Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and three other defendants arrested in connection with a protest inside a St. Paul church were released Friday following initial court appearances. Lemon said he plans to fight the charges after a federal grand jury indicted him and several journalists and activists in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
The defendants are accused of conspiring to deprive church congregants of their rights and interfering with religious freedom inside a house of worship, reviving a case that was rejected last week by a magistrate judge, The New York Times reported.
The indictment names nine defendants, including seven protesters, Lemon, and another journalist. Seven of those charged have appeared in court so far, and four were released Friday.
Defense attorneys pushed back on First Amendment grounds, arguing the case centers on political protest and newsgathering. Lemon and the other journalist charged, Georgia Fort, have said they entered the church to cover a demonstration opposing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
One of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, also serves as an ICE official.
Late Friday afternoon, Lemon appeared in court at a federal building in downtown Los Angeles wearing a white suit. Federal prosecutors requested a $100,000 bond and sought to restrict Lemon’s travel to Minneapolis and New York, where he lives. A magistrate judge denied both requests.
Lemon was not asked to enter a plea. His arraignment was scheduled for Feb. 9 in federal court in Minneapolis.
“I have spent my entire career covering the news,” Lemon said Friday outside the courthouse after being released without bond. “I will not stop now. There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”
“I look forward to my day in court,” he added.
The 14-page indictment outlines preparations for the protest, referred to by organizers as Operation Pullup. It quotes organizer Nekima Levy Armstrong as saying demonstrators planned to “disrupt business as usual” and wanted to keep plans confidential.
As Jonathan Parnell began his sermon, the indictment says Levy Armstrong interrupted with loud declarations that “the time for judgment had come.” Other demonstrators yelled and blew whistles in what prosecutors described as a “takeover attack on the church.”
The indictment alleges members of the congregation perceived gestures by protesters as hostile and interpreted them as potential threats of violence. It also claims Lemon and Fort surrounded Parnell and questioned him aggressively in what prosecutors characterized as an attempt to intimidate him.
Following the protest, the Justice Department drafted a criminal complaint against nine individuals, including Lemon. A magistrate judge approved charges against only three defendants and declined to issue arrest warrants for Lemon and others, citing insufficient evidence.
Federal prosecutors later sought intervention from a federal appeals court to compel additional warrants but were denied.
The indictment unsealed Friday added four defendants, including activist Trahern Jeen Crews, Jamael Lydell Lundy, Jerome Deangelo Richardson, and Ian Davis Austin.
Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said the charges would be vigorously challenged.
“Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards,” Lowell said. “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.”
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment will not stand,” Lowell added.
The case unfolds amid heightened tensions in Minneapolis tied to the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. Federal agents have faced scrutiny following two fatal shootings involving protesters, including the killing of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti. Video evidence later contradicted early official claims about the encounter.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was open to de-escalating the situation in Minneapolis. He replaced Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino with border czar Tom Homan, who has indicated a willingness to work with local officials.
