Don Lemon Arrested Following ‘Church Invasion’
Federal agents moved in on Don Lemon in Los Angeles with cameras still rolling,
turning a glittering awards night into a constitutional flashpoint. Prosecutors claim
his presence and engagement during a chaotic church protest in St. Paul helped
“conspire” to intimidate worshippers, invoking the rarely spotlighted FACE Act.
Supporters counter that he was doing what journalists have always done:
documenting unrest, not directing it, and they warn that criminalizing that
distinction threatens every reporter on a controversial story.
The clash now stretches far beyond one former CNN anchor. It pits a Justice
Department vowing to protect churches “no matter who you are” against a
press corps alarmed by the image of a journalist in shackles over a livestream.
As Lemon sits in custody awaiting the next hearing, the country is left to decide
where protest ends, where reporting begins, and how much freedom either still truly has.