Charges against Don Lemon refused by Minnesota magistrate judge: Report

A federal magistrate judge in Minnesota reportedly refused to sign a complaint that would have charged former CNN host Don Lemon for his participation in the anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) storming of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday. 

Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told CBS News that Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko refused to approve charges for Lemon. A source also claimed that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is “enraged at the magistrate’s decision.”

CBS News reported that an anonymous source emphasized that President Donald Trump’s administration’s effort to bring charges against Lemon for his involvement in Sunday’s storming of the Christian church in St. Paul is expected to continue and that the Justice Department could find other ways to charge the former CNN host following the magistrate judge’s decision. 

In response to the report, Abbe Lowell, Lemon’s attorney, told Fox News, “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.”

Lemon’s attorney added, “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.”

Following Sunday’s incident in St. Paul, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon warned that Lemon could potentially face major consequences for participating in the storming of the church. 

In a Monday interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, Dhillon said, “Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility. He went into the facility, and then he began ‘committing journalism,’ as if that’s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t.”

Despite video footage showing he had prior knowledge of Sunday’s storming of Cities Church, Lemon released a video message claiming that his involvement was merely “journalism” and was protected by the First Amendment.

“I have no affiliation to that organization. I didn’t even know they were going to this church until we followed them there. We were there chronicling protests,” Lemon said. “Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was to report on it and talk to the people who were involved, which included the pastor, members of the church, and members of the organization. That’s it.”

“It’s called journalism,” the former CNN host added. “First Amendment, all that stuff, for all of you people who believe in the First Amendment, absolutists, there you go.”