Don Lemon was arrested by federal authorities earlier this month for reporting a protest against the Trump administration’s immigration policies that disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.
According to reports, the 59-year-old gay journalist was arrested in the lobby of a Beverly Hills hotel around 11 p.m. by agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, the main investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). CNN. He was in Los Angeles to cover the Grammy Awards.
Lemon was charged with conspiracy and interference with the First Amendment rights of worshipers, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It remains unclear whether these charges were approved by a judge or grand jury.
Federal authorities previously tried unsuccessfully to charge Lemon with violating the Federal Freedom of Admissions to Clinic Act (FACE). The law was originally intended to protect access to reproductive health care clinics and also prohibits the use of force, intimidation, or physical obstruction to prevent people from exercising their right to religious worship.
On Friday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she had ordered federal agents to arrest Lemon and three other people, including independent journalist Georgia Fort, in connection with what she called a “coordinated attack” on Cities Church, affiliated with the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention.
The protest was one of several held in Minneapolis and St. Paul to protest the Trump administration’s deployment of ICE and Border Patrol agents to Minnesota as part of a broader federal immigration crackdown. Many of the demonstrators also denounced the killing of Renee Nicole Good, a queer Minneapolis resident and American citizen who was shot and killed by ICE agents during a protest on January 7th. The Trump administration claims Good was a terrorist and endangered the lives of operatives.
Organizers of the Jan. 18 protest targeted Cities Church. That’s because one of those pastors, David Easterwood, is the acting field office director for ICE in Minnesota. Inside the church, demonstrators shouted at members, including children, holding signs and chanting “ICE out!”
During the protest, Lemon entered the church and interviewed the pastor who was conducting the service (not Easterwood), as well as members of the congregation and several demonstrators.
Federal prosecutors attempted to charge Lemon under the FACE Act, but a federal judge refused to sign the complaint, citing insufficient evidence. After U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patrick Shilts refused to intervene, calling the Justice Department’s request “unprecedented,” prosecutors appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which rejected the government’s efforts to press charges.
Despite the magistrate’s dismissal, the Justice Department reported that it intends to pursue charges against Lemon, who has argued that he was exercising his First Amendment rights by reporting on the protests. NBC News.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different from anything he has ever done,” attorney Abby Rowell said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists who are tasked with highlighting the truth and holding those in power accountable. There has never been a more important time for people like Don to do this work.”
“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful protesters in Minnesota, the Trump Justice Department is dedicating its time, attention and resources to this arrest, which is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” Rowell added. “This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and blatant attempts to distract from the many crises facing this administration cannot stand. Don will vigorously and thoroughly contest these charges in court.”
Fort, a Minneapolis-based independent journalist who has photographed protests and reported extensively on ICE actions and citizen resistance to immigration crackdowns, said: arrested after federal agents visited her home following a grand jury indictment.
The Human Rights Campaign called the arrests of Lemon and Fort “an alarming escalation of the Trump administration’s all-out attack on the U.S. Constitution.”
“This moment should serve as a wake-up call to all Americans who value civil liberties,” HRC President Kelly Robinson said in a statement. “When journalists can be detained for covering protests, none of us are safe. None of us is free.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
