January 20, 2026 • 29 mins
“We cannot be neutral about the dismantling of our democracy and still expect to be protected by it.”
Walking in the footsteps of great journalists who came before her, local Minnesota reporter Georgia Fort has been bearing witness to history as she covers ICE’s Operation Metro Surge on the ground in Minneapolis.
Georgia Fort is the founder of BLCK Press, a social enterprise newsroom in Minnesota, mobilizing the next generation to advance representation in the media workforce.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Native Lampod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Reason Choice Media.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome home. Y'all, this is Native Lampod. It's solo pod Day.
I'm your host, Angela Rai. And today we are still
talking about ICE just taking over Minneapolis, and the residents,
the citizens there are not letting it go by easily.
They are holding Ice accountable on every side. They are
(00:29):
ensuring that they are protecting citizens from horns, car horns
to whistles. They are ensuring that ICE's road is not easy. Now,
one thing I want to flag for you all these days,
you can't necessarily trust the data coming out of this
administration because they throw out numbers all the time that
may or may not be fact checked. But the Department
(00:50):
of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam is saying, as of today,
more than ten thousand people have been detained by ICE
in Minnesota. What we know so far is some of
these people are citizens. They're saying they're all illegals. First
of all, we all know that human beings cannot be illegal.
They can be undocumented people.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
But we know for a.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Fact They have even detained people who are Native American,
indigenous to this country, people who've been there before them. Right,
this is what we're up against right now, in this
day and age, right on the other side of the
Martin Luther King Holiday, I'm thrilled to introduce to some
of you.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I know many of you.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Many many of you have seen her incredible journalism on
the ground in Minnesota. And there's one of her first
videos that I saw that just pricked my heart, and
it is a young woman who is protesting on behalf
of her neighbors.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Let's roll that clip here today.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
I'm out here because I'm not and I want to
protect my neighbors. These are all people that I love,
and it makes me so mad that my class they's
I can't even take it. Every day every day we're
getting taken well, we.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
Care, we care, We're so mad, We're so mad and hurting. Yes,
what do you see as some of the solutions for
our country and how we move forward from this moment?
Speaker 6 (02:17):
We need to find better solutions to find people to
get into the country. No one should be illegal on
land that's not even belonging to our government.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
This isn't our land.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Tell me how you found out about the death of
Renee Good and how that impacted you.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
How did it make you feel.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I think I was just on my phone and I
saw it. It was kind of the same way that
I kind of found out about George Floyd. I was
just scrolling on my phone and it just made me
feel violated, because no one should have to face so
death that cruel.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
And what do you think justice looks like?
Speaker 6 (03:03):
Justice looks like getting everybody back to those family lists
now got Tiken wrongfully?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I just blown away by that video, the power and
the voice of that young woman, and the journalist who
platforms people who ordinarily would be ignored or not given
a platform to be heard at all. She is the
reason when we say independent journalism matters, especially in a
day and age where we are watching media companies bout
to Trump every single day, putting people on air who
(03:32):
are refusing, frankly, to tell the truth, to speak truth
to power, and ensure that at the very least this
administration is fact checked well on the ground. In Minnesota,
in Minneapolis specifically and in Saint Paul, Georgia Fort is
doing exactly that, and for that she's winning awards including
one that just was given to her yesterday on Doctor
King's holiday.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Welcome, Miss Georgia.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Fort, Thank you so much for having me. Angela Oh,
I'm thrilled to have you.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Thank you for being here, for making time in the
mist of everything that's going on. I just want to
ask you what you're hearing. We know Christy Nooam is
saying that more than ten thousand people have been detained
by ICE. What are you all hearing on the ground,
particularly from local elected leaders.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
We are actually witnessing for ourselves, us citizens being detained.
We're hearing directly from impacted families of people who are
going through the legal immigration process, who don't have a
criminal background, that are being detained. And so where I,
(04:34):
as a journalist, have researched some of these numbers right
anywhere from sixty five to seventy five percent according to
who you're checking with, of people who are currently detained
by ICE that don't have any criminal background. That is
extremely alarming, and like you pointed out, it's contradicting the
narrative and the statistics that we're getting from our federal government.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I'm curious to know.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
When you first learned that ICE was going to be
making its way to Minneapolis.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
What crossed your mind?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Well, I think my biggest concern was for the everyday
residents here and knowing that we were ground zero in
twenty twenty, knowing that there is an organizer community here,
a protest culture, I guess you could say, of people
(05:29):
who are not going to just lay down and take injustice,
take mistreatment. And so my biggest concern was how my
things escalate. And you know a lot of people may
or I guess, may not have heard that there was
a huge action that happened here back in June, right
before the assassination of Melissa Hortman, and so at that time,
(05:53):
people were tense thinking that we were going to become
this target, and it kind of then was just it
felt like a one time thing, and there was nothing
happening here up until recently when they announced Operation Metro Surge,
and so all of those worst case scenarios were actually
now seeing play out in real time. So I want
(06:15):
to stay here for a moment, because you talked about
George Floyd in twenty twenty, Before George Floyd, there was
Filando Castile, and now it seems like from an outsider's view.
