By: Emily Nixon
On Feb. 4, a federal judge ordered Don Lemon to appear for their arraignment on Feb. 13.
Charged on “conspiracy against [the] right of religious freedom at [a] place of worship” and to “injure, intimidate, and interfere with [the] exercise of [the] right of religious freedom at [a] place of worship,” according to the indictment documents.
Lemon is one of eight people indicted on these charges, including one student from Philedelphia that assisted in Lemon’s coverage of these protests. But Lemon remains one of two independent journalists arrested in separate locations after the incident.
Lemon is a Brooklyn College (BC) alumnus and an award-winning political journalist. As a long-standing reporter for CNN, Lemon now stands as an independent reporter.
“Last night, the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night for something that I have been doing for the last 30 years, and that is covering the news,” said Lemon in an Instagram post the day after his arrest. “I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.”
Lemon and Georgia Fort were two independent black journalists arrested for “simply reporting the news,” according to Fort’s interview with CNN.
Lemon and Fort were covering an anti-ICE protest held in Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, allegedly, “where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor,” according to the Associated Press (AP).
Lemon livestreamed the protest and aftershocks for six hours on his YouTube channel.
During the beginning of the livestream, Lemon interviewed Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and former president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who was seemingly leading this part of “Operation Pull-Up,” a “clandestine” protest tactic which has “had a lot of success,” according to the livestream.
“We show up somewhere that is a key location. They don’t expect us to come there,” said Armstrong in the livestream. “Then, we disrupt business as usual.”
In the indictment documents, the United States (US) alleges that, “while inside the church, defendants ARMSTRONG, ALLEN, KELLY, LEMON, RICHARDSON, LUNDY, CREWS, FORT, and AUSTIN oppressed, threatened, and intimidated the Church’s congregants and pastors by physically occupying most of the main aisle and rows of chairs near the front of the Church.”
During the livestream, Lemon broke off and entered the church first, recording audio in which an unknown individual asked Lemon if he was part of the group protesting. Lemon responded, “I’m not part of the group. I am just here photographing. I am a journalist.”
While moving through the church during the protest and conducting interviews, Lemon mentions that, “I’m just going to be as respectful as possible. I’m not here to intimidate anybody.”
Multiple times in the livestream, Lemon moves away from the group as they discuss details of the impending protest, claiming, “As Nekima said, this is a clandestine operation, and then we can tell you what happened afterward.”
This decision to shield information in the livestream was quoted in the indictment documents in support of the conspiracy charge.
“In furtherance of the conspiracy and to accomplish the object thereof, defendants […] LEMON, […] committed various overt acts,” states the documents. “ [Lemon] took steps to maintain operational secrecy by reminding co-conspirators to not disclose the target of the operation and stepped away momentarily so his mic would not accidentally divulge certain portions of the planning session.”
US Attorney General Pamela Bondi made multiple posts on X, alluding to the incident in Minnesota and condemning the protests there and across the state.
“If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you,” said a post on Feb. 2 by Bondi.
“At my direction, early this morning, federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” said another post on Jan. 30.
Fort was later arrested at her home in Minnesota by ICE agents and has also been indicted alongside Lemon; however, she is only mentioned as the sole offender twice in the overt acts of “interviewing,” according to the indictment documents.
Like Lemon, Fort has been outspoken since her release about the dangers her arrest and indictment hold for the world of journalism.
“As journalists, we never want to be the story, but unfortunately, I did find myself in a predicament where I felt that I needed to be able to tell my own story,” Fort told CNN.
“I needed the world to see that journalism is on trial.”
In his statement on Instagram after his release, Lemon emphasized the importance of journalism in the US political climate and vowed to continue his fight for the truth.
“There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable,” said Lemon in an Instagram post. “I will not stop now. I will not stop ever.”