Former CNN journalist and veteran reporter Don Lemon has pleaded not responsible on two federal fees associated to his reside protection of a protest at a Minnesota church service led by an ICE-affiliated pastor.

According to The New York Times, Lemon appeared in federal courtroom in St. Paul at present together with 4 different defendants, all of whom pleaded not responsible. They’re amongst 9 individuals to have been charged within the case on two counts: conspiring to violate spiritual freedoms at a home of worship, and with injuring, intimidating, and interfering with the train of spiritual freedoms at a spot of worship.

The journalist, who was fired from CNN in 2023 and now produces information content material for his YouTube present, The Don Lemon Show, has maintained he was protecting the Jan. 18 protest in his capability as a journalist.

"The ability and safety of the First Modification has been the underpinning of my work," Lemon advised reporters outdoors of the courthouse Friday, per the Occasions. "The First Modification, the liberty of the press, is the bedrock of our democracy."

Shortly after his arrest, Lemon's legal professional, Abbe Lowell, supplied an announcement to Leisure Weekly confirming that he'd been arrested and later launched on a private recognizance bond.

"Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no completely different than what he has at all times completed," the assertion learn. “This unprecedented assault on the First Modification and clear try to distract consideration from the numerous crises going through this administration won’t stand. Don will struggle these fees vigorously and totally in courtroom."

A rep for Lemon didn't instantly reply to EW's request for added remark Friday.

Throughout a latest sitdown interview on Jimmy Kimmel Stay, Lemon opened up concerning the particulars of his arrest.

"I'm okay, however I'm not going to allow them to steal my pleasure. However that is very severe. These are federal, prison fees," Lemon started.

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He defined to Kimmel that he was arrested within the early hours when he went again to his resort after attending a pre-Grammys occasion in Los Angeles.

"Rapidly, I really feel myself being jostled and folks making an attempt to seize me and put me in handcuffs," Lemon recalled, noting that they advised him, "We got here to arrest you," allegedly with out initially figuring out themselves to him. Once they did, Lemon mentioned he requested, "'If you’re who you say you might be, the place's the warrant?' They didn't have a warrant, in order that they needed to wait for somebody from the skin, an FBI man, to return in to point out me a warrant on his mobile phone."

He then mentioned "a bunch of fellows" took him outdoors, together with some FBI brokers, which Lemon advised the late-night host was a waste of assets, on condition that he'd earlier knowledgeable officers that he was prepared to show himself in if he had been to be arrested.

"They need to embarrass you, they need to intimidate you, they need to instill worry, that's why they did it that means," he concluded.

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