Cell-site simulator warrants sought against Don Lemon's producer, journalist Georgia Fort and a state Senate candidate (Jan. 2026)

Case

WIRED reported on Oct. 12, 2026 that federal agents obtained warrants in Minnesota (Jan. 30) and Pennsylvania (Jan. 31) to use cell-site simulators to find Jerome Richardson, a 21-year-old who helped produce Don Lemon's coverage of the Jan. 18 Cities Church protest, and applied for similar warrants for journalist Georgia Fort and then-state Senate candidate Jamael Lundy. The records do not show whether a simulator was actually used or whether the Fort and Lundy applications were approved. The supporting affidavits included a claim, since conceded by prosecutors, that Lemon and Fort chanted with protesters.

What WIRED reported (Oct. 12, 2026)
Federal agents obtained authorization to use cell-site simulators (Stingrays / IMSI catchers) to find and arrest Jerome Richardson, a 21-year-old college student who helped produce journalist Don Lemon's coverage of an anti-ICE protest, court filings show.
Richardson, who has since graduated from Temple University, is one of 39 people charged with conspiring to violate worshippers' civil rights and interfering with religious worship at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, over a Jan. 18, 2026 protest. Protesters said they targeted the service because one of the church's pastors, David Easterwood, also led ICE's St. Paul field office. Those charged include journalists Lemon and Georgia Fort, who say they were there to cover the demonstration.
Judges in two states signed the Richardson warrants: one in Minnesota on Jan. 30 and one in Pennsylvania on Jan. 31, 12 and 13 days after the protest. His lawyers wrote that the purpose was "locating and arresting him."
Agents also applied for cell-site simulator warrants targeting the phones of Georgia Fort and Jamael Lundy, then a Minnesota State Senate candidate, and sought pen register orders for Fort and for a number WIRED traced to Lemon.
Richardson posted a YouTube video on Jan. 31, the day the Pennsylvania warrant was signed, saying he expected to enter federal custody "in the coming days." He surrendered at a federal courthouse in Philadelphia two days after the warrant and was released on bond that afternoon. WIRED says it is unclear whether the warrant preceded the video.
Richardson, a St. Paul native, described his work for Lemon as handling logistics and connecting him with local contacts, and drove Lemon to the church, where Lemon livestreamed. Prosecutors allege Richardson joined chants and obstructed congregants.

Accuracy of the affidavits and judicial pushback
The affidavits supporting the applications to track Richardson claimed video showed Fort, Lemon, Richardson and others "chanting with agitators." Prosecutors have since conceded that Lemon and Fort did not chant, and Fort's lawyers say the government acknowledged the false claim appeared in at least 15 warrant affidavits.
Earlier in the case, a magistrate judge refused five of eight arrest warrants the government sought. After an appeals court rejected the Justice Department's bid to override that decision, the department withdrew its request. The chief judge wrote in a filing that two of the five were "a journalist and his producer" and that there was "no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior." Prosecutors then obtained a grand jury indictment on Jan. 29.
DHS policy says cell-site simulators are deployed only in the fraction of cases where the capability is best suited to specific public safety objectives. WIRED says it is unclear what public safety reason justified using one in this case.

Other tactics in the Cities Church investigation
According to court records cited by WIRED, DHS demanded journalists' telephone and YouTube records under a customs authority that requires no prior judicial approval, and agents sought records identifying everyone who bought a particular beanie at REI in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area over a period of more than two years. Defense attorneys have identified 92 customs summonses and are challenging the government's authority to issue them.
In January, DHS served Verizon with an administrative summons for a log of Lemon's phone records from Dec. 19 to Jan. 20 under 19 USC 1509, a customs statute. It was not a grand jury subpoena or a court-approved warrant. In a Sept. court filing, Lemon's lawyers said prosecutors declined to say whether they obtained the records.
Lemon's attorneys say prosecutors rejected their offer to arrange his surrender and agents instead arrested him shortly before midnight at a Beverly Hills hotel while he was covering the Grammy Awards. Fort's lawyers say agents arrested her at home rather than letting her turn herself in.

