Journalist Don Lemon charged with federal civil rights crimes after covering anti-ICE church protest

LOS ANGELES — Journalist Don Lemon was released from custody Friday after he was arrested and hit with federal civil rights charges over his coverage of an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church.

Lemon was arrested overnight in Los Angeles, while another independent journalist and two protest participants were arrested in Minnesota. He struck a confident, defiant tone while speaking to reporters after a court appearance in California, declaring: ''I will not be silenced.''

''I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,'' Lemon said. ''In fact there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.''

The arrests brought sharp criticism from news media advocates and civil rights activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said the administration of President Donald Trump is taking a ''sledgehammer'' to ''the knees of the First Amendment.''

A grand jury in Minnesota indicted Lemon and others on charges of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers during the Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor.

In court in Los Angeles, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Robbins argued for a $100,000 bond, telling a judge that Lemon ''knowingly joined a mob that stormed into a church.'' He was released, however, without having to post money and was granted permission to travel to France in June while the case is pending.

Defense attorney Marilyn Bednarski said Lemon plans to plead not guilty and fight the charges in Minnesota.

''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 earlier Friday.

Attorney General Pam Bondi promoted the arrests on social media.

''Make no mistake. Under President Trump's leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely,'' Bondi said in a video posted online. ''And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.''

Indictment describes Lemon's livestream

Since he left CNN, Lemon has joined the legion of journalists who have gone into business for themselves. He posts regularly on YouTube and has not hidden his disdain for Trump.

The indictment names nine defendants including Lemon. It says two of them posted their planned action on social media the day before and gave the others instructions in a shopping center parking lot the following morning.

Lemon started livestreaming and told the audience he was with a group gearing up for a ''resistance'' operation against federal immigration policies, according to the document. Lemon ''took steps to maintain operational secrecy by reminding co-conspirators to not disclose the target of their operation,'' the indictment says, and stepped away so his microphone would not accidentally divulge the planning.

During the briefing before the operation, prosecutors say, Lemon thanked an activist who is among the nine indicted for what she was doing and assured her he was not saying what was going on.

Inside the church the defendants shouted slogans and blew whistles after the pastor was about to begin the sermon and gestured in a hostile and aggressive manner, according to prosecutors, and the pastor and congregants perceived ''threats of violence.''

Lemon told the livestream he saw a young man who was frightened, sad and crying and it was understandable because the experience was traumatic and uncomfortable, the indictment says. The defendants then surrounded the pastor and Lemon ''peppered him with questions to promote the operation's message.''

Last week a magistrate judge rejected prosecutors' initial bid to charge Lemon. Shortly afterward he predicted on his show that the administration would try again.

''And guess what,'' Lemon 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.''

Independent journalist Georgia Fort livestreamed the moments before her arrest, telling viewers that agents were at her door and her First Amendment right as a journalist was being diminished.

A judge released Fort, Trahern Crews and Jamael Lundy on bond, rejecting the Justice Department's attempt to keep them in custody. Not guilty pleas were entered. Fort's supporters in the courtroom clapped and whooped.

''It's a sinister turn of events in this country,'' Fort's attorney, Kevin Riach, said in court.

Jane Kirtley, a media law and ethics expert at the University of Minnesota, said the federal laws cited by the government were not intended to apply to reporters gathering news.

The charges against Lemon and Fort, she said, are ''pure intimidation and government overreach.''

Some experts and activists said the charges are not only an attack on press freedoms but also a strike against Black Americans who count on Black journalists to bear witness to injustice and oppression.

The National Association of Black Journalists said it was ''outraged and deeply alarmed'' and warned of an effort to ''criminalize and threaten press freedom under the guise of law enforcement.''

Crews is a leader of Black Lives Matter Minnesota who has led many protests and actions for racial justice, particularly following George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis in 2020.

Church leaders praise arrests in protest

A prominent civil rights attorney and two other people involved in the protest were arrested last week. Prosecutors have accused them of civil rights violations for disrupting the Cities Church service.

The Justice Department launched an investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting ''ICE out'' and ''Justice for Renee Good,'' referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.

Cities Church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood, who leads ICE's St. Paul field office.

''We are grateful that the Department of Justice acted swiftly to protect Cities Church so that we can continue to faithfully live out the church's mission to worship Jesus and make him known,'' lead pastor Jonathan Parnell said.