Stephen A. Smith has furiously criticized the arrest of journalist Don Lemon and told anybody in favor of it that they ‘don’t support the First Amendment’.
Lemon has been released without bail after appearing in a Los Angeles court Friday on federal charges relating to his coverage of anti-ICE protests at a church in Minneapolis earlier this month.
The 59 year-old, an independent journalist, is accused of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers.
Addressing the incident on his YouTube channel, an animated Smith said: ‘Whether you like it or not, Don Lemon is a member of the press. Don Lemon has been in journalism for 30 years. Don Lemon worked at CNN for 17 years.
‘And just because you don’t have a specific organization that you’re working for, that’s where the word independence comes from.
‘It doesn’t mean that your journalism credentials are stripped. Not when you’ve been doing it for decades like him. This is straight BS what he’s going through.’
Stephen A. Smith has furiously criticized the arrest of journalist Don Lemon this week
Lemon (pictured outside court on Friday) was arrested in Los Angeles after joining pro-immigration protesters who stormed a Minnesota church earlier this month
He continued: ‘I’m a member of the press too and ain’t no way in hell anyone in the field of journalism shouldn’t be supporting Don Lemon today. And that’s including anyone on the right. Anybody in journalism.
‘I’m not saying it was wise, I’m not saying I would have done it. I’m not saying he should have walked into a church to do interviews and stuff like that for a couple of minutes.
‘But it don’t warrant this. You support this, you don’t support the First Amendment. You don’t support freedom of the press.’
The arrests brought sharp criticism from news media advocates and civil rights activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said the administration of President Donald Trump is taking a ‘sledgehammer’ to ‘the knees of the First Amendment.’
A grand jury in Minnesota indicted Lemon and others on charges of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers during the January 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor.
In court in Los Angeles, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Robbins argued for a $100,000 bond, telling a judge that Lemon ‘knowingly joined a mob that stormed into a church.’
He was released, however, without having to post money and was granted permission to travel to France in June while the case is pending.
Lemon was seen in footage from the incident arguing with the church pastor over the storming of the Sunday service, telling the pastor: ‘There’s a Constitution and a First Amendment, and freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest’
Lemon said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and that he was there as an independent journalist chronicling protesters
Lemon struck a confident, defiant tone while speaking to reporters after a court appearance in California, declaring: ‘I will not be silenced.’
‘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.’
Defense attorney Marilyn Bednarski said Lemon plans to plead not guilty and fight the charges in Minnesota.
Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023 following a bumpy run as a morning host, has said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and he was there as a solo journalist chronicling protesters.
‘Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,’ his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement earlier Friday.
Since he left CNN, Lemon has joined the legion of journalists who have gone into business for themselves. He posts regularly on YouTube and has not hidden his disdain for Trump.
Yet during his online show from the church, he stressed: ‘I’m not here as an activist. I’m here as a journalist.’ He described the scene before him and interviewed churchgoers and demonstrators.
The indictment names nine defendants including Lemon. It says two of them posted their planned action on social media the day before and gave the others instructions in a shopping center parking lot the following morning.
Lemon left the court with husband Tim Malone (right), who he blew a kiss to during the hearing
Lemon started live-streaming and told the audience he was with a group gearing up for a ‘resistance’ operation against federal immigration policies, according to the document.
Lemon ‘took steps to maintain operational secrecy by reminding co-conspirators to not disclose the target of their operation,’ the indictment says, and stepped away so his microphone would not accidentally divulge the planning.
During the briefing before the operation, prosecutors say, Lemon thanked an activist who is among the nine indicted for what she was doing and assured her he was not saying what was going on.
Inside the church the defendants shouted slogans and blew whistles after the pastor was about to begin the sermon and gestured in a hostile and aggressive manner, according to prosecutors, and the pastor and congregants perceived ‘threats of violence.’
Lemon told the livestream he saw a young man who was frightened, sad and crying and it was understandable because the experience was traumatic and uncomfortable, the indictment says. The defendants then surrounded the pastor and Lemon ‘peppered him with questions to promote the operation’s message.’
