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Former CNN host Don Lemon pleaded not guilty in a Minnesota federal court in connection with an incident in which anti-ICE protesters disrupted a church service in St. Paul where an ICE official was a pastor last month, MS Now reports.
Lemon, 59, civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, the subject of a digitally altered photo posted by the official White House social media account, and two others are also scheduled for arraignment on Friday. The former CNN host was released on his own recognizance without bail on January 30 after being taken into custody by federal agents while in Los Angeles covering the 2026 Grammy Awards. The journalist was charged with 18 USC 248, conspiracy to deprive rights, and 18 USC 248, violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
“I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now. In fact, there is no more important time than right now, this very moment for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable,” Lemon told reporters following his arrest via ABC News.
Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, the subject of a digitally altered photo posted by the official White House social media account and two others are also scheduled for arraignment on Friday. The Department of Justice's website states that 18 USC 241, Conspiracy to Deprive Rights, makes it illegal for “two or more persons to agree to injure, threaten, or intimidate a person in the United States in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States."