So this could be wrong, but from an outsider's perspective,
it seems like the very law enforcement that you all
have watched abuse the rights of your citizens, hurt, harm,
(06:38):
and even kill. And I'm thinking specifically about the Minneapolis
Police Department. Now this community has to seemingly rely on
this same police department in the face of ice. Are
you all seeing that in the same way or does
it feel more like this community is doing this on
their own and law and this other law enforcement isity
(07:00):
is more or less coordinating with Ice. Well, it's a
bit of both. And yeah, I would also urge people
who have not followed what's been happening in Minnesota, you know,
before twenty twenty, to even look at Jamar Clark. There
was an eighteen day occupation at the fourth Precinct in
the middle of winter, and so the things that have
(07:24):
been ruminating here boiling here, have been simmering for a
long time. And I say both and directly to answer
your question about the relationship there with local law enforcement,
because back in June, and I think it's it's significant
to look at how things played out and the posture
(07:46):
of the Minneapolis police chief back in June and the
posture of the mayor back in June when the federal
government first came here, right, because two weeks before that
first federal raid in Minnesota, the DOJ rolled back the
dissent decree on our local law enforcement. There are dissent
(08:11):
decrees in a lot of police departments across this country. Right.
Our consent decree here, it was enacted after the murder
of George Floyd, after the federal government under the Joe
Biden administration investigated and uncovered patterns and practices of racial
discrimination and civil rights violations, and so they put forth
(08:35):
this consent decree. So why did the federal government roll
back that consent decree? No one ever was really told
why it just happened. The only other state we saw
this happening was Louisville, where Breonna Taylor was killed. Right,
So these two states very interesting. Then a few weeks later,
the federal government is here. They do this huge raid.
(08:56):
But everyone here locally, all of the share triff, the mayor,
the police chief, they stand in unity and they say, oh,
this was not an ice raid. This was a federal
raid against sex traffickers. And so they really held the
line for the federal government. Now you fast forward and
you see our mayor on television using profanity, grand standing
(09:18):
against the federal government. But he kind of allowed them
to come in and held the line for them and
be kind of became a local spokesperson on behalf of
their operation. So what we're I think there's that caused
a lot of mistrust to see the police chief take
(09:38):
that stand. And then when you're on the ground, regardless
of what they're saying in press conferences, when you're on
the ground, we're seeing local law enforcement agencies actually extend
the crime scene in order to allow federal agents to
leave these scenes safely. We're seeing city equipment used to
(09:59):
put up barrier between protesters and these federal agents. So
you know, we're I'm following what local elected officials are
saying in the press conferences, but what I'm hearing from
the people who I'm interviewing on the street is they're
waiting to see the action that matches up with what
locals are actually saying.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
That is such a profound point and what struck me, honestly,
Georgia is so often I feel like across the board, nationally,
white elected officials like the bar for what they have
to do in order to get like overwhelming support is
so low, like oh, he can do the dougie, you know,
(10:41):
and it's like you can, you know, you get this
this overwhelming support. So to hear you say that people
are seeing kind of this walking contradiction between what elected
official officials are saying stay the f out our city
or keep that f out or whatever versus what they've
actually done to facilitate some of that action is profound.
We did get a question from a viewer and I
meant to ask this, so I'm glad they brought it.
(11:02):
Daja Peterson asked, what is Operation surch Can you define
that for us or describe it?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, that is what the federal government. That's what Christy
nom announced as a title for the deployment of thousands
of federal agents here in Minnesota. And so it's just
kind of a name that the federal government has used
to basically come and occupy the state of Minnesota. I
(11:30):
believe at this point are over three thousand agents ice
agents here in our state. That number actually is larger
than the combined number of all of the local law
enforcement agencies combined in the metro area. So that's what
Operation Metro Surges, Operation Metro Search.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And then the other thing that I want to do,
just so we can put a video or an image
to Operation Surge, is play what Ice was doing on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Let's roll that clip so for those who are.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Listening, they detained and walked a man purp walked out
a man out of his house, half dressed with just
boxers and an open robond.
Speaker 7 (12:26):
You can't get close, y'all know you can just change
your mind and go home.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Stop doing the Scots and ship right.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
So I wanted to play, especially the clip of the
man who is an elder clearly an elderly man. I
know you know this story, Georgia, but I want you
to talk about this man is walked out of his house.
I don't know what the temperature is in Minneapolis right now,
but it's too cold for him to have an open
rollbond in boxers.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
The most important fact about that story is that was
a US that is a man who has gone through
the process to become a US citizen. He was embarrassed
in front of all of all of his neighbors, taken
out in seven degree weather, and some people said he
(13:17):
had just gotten out the shower. All he had on
was boxers and crocs, an elder, a US citizen. And
so to see those types of mistakes quote and I
say air quotes, mistakes right, made over and over and
(13:38):
over again, it is extremely disheartening. And I think it
signals going back to like the consent decree, right patterns
and practices. When you mainstream media wants us to look
at one isolated event at a time, No, take do
zoom out. Let's look at the aerial picture. Here. We
(14:01):
are seeing the patterns of unconstitutional arrests of you as citizens,
the violation of due process for people who are not citizens,
attacks on journalists, attacks on peaceful protesters, attacks on legal observers,
and many even let's say, arrest of people who maybe
should be arrested. They're happening violently. And so to see
(14:27):
these patterns continually perpetuated in America without any checks, without
any balances. We just we had a federal judge who
issued an order to basically reinforce the law prohibiting these
ice agents from attacking peaceful protesters and journalists and whatnot.
