Don Lemon Arrested Over Coverage Of Minnesota ICE Protests
Don Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles, reportedly on charges that have not been officially shared with the public. Don Lemon was preparing to cover the Grammy Awards this weekend when the arrest was made, and details are still developing.
As reported by Deadline, Don Lemon was arrested on Thursday (January 29) in Los Angeles.
Two weeks before the arrest on January 18, Lemon was at a Minnesota church where an anti-ICE and anti-immigration protest took place, with Lemon speaking with attendees at the time.
From what can be ascertained from Attorney General Pam Bondi, the arrest seems to be connected to Lemon’s visit to a St. Paul church. On X, Bondi named Lemon and other individuals, framing the visit to the church as a “coordinated attack.”
“At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. More details soon,” Bondi wrote.
Bondi was reportedly “enraged” that a federal judge decided not to press charges against Lemon for entering the church. One of the church’s pastors is reportedly the acting field director for ICE in the Twin Cities region, hence why the protest took place. Lemon maintained he was just there as a journalist, not a protester.
Abbe Lowell, Lemon’s attorney, shared a statement in support of his client.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said. “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.”
The aforementioned Georgia Fort, an independent journalist, was also arrested early Friday morning (January 30) and recorded the incident on Facebook Live. Agents obtained an indictment from a federal grand jury for recording the protests at the St. Paul church, where Lemon also livestreamed.
“I’m going to have to hop off here and surrender to agents. As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago, and now I am being arrested for that,” Fort said.
As this story develops, we’ll share more details.
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Photo: Getty
Don Lemon Arrested Over Coverage Of Minnesota ICE Protests was originally published on hiphopwired.com
