Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested this Friday in Los Angeles for his involvement in a protest in a church against President Donald Trump’s immigration offensive in Minneapolis a week ago.
According to a Justice Department official, Lemon is accused by authorities of conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinics and Places of Worship (FACE) Act. However, according to his defense, Lemon limited himself to broadcasting live a demonstration that interrupted a religious service in St. Paul in protest of Trump’s order to “hunt” the illegal immigrant.
Since DecemberICE and Border Patrol have arrested around 3,500 children and adults in Minneapolis and they have killed two local citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in addition to hundreds of cases of abuse of power, gratuitous violence, captures of innocents and forced transfers.
“Lemon has been practicing journalism for 30 years and his work in Minneapolis, protected by the Constitution, was no different from what he has carried out throughout his entire career. “The First Amendment exists precisely to protect journalists whose function is to shed light on the truth and hold power accountable,” says his lawyer Abbe Lowell.
For the lawyer, “this unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and the obvious attempt to divert attention from the multiple crises facing the Government will not succeed.” “Don Lemon will fight these charges vigorously in court,” he said.
The journalist worked for 17 years at CNN until he was fired in 2023 for making on-air comments about women and then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Lemon apologized for those words that some called “sexist.”
