WEBVTT - Don Lemon and Georgia Fort Arrested 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.400 Native Lampard is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:08.560 Reason Choice Media. 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:09.520 Welcome home, y'all. 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:11.920 There is breaking news today as we have just been 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:16.000 told that Don Lemon was arrested and last night covering 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:19.200 the Grammys, by the way, and so was Georgia Ford, 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:23.320 who's become a dear friend to us, has been wonderful 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:24.000 on this show. 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:25.959 As you all know, Georgia Ford. 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:29.240 Joined me just last Tuesday for a solo pod talking 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:31.600 about the threat of arrest, talking about everything that was 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:36.519 going on on the ground in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Today, Georgia 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:40.160 Ford was served with an arrest warrant where they claimed 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:45.159 emphasis on claims that there was a grand jury impaneled. 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:46.959 She was charged with both. 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.120 The Face Act and the KKK Act of eighteen seventy one. 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:51.680 For those of you who have been watching, you know 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.120 what we have to say about the KKK Act of 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:54.880 eighteen seventy one. 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:55.959 For those of you who have not. 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:58.560 Been following, we will get into that today, but before 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:02.639 we get any deeper, joining us right now is this 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:07.920 tremendous constitutional law expert, a commentator, and a columnist for 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:10.399 the nation. He is a friend to this show. Ellie 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:12.840 missed out. Please tell us what in the world is 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:13.319 going on. 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.959 Yeah, there's no point of having constitutional expertise because nothing 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.280 happening right now is constitutional. Right. The white supremacists running 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.120 this government do not care about the Constitution. It's not 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:25.600 clear that they've read the Constitution, and they certainly don't 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:32.160 understand the Constitution because arresting journalist is unconstitutional one oh one. Right, 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:35.919 it's right in the very first Amendment to the Constitution 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.160 that the freedom of the press will not be abridge. 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:42.920 Don Lemon, Georgia fort were covering a protest. They were 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:48.880 doing journalism. You can't arrest people for doing journalism. Again, 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:53.000 that's the first amendment of the Constitution. So not only 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:59.760 are these arrests unconstitutional, plainly, blatantly obviously unconstitutional, they're also 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:05.280 plainly illegal, right, And the difference there is that there 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:09.760 the Trump administration went to a federal magistrate judge in 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:14.720 Minnesota asking for an arrest warrant for Don Lemon, and 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.920 the judge told them no. The judge said there was 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.600 no probable cause for an arrest warrant. So then they 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.200 appealed that ruling and they went up to an appellate 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:27.600 court and the appellate court said no, there's no probable 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:32.160 cause for an arrest warrant, and they arrested him anyway, 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:37.480 So that's illegal right now, Pambondi or Trump people have 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:39.520 now come out and said like, oh oh, we had 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:43.640 a grand jury and paneled and they issued the arrest 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.360 warrant for Lemon and for it. Well, first of all, 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:48.680 going to a federal grand jury to get an arrest 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.080 warrant that you couldn't get from the state court is 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:56.440 you know, weird, is highly unusual. A and B. They 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.040 haven't said that they have paneled the grand jury for 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.720 the other two p people, the activists they arrested Cruise 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:07.520 and Lundy, Right, so we don't even know what the 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:11.680 legal justification is for arresting those other two people. And 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:13.880 then you have to be like, is what was this 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:14.720 grand jury? 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:15.000 Like? 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:19.240 What was this grand jury? How did that process worked work? 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.920 If what we're talking about is a blatantly unconstitutional arrest 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:25.919 in the first place, right, So the whole thing is 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:30.560 goatka right to use a yiddishism like it is. It 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:34.600 is an expression of white supremacy. And so when I 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:39.480 look for constitutional justification for these arrests, it's obviously not 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:42.520 in the Constitution. It's obviously not well, it's obviously not 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:47.320 in the constitution anymore if there wasn't something in the 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:51.200 original Constitution that would have allowed them to arrest a 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:54.320 black journalist like Don Lemon. And that was called the 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:59.120 fugitive Slave Clause in Article four of the original Constitution, 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:05.800 which allowed the government to reclaim escaped property should that 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:10.400 property have successfully made it to a free state. And 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.240 the reason why the fugitive slave clause is, you know, 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.800 actually relevant to what's happening in the Lemon right now, 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:18.800 is that you have to understand what the fugitive Slave 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.960 Clause was meant to counteract. Right, And the fugitive State 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:24.239 clause counteracts the Tenth Amendment. 