The Justice Department’s attempt to charge former CNN anchor Don Lemon after he covered an anti-ICE protest inside a Minnesota church has been dismissed by a federal magistrate judge.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Lemon, 59, and a group of anti-ICE protesters entered the Cities Church in Minnesota on Sunday to register their displeasure with a pastor and an ICE agent identified as David Easterwood. A service was taking place inside the church when the demonstrators paused it. Lemon, who is now an independent journalist, shared footage of the protest and confrontation. The video has since gone viral.
“The Attorney General is enraged at the magistrate judge’s decision,” a person with knowledge about the case told CNN. Over the last few days, Attorney General Pam Bondi has been in Minnesota and had meetings with the state’s federal prosecutors.
Lemon stated that he did not enter the church to protest, as he was doing his job as a journalist. “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group… I’m a journalist,” Lemon says in the viral video.
The Justice Department rarely tries to bring criminal charges against a journalist who is doing their job. Per CNN, those charges are intensely examined. And if a judge happens to give a green light, there are usually prolonged legal battles as to whether the First Amendment protects the journalist before the case proceeds to trial.
In the aftermath of the demonstration, officials with the Justice Department swiftly suggested that they were going to bring charges against Lemon. They claimed that it was unlawful for Lemon to enter the church’s private property, and pausing the service could have violated the congregation’s constitutional rights to practice their religion.
“The magistrate’s reported actions confirm the nature of Don’s First Amendment protected work this weekend in Minnesota as a reporter. It was no different than what he has done for more than 30 years, reporting and covering newsworthy events on the ground and engaging in constitutionally protected activity as a journalist,” Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement on Thursday.
Lowell also stated that if the Justice Department does not drop the case, Lemon would “fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
For several days, there have been confrontations between anti-ICE protesters and ICE agents in Minnesota. The confrontations turned deadly on January 7 after an ICE agent, identified as Jonathan Ross, shot and killed Renee Good, 37.
Good’s murder drew divided opinions among American politicians and citizens. While her death was labeled as murder by some politicians and commentators, Trump administration officials begged to differ, claiming that the ICE agent acted in self-defense, per The Hollywood Reporter. They also described Good as a “domestic terrorist.”
