Anti-ICE protests erupt nationwide as Bruce Springsteen performs at fundraiser for Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis: Live

Nationwide protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown are being held on Friday.

Organizers of the mass protests had called for a “national shutdown” where people would skip work and school and refuse to shop.

Amnesty International has called for the release of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort.

Lemon and Fort were arrested in connection with a protest against ICE activities that disrupted a Minnesota church service, which the two independent journalists covered.

“U.S. authorities must immediately release journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. Journalism is not a crime. Reporting on protests is not a crime. Arresting journalists for their reporting is a clear example of an authoritarian practice.

“The arrests today of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering an anti-ICE protest are a blatant attempt to intimidate others from covering criticism of the administration and its policies. The arrests also follow repeated attempts by senior officials to label people who record ICE activities as domestic terrorists.

“Time and time again we are seeing the Trump administration clamping down on free speech rather than upholding human rights. Black and Brown journalists have been particularly targeted for exercising their rights to freedom of expression.

“Make no mistake, the U.S. government’s attempts to silence the journalists are a critical threat to our human rights,” Amnesty International USA’s National Director of Programs, Tarah Demant, said Friday.

A lawyer with the federal government asked a judge Friday afternoon that independent journalist Georgia Fort remain in custody, according to The New York Times.

Fort was arrested in connection with a protest against ICE activities that disrupted a Minnesota church service, which she covered.

The lawyer said the allegations against Fort “qualify as a crime of violence.” But the judge denied the federal government’s request, and Fort was ordered to be released.

Independent journalist Don Lemon is expected to appear in court on Friday at 1:30 p.m. PT, the U.S. Marshals Service told NBC Los Angeles.

Lemon and fellow reporter Georgia Fort were arrested in connection with a protest against ICE activities that disrupted a Minnesota church service, which the two covered.

The former CNN anchor has been charged with federal civil rights crimes, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told NBC Los Angeles.

Springsteen, who recently released a song to protest immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, had the words “Arrest the President” on his guitar as he took the stage Friday, per The New York Times.

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.”