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Media advocates decry Lemon's arrest

DOJ's action spurs calls to support journalist

By: BrieAnne J. Frank
and Michael Loria
USA Today

..... Press advocacy groups criticized President Donald Trump's administration over its arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort in connection with a Minnesota church protest, calling the moves unconstitutional.
..... Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles on January 29, [2026] according to a statement from his attorney, Abbe Lowell. After a night i custody, he was released on his own recognizance with the promise to return to court, said Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass.
..... "I've spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now," Lemon said outside the courthouse in LA. "There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media hat shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable."
.... Lowell called the arrest an "unprecedented attack on the First Amendment."
..... "The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable," Lowell said. "There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work."
..... Lemon was one of several journalists in attendance at the January 18 [2026] protest of Cities Church in St Paul Minnesota. demonstrators alleged the church's pastor worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. in a nearly 7-hour live-stream on his YouTube channel, Lemon spoke with congregation members, protesters and one of the church's pastors.
..... A federal magistrate judge previously rejected a proposed criminal complaint from the Justice Department for charges against Lemon connected to the protest, CNN, Reuters and CBS News reported January 22, [2026] citing anonymous sources. USA Today reached out to the DOJ for comment. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on January 30 [2026] declined to provide details during an unrelated news con fence in Washington.
..... Reuters reported a grand jury indictment charged Lemon with conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and violating a law used to crack down on demonstrations at abortion clinics. The law also forbids obstructing access to houses of worship. Fort and several activists present at the protest face the same charges.
..... The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 bars, among other actions, "intentionally injuring, intimidating of interfering with" a person attempting to seek or provide services at a reproductive health facility or place of worship. It specifies, however, that the act should not be sued to "prohibit nay expressive conduct - including peaceful picketing or other peaceful demonstration" protected by the First Amendment.
..... Gaba Rottman, vice president of policy for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said it was , according to the group's understanding, "unprecedented for the Justice Department to deploy the federal laws it has previously cited in this case against journalistic activity."
..... He said cases against journalists covering protests on private property have typically been handled as state-level trespass cases.
..... "Those charges are almost always dropped, or if the case go to trail, the journalists typically prevail," he said.

Advocacy groups decry arrest

..... The Freedom of the Press Foundation condemned Lemon's and Fort's arrests, calling them "clear warning shots aimed at other journalists."
..... "The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them," Seth Stern, the organization's chief of advocacy, said January 30. [2026]
..... Stern called for individuals and news outlets to rally around Lemon and Fort in defense of freedom of the press.
..... "Journalists are not making themselves the story, Trump is," Stern said.
..... The National Association of Black Journalists said it was "outraged" and called for feudal officials to explain what legal justification they had for the arrests. Both Lemon and Fort are Black, and Fort serves as vice president of the organization's Minnesota chapter.
..... "Let us be perfectly clear: The First amendment is not optional and journalism is NOT a crime," the organization said. "A government that responds to scrutiny by targeting the messenger is not protecting the public, it is attempting to intimidat4e it, and and considering recent incidents regarding federal agents, it is attempting to distract it."
..... Clyton Weimer, executive director of the U.S. Branch of Reporters Without Borders, said the arrests marked "another attack on every American's press freedom."
..... The Trump administration cannot send federal agents after reporters simply because they don't like the stories being reported - especially after already failing multiple times to obtain a warrant from the courts for Lemon's arrest," Weimers said.
..... National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. said the group was "deeply alarmed" by Lemon's arrest, adding that arrests of other independent journalists "would signal a troubling pattern of targeting journalists for news-gathering."
..... "Arresting or detaining journalists for covering protests, public events or government actions represents a grave threat to press freedom and risks chilling reporting nationwide," Schoeff said.
..... He said his organization would be monitoring the situation.
..... Errin Haines, founder and editor of the Nonprofit news outlet The 19th, asked the public ot demand justice for Lemon and Fort.
..... "I think you're already seeing so much public support for the issue of press freedom," Haines said during the January 30 [2026] episode of "The Don Lemon Show." "That is because the concern we are seeing is just not about one journalist. It's not just about Don. It's not just about Georgia. It's whether reporters can do their job without fear of arrest."
..... When journalists are detained for documenting events of public concern, Haines said, "everyone's rights to know is at risk."
..... "If this can happen top a high-profile journalist, the risk is even grater for local reporters, for freelancers, for journalists of color," Haines said.

..... Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Melina Khan and Natalie Alumd, USA Today; Reuters
..... USA Today's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.

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