Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Don Lemon's Producer

Federal agents obtained court authorization to use cell-site simulators - devices that impersonate cellphone towers and can sweep identifying data from nearby phones - to locate and arrest Jerome Richardson, a 21-year-old who helped produce Don Lemon’s coverage of a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul. Court filings show warrants were signed in two states at the end of January to track Richardson’s phone, and investigators also sought similar surveillance and pen-register orders for journalist Georgia Fort, a Minnesota state Senate candidate, and a number linked to Lemon. Records show DHS used broad investigative tactics, including customs summonses for phone and YouTube logs and attempts to identify buyers of a specific beanie, raising concerns about dragnet surveillance, secrecy around simulator use, and potential chilling effects on reporters.

The filings also expose factual and legal problems: affidavits repeated false claims that Lemon and Fort chanted with protesters, judges rejected several arrest-warrant requests, and prosecutors later obtained a grand jury indictment while defense teams move to suppress tracked evidence. Observers and former prosecutors called the methods aggressive and unnecessary - especially since Richardson publicly signaled he would surrender and was released on bond the day he did - while civil-liberties groups warn using intrusive simulators against journalists and protest participants threatens First Amendment protections.