But it didn't stop them, you know. And so the
(14:50):
question I think that I'm asking myself as a mother
and as a parent. Who, yes, I work as a
journalist in Minnesota, but I also live here. What is
going to stop them? Yeah, because our governor has made please,
he said whatever political ego he had aside, and he
(15:11):
went on a national platform and said, please, can we
turn the temperature down here? We have seen these types
of concessions from so many elected officials here who now
today we're learning many are being subpoena into some type
of federal probe. And so I am continuing to challenge
(15:32):
myself to find language to talk about the reality that
we're living in, not just in Minnesota, but in America.
And it's frustrating because I think that media is very
powerful obviously, that's why this is the work that I do.
But to see mainstream media not contextualize what this government
(15:56):
really is, call it what it is we are now
in and authoritarian regime that is not going to follow
the constitution, that is not going to abide by the
orders of federal judges. And the longer that we refrain
from actually using the language, the longer it's going to
(16:17):
take for us to find real solutions to move our
country forward.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
What do you feel in this moment, Like you talked
about being a Minnesota resident, you talked about hearing the
police from at least the governor to abide by the constitution.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Like, calm down, because this is not it.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
We're not going in a good direction as a resident,
as a mother.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Are you afraid about what's next?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Absolutely? Absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
What drives you to keep be cause you're not just
like reporting on it from videos you're seeing online. You're
going to the heart of the protest, You're going to
the heat of the action. What is driving you to
be at ground zero in spite of that fear?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
We cannot be neutral about the dismantling of our democracy
and still expect to be protected by it. We cannot
allow our fear to paralyze us to the point where
we decide to do nothing, that we just become spectators
and then just live with the consequence of whatever this
(17:23):
administration is doing. And so I am activated by my ancestors.
I feel like I stand on the shoulders of I
to b Wells, who documented lynchings that was probably extremely
controversial at her time. I imagine that because she had such
a narrow focus and because she decided to tell the
stories of people who are lynched in their families, and
(17:45):
not so much so of the people who are lynching them.
She was probably accused of not being objective and being
an activist, and probably all the same things that I hear.
But it did not It did not prevent her from
continuing to do that documentation, which now fast forward years later,
is extremely essential to us understanding that era. It is
(18:08):
extremely essential because of the continued attempts to erase our history.
I stand on the shoulders of David Jackson, the photographer
who took the horrific image of Emmitt til which touched
the hearts, the minds, and the souls of so many
white Americans and activated them to do something. And so
(18:29):
I understand the power of media and the power of storytelling.
And if I allow my fear to paralyze me, then
I feel like they have won. I feel like in
twenty years we won't have an accurate reflection of what
is happening. And I think it's essential because you mentioned this,
(18:50):
like in your opening, this administration has a history of Lyne.
So who is going to be the archivist of this moment,
who is going to gather the truth and hold it
so that future generations can have an accurate reflection of
what this moment is really like.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Speaking of what this moment is really like. One place
that I say all the time, Georgia is a safe
space for me.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
It is where I met God.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
It is in the church, and even in the church
in Minneapolis it is compromised.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Let's please roll this clip.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
David Easterwood is a pastor here. He is also the
director of the field office for ICE and Saint Paul,
So someone who claims to worship God teaching people in
this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents.
(20:00):
Think about what we've experienced, the murder of Renee Good
at the hands of ICE, a Venezuelan national shot by ICE,
a six month thought baby who almost died as a
result of ICE unleash the military gray weapons on our community.
How dare you claim to be a pastor of God
(20:22):
and you are involved in evil in our community.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Wherein Jesus would be understanding.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
And we're about worship these moods, We're about straining the
love of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
To talk to them.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
As a solders.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Had gathered for worship wish we do every Sunday, and
we were interrupted by this group of protesters.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
We asked them to leave, and they.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Obviously have not lived.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
I gotta tell you, Georgia, it blew my mind to
see David Easterwood's name on letterhead as the acting field
director for the Saint Paul Office right for ICE.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
That's I think that's his title. That is an.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Intricate role in what is happening there, a primary coordinator
for what is happening on the ground with immigration and
Customs enforcement. I bring that up to say, I'm trying
to figure out what bib what I read. You know, like,
I just don't understand, and I know people do what
they have to do for work, but this feels like
(21:22):
a bridge too far.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Were you able to speak with him? This, of course,
was on your socials.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Again, if you all are not following at by Georgia,
for you are missing out. There is no coloring of
the truth. It is all facts, no fiction, telling you
what's really going on. You get to hear from protesters,
from residents, from people who've been detained. Of course, you
saw Don Lemon in that clip. If you're watching, you
heard his voice. If you're not watching, they're going after
(21:46):
Don Lemon allegedly with the KKK Act.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
The irony of going after a black man utilizing the
KKK act is astounding.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
And he's there just like you, reporting on what is happening.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
He didn't organize this, as you said that this, I mean,
Minnesota is a hotbed for activism. They know exactly what's
going on. They don't need y'all to organize this. They
do need y'all to report on it though.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yeah, and it would never happen to a white journalist.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
How about that.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I think there has been a progression of white Christian nationalism, yes,
and to see Christianity politicized, to see Christianity weaponized, even
pointing to the man who was arrested and charged for
(22:36):
the assassination of Melissa Hartman, this was a man who
was a Christian who did missions trips to Africa, right,
And so there is a lot of documentation that Christian
churches have been infiltrated with people who have their own
political agenda, and this protests, this demonstration brought awareness to that.
