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

Federal law enforcement obtained warrants to use cell-site simulators (Stingrays) to locate and arrest Jerome Richardson, a 21-year-old who helped produce Don Lemon's coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church in January. Richardson is among 39 people charged with interfering with religious worship, while journalists Lemon and Georgia Fort, who covered the protest, also face charges; agents separately sought warrants to track Fort and another activist's phones. Privacy advocates have criticized the use of these controversial surveillance devices, which can indiscriminately collect data from nearby phones, as potential tools for targeting journalists and protesters.