LOS ANGELES. —This Friday the lawyer of the journalist Don Lemonformer star anchor of the network CNNreported that the journalist arrested on charges of violating federal law while covering a protest at a church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, against immigration raids of the Government of Donald Trump.
The arrest of Lemon, a 59-year-old freelance reporter, occurred Thursday night in Los Angeles when the man was working covering the preparations for the Grammy Awards galaexplained his lawyer, Abbe Lowellin a statement.
La fiscal general, Pam Bondireported in a brief message on social networks that they arrested Lemon and three other people on his “order,” a fact that generated surprise given that a judge had rejected the charges brought against the journalist.
Protest against ICE in Minnesota church
On January 19, Lemon was at a protest in which a group of Protesters disrupted a church service in a church to demonstrate against their pastor, who also works for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and chanted slogans such as “ICE Out!”
The Trump administration’s Justice Department attempted to bring charges against eight people, including the journalist, invoking a law that protects those who participate in religious services in places of worship.
However, a judge who reviewed the evidence only authorized charges against three people and rejected those filed against Lemon and the other defendants as insufficient.
Subsequently, the prosecutor requested a federal court of appeals the issuance of arrest warrants, but these were denied.
Lemon’s attorney stressed in the statement that the First Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, “exists to protect journalists whose job it is to shed light on the truth and hold the powerful accountable.”
The leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, declared on networks that “there is no reason” to arrest Lemon and demanded his “immediate release.”
Redas massiveas a Minnesota
The massive raid campaign carried out in recent weeks in Minnesota, a state with a Democratic majority, has caused numerous protests, repressed by federal forces.
Immigration agents shot and killed two American protesters. These events unleashed enormous indignation and forced Trump to relieve operational command and promise a “de-escalation.”
READ: They identify the man who was shot dead by an ICE agent in Minneapolis
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