Lemon Law
We’ve reached the arresting journalists phase of Trumpism. “The former CNN anchor Don Lemon and three other people have been arrested on charges that they violated federal law during a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minn.” Even though a judge rejected these charges just last week, Trump’s Justice Department slash personal retribution engine couldn’t resist bending the law to go after two of their favorite targets: Journalists and protesters. “The arrests of Mr. Lemon, a second journalist and two protesters came a little more than a week after three other demonstrators who took part in the action at the Cities Church on Jan. 18 were taken into custody. The prosecution is likely to face pushback from defense lawyers on First Amendment grounds, given that political protest sits at the center of the charges and that Mr. Lemon and the other journalist, Georgia Fort, have said they entered the church to cover a demonstration against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the area.” NYT (Gift Article): Federal Agents Arrest Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Protest. Of course, the goal of squeezing Lemon goes beyond an attempt to silence one very notable Trump critic. It’s meant to send a message to any and all journalists who would dare to cover the Trump administration in a way they don’t want to be covered. When life gives you lemons, pay attention.
+ “Let’s be clear: The DOJ has been under intense pressure from the right, from Lemon’s ideological opponents, to arrest him. Lemon has been a longtime Trump antagonist, and Trump has criticized him as recently as last week. So this sure looks like another example of Trump’s retribution campaign. Slate’s Jill Filipovic called it a ‘five-alarm fire moment’ in a column just now. CNN’s Sara Sidner called it “terrifying” during our live breaking news coverage. And David Axelrod remarked this morning that the DOJ is now the ‘Department of Retribution,’ adding, ‘If you don’t believe Don Lemon’s arrest was ordered from on high, you just haven’t been paying attention.'” Brian Stelter in Reliable Sources: Two reporters taken into custody.
