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previous CNN news anchor Don Lemon Entered a no guilty plead Friday arrive federal Charged for covering protests minnesota Church opposes president Donald TrumpThe immigration crackdown is the latest move by the Republican administration to target critics.
Lemon, now independent reporterlive-streamed a protest against Trump’s deployment of thousands of armed immigration officers to Minnesota’s largest city. Demonstrations disrupted services at St. Paul’s City Church on January 18.
Lemon was detained overnight after being arrested by the FBI Thursday night, and a magistrate judge ordered his release pending trial.
When asked if he understood the proceedings, Lemon, who was wearing a beige double-breasted suit, said only “Yes, your honor.” His lawyer confirmed his not guilty plea.
“He’s committed to fighting this. He’s not going anywhere,” Lemon attorney Marilyn Bednarski said.
“I’ve been covering news my whole career. I’m not going to stop now,” Lemon told reporters after the hearing. “I will not remain silent. I look forward to my day in court.”
The grand jury indictment accuses Lemon, who is black, of conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and violating a law used to suppress demonstrations at abortion clinics but also prohibits obstructing access to houses of worship. Six other people who attended the protest, including another journalist, also face the same charges.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis and other U.S. cities on Friday to denounce an immigration crackdown in which federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, sparking one of the most serious political crises Trump has faced.
Press advocates are alarmed
Press freedom advocates expressed shock at the arrests. Actor and activist Jane Fonda went to express her support for Lemon, telling reporters the president violated the Constitution. “They arrested the wrong Don,” Fonda said.
Trump harshly condemned protesters in Minnesota, blaming protests at city churches on “agitators and insurrectionists” who he said wanted to intimidate Christian believers.
Organizers told Lemon they were focusing on the church because they believed it contained a pastor and a high-level U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee.
More than a week ago, the government arrested three people it said were organizing the protests. But the St. Paul magistrate judge who authorized the arrest ruled that without a grand jury indictment, there was no possibility of issuing arrest warrants for Lemon and several others the Justice Department also wanted to indict.
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and a clear attempt to distract from the many crises facing this administration is indefensible,” Lemon’s attorney, Abe Lowell, said in a statement, citing the Constitution’s protection of free speech.
In a live broadcast archived on his YouTube channel, Lemon can be seen meeting and conducting interviews with activists before heading to the church, then documenting the chaos inside and interviewing congregants, protesters and a pastor who asked Lemon and the protesters to leave.
Local independent journalist Georgia Ford and two other people who had been at the church were also arrested and charged with the same offences.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster on Friday ordered Ford released and rejected prosecutors’ request to detain her, court documents show.
Trump critics target
Last year, the Justice Department attempted to prosecute a series of Trump critics and perceived enemies. A judge dismissed the charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom led investigations into Trump.
Lemon spent 17 years at CNN, becoming one of its best-known figures and a frequent critic of Trump in YouTube broadcasts. Lemon was fired from CNN in 2023 for making sexist comments on air, for which he later apologized.
Trump has often lambasted journalists and the news media, sometimes going further than his predecessors by suing them for damages or stripping them of access.
FBI agents holding a search warrant this month seized laptops and other equipment from the home of a Washington Post reporter who covered Trump’s firings of federal staff, saying they were investigating the leak of government secrets.
Journalism advocates called the FBI raids on Washington Post reporters and the arrests of Lemon and Ford an escalating attack on press freedom.
“Covering protests is not a crime,” said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Jaffer called the arrests shocking and said Trump was trying to “increase restrictions on press freedom.”
Trump said he was attacking because he was tired of “fake news” and hostile reporting.
Legal experts said they were unaware of any U.S. precedent of arresting journalists afterward or under the two laws used to charge Lemon and Ford. These include the Free Clinic Entrance Act, a 1994 measure designed to prevent obstruction of access to abortion clinics and places of worship.