"I watched the news of former CNN anchor Don Lemon's arrest with a sinking sense of familiarity. While his alleged offense was simply asking questions inside a Minneapolis church while covering an anti-ICE protest, his arrest came days later in the form of an unnecessary predawn raid at his hotel in Los Angeles. Watching it, I felt the specific anguish that comes with such performative cruelty."
"I do not argue against the merits of the charges themselves. However, it is telling that three judges initially refused the FBI's request to arrest Lemon and his co-defendants. To circumvent this judicial rejection, the Justice Department secured an indictment to force the arrests anyway. This was not an isolated overreach. In January, the FBI executed a similar predawn search at the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson."
Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were among nine people indicted after alleged interference with a church gathering while covering an anti-ICE protest. Three judges initially refused the FBI's request to arrest Lemon and co-defendants, yet the Justice Department obtained an indictment to compel arrests. A predawn raid at Lemon's hotel and a similar early-morning search of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's home exemplify a tactic designed to intimidate. Such raids produce a tactical chilling effect on journalism. Law enforcement often appears to relish the spectacle of public degradation produced by high-profile raids and arrests.
Read at www.amny.com
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