Journalist Don Lemon pleaded not guilty Friday in federal court in Minnesota to charges stemming from his presence at a church protest against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles in January after a federal grand jury indicted the former CNN anchor and several others at the demonstration, which disrupted a service at Cities Church in St. Paul.
They face felony charges of conspiring to violate religious freedoms at a house of worship and injuring, intimidating and interfering with the exercise of religious freedoms at a place of worship.
Lemon and his legal team have maintained that he was at the event solely in his role as a journalist, livestreaming the protest and interviewing participants.
“The events before my arrest, and what’s happened since, show that people are finally realizing what this administration is all about. For them, the process is the punishment,” Lemon said after his arraignment. “Like all of you here in Minnesota, I will not back down, and I will fight these baseless charges.”
Lemon was represented in court by Abbe Lowell and Joseph Thompson, a career prosecutor who served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota until recently, as his local counsel. Thompson had resigned last month over the Trump administration’s handling of the investigation into the killing of Renee Good by a federal agent in Minneapolis, part of what spurred the demonstration at the church. High-profile defense attorney Abbe Lowell is also representing Lemon.
He appeared alongside four other defendants, including civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, each of whom also pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say the group’s actions interrupted a church service and intimidated congregants.
“We the people have to stand for our rights. We have to stand for the Constitution. We have to stand for our First Amendment rights to freedom of the speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press,” Armstrong said outside the courthouse Friday.
The case has drawn criticism from civil liberties advocates and press freedom supporters, who say Lemon was acting as a journalist covering the event and should be protected by the First Amendment.
Nine people, including independent journalist Georgia Fort, were indicted in the matter. Some are expected to be arraigned in separate proceedings next week.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at CNN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.