BREAKING: Don Lemon ARRESTED!
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What happened in Don Lemon's arrest and his attorney's statement?
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us, Lemon Nation. I'm Monique Presley. I am guest hosting this morning for our friend, our brother, our journalist who we all have been able to count on for the past three decades, Don Lemon. You know, guys, that I'm here with you frequently and often and one of the things that we always talk about is the importance of independent media. We talk about how much it's necessary for us to support those who are out doing the work every single day. And that support is needed more than ever today for independent journalists like Don, who I'm honored to guest host for this morning, and like Georgia Fort, who was also arrested last night. The information that we have so far and we'll be sharing as much as we can with you throughout this hour is that Don was arrested late last night in Los Angeles.
He's there, as you all know, for the Grammys. He is scheduled to be live on the red carpet covering Grammy events. And he was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles around midnight. And he has released the following statement through his attorney, Abby Lowell. Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work.
Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention, and resources to this arrest. And that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case, this unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court. I see many of you saying free Don Lemon. And of course, that's what we are demanding, that he be released immediately. And we want these charges dropped. I'm not here by myself this morning. There are so many experts who we've come to count on during the time that Don has been here on the Don Lemon show, Don Lemon channel on YouTube.
And one of them is Charles Coleman, ESQ. He's my friend, my brother. He's a former prosecutor. He's a frequent commentator in SMBC and elsewhere. Welcome, Charles. Good morning.
Good morning, Monique. Thanks for having me.
Well, Don's having us, Charles.
This is true. This is true.
How do guests explain legal charges, grand jury process, and press freedom implications?
And what an odd time for us to be in. We actually on this show a number of times in the past couple of weeks have had the conversation about this very thing we've discussed. what this started with in Minnesota, which was a group of protesters, not Don, who's a journalist, not Georgia, who's a journalist, a group of protesters staged a pop-up protest at a church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Don was covering that event, covering the news story. And now we find that Don has been arrested, and according to the DHS, charged under 18 USC 241 and 248. What are your initial thoughts?
One of the things that we may have been able to sort of read the tea leaves to determine that was confirmed today, apparently by the wife of Stephen Miller, is that Don Lemon and as well as the other journalist, Georgia, who was arrested after, apparently, these things went to a grand jury. They were presented in front of a grand jury. And the reason that's significant is because the federal government ran out of options, effectively, when they went to a magistrate judge and they could not secure an arrest warrant. And then they appealed that and they could not had that appeal granted. And so their attempts to go through a magistrate judge in order to secure an arrest warrant were both denied, which left them with very few options, which was to go in front of the grand jury.
I had sort of thought about this as a former prosecutor because their options were limited.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What happened in Don Lemon's arrest and his attorney's statement?
0:16–3:17
2
How do guests explain legal charges, grand jury process, and press freedom implications?
3:17–1:50:42
3
How are journalists being targeted and why was Don Lemon arrested?
1:50:42–2:02:12
4
What actions and strategies do guests recommend to defend democracy and protect journalists?
2:02:12–3:34:20
5
How do panelists link Don Lemon’s arrest to broader attacks on the press and First Amendment?
3:34:20–3:40:46
6
What charges are detailed in the unsealed indictment and who else was arrested?
3:40:46–5:11:10
7
How did guests react to Don Lemon and Georgia Fort’s arrests and the Georgia Fort home raid?
5:11:10–5:14:06
8
What broader threats to press freedom and authoritarian tactics are examined and who’s mobilizing support?
5:14:06–8:41:44