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:24.440 Right. 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:29.200 The tenth Amendment says explicitly that the police power is 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:33.000 reserved to the states. I'm sure, Angela, I'm sure Andrew, 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.320 you have heard Maggie talking about states rights. 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:36.599 Right. 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:38.960 States rights is why I get this. States rights is 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:42.080 why I get that right. Well, states rights is in 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:45.560 the Constitution, right, it's the Tenth Amendment. To what part 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:48.279 of states rights is that states have the rights to 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:53.960 police themselves, States have the right to determine for themselves. 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.120 Who is to get arrested and who is not to 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:02.440 get arrested. The Slave Clause suit ceded states rights. Right 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.839 a Minnesota could say no, no, we're not going to arrest 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:08.600 future of slaves. The future of the Slave Act says, oh, 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:12.360 actually we have to. The federal government can supersede States 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:16.400 rights and arrest whoever they want as long as they're black. Yeah, 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:20.839 that's what's happening to Lemon. He's getting arrested because he's black, 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:24.680 and the federal government is ignoring states rights, is ignoring 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:29.479 a federal magistrate, is ignoring a federal appeals court to 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:33.120 arrest the black man. It is a new story, but 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:35.640 actually it's a pretty old sea. 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:37.880 Yeah they can. I can I ask you real quick? 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:42.159 The the so we know that they are using a 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:47.120 prosecutor out of somewhere to to to pursue a case 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.800 in Georgia around elections. Supposedly, we don't know a whole 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.600 bunch about that. I'm curious in the and paneling of 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:57.320 a grand jury, would they have had to and panel 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:01.160 this grand jury in the state of Minnesota or could 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:04.640 this grand jury be anywhere America? 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:07.880 It could be anywhere America, right like again, they're they're 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:09.960 not telling us what they did and how they did it. 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:14.280 But the thought here is that you get a willing, 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.760 a USA Assistant Attorney General who's like, I will bring 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.480 an unconstitutional so and we know they have I mean Lisa, 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.040 you know, I always call her miss Hannigan, Lisa Halligan, 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:29.240 h Lindsay Halligan has been clowning herself all across the country. 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.359 So you find a Lindsay Halligan type, they say that 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:36.159 they have a claim under the Clan Act, under the 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:39.640 Face Act, or the perversion of those acts that the 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:43.200 Trump administration is using to arrest them. And then you 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.839 panel the grand jury in the state where you found this, 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:50.480 uh fascist prosecutor, right like, so, so we don't know 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:52.839 that it has to be in Minnesota. It could have 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:56.200 been in Minnesota, but it could have not been in Minnesota. 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.159 And the grand jury process is a black box, like 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.760 we're not supposed to know what goes into it. The testimony, 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.160 it's supposed to be sealed. Now, you can get in 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:07.520 trouble when you lie to the grand jury. 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:12.120 I would imagine, no, not everybody. Prosecutors don't get in 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:14.560 trouble for lying to the grand jury. 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:18.480 You're you're supposed to get in trouble for lying to 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:20.280 the grand jury. And again, I don't see how you 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.800 can get this arrest warrant out without lies, because you 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.920 have to proactively not tell the grand jury that what 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:30.040 you're asking for is blatantly unconstitutional. So I don't know 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:33.640 how you do that, but we know. But Andrew, You're right, 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:35.720 we know that those prosecutors probably will not be held 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:39.920 accountable because we live in effectless country that doesn't hold 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.280 any white supremacist accountable for their actions. 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.880 I want to just thank you, Ellie. 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:49.440 I know that you have a deadline, a writing deadline, 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:51.840 so I really appreciate you. Coming on, we're going to 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.280 back into now this story. Some of you may still 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:58.880 be floored learning that Don Lemon was arrested last night 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:03.400 covering the Grammys about the alleged actions he took in Minnesota, 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.400 which we're merely covering a protest, but somehow now that 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.040 is criminal conduct in Trump's America. Also getting to into 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:14.480 Georgia Fort, who is an Emmy Award winning journalist in Minnesota, 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:16.880 has been on the ground every single day, and we 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:21.480 will run her Facebook live where she was detained this 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:24.600 morning from her home in front of her children. So, Ellie, 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:26.120 thank you so much for what you're doing. You know, 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:27.880 I can't wait to read what you put out. 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:28.480 We love you. 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:30.320 Thank you, Thank you, Ellen, thank you. 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.720 So let's go ahead and run the clip. Andrew, if 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:39.800 you don't mind of Georgia Fort being arrested this morning, you. 