(23:04):
I want to be mindful, a lot of people in
the black community identify as Christians and have had a
very strong reaction to seeing this happen and the thing.
As a journalist is not our job to agree or disagree,
but to documents. And I did a follow up post
(23:25):
on my coverage around this saying civic civil disobedience also
is not to be agreed or disagreed with. It's a
decision that is made by organizers, activists, protesters. Historically speaking,
we just came off of Martin Luther King Holiday, right, Like,
(23:46):
he was arrested twenty nine times, so he's revered now.
Many people never make reference to the twenty nine times
that he was arrested. It was highly controversial during the
time of what he was doing and breaking the laws,
but it did result in change. Yeah, John Lewis revered
(24:07):
the he tokenized the word good trouble right, also arrested
many times, as recent as October twenty thirteen where he
was demonstrating at Get this and immigration protests. So there's
long history. Rosa Parks, right, she's the one who allowed
for our public buses to be desegregated and was the
(24:31):
face of the Montgomery bus boycott, also arrested, So you know,
I wish that again mainstream media and even the public, like,
we have to stop having selective outrage. We have to
stop looking at these issues in a vacuum. How did
all of a sudden national news A make Don Lemon
(24:53):
an independent journalists the face of this story. B. How
did they start talking about this story as though it
just poof came out of thin air, as though this
is not the same state where a US citizen named
Renee Good was just fatally shot by an ICE agent.
And essentially we're learning that the decision maker, his boss,
(25:18):
is a pastor at a church, and now there's actually
a protest there where he is a pastor, Like, how
are we not how are we isolating and just talking
about Oh, now the conversation is our church protests appropriate?
Would this be okay if it happened at a mosque?
How are we not talking about the unconstitutional arrest of
(25:40):
citizens that we're seeing happening every day, The due process
violations with the people who are not citizens, the attacks
on journalists, the attacks on peaceful protesters, the attacks on
legal observers, the failure to render aid to a US
citizen who is brutally shot in her face, the failure
to investigate the death of a woman a U A
citizen who is brutally shot in her face, How are
(26:02):
we we're not talking about that, but we're talking we're
debating about if a church protest is appropriate. How are
we not talking about the dismantling of our democracy in
real time, but we're debating if a church protest is
appropriate or not. I'm sorry, I'm not interested in wasting
my freedom right because now maybe I don't know. I
(26:24):
don't know if I'm being investigated. I don't know what's happening, right.
I'm not interested in using my freedom that I have,
my breath, that I have left in my body to
debate about that when the facts are unconstitutionals of citizens
are happening every day, regardless of your race, religion, socioeconomic status,
(26:46):
your gender, your political affiliation. If you call yourself an American,
you should be concerned that you, as citizens, are being
unlawfully arrested by ice and nothing is happening. There's no recourse,
there's no repercussion, there's no consequence. It's happening, it's allowed,
(27:08):
and it's being normalized. So this is what our society
is becoming, this is what our culture is becoming. And
it's not just gonna happen in Minnesota if nothing is
done about it happening here, It will happen in your city.
It is just a matter of time. It's not just
urban cities. We're hearing reports in Rochester, Minnesota, in Wilmer, Minnesota,
(27:30):
in Duluth, Minnesota, Encircle Pines, Minnesota, in rural areas that
this is also happening.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Well with that, Miss Georgia Fort, I am so grateful
for your time our modern day I to be well
speaking truth to power, just with facts, just with facts,
and with a camera. So thank you for your mic,
for your camera, for your courage, and for doing this
for all of us. We are absolutely your family here
in Native Lampod and look forward to having you back
(28:00):
on soon to tell us one what's happening and definitely
what we can do. Folks can follow you at by
Georgia Ford on Instagram. Any other handles you want to
drop or call to action you want to issue for
folks who are watching at.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Home, Support this podcast, support Don Lemon, support other independent
journalists like myself. My website's Georgiaford dot com. We have
to invest in support in our independent media because media
is under attack too, and so if we're not here tomorrow,
if the DOJ strong arms us and we can't continue
(28:34):
to do what we do. How are you going to
be informed? How are you going to find the truth?
