Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, was released on Friday after being arrested late on Thursday on charges that he violated federal law during a protest at a church in Minnesota earlier this month. Outside a federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles after his release, Lemon vowed not to be silenced, saying: 'I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now.'
The justice department charged Lemon and three others with civil rights crimes, saying they interfered with the exercise of religious freedom at a place of worship and conspired to do so. One of the charges also alleges that Lemon violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (Face) Act, which penalises people who go beyond peaceful protest to threaten, obstruct or injure someone trying to access a reproductive health clinic or 'place of religious worship'.
Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Lemon, said Lemon was 'taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards'. Lowell added: 'Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump justice department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case.'
The White House celebrated Lemon's arrest with a post on X, saying: 'When life gives you Lemons,' accompanied by a chain emoji. Georgia Fort, an independent journalist, was also arrested, according to US attorney general Pam Bondi. Fort posted a video on Facebook claiming federal agents were at her door, saying: 'As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago, and now I'm being arrested for that.'
Lemon's arrest sparked outrage from former colleagues, first amendment advocates and members of Congress. CNN condemned the arrest, with a spokesperson saying: 'The FBI's arrest of our former CNN colleague Don Lemon raises profoundly concerning questions about press freedom and the first amendment.'
