Don Lemon pleads not guilty at arraignment for church protest

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon pleaded not guilty to federal felony charges during his first appearance in a Minnesota federal court on Friday. Lemon and eight co-defendants were charged after allegedly participating in a Jan. 18 walk-in protest inside Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn. They are accused of involvement with a larger group that entered the church during a Sunday service, blocked aisles, harassed worshippers, and chanted anti-immigration enforcement slogans, according to court documents. The protest occurred as protesters rallied against a federal law enforcement operation in the Twin Cities area.

Lemon is charged with conspiracy to deprive people of constitutional religious rights, a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He is also charged under the FACE Act with injuring people’s right to worship, a misdemeanor carrying penalties of up to a year in prison.

What has Lemon said about the charges? The media figure, who now hosts his own show on YouTube, characterized the legal proceedings against him as an attack on the constitutional freedom of the press. He previously said he was livestreaming the protest as a journalist rather than participating in it. The federal complaint accused Lemon of obstructing and intimidating the church’s pastor while peppering him with questions about another pastor whom the protesters accused of having ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report on the arrest of several other protesters who took part in the Cities Church incident.