Speaker 3 (28:40):
It's good. Well, thank you so much. Welcome home, y'all.
Until next time, see you soon.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
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Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome home. Y'all, this is Native Lampod. It's solo pod Day.
I'm your host, Angela Rai. And today we are still
talking about ICE just taking over Minneapolis, and the residents,
the citizens there are not letting it go by easily.
They are holding Ice accountable on every side. They are
(00:29):
ensuring that they are protecting citizens from horns, car horns
to whistles. They are ensuring that ICE's road is not easy. Now,
one thing I want to flag for you all these days,
you can't necessarily trust the data coming out of this
administration because they throw out numbers all the time that
may or may not be fact checked. But the Department
(00:50):
of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam is saying, as of today,
more than ten thousand people have been detained by ICE
in Minnesota. What we know so far is some of
these people are citizens. They're saying they're all illegals. First
of all, we all know that human beings cannot be illegal.
They can be undocumented people.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
But we know for a.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Fact They have even detained people who are Native American,
indigenous to this country, people who've been there before them. Right,
this is what we're up against right now, in this
day and age, right on the other side of the
Martin Luther King Holiday, I'm thrilled to introduce to some
of you.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I know many of you.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Many many of you have seen her incredible journalism on
the ground in Minnesota. And there's one of her first
videos that I saw that just pricked my heart, and
it is a young woman who is protesting on behalf
of her neighbors.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Let's roll that clip here today.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
I'm out here because I'm not and I want to
protect my neighbors. These are all people that I love,
and it makes me so mad that my class they's
I can't even take it. Every day every day we're
getting taken well, we.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
Care, we care, We're so mad, We're so mad and hurting. Yes,
what do you see as some of the solutions for
our country and how we move forward from this moment?
Speaker 6 (02:17):
We need to find better solutions to find people to
get into the country. No one should be illegal on
land that's not even belonging to our government.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
This isn't our land.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Tell me how you found out about the death of
Renee Good and how that impacted you.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
How did it make you feel.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I think I was just on my phone and I
saw it. It was kind of the same way that
I kind of found out about George Floyd. I was
just scrolling on my phone and it just made me
feel violated, because no one should have to face so
death that cruel.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
And what do you think justice looks like?
Speaker 6 (03:03):
Justice looks like getting everybody back to those family lists
now got Tiken wrongfully?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I just blown away by that video, the power and
the voice of that young woman, and the journalist who
platforms people who ordinarily would be ignored or not given
a platform to be heard at all. She is the
reason when we say independent journalism matters, especially in a
day and age where we are watching media companies bout
to Trump every single day, putting people on air who
(03:32):
are refusing, frankly, to tell the truth, to speak truth
to power, and ensure that at the very least this
administration is fact checked well on the ground. In Minnesota,
in Minneapolis specifically and in Saint Paul, Georgia Fort is
doing exactly that, and for that she's winning awards including
one that just was given to her yesterday on Doctor
King's holiday.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Welcome, Miss Georgia.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Fort, Thank you so much for having me. Angela Oh,
I'm thrilled to have you.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Thank you for being here, for making time in the
mist of everything that's going on. I just want to
ask you what you're hearing. We know Christy Nooam is
saying that more than ten thousand people have been detained
by ICE. What are you all hearing on the ground,
particularly from local elected leaders.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
We are actually witnessing for ourselves, us citizens being detained.
We're hearing directly from impacted families of people who are
going through the legal immigration process, who don't have a
criminal background, that are being detained. And so where I,
(04:34):
as a journalist, have researched some of these numbers right
anywhere from sixty five to seventy five percent according to
who you're checking with, of people who are currently detained
by ICE that don't have any criminal background. That is
extremely alarming, and like you pointed out, it's contradicting the
narrative and the statistics that we're getting from our federal government.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I'm curious to know.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
When you first learned that ICE was going to be
making its way to Minneapolis.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
What crossed your mind?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Well, I think my biggest concern was for the everyday
residents here and knowing that we were ground zero in
twenty twenty, knowing that there is an organizer community here,
a protest culture, I guess you could say, of people
(05:29):
who are not going to just lay down and take injustice,
take mistreatment. And so my biggest concern was how my
things escalate. And you know a lot of people may
or I guess, may not have heard that there was
a huge action that happened here back in June, right
before the assassination of Melissa Hortman, and so at that time,
(05:53):
people were tense thinking that we were going to become
this target, and it kind of then was just it
felt like a one time thing, and there was nothing
happening here up until recently when they announced Operation Metro Surge,
and so all of those worst case scenarios were actually
now seeing play out in real time. So I want
(06:15):
to stay here for a moment, because you talked about
George Floyd in twenty twenty, Before George Floyd, there was
Filando Castile, and now it seems like from an outsider's view.