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:45.160 Guys, I wanted to alert the public that agents are 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:47.240 at my door right now. They're saying that they were 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:51.800 able to go before a Grand Jerry sometime I guess 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:55.800 in the last twenty four hours, and that they have 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:59.400 a warrant for my arrest. I've talked to my attorney 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:03.080 and I'm being advised to go with them. 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:09.800 I guess down to Whipple and my children are here. 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:14.920 They're impacted by this. This is all stemming from the 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:19.640 fact that I filmed a protest. As a member of 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:24.000 the media. We are supposed to have our constitutional right 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:29.760 of the freedom to film, to be a member of 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:34.240 the press. I don't feel like I have my First 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:38.200 Amendment right as a member of the press because now 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:43.599 federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:47.120 the church protests a few weeks ago. Again, I don't 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:49.200 have a long time here you guys, but I wanted 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.680 you to know for me. Agents are at my door 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:55.240 right now. My attorney has spoken with them. I did 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.960 send a relative outside to talk to them. They're showing 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:01.000 some type of documentation apparently that they got in an 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:05.040 indictment from a grand jury. I knew that I was 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.120 on a defendants list. I did not publish it because 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:09.360 it was under sealed. 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:12.360 I I'm floored by that. 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:15.520 Andrew, you know, this is someone who was with us 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:19.480 on stage just two days ago. 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:22.400 I'm sorry, well Tuesday. 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:28.320 You know, in that moment, Georgia showed the courage that 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:33.560 she always has, and she is reporting what's happening on 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.319 the ground and putting her life on the line. 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:36.760 She said. 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:38.880 When she was on the podcast The Solo Pod with 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.720 Me the week before, so literally back to back weeks 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:46.600 we've had Georgia on. She talked about Ida b Wells 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:49.640 being her inspiration, and of course the very next day 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.800 we had Don lemonon as a guest co host. 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:54.000 And so to. 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.319 See people who are our colleagues, who become kind of 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.719 chosen family put in harm's way for doing the thing 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.760 they do so well is mind blowing. So I wanted 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.640 to take just a moment, Well one, Andrew, I want 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:09.119 you to react to the clips are so emotional. 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:19.680 Yeah, yeah, you know, I have PTSD. Yeah, I know 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:27.640 what it is to surrender yourself to the government, and 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:32.000 even when you have right on your side, it's it's 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:36.520 it's hard. And I heard her family members emotional in 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:37.239 the background. 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:37.680 Right. 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:43.280 I think in the long run, y'all, we're gonna fight, 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:47.920 and we're gonna win. We will win, Don and Georgia, 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.280 and I think the other activists who have been arrested, 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:53.200 who also and I know we're not focusing so much 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:56.320 in on those individual stories, but who I also believe 0:11:56.360 --> 0:12:02.440 were exercising their constitutional rights. But the fight is going 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:07.360 to be real and for them individually. I just because 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:11.240 I have had federal you know, agents show up at 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:14.880 my house and I know what it was like to 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:22.920 have my ankles chained and my arms cuffed in and 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:26.400 and that never leaves you right. And so I think 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.040 what I'm emotionally reacting to one is just it threw 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:34.720 me back to that instance. But I also know, as 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:39.960 these folks stand in their truth, in their innocence, that 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:44.720 these are moments that they will never forget the impact 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:50.520 here is real. It's deep, it's cut, it's cutting, it's frightening, 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:56.000 and I have to imagine that it's even the fright. 0:12:56.200 --> 0:13:00.760 The fright of this is amplified by the fact that 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.360 you know, you have a lawless president and a lawless 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:08.520 Attorney general, and a bunch of stoogents who work beneath them, 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:13.120 who are more than happy to carry out their unlawful 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:19.440 wishes with joy. Right. The truth is, Angela, is that 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:23.480 both Don who was who was arrested in the late 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:29.960 night Georgia and in her case early morning Don I 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:33.960 believe it is overnighted in jail. These law enforcement folks 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:37.600 had the opportunity, had they wanted to schedule those folks 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:40.000 to come in and see them, they could have told 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:44.400 them in advance that they are, that there's an indictment 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:47.120 for them, and that they must surrender themselves. They could 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:50.760 have offered that opportunity. They didn't do that, And what 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.960 that underscores for me is the theater of it. These 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:59.000 folks want. They want the theater, they want the They 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:02.240 want us to be shaken by what we saw. I'm 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:05.520 shaken from having my having had my own experience, but 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:11.040 like them, not bowed and not running the opposite direction. 