Don Lemon Gives New Take For Why Churchgoers Didn’t Realize He Was a Journalist: ‘Bulk Of The Protestors Were Black’

Don Lemon claimed on Tuesday that people attending the Minnesota church, during the protest he was later arrested for covering, may not have realized he was a journalist “because the bulk of the protesters were black.”

Lemon joined independent journalist and former CNN colleague Jim Acosta on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding his January arrest.

Lemon pleaded not guilty to two federal charges in February– one for conspiring against the right of religious freedom at a house of worship and one for interfering with freedom of religion under the FACE Act.

Acosta pointed out that Lemon repeatedly identified himself as a journalist while covering the protest, playing a clip of the event where Lemon can be heard telling churchgoers, “I’m not part of the group. I’m just here photographing. I’m a journalist.”

When asked by Acosta why people did not understand Lemon’s role at the protest, Lemon told him it might have been due to the racial breakdown of the two groups present.

“I don’t know. It’s weird because they kept saying it even when I told them that I’m not. And I think they were looking at me, and because the bulk of the protesters were black, maybe they thought because I’m black that– and I kept saying, ‘I’m not a protester. I’m here covering the protest. I’m not with them,'” said Lemon.

He claimed that despite his repeated identification, the people attending the church still did not appear to realize his role.

“And they were, you know, they just for some reason could not understand,” said Lemon. “So why they couldn’t figure that out, I don’t know.”

Lemon has remained defiant about his arrest, accusing President Donald Trump’s Justice Department of trying to intimidate the press.

“The process is the punishment with them,” Lemon told reporters outside the courthouse where he entered his “not guilty” plea, adding, “I will not be intimidated, I will not back down. I will fight these baseless charges, and I will not be silenced.”

Watch above via The Jim Acosta Show.

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