Marita Vlachou is a breaking news reporter for HuffPost based in London, covering U.S. and international politics. Prior to joining HuffPost, Marita worked for major broadcasters including BBC News and CNN. Marita holds an undergraduate degree from New York University.
When free expression is challenged, independent journalism matters more than ever. By supporting HuffPost, you stand behind accountability, truth, and a free press.Independent journalist Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal authorities early Friday on federal civil rights charges related to his coverage of a protest in Minnesota.
and interfering with the First Amendment rights of those worshiping at Cities Church on Jan. 18 in St. Paul, where the protest interrupted a service. Lemon was released on his own recognizance during a federal court appearance in Los Angeles late Friday afternoon. His next court date is Feb. 9 in Minneapolis.that federal agents also arrested three others at her direction — fellow independent journalist Georgia Fort, Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy — in connection with the demonstration against Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the Trump official described as a “coordinated attack.”and several other defendants are accused of conducting “a takeover-style attack” at the church, despite there being no physical violence during the demonstration. “As a result of defendants’ conduct, the pastor and congregation were forced to terminate the Church’s worship service, congregants fled the Church building out of fear for their safety, other congregants took steps to implement an emergency plan, and young children were left to wonder, as one child put it, if their parents were going to die,” the indictment said.Lemon himself was accused of standing “in close proximity to the pastor in an attempt to oppress and intimidate him, and physically obstructed his freedom of movement while LEMON peppered him with questions to promote the operation’s message.”“While talking with the pastor, defendant LEMON stood so close to the pastor that LEMON caused the pastor’s right hand to graze LEMON, who then admonished the pastor, ‘Please don’t push me.’”, was arrested in Los Angeles while covering the Grammys. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, released a statement calling the arrest an attack on the First Amendment.“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work,” the statement said. Lowell also sought to contrast the administration’s response to the killing of two Americans — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — by federal immigration agents with their apparent targeting of Lemon, a prominent critic of President Donald Trump. “Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” the statement added.Don Lemon, seen here speaking during the 2025 Blackweek Conference in New York City, was taken into custody by federal authorities early Friday on charges related to his coverage of a protest in Minnesota.that a person close to Lemon told him the journalist spent the night in jail. Lemon is expected to make his first court appearance later Friday.’s arrest of our former CNN colleague Don Lemon raises profoundly concerning questions about press freedom and the First Amendment,” CNN said in a statement. “The Department of Justice already failed twice to get an arrest for Don and several other journalists in Minnesota, where a chief judge of the Minnesota Federal District Court found there was ‘no evidence’ that there was any criminal behavior involved in their work.”Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to comment on Lemon’s arrest during a Friday press conference. “Do I have a reaction to it? I don’t know what that means,” Blanche said of Lemon’s arrest. “What are you looking for me to do, jump up and down? No, I don’t have a reaction to it. I don’t know that his charges are unsealed yet, so no, I’m not going to comment on that.”“I don’t feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press, because now federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago,” she said. Last week, Minnesota’s chief federal judge, Patrick Schiltz, declined to reverse a lower court’s ruling rejecting the Justice Department’sfor Lemon and four others in connection with the anti-ICE protest in St. Paul. The DOJ chose to further escalate the matter, urging the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to compel Schiltz to act. The court refused. Lemon’s arrest fits the Trump administration’s pattern of targeting journalists and testing the limits of the First Amendment. It followsearlier this month, during which authorities seized her phone, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive and her smart watch. A judge recently blocked the governmentThe president has also filed numerous lawsuits against news organizations, most recently against the BBC, over its editing of excerpts from this Jan. 6, 2021, speech included in a Panorama documentary. “The Trump Justice Department is illegitimate and these extremists will all be held accountable for their crimes against the Constitution,” he said.“Instead of prioritizing accountability in the killings of two American citizens, the Trump administration is devoting its resources to arresting journalists. This behavior has no place in the United States,” Jacobsen Freedom of the Press Foundation’s chief of advocacy, Seth Stern, issued a statement saying the “unmistakable message” the arrests are sending “is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them.” “Fort’s arrest is meant to instill the same fear in local independent journalists as big names like Lemon,” theDon Lemon Reacts After DOJ Says It May Use KKK Act To Prosecute Him For Reporting On Church ICE ProtestBy entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our
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