Don Lemon Released From Custody by Federal Judge (2)

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was released from custody Friday by a federal judge in Los Angeles.

Federal prosecutors asked the judge to require a $100,000 unsecured bond for his release, but Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue in the US District Court for the Central District of California allowed for Lemon’s release without payment, on personal recognizance.

“I’ve spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,” Lemon said in front of the court, after his release. “There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines the light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”

Lemon, who now works as an independent journalist, was arrested Thursday night by federal agents in Los Angeles in connection with his coverage of a protest at a Minnesota church against federal immigration enforcement activities.

Lemon was indicted by a grand jury in the District of Minnesota, said Alexander Robbins, representing the federal government. The journalist said “the whole point” of entering the church was “to disrupt,” Robbins said. The prosecutor advocated for stricter release conditions, saying Lemon should not “feel emboldened to commit similar acts.”

Lemon’s arrests followed a failed effort by the Justice Department to sway two Minnesota judges and a federal appeals court to sign off on earlier arrest warrants, with one of those judges saying there was “no evidence” that Lemon and another journalist targeted by the Justice Department had “engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.” Members of the Justice Department boasted on social media about Lemon’s arrest Friday.

Donahue said during Lemon’s initial court appearance that Robbins should limit his remarks on Lemon’s alleged conduct to the indictment returned by a grand jury, after Lemon’s lawyer, Marilyn Bednarski, said a judge found no probable cause in an earlier attempt to arrest the journalist.

President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota has prompted an escalation in nationwide protests. Federal agents fatally shot US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti earlier this month, inflaming tensions.

The National Association of Black Journalists said in a statement that it’s “outraged and deeply alarmed by the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort by federal agents, and by the government’s escalating effort and actions to criminalize and threaten press freedom under the guise of law enforcement.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass attended the hearing. She said in a statement that Lemon is a friend and “the arrest of journalists for going into a church in the course of reporting is shocking enough, but what’s even more alarming is that it’s no secret that Don Lemon is a Trump critic.”

First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli was seated at counsel table with Robbins, but didn’t address the judge during the hearing.

The judge granted Lemon permission to travel internationally with court permission, and to attend his annual weeklong boat trip in France in June, as long as it doesn’t conflict with the Minnesota court’s calendar.

“He’s committed to fighting this case,” Bednarski said. “He’s not going anywhere.”