Journalist Don Lemon spoke out forcefully against his arrest after leaving court in Los Angeles on Friday.
Lemon, according to the Justice Department, has been charged with “conspiracy to deprive rights and interfering with First Amendment rights,” stemming from his reporting on a protest at a Minnesota church earlier this month.
The former CNN anchor told reporters gathered outside federal court on Friday that he would not be discouraged from doing his job.
“I have spent my entire career covering the news,” Lemon, 59, said. “I will not stop now. In fact, 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.”
“The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists who do what I do,” Lemon added. “I stand with all of them, and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.”
On Friday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told People that “Don Lemon is being charged with 18 USC 241, Conspiracy to Deprive Rights, and 18 USC 248, Violation of the FACE Act, interfering by force of someone’s First Amendment rights.”
But the government’s case didn’t get off to a smooth start. A federal magistrate judge in Minneapolis refused to sign the arrest warrant for Lemon due to lack of evidence of a crime. When the Justice Department pleaded its case at a federal appeals court, it was denied.
In court on Friday, the government asked the judge to not only impose a $100,000 bond for Lemon, but to restrict his travel to New York, where he resides, and Minneapolis. But they came up empty there, too.
Lemon’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, issued a statement after his arrest that read in part, “This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
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