Feds got warrants to use fake cell towers to hunt down Don Lemon's producer

What it is

WIRED, reviewing court filings in the Cities Church (St. Paul) prosecution, reports that federal agents sought cell-site simulator (Stingray/IMSI catcher) authorization against people tied to the January 18 anti-ICE protest. Judges signed warrants to target the phone of Jerome Richardson, a producer for Don Lemon, in Minnesota on January 30 and in Pennsylvania on January 31. Richardson is one of 39 people charged.

What the record does and does not establish

• The reviewed records do not show that a simulator was actually deployed to locate Richardson.
• They do not show whether judges approved the applications targeting journalist Georgia Fort or Jamael Lundy, then a Minnesota State Senate candidate.
• It is also unclear whether any pen register orders were approved. These were sought for Fort and for a number WIRED traced to Lemon.
• Fort's lawyers wrote in July that prosecutors "did not know" whether the applications were authorized or yielded evidence.
• Richardson's suppression motion targets "phone tracking" evidence but does not say whether a simulator was used.

Process and policy details the summary omits

• Affidavit error: the affidavits said video showed Fort, Lemon and Richardson "chanting with agitators." Prosecutors have conceded Lemon and Fort did not chant. The government acknowledged the false claim appeared in at least 15 warrant affidavits.
• Necessity is questioned: the second warrant was signed January 31, the day Richardson posted a video saying he expected to enter custody "in the coming days." He surrendered voluntarily two days later in Philadelphia and was released on bond. It is unclear whether the warrant preceded the video. A former federal prosecutor said simulator use to locate someone isn't inherently unusual but called this case aggressive.
• Policy gap: DHS policy limits simulators to "the fraction of cases" where they are best suited to specific public safety objectives. The page says it is unclear what objective applied here.
• Secrecy: FBI records released in 2023 showed that police borrowing FBI simulators had to agree to keep details of their use secret, even in court.
• Parallel non-judicial tactics: DHS demanded journalists' phone and YouTube records under a customs authority that needs no prior judicial approval. Defense attorneys count 92 customs summonses and are challenging them. Agents also sought records of everyone who bought a particular REI beanie in the Twin Cities area over more than two years.
• Judicial pushback: a magistrate judge refused five of eight arrest warrants, and an appeals court rejected the DOJ's bid to override that. The grand jury indictment came January 29.

Relevance to defenders

• Simulators collect identifying information from any nearby cellular device, including bystanders' phones.
• EFF's Cooper Quintin has developed detection tools. WIRED used EFF's detection software to find signs of a simulator near the 2024 DNC in Chicago. The operator and purpose are unknown, and the page does not name the software or give usage steps.

Caveats

• The page gives no technical detail on the devices used here, and no detection procedure.
• The DOJ said it "speaks through its court filings." DHS declined to comment, and the US Attorney's Office did not respond.
• Attorneys for Lemon, Lundy and Fort did not respond to WIRED, and Richardson's attorneys declined to comment on the record.