So this could be wrong, but from an outsider's perspective,
it seems like the very law enforcement that you all
have watched abuse the rights of your citizens, hurt, harm,
(06:38):
and even kill. And I'm thinking specifically about the Minneapolis
Police Department. Now this community has to seemingly rely on
this same police department in the face of ice. Are
you all seeing that in the same way or does
it feel more like this community is doing this on
their own and law and this other law enforcement isity
(07:00):
is more or less coordinating with Ice. Well, it's a
bit of both. And yeah, I would also urge people
who have not followed what's been happening in Minnesota, you know,
before twenty twenty, to even look at Jamar Clark. There
was an eighteen day occupation at the fourth Precinct in
the middle of winter, and so the things that have
(07:24):
been ruminating here boiling here, have been simmering for a
long time. And I say both and directly to answer
your question about the relationship there with local law enforcement,
because back in June, and I think it's it's significant
to look at how things played out and the posture
(07:46):
of the Minneapolis police chief back in June and the
posture of the mayor back in June when the federal
government first came here, right, because two weeks before that
first federal raid in Minnesota, the DOJ rolled back the
dissent decree on our local law enforcement. There are dissent
(08:11):
decrees in a lot of police departments across this country. Right.
Our consent decree here, it was enacted after the murder
of George Floyd, after the federal government under the Joe
Biden administration investigated and uncovered patterns and practices of racial
discrimination and civil rights violations, and so they put forth
(08:35):
this consent decree. So why did the federal government roll
back that consent decree? No one ever was really told
why it just happened. The only other state we saw
this happening was Louisville, where Breonna Taylor was killed. Right,
So these two states very interesting. Then a few weeks later,
the federal government is here. They do this huge raid.
(08:56):
But everyone here locally, all of the share triff, the mayor,
the police chief, they stand in unity and they say, oh,
this was not an ice raid. This was a federal
raid against sex traffickers. And so they really held the
line for the federal government. Now you fast forward and
you see our mayor on television using profanity, grand standing
(09:18):
against the federal government. But he kind of allowed them
to come in and held the line for them and
be kind of became a local spokesperson on behalf of
their operation. So what we're I think there's that caused
a lot of mistrust to see the police chief take
(09:38):
that stand. And then when you're on the ground, regardless
of what they're saying in press conferences, when you're on
the ground, we're seeing local law enforcement agencies actually extend
the crime scene in order to allow federal agents to
leave these scenes safely. We're seeing city equipment used to
(09:59):
put up barrier between protesters and these federal agents. So
you know, we're I'm following what local elected officials are
saying in the press conferences, but what I'm hearing from
the people who I'm interviewing on the street is they're
waiting to see the action that matches up with what
locals are actually saying.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
That is such a profound point and what struck me, honestly,
Georgia is so often I feel like across the board, nationally,
white elected officials like the bar for what they have
to do in order to get like overwhelming support is
so low, like oh, he can do the dougie, you know,
(10:41):
and it's like you can, you know, you get this
this overwhelming support. So to hear you say that people
are seeing kind of this walking contradiction between what elected
official officials are saying stay the f out our city
or keep that f out or whatever versus what they've
actually done to facilitate some of that action is profound.
We did get a question from a viewer and I
meant to ask this, so I'm glad they brought it.
(11:02):
Daja Peterson asked, what is Operation surch Can you define
that for us or describe it?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, that is what the federal government. That's what Christy
nom announced as a title for the deployment of thousands
of federal agents here in Minnesota. And so it's just
kind of a name that the federal government has used
to basically come and occupy the state of Minnesota. I
(11:30):
believe at this point are over three thousand agents ice
agents here in our state. That number actually is larger
than the combined number of all of the local law
enforcement agencies combined in the metro area. So that's what
Operation Metro Surges, Operation Metro Search.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And then the other thing that I want to do,
just so we can put a video or an image
to Operation Surge, is play what Ice was doing on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Let's roll that clip so for those who are.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Listening, they detained and walked a man purp walked out
a man out of his house, half dressed with just
boxers and an open robond.
Speaker 7 (12:26):
You can't get close, y'all know you can just change
your mind and go home.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Stop doing the Scots and ship right.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
So I wanted to play, especially the clip of the
man who is an elder clearly an elderly man. I
know you know this story, Georgia, but I want you
to talk about this man is walked out of his house.
I don't know what the temperature is in Minneapolis right now,
but it's too cold for him to have an open
rollbond in boxers.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
The most important fact about that story is that was
a US that is a man who has gone through
the process to become a US citizen. He was embarrassed
in front of all of all of his neighbors, taken
out in seven degree weather, and some people said he
(13:17):
had just gotten out the shower. All he had on
was boxers and crocs, an elder, a US citizen. And
so to see those types of mistakes quote and I
say air quotes, mistakes right, made over and over and
(13:38):
over again, it is extremely disheartening. And I think it
signals going back to like the consent decree, right patterns
and practices. When you mainstream media wants us to look
at one isolated event at a time, No, take do
zoom out. Let's look at the aerial picture. Here. We
(14:01):
are seeing the patterns of unconstitutional arrests of you as citizens,
the violation of due process for people who are not citizens,
attacks on journalists, attacks on peaceful protesters, attacks on legal observers,
and many even let's say, arrest of people who maybe
should be arrested. They're happening violently. And so to see
(14:27):
these patterns continually perpetuated in America without any checks, without
any balances. We just we had a federal judge who
issued an order to basically reinforce the law prohibiting these
ice agents from attacking peaceful protesters and journalists and whatnot.
