Press freedom groups have denounced the arrests of two independent journalists, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, calling them an alarming crackdown on US media by the Trump administration. Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles on Thursday night, despite a magistrate judge declining to sign off on charges a week earlier related to a protest at a Minnesota church against immigration enforcement actions.
Georgia Fort, another reporter covering the same protest, posted a live stream of her arrest on Facebook early on Friday. The Knight First Amendment Institute's executive director, Jameel Jaffer, said the arrests were 'extremely alarming' given that multiple judges had refused to approve arrest warrants. He stressed that reporting on protests is protected by the First Amendment.
Scott Griffen of the International Press Institute called the arrests 'a shocking and disturbing escalation' of the administration's campaign against free press, demanding the immediate release of both journalists. The National Association of Black Journalists raised concerns about the selective targeting of Black and LGBTQIA journalists, while the Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press described the use of federal law as 'unprecedented' overreach.
Advocacy groups and Democratic politicians have joined the condemnation, with PEN America noting that a federal magistrate and appeals court had already rejected evidence against Lemon, making his arrest 'all the more troubling'.
