Journalist Don Lemon pleads not guilty to federal charges over Minnesota church protest

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CN) — Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor turned independent journalist, pleaded not guilty to federal civil rights charges Friday — brought in connection with an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church in January.

Lemon and eight others each face two federal charges — conspiring to violate someone's constitutional rights and violating the FACE Act, which prohibits the use of force or threats interfering with someone expressing their First Amendment religious rights.

The tension surrounding the case was on full display outside the Warren E. Burger federal building in St. Paul. By the time the hearing concluded, the crowd outside had grown into a large mass of protesters chanting "protect the press" and "Pam Bondi has got to go."

While Lemon said little at Friday's hearing, the former anchor has vowed to fight the charges.

"I have spent my entire career covering the news, I will not stop now," Lemon said outside a federal courthouse in Los Angeles after being released following his arrest in January.

Federal prosecutors claim Lemon and other defendants participated in a planned takeover of Cities Church in St. Paul and intimidated congregants. Lemon and another independent journalist, Georgia Fort, livestreamed the group of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters rushing into the church on Jan. 18.

The protest at Cities Church was specifically heightened because the pastor, David Easterwood, also serves as the acting field director for the ICE St. Paul office.

A federal magistrate judge initially refused to sign the arrest warrant for Lemon, citing a lack of evidence that he participated in criminal behavior. Despite this, the Justice Department moved forward with the indictment.

According to the federal indictment, Lemon and other reporters who claimed they were "just reporting" were observed wearing hoods to blend in, raising fists and joining in chants.

Lemon has said repeatedly that his involvement in the protest was that of a journalist.

University of Minnesota media ethics and law Professor Jane Kirtley said it will be very difficult for these charges to stick, given that both the journalists and protesters insist there was no conspiracy.

"This is about weaponizing federal laws to intimidate journalists, which was never their intended purpose."

Kirtley said if this had been an ordinary situation that had not involved the ongoing tensions over ICE enforcement, the protesters and Lemon would have faced at most state misdemeanors.

"This is opportunistic, and a huge overreaction to what happened," she said, suggesting the case will be a test to see the extent to which federal charges can be brought against journalists.

Kirtley added the FACE Act has never been used in a religious context, or against journalists, but almost exclusively used to protect reproductive health care facilities.

"These kinds of direct attacks on the press, utilizing laws that, in my opinion, were never intended to be used against journalists, is really troubling," she said. "The constitutionality of these laws is going to be examined by courts that really haven't had to do that before."

The former journalist turned law professor said no matter the outcome of this case, the chilling effect it will have on journalism could limit coverage across the country out of fear of retribution.

"The Trump administration, with this kind of attack on journalism, has raised the ante," Kirtley said. "It's not just to go after Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, it's to make an example out of them and to remind journalists that they're all vulnerable to these kinds of attacks."

Kirtley said the prosecution of Lemon and Fort will likely rest on whether, by virtue of their prior involvement with the protesters, they became so involved that they themselves were part of the supposedly illegal action.

Lemon has assembled a formidable defense, led by high-profile attorney Abbe Lowell and former federal prosecutor Joseph Thompson.

Thompson is one of at least six federal prosecutors who recently resigned from the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota amid tensions over the Trump administration's handling of investigations into two fatal federal officer-involved shootings of Minnesotans.

Lowell said Friday that federal officials seized Lemon's phone when he was arrested in a hotel lobby in Beverly Hills on Jan. 29. Federal prosecutors, who claimed Friday that the government obtained a search warrant for the phone, were unable to give a timeline for when the search would be complete.

All five defendants present at Friday's arraignment pleaded not guilty, including 49-year-old Nekima Valdez Levy Armstrong, who federal officials claim was one of the leaders of the protest.

"In honor of our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press, I have no choice but to plead not guilty," she said at the arraignment.