But it didn't stop them, you know. And so the
(14:50):
question I think that I'm asking myself as a mother
and as a parent. Who, yes, I work as a
journalist in Minnesota, but I also live here. What is
going to stop them? Yeah, because our governor has made please,
he said whatever political ego he had aside, and he
(15:11):
went on a national platform and said, please, can we
turn the temperature down here? We have seen these types
of concessions from so many elected officials here who now
today we're learning many are being subpoena into some type
of federal probe. And so I am continuing to challenge
(15:32):
myself to find language to talk about the reality that
we're living in, not just in Minnesota, but in America.
And it's frustrating because I think that media is very
powerful obviously, that's why this is the work that I do.
But to see mainstream media not contextualize what this government
(15:56):
really is, call it what it is we are now
in and authoritarian regime that is not going to follow
the constitution, that is not going to abide by the
orders of federal judges. And the longer that we refrain
from actually using the language, the longer it's going to
(16:17):
take for us to find real solutions to move our
country forward.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
What do you feel in this moment, Like you talked
about being a Minnesota resident, you talked about hearing the
police from at least the governor to abide by the constitution.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Like, calm down, because this is not it.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
We're not going in a good direction as a resident,
as a mother.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Are you afraid about what's next?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Absolutely? Absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
What drives you to keep be cause you're not just
like reporting on it from videos you're seeing online. You're
going to the heart of the protest, You're going to
the heat of the action. What is driving you to
be at ground zero in spite of that fear?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
We cannot be neutral about the dismantling of our democracy
and still expect to be protected by it. We cannot
allow our fear to paralyze us to the point where
we decide to do nothing, that we just become spectators
and then just live with the consequence of whatever this
(17:23):
administration is doing. And so I am activated by my ancestors.
I feel like I stand on the shoulders of I
to b Wells, who documented lynchings that was probably extremely
controversial at her time. I imagine that because she had such
a narrow focus and because she decided to tell the
stories of people who are lynched in their families, and
(17:45):
not so much so of the people who are lynching them.
She was probably accused of not being objective and being
an activist, and probably all the same things that I hear.
But it did not It did not prevent her from
continuing to do that documentation, which now fast forward years later,
is extremely essential to us understanding that era. It is
(18:08):
extremely essential because of the continued attempts to erase our history.
I stand on the shoulders of David Jackson, the photographer
who took the horrific image of Emmitt til which touched
the hearts, the minds, and the souls of so many
white Americans and activated them to do something. And so
(18:29):
I understand the power of media and the power of storytelling.
And if I allow my fear to paralyze me, then
I feel like they have won. I feel like in
twenty years we won't have an accurate reflection of what
is happening. And I think it's essential because you mentioned this,
(18:50):
like in your opening, this administration has a history of Lyne.
So who is going to be the archivist of this moment,
who is going to gather the truth and hold it
so that future generations can have an accurate reflection of
what this moment is really like.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Speaking of what this moment is really like. One place
that I say all the time, Georgia is a safe
space for me.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
It is where I met God.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
It is in the church, and even in the church
in Minneapolis it is compromised.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Let's please roll this clip.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
David Easterwood is a pastor here. He is also the
director of the field office for ICE and Saint Paul,
So someone who claims to worship God teaching people in
this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents.
(20:00):
Think about what we've experienced, the murder of Renee Good
at the hands of ICE, a Venezuelan national shot by ICE,
a six month thought baby who almost died as a
result of ICE unleash the military gray weapons on our community.
How dare you claim to be a pastor of God
(20:22):
and you are involved in evil in our community.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Wherein Jesus would be understanding.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
And we're about worship these moods, We're about straining the
love of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
To talk to them.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
As a solders.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Had gathered for worship wish we do every Sunday, and
we were interrupted by this group of protesters.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
We asked them to leave, and they.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Obviously have not lived.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
I gotta tell you, Georgia, it blew my mind to
see David Easterwood's name on letterhead as the acting field
director for the Saint Paul Office right for ICE.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
That's I think that's his title. That is an.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Intricate role in what is happening there, a primary coordinator
for what is happening on the ground with immigration and
Customs enforcement. I bring that up to say, I'm trying
to figure out what bib what I read. You know, like,
I just don't understand, and I know people do what
they have to do for work, but this feels like
(21:22):
a bridge too far.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Were you able to speak with him? This, of course,
was on your socials.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Again, if you all are not following at by Georgia,
for you are missing out. There is no coloring of
the truth. It is all facts, no fiction, telling you
what's really going on. You get to hear from protesters,
from residents, from people who've been detained. Of course, you
saw Don Lemon in that clip. If you're watching, you
heard his voice. If you're not watching, they're going after
(21:46):
Don Lemon allegedly with the KKK Act.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
The irony of going after a black man utilizing the
KKK act is astounding.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
And he's there just like you, reporting on what is happening.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
He didn't organize this, as you said that this, I mean,
Minnesota is a hotbed for activism. They know exactly what's
going on. They don't need y'all to organize this. They
do need y'all to report on it though.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yeah, and it would never happen to a white journalist.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
How about that.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I think there has been a progression of white Christian nationalism, yes,
and to see Christianity politicized, to see Christianity weaponized, even
pointing to the man who was arrested and charged for
(22:36):
the assassination of Melissa Hartman, this was a man who
was a Christian who did missions trips to Africa, right,
And so there is a lot of documentation that Christian
churches have been infiltrated with people who have their own
political agenda, and this protests, this demonstration brought awareness to that.
