Federal court records show the Department of Justice sought search warrants targeting journalist Don Lemon and Georgia Fort and three protesters connected to the Cities church demonstration in St Paul, Minnesota. A court rejected the warrant requests twice. Magistrate Judge John Docherty issued blunt opinions stating officials did not meet basic legal standards and criticized the failure to mention a federal law that could have made some warrants illegal. The Department of Justice later withdrew the requests. The applications sought information about YouTube channels used by Lemon and Fort and a third channel allegedly belonging to William Scott Kelly. The government also requested subscriber information, including names, addresses, and emails, for people who watched the channels. Watching a YouTube channel is not a crime and is protected by the First Amendment.
"A federal judge unsealed records showing that the Department of Justice tried and failed to get search warrants targeting journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, as well as three protesters involved in the Cities church demonstration in St Paul, Minnesota, last winter. A court rejected the search warrants twice. In strikingly blunt opinions, magistrate judge John Docherty said officials didn't meet basic legal standards and chastised them for failing to mention a federal law that may have made some of the warrants illegal. The Department of Justice later withdrew the requests."
"The first set of applications sought information about YouTube channels used by Lemon and Fort, and a third channel that allegedly belongs to a protester, William Scott Kelly. But in addition to information about Lemon, Fort and Kelly, the government also wanted information about their subscribers the names, address and emails of people who simply watched their channels. What other abuses are flying under the radar in still sealed court records around the country? Why would the government need that information?"
"Watching a YouTube channel isn't a crime. It's clearly protected by the first amendment. The obvious effect of demanding subscriber information d"
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