The former news anchor of CNN, Don Lemon, pleaded not guilty this Friday of the federal charges that accused him of his participation in the coverage of a protest, in a church in Minnesota, against President Donald Trump’s immigration offensive.
Lemon, now a freelance journalist, live-streamed a protest against the deployment of thousands of armed immigration agents in Minnesota’s largest cities, governed by Democrats. The protest disrupted a Jan. 18 church service at St. Paul’s Church of the Cities.
A magistrate judge ordered that it be released to await trialafter spending a night in custody after being arrested Thursday night by the FBI.
Dressed in a cream double-breasted suit, Lemon only responded “yes, your honor” when asked if he understood the procedure. One of his lawyers stated that he pleaded not guilty. “He is committed to fighting this. It’s not going anywhere“said Lemon’s attorney, Marilyn Bednarski.
“I have dedicated my entire career to covering news. I am not going to stop now”Lemon told reporters after the hearing. “I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.”
a grand jury accused Lemon of conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and to violate a law that has been used to suppress demonstrations at abortion clinics, but which also prohibits obstructing access to places of worship. Six other people who attended the protest, including another journalist, face the same charges.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis and other US cities on Friday to denounce an immigration crackdown in which federal agents fatally shot two US citizens, sparking one of the most serious political crises Trump has faced.
“The wrong Don”
Press freedom advocates expressed alarm at the arrests. The actress and activist Jane Fonda came to show her support at Lemon and told reporters that the president was violating the Constitution. “They arrested the wrong Don,” Fonda declared.
Trump, who has criticized protesters in Minnesota, blamed the Church of the Cities protest on “agitators and insurrectionists” who, according to him, wanted to intimidate the Christian faithful.
Organizers told Lemon they focused on the church because they believed a pastor there was also a high-ranking employee of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Jane Fonda speaks outside the federal courthouse after Don Lemon was arrested.
Reuters.
More than a week ago, the government arrested three people who, he claimed, organized the protests. However, the St. Paul magistrate who approved those arrests ruled that, without an indictment by the grand jury, there was no probable cause to issue arrest warrants against Lemon and several other people the Justice Department also wanted to prosecute.
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract from the many crises facing this administration will not be tolerated,” Abbe Lowell, Lemon’s attorney, said in a statement, invoking constitutional protections for free speech.
In the livestream archived on his YouTube channel, Lemon can be seen meeting and interviewing activists before they go to church, and then making a chronicle of the disturbance withininterviewing parishioners, protesters, and a pastor, who asks Lemon and the protesters to leave.
The local freelance journalist Georgia Fort and two others who were in the church were also arrested and accused of the same crimes.
U.S. Magistrate Dulce Foster on Friday ordered Fort’s release, denying prosecutors’ request to keep her in custody, according to court documents.
Criticism of Trump
Over the past year, the Justice Department has attempted to prosecute a series of Trump critics and alleged enemies. a judge dismissed the charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the investigations into Trump.
Lemon worked 17 years at CNNbecoming one of its most recognized personalities, and frequently criticizes Trump in his YouTube broadcasts. He was fired from CNN in 2023 after making sexist comments on air, for which he later apologized.
Trump frequently attacks journalists and media outlets, going further than his predecessors by sometimes sue them for damages or stripping them of the credentials that grant them access.
FBI agents with a search warrant This month, laptops and other devices were confiscated from the home of a journalist from the Washington Post that covered Trump’s firings of federal workers, saying it was investigating leaks of government secrets.
Press advocates called the FBI search involving the Post journalist and the arrests of Lemon and Fort an escalating attack on press freedom.
“Reporting on protests is not a crime”said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Jaffer called the arrests alarming and said Trump was seeking to “tighten the chains of press freedom.”
Trump has said his attacks are because he is tired of “fake news” and hostile coverage.
Legal experts said they were unaware of any precedent in the United States for arresting journalists after the fact, or under the two laws used to charge Lemon and Fort. Among them is the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a 1994 measure that prevents obstructing access to abortion clinics and places of worship.
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