Don Lemon has pleaded not guilty to federal charges related to an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 18.
Lemon submitted his plea before a magistrate in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday, February 13, according to local affiliates KMSP-TV Fox 9 and WCCO-TV. The arraignment was held at the Warren E. Burger Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse.
The former CNN anchor was arrested on Thursday, January 29, in Los Angeles by federal agents and was charged with federal civil rights crimes, including conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of churchgoers during an anti-ICE protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, per The Associated Press. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor at the church. Lemon, who’s now an independent journalist, previously said that he was at the protest as press to document it.
Lemon was indicted by a grand jury along with eight others. The charges also include working to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the exercise of the right of religious freedom at a place of worship. Lemon was held by authorities until the next day after his arrest. He was released without bail.
The journalist said he “had no affiliation” with the demonstrators, adding, “I didn’t even know they were going to this church until we followed them. We were there chronicling protests,” per Deadline.
Lemon livestreamed the Cities Church protest.
“I’m not going to get in the middle of it, because I’m not here as an activist. I’m here as a journalist,” Lemon said to viewers during the livestream.
The indictment groups Lemon in with other alleged co-conspirators for the protest rather than identifying him as a journalist. The same happened to Georgia Fort, who is also an independent journalist.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement at the time of his arrest. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work.”
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Originally published on tvinsider.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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