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Journalist Don Lemon was arrested overnight, his lawyer and aggregate sources with nonstop cognition told CBS News connected Friday. The apprehension comes astir 2 weeks aft Lemon was astatine an anti-immigration protestation that disrupted a work astatine a religion successful Minnesota.
A root acquainted with the substance said a expansive assemblage was empaneled Thursday. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, a instrumentality enforcement bureau wrong the Department of Homeland Security, were progressive successful the arrest, sources say.
Abbe Lowell, Lemon's lawyer, confirmed helium was taken into custody by national agents past nighttime successful Los Angeles, wherever helium was covering this weekend's Grammy Awards.
"Don has been a writer for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected enactment successful Minneapolis was nary antithetic than what helium has ever done," Lowell said successful a statement. "The First Amendment exists to support journalists whose relation it is to radiance airy connected the information and clasp those successful powerfulness accountable. There is nary much important clip for radical similar Don to beryllium doing this work."
Lowell said the Justice Department has focused connected arresting Lemon alternatively of investigating the national agents who killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti successful Minnesota earlier this month, calling it "the existent indictment of wrongdoing successful this case."
"This unprecedented onslaught connected the First Amendment and transparent effort to distract attraction from the galore crises facing this medication volition not stand. Don volition combat these charges vigorously and thoroughly successful court," helium said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said successful a statement shared to societal media that national agents arrested Lemon and 3 others "in transportation with the coordinated onslaught connected Cities Church successful St. Paul, Minnesota."
A root briefed connected the probe said Lemon faces charges of conspiracy to deprive others of their civilian rights and usurpation of the FACE Act by allegedly interfering by unit with the workout of others' First Amendment rights.
CNN, wherever Lemon antecedently worked, said his apprehension raises "profoundly concerning questions astir property state and the First Amendment." The web said it volition beryllium pursuing Lemon's lawsuit closely.
"The Department of Justice already failed doubly to get an apprehension warrant for Don and respective different journalists successful Minnesota, wherever a main justice of the Minnesota Federal District Court recovered determination was 'no evidence' that determination was immoderate transgression behaviour progressive successful their work," CNN said successful a statement. "The First Amendment successful the United States protects journalists who carnivore witnesser to quality and events arsenic they unfound, ensuring they tin study freely successful the nationalist interest, and the DOJ's attempts to interruption those rights is unacceptable."
Last week, a national appellate tribunal declined to bid a little tribunal justice to motion apprehension warrants for 5 people, including Lemon, successful transportation with a Jan. 18 anti-ICE protestation wrong a religion successful St. Paul, Minnesota. However, 1 of the 3 appellate tribunal judges said helium felt determination was probable origin to warrant the arrests, according to tribunal filings and sources acquainted with the matter.
Multiple people person been charged successful transportation with the protest, erstwhile demonstrators entered St. Paul's Cities Church aft discovering that 1 of its pastors is an ICE official.
The Justice Department had asked the appellate tribunal to compel the U.S. District Court successful Minnesota to motion the apprehension warrants implicit civilian rights charges alleging the defendants were unlawfully interfering with the churchgoers' constitutional-protected state to signifier religion.
Federal prosecutors successful the Minneapolis-based U.S. Attorney's Office had important concerns with the spot of the grounds successful the religion protests, a root acquainted with the substance told CBS News.
When the archetypal 3 defendants were initially charged, nary vocation officials from that bureau appeared successful court, and the Justice Department sent 2 lawyers from the Civil Rights Division successful Washington to grip the proceedings.
The magistrate justice overseeing the lawsuit lone approved 1 civilian rights complaint successful those archetypal cases against Nekima Levy Armstrong, erstwhile president for the Twin Cities section of the NAACP, and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, an elected subordinate of the St. Paul School Board. But the justice nixed a FACE Act complaint against each of them connected the grounds that determination was nary probable cause. A 3rd suspect was aboriginal charged successful transportation with the protestation arsenic well.
The magistrate judge, Douglas Micko, besides rejected 5 apprehension warrants successful the lawsuit for lacking probable cause, including Lemon's, CBS News antecedently reported.
The Justice Department has been scrutinizing a video of a pre-meeting that Lemon filmed earlier the protest, the root said. That gathering was attended by a fig of the defendants, including Allen, Armstrong and Jamael Lydell Lundy. The Justice Department has been focusing connected the gathering arsenic alleged grounds of a conspiracy to interfere with people's spiritual rights. Lemon was filming the gathering arsenic portion of his reporting, the root added. Lundy was among the 4 radical arrested overnight.
The Justice Department has present arrested 7 radical successful transportation with the religion protest, but it initially sought to apprehension eight. CBS News could not instantly find what happened with the last idiosyncratic the section sought to charge.
Lemon worked astatine CNN for much than 15 years, but was fired successful 2023. He announced successful aboriginal 2024 that helium would beryllium launching The Don Lemon Show connected X, but the societal media tract owned by billionaire Elon Musk ended the partnership months later, soon aft Lemon interviewed Musk. Lemon present hosts a show connected YouTube.
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