Don Lemon charged with civil rights crimes, Greene defends arrest

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defended the arrest of former CNN host Don Lemon Friday for his coverage of an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota.

“I don’t think this is journalism. This is not [the] Greene talked about Lemon’s appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday.

On Friday, federal agents arrested Lemon and charged him with civil rights crimes, including conspiracy to commit civil disenfranchisement and interference with religious liberty.

Lemon was arrested in St. Petersburg on Jan. 18 on suspicion that his pastor was cooperating with ICE. He livestreamed leftist agitators storming St. Paul’s Cities Church.

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Greene appeared to be the lone advocate for Lemon’s arrest during HBO’s late-night panel.

“It’s not good to arrest [Lemon]” said Maher.

The former congressman pushed back on Maher’s claim, citing federal law protecting religious worship in houses of worship.

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“Well, I will say he violated the FACE Act,” Greene countered. “He went to a church, disrupted their services, and later compared them to white supremacists in an interview.”

“This is not journalism,” Greene said. “This is activism.”

“But does it warrant arrest?” Maher asked.

Greene argued that Lemon joined “activists” in “harassing people” in the middle of the church and incited children to cry.

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Anti-ICE agitators Sunday in St. They targeted the Cities Church in St. Paul, yelling at churchgoers in the middle of services. Church of the Cities pastor Jonathan Parnell condemned the agitators in a statement on Tuesday. (Facebook/DawokeFarmer2)

Meanwhile, Greene’s fellow panelist and MS NOW co-host Joe Scarborough made no mistake about Lemon being “aggressive” in his reporting.

“I don’t want someone to walk in there and say, ‘I’m not with them, can I ask you a few questions?’ I think there should be some kind of distinction between saying “

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“Because you’re going to take part in the war, you’re going to take part in the protests,” Scarborough continued.

He claimed that Lemon’s arrest was designed by the Trump administration to “scare” other journalists.

Don Lemon remained defiant Thursday after a federal magistrate judge rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to file criminal charges against him. (Don Lemon Show/screenshot)

On January 19, Lemon explained to his team about how he became the “face” of anti-ICE protests in Minnesota.

“My producers said to me, ‘Don, you’re a gay, black man in America. And you have a platform and you’re the biggest name,'” Lemon said on Jennifer Welch’s “I’ve Had It” podcast.

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He went on to criticize the “racist, bigoted homophobes” who ostracized him after covering the protest at Cities Church.

“Of course you’re going to be the one they pick, and they’re going to make headlines because it plays to their base, and by the way, their base is full of racist, bigoted homophobes like Nicki Minaj,” Lemon said. Lemon added.

The former CNN anchor was released without bail and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Minneapolis on Feb. 9.