This. Is. Wrong.
Donald Trump’s administration is taking serious heat from the public and the media for its violent anti-immigrant agenda, but this morning’s news will significantly raise the temperature in the public discourse.
Former CNN news anchor Don Lemon, now an independent journalist, was arrested in Los Angeles last night while covering the Grammys. Another independent journalist named Georgia Fort was also arrested.
According to the NY Times, Lemon is being charged with violating a federal law, the FACE Act (Freedom to Access to Clinic Entrances), that prohibits interference in people practicing freedom of religion during a worship service or access to abortion services (more on that later).
The charges stem from a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. About a week ago, a group entered the church shouting, “ICE out!” and “Justice for Renee Good!” Lemon went to the scene during the civil disturbance to interview people on-camera. In one video, Lemon specifically tells a distraught churchgoer twice that he’s not a part of the protest.
This morning, a statement was published from Don Lemon’s Instagram account by his lawyer Abbe Lowell.
“Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.”
Georgia Fort was able to livestream her arrest on her Facebook audience of 139,000 people before surrendering to federal agents who came to her home.
Attorney General Pam Bondi took to Twitter to gloat about the arrests, identify the full list of those apprehended in connection with the event, and misrepresent what actually happened at Cities Church.
It should be noted that there is no video evidence of an “attack” or that any violence whatsoever occurred during the disruption.
Don Lemon’s former employer, CNN, has also reacted to his arrest, blasting Pam Bondi for infringing on journalists’ First Amendment rights.
We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
