MINNEAPOLIS, United States: The Trump administration said on Friday it had ordered the arrest of a prominent journalist over coverage of immigration protests in Minneapolis, as the US president branded a nurse shot dead by federal agents in the city an “agitator.”
The arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon came as President Donald Trump walked back his conciliatory tone following public outrage over the killings of Alex Pretti and another American citizen in the Minnesota city.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Lemon and several other people had been arrested “at my direction” on unspecified federal charges in connection with what she called a “coordinated attack” on the Cities Church in St. Paul, the twin city of Minneapolis.
Lemon, now an independent journalist, was among reporters who covered a protest at the church where an official with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is a pastor.
Lemon´s lawyer said he was taken into custody in Los Angeles overnight, adding that his work covering the protest “was no different to what he has always done.”
A magistrate judge in Minnesota had declined last week to charge Lemon.
“This is an egregious attack on the First Amendment and on journalists´ ability to do their work,” said Committee to Protect Journalists CEO Jodie Ginsberg, referencing the constitutional right to free speech.
