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Two weeks after Don Lemon reported on an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church, Federal agents arrest former CNN anchor He was in Los Angeles preparing to cover the Grammy Awards, prompting some liberal news organizations and journalists to sound the alarm about the Trump administration’s “anti-free speech” crackdown.
“Journalism is not a crime,” the National Press Club and PEN America said in a statement Friday morning.
A texting political reporter independent Shortly after his arrest, Lemon called this the “most anti-free speech administration in our lifetime,” adding this washington post raid earlier this month, It’s “just an escalation week after week, week after week.”
Lemon was arrested Independent Journalist Georgia Fort and several other protesters, following a district judge and a federal appeals court Rejects Justice Department’s attempt to bring charges against the 59-year-old former CNN star.
Lemon is Was present when demonstrations broke out On January 18, at St. Paul’s Church, protesters disrupted Sunday services and expressed their opposition to a pastor’s cooperation with the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office. Lemon, who now has a YouTube show, did not attend the protests but covered them on his show, interviewing demonstrators and a pastor at the church.
After Magistrate Judge Douglas Miko refused to sign the initial criminal indictment against Lemon, the Justice Department appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, but its appeal was again denied. Chief Justice Patrick J. Schlitz—a former staffer to Antonin Scalia and a George W. Bush appointee— explain Lemon and his producer “were not protesters at all,” and there was “no evidence that the two men engaged in any criminal conduct or conspired to do so.”
However, with lemon Long in the crosshairs trump and MAGA media ecosystem itself The government continued to press charges and issue legal threats against the former prime-time anchor over his criticism of the president, culminating in Lemon’s arrest Thursday night.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “At my direction, federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort and Jamael Lydell Lundy early this morning in connection with the coordinated attack on the City Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.” Friday morning tweets. “More details will be available soon.”
The administration and Trump’s allies immediately celebrated the arrest online, including on the White House’s official social media accounts, Posted image of lemon The caption read “When life gives you lemons” and a chain emoji. Katie Miller, MAGA influencer and spouse of Trump adviser Stephen Miller, brag Lemon was indicted by a grand jury Share homophobic attacks About openly gay journalists.
“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department devoted its time, attention and resources to this arrest, which is a true prosecution of wrongdoing in this case,” Lemon’s attorney, Abe Lowell, said in a statement.
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and a clear attempt to distract from the many crises facing this administration is indefensible. Don will vigorously and thoroughly fight these charges in court,” he added.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Justice Department jailed a reporter who the president has long been openly hostile to for covering the protests, a move that prompted multiple press freedom groups to warn of a “dangerous” government attack on free speech and the media.
“Journalists who are jailed for doing their jobs are dangerous — not just for press freedom, but for the public’s right to know. When journalists risk arrest for documenting matters of public interest, the result is fewer witnesses, less accountability and a more uninformed public,” said Mark Schoeff, Jr., president of the National Press Club.
“Journalism is not a crime,” Scheff said. “The arrest or detention of journalists covering protests, public events, or government actions poses a serious threat to press freedom and has the potential to chill coverage across the country. The world is watching closely, and the implications of this case extend far beyond any one journalist.”
Noting this arrest follows a federal raid washington post At the Journalists’ House, Tim Richardson, director of PEN America’s journalism and disinformation program, noted that “the Trump administration has once again trampled on the First Amendment” before calling on the Justice Department to dismiss the case against Lemon.
“The evidence against Lemon has been dismissed by a federal magistrate judge and a federal appeals court, which makes his arrest even more troubling and fully demonstrates the government’s continued abuse of power to deflect blame and intimidate the free press,” Richardson said. “Don Lemon was a journalist, and journalists have the right to gather news. We call on the government to drop all charges. Journalism is not a crime.”
“The government’s arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Ford are a naked attack on press freedom,” Seth Stern, advocacy director at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement. “The answer to this brazen attack is not fear or self-censorship. It is a stronger commitment to journalism, truth and the First Amendment. If the Trump administration thinks it can bully journalists into submission, it is mistaken.”
Catherine Jacobson of the Committee to Protect Journalists said in reaction to the arrests that “we know the treatment of journalists is an indicator of the state of a country’s democracy” and that “the United States is doing a terrible job.”
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, also urged the Justice Department to drop the prosecution of Lemon and Ford, calling their arrests “extremely shocking” because multiple judges have refused to approve warrants for their arrests. “We are particularly concerned about these arrests because they come amid the Trump administration’s increased efforts to tighten press freedoms,” Jaffer declared.
Clayton Weymers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders, called the arrests “yet another attack” on press freedom: “The Trump administration cannot send federal agents after reporters simply because they don’t like the stories they’re reporting — especially after repeatedly failing to obtain a warrant from the courts for Lemon’s arrest. Lemon and Ford should be released immediately.”
Free Press Initiative advocacy director Jenna Ruddock, who also called for the charges against Lemon and Ford to be dropped, said these “latest arrests are just the latest in a long list of First Amendment violations by the Trump administration” and “should outrage our major media organizations, our elected officials and the public.”
at the same time, other journalists Regroup behind Lemon called on others to speak up for him, especially those who call themselves free speech absolutists.
“Seriously, I want to hear from the Twitter docs about Don [Lemon] arrest. You may not like Don. You might think the church’s protest stunt is silly. You might be able to arrest protesters. But live streaming and reporting are ostensibly First Amendment rights you should support. ”Sam Stein of The Bulwark Tweet.
It’s worth noting that current CBS News editor-in-chief Barry Weiss one of the outstanding figures Twitter claims that Elon Musk tasked him with reviewing documents at the social media giant that allegedly show the government coerced former owners to censor content and politically support Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. His own lawyer refutes.
Additionally, Lemon’s press home for the past 17 years defended him and press freedom. “The FBI’s arrest of our former CNN colleague Don Lemon raises profound questions about press freedom and the First Amendment,” CNN said in a statement.
“The United States’ First Amendment protects journalists who witness news and events as they happen, ensuring they can report freely in the public interest, and the Department of Justice’s attempt to infringe on those rights is unacceptable.”