Posted in: Opinion, streaming, TV, TV, YouTube | Tagged: don lemon, opinion

Trump's White House Mocks Don Lemon Arrest with Chain Emojis

With Don Lemon expected to appear in federal court today, The White House mocked Lemon's arrest in a way that's grabbing a lot of attention.

Earlier today, the news broke that former CNN anchor and independent journalist Don Lemon, along with journalist and producer Georgia Fort and two others, were arrested by federal agents for allegedly violating federal law for their attendance at an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 18th. During the incident, protestors interrupted a church service at Cities Church by a pastor who also works as an ICE agent, chanting "ICE out!" In the aftermath, Donald Trump's people looked to charge eight individuals over the incident – including Lemon – for breaking a law that protects individuals attending service at a place of worship. Lemon and his legal team have argued that Lemon was there solely as a journalist who was reporting on the demonstration. A magistrate judge would approve charges against only three individuals, dismissing potential charges against Lemon and others due to insufficient evidence. Trump's Justice Department sought to have the judge forced to issue the additional warrants, but those efforts were shut down by a federal appeals court.

Reports are that Lemon is set to appear before a federal judge in downtown Los Angeles later this afternoon. With the Department of Homeland Security noting that Lemon was facing "conspiracy to Deprive Rights, and… interfering by force of someone's First Amendment rights," the journalist could be facing up to 10 years behind bars on the first charge, and fines and more than a year in prison on the second charge if the prosecution is eyeing a misdemeanor violation. Interestingly enough, the arrests came only hours before Trump's Department of Justice released literally millions of responsive pages from the Epstein Files, a month after the DOJ was required by law to release them. For their part, The White House's social media team mocked Lemon arrest with the following post, with the addition of the "chain" emoji being viewed by many as having racist undertones.

Lemon's attorney, Abbe Lowell, confirmed earlier today that the arrest came as the journalist was in Los Angeles to cover this weekend's Grammy Awards. "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," Lowell said in a statement. "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. 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."

Lemon's arrest comes as Minneapolis continues to be a site of growing tensions and violence between the citizens and ICE and other federal agents. In addition, today is also the "National Shutdown" ("No work. No School. No shopping. Stop funding ICE."), a nationwide general strike to protest the Trump Administration's immigration policies and actions in Minnesota and across the country. Earlier this month, Minnesota held its own statewide general strike, with an estimated 50,000 people protesting in the streets of Minneapolis, and Minnesotans were encouraged not to go to school or work, or purchase anything. Meanwhile, questions still remain regarding the shooting deaths of U.S. citizens Rene Good and Alex Pettri by ICE and federal agents.

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