(23:04):
I want to be mindful, a lot of people in
the black community identify as Christians and have had a
very strong reaction to seeing this happen and the thing.
As a journalist is not our job to agree or disagree,
but to documents. And I did a follow up post
(23:25):
on my coverage around this saying civic civil disobedience also
is not to be agreed or disagreed with. It's a
decision that is made by organizers, activists, protesters. Historically speaking,
we just came off of Martin Luther King Holiday, right, Like,
(23:46):
he was arrested twenty nine times, so he's revered now.
Many people never make reference to the twenty nine times
that he was arrested. It was highly controversial during the
time of what he was doing and breaking the laws,
but it did result in change. Yeah, John Lewis revered
(24:07):
the he tokenized the word good trouble right, also arrested
many times, as recent as October twenty thirteen where he
was demonstrating at Get this and immigration protests. So there's
long history. Rosa Parks, right, she's the one who allowed
for our public buses to be desegregated and was the
(24:31):
face of the Montgomery bus boycott, also arrested, So you know,
I wish that again mainstream media and even the public, like,
we have to stop having selective outrage. We have to
stop looking at these issues in a vacuum. How did
all of a sudden national news A make Don Lemon
(24:53):
an independent journalists the face of this story. B. How
did they start talking about this story as though it
just poof came out of thin air, as though this
is not the same state where a US citizen named
Renee Good was just fatally shot by an ICE agent.
And essentially we're learning that the decision maker, his boss,
(25:18):
is a pastor at a church, and now there's actually
a protest there where he is a pastor, Like, how
are we not how are we isolating and just talking
about Oh, now the conversation is our church protests appropriate?
Would this be okay if it happened at a mosque?
How are we not talking about the unconstitutional arrest of
(25:40):
citizens that we're seeing happening every day, The due process
violations with the people who are not citizens, the attacks
on journalists, the attacks on peaceful protesters, the attacks on
legal observers, the failure to render aid to a US
citizen who is brutally shot in her face, the failure
to investigate the death of a woman a U A
citizen who is brutally shot in her face, How are
(26:02):
we we're not talking about that, but we're talking we're
debating about if a church protest is appropriate. How are
we not talking about the dismantling of our democracy in
real time, but we're debating if a church protest is
appropriate or not. I'm sorry, I'm not interested in wasting
my freedom right because now maybe I don't know. I
(26:24):
don't know if I'm being investigated. I don't know what's happening, right.
I'm not interested in using my freedom that I have,
my breath, that I have left in my body to
debate about that when the facts are unconstitutionals of citizens
are happening every day, regardless of your race, religion, socioeconomic status,
(26:46):
your gender, your political affiliation. If you call yourself an American,
you should be concerned that you, as citizens, are being
unlawfully arrested by ice and nothing is happening. There's no recourse,
there's no repercussion, there's no consequence. It's happening, it's allowed,
(27:08):
and it's being normalized. So this is what our society
is becoming, this is what our culture is becoming. And
it's not just gonna happen in Minnesota if nothing is
done about it happening here, It will happen in your city.
It is just a matter of time. It's not just
urban cities. We're hearing reports in Rochester, Minnesota, in Wilmer, Minnesota,
(27:30):
in Duluth, Minnesota, Encircle Pines, Minnesota, in rural areas that
this is also happening.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Well with that, Miss Georgia Fort, I am so grateful
for your time our modern day I to be well
speaking truth to power, just with facts, just with facts,
and with a camera. So thank you for your mic,
for your camera, for your courage, and for doing this
for all of us. We are absolutely your family here
in Native Lampod and look forward to having you back
(28:00):
on soon to tell us one what's happening and definitely
what we can do. Folks can follow you at by
Georgia Ford on Instagram. Any other handles you want to
drop or call to action you want to issue for
folks who are watching at.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Home, Support this podcast, support Don Lemon, support other independent
journalists like myself. My website's Georgiaford dot com. We have
to invest in support in our independent media because media
is under attack too, and so if we're not here tomorrow,
if the DOJ strong arms us and we can't continue
(28:34):
to do what we do. How are you going to
be informed? How are you going to find the truth?
Speaker 3 (28:40):
It's good. Well, thank you so much. Welcome home, y'all.
Until next time, see you soon.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Native Lampard is a product aection of iHeartRadio and partnership
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Hosts And Creators
Tiffany Cross
Andrew Gillum
Angela Rye
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