Press freedom teams decry arrest of former CNN anchor as lawyer pledges to battle expenses ‘vigorously’.
Journalist Don Lemon has been arrested in connection together with his protection of a protest towards United States President Donald Trump’s lethal immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota.
Lemon’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, mentioned on Friday that the journalist had been arrested in Los Angeles, the place he was protecting the Grammy Awards.
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It was not instantly clear what expenses Lemon was dealing with. In latest weeks, nonetheless, the Division of Justice indicated it could goal Lemon for his attendance at a January 18 protest, during which demonstrators disrupted a church service within the metropolis of St Paul, Minnesota.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no totally different than what he has all the time accomplished,” Lowell mentioned in an announcement.
He pointed to the First Modification of the US Structure, which protects the liberty of the press.
“The First Modification exists to guard journalists whose position it’s to shine mild on the reality and maintain these in energy accountable,” Lowell mentioned. “Don will battle these expenses vigorously and totally in courtroom”.
US Legal professional Common Pam Bondi confirmed the arrest on Friday, saying Lemon had been taken into custody with three others in reference to what she described because the “coordinated assault on Cities Church in St Paul, Minnesota”.
Lemon was a part of a collection of arrests that morning, all associated to the church demonstration. They included impartial journalist Georgia Fort, in addition to activists Jamael Lydell Lundy and Trahern Jeen Crews.
Federal authorities had beforehand arrested Minneapolis civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong and two others in reference to the protest.
Press freedom teams swiftly condemned the motion, which they referred to as a significant escalation within the administration’s assaults on journalists.
“The unmistakable message is that journalists should tread cautiously as a result of the federal government is on the lookout for any technique to goal them,” Seth Stern, the chief of advocacy on the Freedom of the Press Basis, mentioned in an announcement.
The Nationwide Press Membership additionally denounced the arrests in an announcement. “Arresting or detaining journalists for protecting protests, public occasions, or authorities actions represents a grave menace to press freedom and dangers chilling reporting nationwide,” it wrote.
Lemon had beforehand been an anchor for the CNN information community, however he was fired in 2023. He has since labored as an impartial journalist, with a outstanding presence on YouTube.
‘I’m right here as a journalist’
Throughout his on-line report from the church protest, Lemon repeatedly recognized himself as a reporter as he interviewed each demonstrators and church attendees.
“I’m not right here as an activist. I’m right here as a journalist,” he informed these current.
Protesters had focused the church, which belongs to the Southern Baptist Conference, attributable to its pastor, David Easterwood, who additionally holds a job as the top of a area workplace for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Critics have questioned why the Justice Division swiftly opened a probe into the church protest, whereas it declined to open a civil rights investigation into an ICE agent’s killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on January 7.
The division has not but mentioned if it’s going to open an investigation into the January 24 killing of US citizen Alex Pretti by border patrol brokers in Minneapolis.
“As an alternative of investigating the federal brokers who killed two peaceable Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Division is devoting its time, consideration and assets to this arrest, and that’s the actual indictment of wrongdoing on this case,” Lowell mentioned in his assertion.
Friday’s arrest comes after a federal choose in Minnesota took the uncommon transfer final week of refusing to signal an arrest warrant for Lemon. Justice Division officers however promised to proceed pursuing expenses.
