen people were criminally charged for assaulting ICE or other federal officers during this winter’s surge, but MPR News has reported that about half of those charges have been dropped, including one case where agents continued to interrogate a woman after she invoked her right to remain silent three times.
Federal judges have also criticized federal prosecutors for their handling of immigration cases. In Minnesota, judges have cited dozens of cases where prosecutors didn’t comply with court orders. Judges have even threatened to hold Dan Rosen, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, in contempt of court for these continuing violations.
The church protest has spurred some Republican lawmakers across the country to promote laws making it a crime to disrupt worship services. The Associated Press reports that at least four states — Idaho, Louisiana, Kansas and Oklahoma — have adopted laws this year.
