Don Lemon formally arraigned, pleads not guilty on charges stemming from viral Minnesota church storming
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was formally arraigned on Friday, pleading not guilty to charges related to the viral takeover of a Minnesota church by anti-ICE agitators.
Lemon, who last month livestreamed aggressive agitators storming St. Paul's Cities Church under the suspicion that its pastor had collaborated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was charged with conspiracy to deprive religious freedom rights and a violation of the FACE Act.
Prosecutors did not seek to detain Lemon, who flashed peace signs to photographers as he entered the Warren E. Burger Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse alongside his legal team and husband Tim Malone. He appeared before Minnesota Magistrate Judge Douglas L. Micko, who imposed standard release conditions, including not violating laws.
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Lemon was arraigned alongside far-left agitators William Kelly and Nekima Levy Armstrong, who have been accused of helping organize the church takeover.
Lemon has insisted he was working as a journalist and was not part of the group that harassed churchgoers. He is represented by Abbe Lowell, who previously represented Hunter Biden, and Joe Thompson, who was the lead prosecutor who helped uncover the massive $250 million Feeding Our Future food fraud case tied to the state's Somali community. Thompson resigned from the U.S. Attorney's Office in January.
While documenting the hostile invasion of the church, Lemon called it a "clandestine mission."
"You have to be willing to go into places and disrupt and make people uncomfortable. That’s what this country is about," Lemon said.
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Agitators disrupted the religious service and "intimidated, harassed, oppressed, and terrorized the parishioners, including young children, and caused the service to be cut short," according to a federal affidavit.
Churchgoers told law enforcement that members of their parish attempted to retrieve their children from a childcare area located downstairs, but the agitators were blocking the stairs, and the parents were unable to get to their children. One churchgoer later expressed fear that the agitators may have guns underneath their jackets and noted that aisles were blocked, making it difficult to leave.
Lemon has seen a spike in social media subscribers, appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and been feted at the Grammy Awards since his arrest. "The Don Lemon Show" streamed on YouTube as scheduled with Lemon broadcasting from Minnesota before the arraignment.
"I believe this is bigger than me, this is about the First Amendment and freedom of the press," he told viewers.
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The FACE Act makes it a federal crime, with potentially steep fines and jail time, to use or threaten to use force to "injure, intimidate, or interfere" with a person seeking reproductive health services, or with a person lawfully trying to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship. It also prohibits intentional property damage to a facility providing reproductive health services or a place of religious worship.
This is a developing story, more to come…
Fox News Media’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.