The First Amendment is under fire as federal agents move against one of media’s most recognizable faces. Don Lemon is in handcuffs over a Minnesota protest that the government labels a crime—and his defense calls pure journalism. From a midnight arrest in Beverly Hills to a grand jury indictment, the battle over press freedom has reached a boiling point. WATCH the explosive details of the arrest that is shaking the nation.
The erstwhile CNN anchor and three others were apprehended on counts stemming from a protest this month in St. Paul, Minn., Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.
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- Federal agents apprehended the erstwhile CNN anchor Don Lemon late Thursday on allegations that he breached federal law during a Jan. 18 protest in St. Paul, Minn., against the Trump administration’s immigration offensive, his legal counsel stated.
- The case had been dismissed last week by a magistrate judge, but Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the arrests of Mr. Lemon and three others in connection with the church protest.
- The other individuals taken into custody include Georgia Fort, an independent journalist, and activists Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy.
- The announcement arrived as fresh demonstrations commenced in downtown Minneapolis over the administration’s aggressive enforcement initiative.
Mr. Lemon, who was slated to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday morning to challenge the charges, has stated he was reporting as a journalist when he entered Cities Church in St. Paul to observe a protest against the immigration crackdown. Ms. Fort also maintained she was recording the protest as a journalist and labeled the case against her a breach of her constitutional rights.
Dissenters interrupted the service this month at Cities Church, where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official serves as a pastor, and shouted “ICE out”. Afterward, the Trump administration sought to prosecute eight people over the episode, citing a law that shields people seeking to participate in a service in a house of worship.
Judicial History and Legal Battle
A magistrate judge who evaluated the evidence last week authorized charges against only three of the eight, turning down the evidence against Mr. Lemon and the others as inadequate. The Justice Department then entreated a federal appeals court to compel the judge to issue the supplementary warrants, only to be rebuffed.
Abbe Lowell, a legal representative for Mr. Lemon, pledged to fight the charges. “Don Lemon was apprehended by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was reporting on the Grammy awards,” Mr. Lowell said in a statement. “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally-guaranteed work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done”.
Mr. Lowell added, “This unparalleled assault on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges resolutely and thoroughly in court”.
Charges and Political Fallout
The Trump administration has pursued two criminal charges against the church protesters and Mr. Lemon: conspiring to violate rights and interfering with someone’s religious freedom in a house of worship. Now that he has been detained, Mr. Lemon is likely to dispute the prosecution’s case by arguing that he was not protesting, but rather filming the event as a journalist.
“Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was report on it and talk to the people involved, including the pastor, members of the church and members of the organization,” Mr. Lemon said in a recent clip. “That’s it. That’s called journalism”.
The arrest of Mr. Lemon comes against the backdrop of instability inside the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis. At a heated meeting earlier this week, a number of prosecutors challenged the head of the office about the administration’s decision not to conduct investigations of the shootings by federal agents. At least a half dozen prosecutors have resigned, and more withdrawals are expected.
WATCH: Journalist Don Lemon Seized by Federal Agents Following Minnesota Church Demonstration
National Tensions
The backlash against the administration has grown since the slayings of two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month. Tom Homan, sent by President Trump to supervise the operation in Minnesota, conceded on Thursday that it needed to be “fixed” and that not “everything that has been done here has been flawless”.
President Trump called Alex Pretti, the nurse who was one of two Americans fatally shot by federal agents, an “instigator” and possibly an “insurrectionist” in a social media post early Friday, reiterating efforts by his administration to blame the victims of the shootings. Witness videos of Mr. Pretti’s earlier scuffle from Jan. 13 and from the moments preceding his killing on Jan. 24 refute federal officials’ claims that he intended to “massacre” law enforcement officers.