What the records do not establish
The records WIRED reviewed do not establish whether investigators actually deployed a cell-site simulator to locate Richardson, or whether judges approved the applications targeting Fort and Lundy. In a July court letter, Fort's lawyers said prosecutors "did not know" whether the surveillance applications had been authorized or had yielded evidence. It is also unclear whether a judge approved the pen register applications.
Richardson's motion to suppress evidence from the phone tracking does not specify whether agents used a simulator or obtained evidence through either method.
Cell-site simulators impersonate cell towers and can collect identifying information from any nearby cellular device, including those of people not suspected of a crime. FBI records released in 2023 showed police borrowing its simulators had to agree to keep details of their use secret, even in court.

Perspectives

Expert view — Cooper Quintin, senior staff technologist, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Quintin called using an advanced surveillance capability such as a cell-site simulator against members of the free press for reporting stories unfavorable to the president an "appalling attack on the First Amendment." He has spent years researching the devices and building tools to detect them.

Expert view — Former federal prosecutor (anonymous; decade on counterterrorism cases)
Using a simulator to locate someone is not necessarily unusual, but based on the court records they reviewed, the government's tactics in Richardson's case were aggressive and they did not understand why it would be necessary. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Official position — Justice Department and DHS
DOJ responded to WIRED that the department "speaks through its court filings." DHS declined to discuss ongoing investigations or investigative methods and referred questions to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, which did not respond. Prosecutors allege Richardson joined chants and obstructed congregants at the church service.

Research notes
Open leads: (1) Get the court filings themselves (Richardson's suppression motion; Fort's July letter; the affidavits) via PACER/CourtListener rather than relying on WIRED's summary. (2) Whether a simulator was actually deployed, and whether the Fort/Lundy/Lemon applications were approved. (3) Whether the Jan. 31 warrant preceded Richardson's YouTube video saying he expected to enter custody. (4) The 92 customs summonses defense attorneys have identified, and the court challenge to that authority. (5) Follow-up statements from DOJ/DHS or the U.S. Attorney's Office for Minnesota. WIRED was the primary source; Raw Story's Oct. 12 write-up is a secondary summary.

Note
DOJ says it "speaks through its court filings" and DHS declined to discuss investigative methods; prosecutors allege Richardson joined chants and obstructed congregants, which he disputes, and it is unconfirmed whether any simulator was deployed.

Sources
[1] WIRED (Dhruv Mehrotra) (https://www.wired.com/story/feds-got-warrants-to-use-fake-cell-towers-to-hunt-down-don-lemons-producer/) · 2026-10-12
[2] Raw Story (Kathleen Culliton) (https://www.rawstory.com/don-lemon-fbi/) · 2026-10-12
[3] Nieman Lab (Laura Hazard Owen), summarizing The Guardian (https://www.niemanlab.org/reading/u-s-prosecutors-refuse-to-say-if-they-secretly-obtained-don-lemons-phone-records/) · 2026-09-02
[4] Associated Press (via WNEM) (https://www.wnem.com/2026/02/03/don-lemon-says-dozen-agents-were-sent-arrest-him-even-though-he-offered-turn-himself) · 2026-02-03

Connections

Shared mechanism — Flock Safety and the expansion of license-plate surveillance to immigration enforcement
Both concern broad-collection surveillance tools used in DHS/ICE-linked enforcement that also capture data on people not suspected of a crime.

Same context — HSI search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's home (Oct. 12, 2026)
Both concern DHS and DOJ investigative actions with Minnesota ties, carried out under court-issued warrants; that entry covers cell-site simulator warrants.

Same context — NSPM-7 in practice: first prosecutions and civil society financial surveillance (2026)
Both involve federal surveillance and administrative subpoenas aimed at protest-linked people in Minneapolis-St. Paul in 2026; WIRED does not tie the Cities Church case to NSPM-7.

Related — Press freedom rollback — AP ban, Pentagon rules, CNN/MS NOW/Politico ban
Surveillance and prosecution of journalists covering a protest sits alongside the access restrictions and bans covered in the press-freedom entry.

Related — Thesis: the administration uses lawsuits, FCC leverage and funding cuts to pressure news organizations
Another pressure point on news organizations and journalists, through law-enforcement tools rather than lawsuits or licensing.

Shared mechanism — US-Israel law-enforcement channels: ICE spyware and forensics contracts and police exchange programs
Both cover the surveillance technology available to DHS and ICE, though the sources do not link the Cities Church warrants to any particular vendor.