Journalist Don Lemon was charged with alleged conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers because he covered an Jan. 18 anti-ICE protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the pastor is an ICE official.
According to the charging document, Lemon allegedly “conspired and agreed” with others who demonstrated on Jan. 18 “to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate multiple persons, including the clergy, staff, and congregants of the Cities Church.”
The Associated Press reports that a judge refused to charge Lemon last week:
A magistrate judge last week rejected prosecutors’ initial bid to charge the veteran journalist. Shortly after, he predicted on his show that the administration would try again.
“And guess what,” he said. “Here I am. Keep trying. That’s not going to stop me from being a journalist. That’s not going to diminish my voice. Go ahead, make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel, if you want. Just do it. Because I’m not going anywhere.”
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi promoted the arrests on social media.
(Source: Associated Press, Image: Don Lemon Show)