Journalist Don Lemon says he will keep reporting in Minnesota after a judge declined to allow charges against him following the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest at a St. Paul church.
"The magistrate's reported actions confirm the nature of Don's First Amendment protected work this weekend in Minnesota as a reporter," Lemon's attorney Abbe David Lowell told Newsweek in an email statement Friday morning.
"Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court."
Federal agents arrested three Minnesota protesters who took part in the demonstration against a pastor they say has a leadership role with ICE, the federal agency carrying out aggressive raids in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday that FBI and Homeland Security agents took part in the arrests of civil rights activists Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, who helped organize the protest. William Kelly, an anti-ICE activist and Army veteran, was also arrested, Bondi said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that Levy Armstrong faced charges under a federal law that bars physical obstruction of houses of worship.
A U.S. magistrate judge in Minnesota on Thursday rejected a proposed criminal complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice against Lemon, who livestreamed the protest from within the church.
Lemon said he was not part of the protest group and was working as a journalist.
"It was no different than what he has done for more than 30 years, reporting and covering newsworthy events on the ground and engaging in constitutionally protected activity as a journalist," Lowell told Newsweek.
Trump called for the protesters and Lemon to be "thrown in jail, or thrown out of the country."
In a Thursday video posted to his YouTube channel, Lemon said, "I stand proud and I stand tall," noting that the Trump administration is going to "try again, and they're gonna try again."
He continued: "Keep trying. That's not gonna stop me from being a journalist. You're not gonna diminish my voice. Go ahead make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel, if you want. Just do it. Cause I'm not going anywhere."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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