US ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon to enter plea in Minnesota ICE protest case
Lemon had livestreamed a protest against Trump’s deployment of armed immigration agents into Minnesota’s biggest cities
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is due in federal court in Minnesota on Friday to enter a plea in a criminal case stemming from his coverage of a protest at a church against US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Lemon, now an independent journalist, livestreamed a protest against Trump’s deployment of thousands of armed immigration agents into Democratic-governed Minnesota’s biggest cities. The protest disrupted a January 18 service at Cities Church in St Paul.
He was charged with conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and violating a law that has been used to crack down on demonstrations at abortion clinics but also forbids obstructing access to houses of worship.
He is set to appear in federal court in St Paul at 1pm.
Lemon’s lawyer has called the case an attack on First Amendment free speech rights.
Trump has frequently lashed out at the media, stripping journalists of access-granting credentials and suing some news outlets over their coverage of him. The president praised the Justice Department for bringing the charges against Lemon, calling the disruption of the church service a “horrible thing”.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a January 30 social media video that prosecutors will come after anyone who threatens the “sacred right” to worship freely and safely.