[Crimson Dynamo]

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Crimson Dynamo

They probably kept him in holding until he was released since he wouldn't have been there long, so he would've been in plain clothes...

[bots]

entering a church was a dumb move by the protestors

[arista]

He is still has a Court date

[Maru]

Here is my favorite example of a streamer pushing the limits of independent journalism to generate content (read: create propaganda)... meet Nick Sortor...

The booth he walks through is the tent that Antifa/Anti-ICE had setup in front of the Portland ICE facility.

How do far we really want to go to say this is "journalist" activity protected by 1st amendment before we simply start to say it's some dude with a camera filming himself being a jack*ss and getting involved with those other activities?

This is, by the way, the premise behind the "legal" part of "legal observer" and the intent is to use 1st amendments activities as a cudgel to evade any such consequences of being an agitator.

S: https://antidotezine.com/2026/01/27/...please-advise/

In Minneapolis, we have found that citizen observers have mostly been released quickly and without charges after being detained by ICE.

It is worth noting that across the country, several instances of trumped-up charges faced by observers have been dropped, because observing is, for the most part, a perfectly lawful activity.

More information on Sortor, which I think is useful for analysis:



Rightwing influencer with White House ties turns focus to Minnesota
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ing-influencer

A rightwing influencer, who appeared to admit that he recently drove his truck at protesters in Minneapolis, has for years cooperated with the Trump administration even while he has been repeatedly accused of escalating conflict for video content he pumps out to 1.2 million followers on X.

Nick Sortor has received the full-throated support of the Trump administration after an October arrest in Portland, and attended an October White House influencer roundtable on “antifa”.

Nick Sortor says ‘Somali thugs’ robbed him of $1K camera and 'dragged' him by car in Minneapolis
https://news.meaww.com/nick-sortor-s...in-minneapolis

A lot of the content he and people like him produce is valuable. There's not many people with the time and money to attend these protests 24/7 and get an accurate picture of what is actually happening. However, it's also true that many of them are at least passively intimate with one side or the other (the side they agree with) ... usually they have podcasts or panels where they broadcast people "on the ground".

Don Lemon is inserting himself as being part of this field, imo.

[Maru]

Speaking of getting locked up: "I ain't worried about that"

[GiRTh]

Youtube video

Youtube video

He’s popping up on every show now, exactly as expected, so no surprises there. From what’s been reported, he followed the protesters into the church while covering the situation and has maintained that he was acting in a journalistic capacity rather than participating — which is consistent with how he’s handled similar events in the past. The First Amendment protects journalists while they’re doing their jobs, and several judges have already pushed back on attempts to prosecute him, yet the Department of Justice is still pursuing charges.

He’s clearly leaning into the “I was reporting, not protesting” angle, and the legal back‑and‑forth around that is becoming its own storyline. At this point, all anyone can really do is watch how the next steps unfold.