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:13.719 Like you said, we were just there this week, and 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.160 we know that as we talk and as we move 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:18.240 that we are at risk as well. 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:22.640 Yeah, but you know what, so what Yeah. 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:26.920 Because the absence of it, we're at risk anyway. We're 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:27.720 at risk anyway. 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.800 And speaking of that risk, Andrew, there's a gentleman by 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:37.000 the name of Eli Dares who runs the the Minnesota 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:40.600 Freedom Fund. He had this to say earlier on a 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:45.120 Facebook live. Eli also joined us this week in Minneapolis. 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:51.200 Georgia Ford and Don Lemon. We're both arrested for filming 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:59.760 a church protests. So now we're responding with handcuffs to cameras. Now, 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:04.680 the so called free press is on the direct assault, 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:07.880 as you would see in any totalitarian government. In fact, 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:13.080 media it's the first entity that a totalitarian regime goes 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:18.400 after to silence this sent to silence questioning, to silence 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:24.520 people being able to hold governmental officials accountable. It is 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:29.240 unconscionable what we witness today. It is a direct assault 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:33.200 against the constitution. It is a direct assault against basic 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:36.520 pillars that we all have come to just accept as life. 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:40.760 The press has a freedom to film and to record 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:44.000 the people have the freedom to film and record, and 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:49.360 the moment that becomes under attack, nothing is safe. You're 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:53.120 not safe in California. You're not safe down there in Florida. 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.240 You're not safe down there in Texas. You're not safe 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:59.880 over there in New England. And none of y'all safe 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:02.680 if we're not safe here in Minnesota. This is a 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.760 direct assault. Every last single one of you should be outraged, 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:10.960 should be incensed at the attacks on basic liberties. You 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:14.440 have to have a warrant. You cannot stop someone and 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:20.440 ask them questions without reasonable, articulable suspicion. You can't use 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:28.080 force unjustifiably. You cannot attack oppress, you can't shoot munitions 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.400 at them, you can't shoot rubber bullets at them. And 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.440 now today you cannot arrest them. And yet what we're 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:40.480 seeing is the eroding of basic, basic principles that have 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:44.040 been foundational to the way that we have expected to 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:48.320 live life here in America. Everybody is waking up to 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.160 a reality that many of us in the African American 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:56.360 community have known for a very long time. And now 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:59.960 we're trying to fight to once again say this democracy. 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.800 It's not a Minnesota thing. This is an US thing, 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:13.720 what said, who cares about truth in the last morning 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:15.560 seen it? 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:20.000 Joining us now is the executive director of Minnesota Freedom Fund, 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:24.520 Eli Darrison, as well as the honorable Zeena Muhammad, who's 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:28.720 a Minnesota state Senator, joining us as well. 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:30.240 Thank you both for being here. 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.440 Of course, there was just a press conference at Minnesota's 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:38.440 or Minneapolis's City Hall about the arrest of Georgia Ford, 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:42.960 Trey Earn Cruz, and Jamal Jamel Jamel Lundy, my apologies. 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.640 I want to know what chu All's reaction is to 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.960 that pressor and to these arrests, these very unlawful and 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:50.320 unconstitutional arrests. 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:51.879 And Senator I'll come to you first. 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:57.520 Yeah, I mean, I'm grateful that community is organizing in 0:17:57.600 --> 0:17:59.639 such a quick way to do a press conference. We 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:01.800 all got the call this morning. I think many of 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.200 us who've worked with Georgia. I worked with Georgia and Eli. 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.680 I think we were on the ground all of twenty twenty, 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.919 and Georgia is you know, what's happening to Georgia and 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:14.960 Don is horrible, but it's also like what is happening 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:18.480 across the country, which is an attack on freedom of press. 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:22.440 It's ensuring that people only tell one narrative. But what 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:25.480 we know about Georgia, those of us who know her personally, 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.960 is she's a mom first and foremost, who cares deeply 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:32.320 about her family, and she's somebody who is an honest 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:36.440 truth teller. She has been on the ground for communities, 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:40.160 for the movement, and it's not in a point where 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:42.840 she agrees or not. It's telling the truth of what's happening, 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.160 the facts on the ground of what people are experiencing. 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:50.040 And you know, I think for many of us were 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:53.760 like blindsided by this, but not shocked. We have been 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:56.680 seeing the attacks in the community, but the attack, the 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:00.440 liberate attack on press who's there to report a story 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:04.440 or our news for doing their job is beneath any 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:08.640 administration and certainly beneath the job that they're supposed to do. 