New video evidence deflates DOJ’s Don Lemon claims

The Trump administration's accusation against former CNN journalist Don Lemon appeared to be contradicted in a newly released piece of video, according to a Friday report from the Washington Post, casting significant doubt on the rationale given for his the charges brought against him.

Last month, Lemon, along with Twin Cities-based reporter Georgia Fort and several others, was arrested by federal officers in connection with his presence at a protest that took place at a St. Paul church weeks prior. Lemon and Fort asserted that they were present for the event as journalists covering it, but the federal indictment against them claims that they were "agitators" along with the rest of the protesters, who "entered the Church in a coordinated takeover-style attack."

The indictment did not characterize Lemon and Fort as reporters, aside from mentions of Lemon engaging in a livestream for his online show and Fort conducting an interview. They and the rest of the protesters are charged with conspiring to deprive congregants of their religious rights and of interfering with access to a place of worship. The DOJ alleged that they "oppressed, threatened, and intimidated" church attendees "by physically occupying most of the main aisle and rows of chairs near the front of the Church, engaging in menacing and threatening behavior."

"Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done," Lemon's attorney, Abbe Lowell, said following his arrest.

On Friday, the Washington Post reported on footage of the protest from a Black Lives Matter livestream and a livestream conducted by Fort. At no point in the footage, the outlet explained, did Lemon appear to behave in a manner consistent with the allegations against him.

"A live stream from Black Lives Matter Minnesota captures Lemon standing at the back of the sanctuary when the protest begins about two minutes later," the report detailed. "He soon moves forward to where the demonstrators are gathered and can be heard on his feed narrating the events for his audience. Fort’s live stream shows protesters chanting anti-ICE slogans and in some cases confronting parishioners... Lemon remains toward the front of the church — sometimes off to the side and sometimes near the main aisle — for roughly 16 minutes. "

The report continued: "For less than half of that time, he is off-camera but his feed remains live with audio from his microphone. His feed drops out entirely on several occasions for a few seconds at a time. The videos and audio reviewed by The Post contain no indication Lemon threatened church congregants or chanted or yelled."

At one point in the footage reviewed, Lemon can be heard saying, "I’m not part of the group; I’m just here photographing. I’m a journalist." Later on, he holds the door for people leaving the church, asking some for interviews. When one man declines the request, Lemon said, "Okay, thank you, I appreciate it." The two continue a heated back-and-forth after the man claimed to support the deportation operation in the Twin Cities area, with Lemon accusing him of not listening to facts and the man countering that Lemon was posing as a journalist. While tense, the Post noted that Lemon at no point prevented the man from exiting the building, as the indictment said.

“There is clearly no physical obstruction of that exit,” Judy Appelbaum, who worked as a lead congressional staffer involved in drafting the 1994 law that Lemon was charged under, explained to the Post. “And I don’t see any use of force, nor any threat of force.”

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