Federal Judge Refuses to Sign Complaint Bringing Charges Against Don Lemon for Protest at Church: Report

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP photo

The Trump administration’s efforts to criminally prosecute Don Lemon in connection with a protest at a Minnesota church hit a snag Thursday when a federal magistrate judge “refused to sign a complaint bringing charges” against him, reported CBS News justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane.

Last Sunday during a livestream of Lemon’s YouTube program, he recorded protesters storming into Cities Church in St. Paul to protest the immigration crackdown by ICE agents, reportedly because the pastor of the church, David Easterwood, was also working for ICE. St. Paul’s ICE Field Office lists a David Easterwood as its acting director, and while the agency has not confirmed whether or not they are the same person, a photo from the Cities Church website and an ICE press conference from last October suggests that may be the case.

Lemon defended the protest as being “what the First Amendment is about, the freedom to protest.” When a church member asked Lemon if he was part of the protest, he replied that he was not, saying he was “just here photographing, I’m a journalist.”

In the aftermath, conservatives criticized Lemon for defending the protest, arguing that it had constituted a First Amendment violation of its own by interfering with a religious service. Some, however, took Lemon’s side, like Glenn Beck, who is no fan of Lemon’s but nonetheless questioned whether it was proper to “go after a journalist that’s reporting” on the protest.

Unsurprisingly, President Donald Trump reacted furiously to the video of the protest at the church, calling for the protesters and Lemon to be jailed or thrown out of the U.S.

On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that there had been several arrests of the people accused of organizing the church protest and added that there were “[m]ore to come.”

It does not appear that Lemon will be among the “more” arrests Bondi predicted.

According to MacFarlane, “multiple sources familiar with the proceedings confirm a Minnesota federal magistrate judge refused to sign a complaint bringing charges against Don Lemon in connection with the church protest on Sunday.”

The magistrate judge did sign off on the two arrests that Bondi had announced, but would not approve charges against Lemon.

CBS News’ article reported that Bondi was “enraged at the magistrate’s decision,” according to “a source familiar with the matter.”

“A different source stressed that the process is not over, and the Justice Department could find other avenues to charge Lemon,” the report added.

As CBS News’ report noted, Trump’s Department of Justice has been plagued by an unusually high number of criminal cases being rejected by grand juries or dismissed by judges.

The DOJ’s efforts to “crack down” on crime and “pursue every case as a federal offense when possible” have “backfired” as prosecutors “began to see grand juries reject charges and magistrate judges push back on cases they viewed as flimsy or that contained constitutional defects.”

Abbe Lowell, Lemon’s attorney, released a statement, reported The Guardian’s Jeremy Barr.

Said Lowell:

The magistrate’s reported actions confirm the nature of Don’s First Amendment protected work this weekend in Minnesota as a reporter. It was no different than what he has done for more than 30 years, reporting and covering newsworthy events on the ground and engaging in constitutionally protected activity as a journalist. Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.

This article has been updated with additional information. 

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet Newsletter
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!