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:12.320 And I talked to Georgia last week. 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:13.600 I talked to her the other day when we were 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.320 all together too, But when Nakima got arrested, she was 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:19.960 very shaken up, and we talked a little bit about 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.280 just like how she's feeling as a person and the 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:25.480 fact that she was worried about her family. Because I 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:28.000 think very often when we tell these stories of what's 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.199 happening to the individual, it becomes a story. But we 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:33.400 forget the fact that this woman has young kids, young 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:37.520 children and a husband, and they expect her to come 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.240 home at the end of the day. When she does, 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:41.040 when she goes out there and puts her life on 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:45.760 the line, and you know, I'm worried about them, but 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.400 I know she has a lot of grit and she's 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:51.359 a very strong person. But we're all going to be 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:53.240 out there fighting for her as she's been doing for 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:54.560 communities for a long time. 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:59.600 Absolutely, and Eli, I want to come to you thankfully. 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:03.440 You you knew that this was coming. Minnesota Freedom Fund 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:06.359 has been set up to be a bailout resource to 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.439 folks who have been arrested today, as well as to 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:10.240 so many others. 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.000 Can you talk about what you're feeling right now? You're live? 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.159 Earlier was very powerful calling on all of us to 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.719 save democracy. But for those who still feel like it 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:21.040 has not yet knocked on their front door, what's the 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:22.800 wake up call to those folks? 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:24.919 Uh? 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:29.840 Good good morning to you both, And good morning senators. 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:34.800 It's actually not a good morning. It's not a good 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:40.080 morning at all. You know, I don't know what the 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:41.879 wake up call is going to be for them. It 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:45.400 will it will probably be the knocking on uh their doors. 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.600 Here in Minnesota, we're on the front lines of all 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:53.879 of this. And you know, as an organizer, as an activist, 0:20:55.000 --> 0:20:58.280 I've been tear gas. I've been shot with rubber bullets. 0:20:58.880 --> 0:20:59.600 Uh. 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:03.600 Before or uh the Senator became one of the great 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:05.960 senators here in Minnesota, she and I were both on 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:06.800 the front lines. 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:08.399 Uh. Uh. 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:12.320 Those type of tactics come with the territory. They are expected. 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:14.480 Uh. 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:18.000 You know, we have a role and a position that 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:21.120 we're pushing, and and you know, state has a role 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:23.560 in a position that is pushing, and it uses violence 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:26.520 oftentimes to push his position, and and you know we 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:27.280 we resist that. 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:28.199 Uh. 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:33.280 And oftentimes what we see is media. They're recording, you know, documenting, 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:37.119 you know, both sides of what's happening, so that the 0:21:37.160 --> 0:21:40.480 public can have an opportunity to see what is you know, 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:43.200 happening on the ground and then arrive at their own conclusion. 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:44.359 Uh. 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:49.639 During the uprising, uh, in which we were fighting for 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.720 justice for for George Floyd who was murdered here by 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:57.359 by the Minneapolis Police Department. Uh, what we started to see. 0:21:57.359 --> 0:21:58.760 And at the time I worked for the a c 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:02.120 o U of Minnesota, UH, and what we were seeing 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:08.720 was a deliberate and an intentional targeting of media, UH 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:11.679 to such a tune that our organization at the a 0:22:11.800 --> 0:22:14.720 c AU we had to put a lawsuit in in 0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:19.560 order to to get retribution and to stop UH, the 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:23.280 targeting of media. Who was there to do a job. 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:24.440 Georgia Ford. 0:22:25.800 --> 0:22:30.400 UH was in a very comfortable and acclaim role inside 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:34.200 of media. And you know, because of what she was witnessing, 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:37.439 she realized that she needed to step back, step out, 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:41.119 and to take the risk of beginning to bring stories 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:45.880 that were underreported or completely unreported. And she has been 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:49.439 able to bring out, UH some some of some of 0:22:49.480 --> 0:22:53.120 the darkest, most harrowing tales that never would have seen 0:22:53.119 --> 0:22:55.320 the light of day at all, that never would have 0:22:55.359 --> 0:22:56.679 given been given. 0:22:56.480 --> 0:22:58.240 Voice at all. UH. 0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:01.480 And and UH to to set a Zadam's point, she 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:04.800 has always brought those stories out in a fair and 0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:08.280 unbiased kind of way. And so to wake up today 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:15.720 to see those demons go to her house with her 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:22.280 sleeping babies and to and to to drag her out. 0:23:23.760 --> 0:23:28.720 And yet you know, for some reason we can't muster 0:23:28.920 --> 0:23:34.800 up the courage to put handcuffs on actual killer cops 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:38.679 that have killed multiple of our community members just in 0:23:38.720 --> 0:23:46.719 the past few weeks. Weeks, you all, weeks. It just 0:23:46.800 --> 0:23:53.040 goes beyond my comprehension. This federal government, this this lawless 0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:58.640 regime is pushing its agenda with strength and with vigor. 0:23:59.400 --> 0:24:02.840 And my frustration, and I'm sorry, let me let me 0:24:02.880 --> 0:24:06.440