Independent journalist Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor, was released on a personal recognizance bond Friday after federal prosecutors charged him in connection with a protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, and House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., urged the Justice Department watchdog to investigate the arrest.
In a Jan. 31 letter to DOJ Acting Inspector General William Blier, Garcia called the arrests politically motivated and urged an investigation, writing, "… you must investigate this shocking abuse of power highlighted in this incident," according to the letter posted on X by Jim Acosta, a journalist who became CNN's anchor and chief domestic correspondent in 2021 after leaving the White House beat, later departing the network after being relegated to a midnight shift.
Lemon, 59, was arrested in the Los Angeles area and later released after a court appearance, telling reporters the case would not stop his reporting. "I will not stop ever," Lemon said. "The First Amendment of the constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists. I will not be silenced."
CNN fired Lemon in April 2023 after a turbulent run as a morning show co-host, which included poorly considered on-air remarks about then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and coverage of workplace complaints.
Federal prosecutors indicted Lemon and eight co-defendants, including journalist Georgia Fort, over the Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church, alleging civil rights violations tied to congregants' religious freedom.
Attorney General Pam Bondi described the episode as a "coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota," according to the NBCDFW report.
Lemon's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said Lemon plans to plead not guilty.
The arrest followed earlier court resistance to the government's effort to pursue warrants in the case.
A federal magistrate judge declined to approve warrants for five proposed defendants, including Lemon, citing insufficient evidence, and an appeals court later declined to order their issuance, according to Reuters.
Lemon was indicted alongside eight co-defendants more than a week after the magistrate judge found prosecutors lacked probable cause to arrest him and several others under a statute DOJ officials had not previously used in this type of church protest case.
Lemon is expected to appear next in federal court in Minnesota in February.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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