Don Lemon, the veteran broadcast journalist, entered a not guilty plea in federal court in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday, two weeks after he was charged with felonies for attending a protest against immigration agents at a Minnesota church.
Mr. Lemon, 59, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas L. Micko along with four others among nine people who have been charged in the case. All five defendants who appeared in court entered not guilty pleas.
The nine defendants are charged with conspiring to violate religious freedoms at a house of worship, and with injuring, intimidating and interfering with the exercise of religious freedoms at a place of worship. Both charges are felonies under a 1994 law passed mainly to protect abortion clinics from violence.
One of Mr. Lemon’s lawyers, Abbe Lowell, told Judge Micko that investigators had seized Mr. Lemon’s cellphone when they arrested him in Los Angeles late last month. Mr. Lowell expressed concern about how much of the content on the phone would be subject to review by the government.
Mr. Lemon, a former CNN anchor who now works as an independent journalist producing content for a YouTube show, was among several people who attended a protest at Cities Church on Jan. 18. Demonstrators targeted the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, is a senior official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the state. Mr. Easterwood was not at the service.
Late last month, a federal grand jury indicted Mr. Lemon along with another independent journalist, Georgia Fort, and seven other individuals who attended the demonstration. Attorney General Pam Bondi called Mr. Lemon’s conduct unlawful, referring to the demonstration as a “riot” that terrified congregants.
Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy. He welcomes tips and can be reached at elondono.81 on Signal.
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