Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has warned the United States must 'keep fighting' for its right to a free press, calling it 'the breath in the lungs of democracy' following his arrest by the Trump administration. Lemon was taken into custody late last month after covering an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota.
Speaking at a Human Rights Campaign event in New York City on Saturday, Lemon said: 'Our society cannot breathe without the freedom of the press, the freedom of speech. I felt the smothering, the suffocation. I saw how quickly a voice can be targeted, how easily truth can be distorted.' He stressed that he is a journalist, not an activist, and that his role is to witness.
Lemon and fellow journalist Georgia Fort were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy and interfering with worshippers' constitutional rights during the 18 January protest at Cities Church in Saint Paul. A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official is a pastor at that church. Lemon has said he was there as a journalist livestreaming the demonstration and had no affiliation with the group that disrupted the service.
Despite a federal magistrate judge initially refusing to sign a warrant for his arrest, a dozen federal agents arrested Lemon at his Los Angeles hotel on 30 January. His attorney had previously told authorities that Lemon would surrender voluntarily. Lemon described the experience as 'very frightening' and said it reminded him of something he thought he understood about the First Amendment.
'The First Amendment is not just a legal guarantee – we have to keep fighting for it and all of our rights,' Lemon said. 'It is the breath in the lungs of democracy. And when that breath is threatened, you, I – all of us – can feel it before you can even explain it.' He urged Americans to continue defending press freedom, warning that 'when the First Amendment becomes optional, democracy becomes hollow.'
