Don Lemon's arrest involved a gay journalist & conservative church. That's no coincidence. - LGBTQ Nation

"Lemon's arrest is another line that the current administration has crossed on the road to totalitarianism, one that people should be paying attention to. The administration hates journalists and has been attacking them in civil court, excluding them from briefings due to their coverage, insulting them to their faces, and threatening their employers' business deals to get them fired. But now it's using the criminal justice system to attack a journalist, literally for committing acts of journalism."

"Lemon went to the scene of a protest last month at St. Paul, Minnesota's Cities Church, a mostly-white, conservative Christian church where one of the pastors works for ICE. The protest was organized by local Black Lives Matter groups. Like many protests that have taken place in churches, this one was co-organized by at least one Christian preacher guided by her faith."

"Lemon covered the protest as a journalist. Even the criminal indictment agrees. He is facing one count of "Conspiracy Against Right of Religious Freedom at Place of Worship," that he intimidated people who were trying to attend a church service, and here is exactly what the indictment says Lemon did to "injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate" people in the church (these are all quotes from the indictment): LEMON began livestreaming his internet-based show, "The Don Lemon Show," w"

Don Lemon was arrested and charged under a statute originally intended to restrain the Ku Klux Klan. The indictment accuses him of "Conspiracy Against Right of Religious Freedom at Place of Worship" for allegedly intimidating people attempting to attend a church service. Authorities say he livestreamed his program while covering a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, a mostly-white conservative Christian church where one pastor works for ICE. The protest was organized by local Black Lives Matter groups and co-organized by at least one Christian preacher guided by her faith. The arrest follows broader actions against journalists including civil suits, briefing exclusions, public insults, and threats to employers.

Read at LGBTQ Nation