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Former CNN journalist Don Lemon arrested after church protest in Minnesota
- trinsic2 9mo agoThis is a slow slide into authoritarianism. When journalists get arrested for documenting important events, it sets a dangerous precedent. Resist and Unsubscribe[0] [0]: https://www.scottrlarson.com/blog/blog-resist-unsubscribe/ https://www.scottrlarson.com/blog/blog-resist-unsubscribe/
- SilverElfin 9mo ago> Lemon livestreamed a demonstration earlier this month that interrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, protesting President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the area. He said he was at the demonstration to cover it as a journalist. > In an unusual move that drew a rebuke from the chief federal judge in Minnesota, Patrick Schiltz, the Justice Department filed emergency applications to get Schiltz and then the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule the magistrate judge. Schiltz told prosecutors that if they disagreed with a magistrate judge's decision, they must instead seek an indictment from a grand jury in order to arrest Lemon. > In a letter filed in court records, Schiltz wrote that Lemon and his producer "were not protestors at all." > "There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so," the chief judge wrote.
- komopopo 9mo ago[flagged]
- tencentshill 9mo ago>created: 12 minutes ago
- SilverElfin 9mo agoWhat was omitted that you think should be said? I pulled out what I felt were the most important parts.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- cosmicgadget 9mo agoChilling journalists and late night comedians is the MO of the administration.
- zahlman 9mo ago> In the livestream archived on his YouTube channel, Lemon can be seen meeting with and interviewing the activists before they go to the church, and later chronicling the disruption inside, interviewing congregants, protesters and a pastor, who asks Lemon and the protesters to leave. Popular comments on the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ctuhv-cck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ctuhv-cck) from within the first couple of days after upload make problems with the pro-Lemon narrative quite clear. Not mentioned is that the interview with the activists discloses a clear plan to "make the [congregation] feel uncomfortable", and that Lemon's interviews were quite hostile and aimed at furthering the protesters' point of view. At one point he could be seen to lean on an interviewee while saying "don't touch me". The protesters did not leave when asked. Everyone who watches the footage is encouraged to consider how they would perceive the actions if this had taken place at a mosque or synagogue rather than a church. It's curious that Reuters could apparently find several "Free press advocates [who] voiced alarm over the arrests", but not any freedom of speech advocates concerned with the congregation's right to freedom of association on private property. It's also strange that the article goes into extensive detail about Lemon's background and similar actions by the Trump administration, but is silent about the apparent motivation for the choice of venue for the protest (the lead pastor, Jonathan Parnell, was suspected of having ties to ICE) which makes the action seem rather like harassment.
- zahlman 9mo ago(It was David Easterwood they were after. I misread some other coverage.)
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 9mo agoNone of this seems relevant to Lemon being charged with any crimes. Do you know something others don't which would justify ICE acting against what the judge said? > "There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so," the chief judge wrote.
- zahlman 9mo agoThe judge is factually incorrect, per Lemon's own livestream recording. ICE is not involved in getting the warrant nor making the arrest, and will presumably not be involved in the trial. The purpose of the activists, and the strength of Lemon's connection to them, is obviously relevant to the charges, as the charges specifically allege the thing that the judge wrongly asserts to lack evidence.
- airhangerf15 9mo agoThe church protest was cringe and garbage. I don't know what those people thought they were doing, but they basically turned even more people against them. This whole ICE thing is a psychological operation. It's media manipulation and all the people violently protesting are useful idiots falling for it, or they're feds in disguise instigating more violence to turn around and give more crackdowns. Don Lemon is one of the chosen media elites. He can sexually assault people and nothing happens. He's a terrible human being, but nothing will come from this. It's all smoke and mirror. Go outside and turn off your phones people.
- SilverElfin 9mo agoMaybe what you are saying is true. But even then, personally, I find it disturbing that the Trump administration recently raided a Washington Post journalist and now they are arresting journalists. When I look at these events alongside Trump always attacking news outlets and how aggressively abusive the press secretaries are in their interaction with reporters, I see a big pattern of undermining the press. To me this arrest looks like lawfare. It looks like the administration abusing its power to violate the first amendment.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- airhangerf15 9mo agoIt's exactly what Abraham Lincoln did .. actually he went further and sentenced some news paper owners to death (overturned after the war). Lincoln was not a good guy or pro-American (anti-speech, anti-due process), but he's viewed positively only because he won. and as far as the Washington Compost, we know from the Church Committee the CIA likely has operatives in there. So unlike Lincoln, there was no real need to raid WaPo. It was likely just for show.
- krapp 9mo ago>This whole ICE thing is a psychological operation. It's media manipulation and all the people violently protesting are useful idiots falling for it, or they're feds in disguise instigating more violence to turn around and give more crackdowns. No, it's real. The media didn't make it up, the people in the streets aren't crisis actors. Sometimes things actually happen. Sometimes what the media reports on is actually real.
- guywithahat 9mo ago[flagged]
- IAmBroom 9mo ago> It'll be interesting to see how strongly they go against Don Lemon, given historically how strongly Biden went after J6 protesters. Only a jackboot-lover would see strong similarities in peacefully protesting government actions, and violently attempting to overthrow Congress. > Encouraging people to protest inside white churches feels deeply unproductive. Wow, unabashedly racist, too.
- kcplate 9mo ago> peacefully protesting government actions In a church service? To what end does it make sense? The whole thing was live streamed. They intentionally interrupted a religious worship service. You had children traumatized, crying. What idiot or group of idiots would think that is going to motivate the government to do anything except go after you with specific laws that were passed to protect religious gatherings from such things. This type of tactic was not productive to whatever your cause is…it did damage.
- guywithahat 9mo agoI should have put that in quotes, in the video he specifies how he’s going after white churches
- xiphias2 9mo agoI don't know the details but it looks like one side says obstruction, which is something physical, the other side says freedom of speech, which is non-physical act. If there is video evidence it should be easy to decide for the court.
- hoten 9mo agoYou missed that a judge denied the arrest warrant for Don (while approving some others) citing insufficient evidence. Govt appealed, appeals court denied again. They arrest him anyways.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- xiphias2 9mo agoI see, I found a video about it, actually it was not a protest, I thought people were outside the church, but they went inside. https://youtu.be/s7jsQKRoNEY?si=gmHgnnxBrbgXR525 https://youtu.be/s7jsQKRoNEY?si=gmHgnnxBrbgXR525 It was clearly not a protest but obstruction by others. And he was not taking part of the obstruction, just documenting it. I can understand DOJ charging him with conspiracy if he took part of the planning, but arrasting him was probably not needed (whether conspiracy took part or not), as he didn't seem to disrupt the church.
- aftbit 9mo agoFACE covers "physical" obstruction or threats of violence or force. Standing in the room and yelling is not physical obstruction, and none of what was yelled was threatening violence. Regardless, Don Lemon himself didn't take part in any of that - he just went there to film it. The DOJ just wants to scare people out of protesting or reporting on crimes, score some points with their religious base, and "own the libs" by turning the FACE act around, probably in retaliation for the (IMO overcharging) of the "Pro Life Grandmother" aka Paula “Paulette” Harlow: >“[The defendants] forcefully entered the clinic and set about blockading two clinic doors using their bodies, furniture, chains, and ropes,” the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said.
- ChrisArchitect 9mo agoEarlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46824428 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46824428
- zahlman 9mo agoIt looks like this has become the biggest thread for it, though.
- swed420 9mo ago[flagged]
- nh23423fefe 9mo agoThat list would be even less interesting than the flagged off topic politics posts that people are so desperate to contend are on topic because everything is political.
- swed420 9mo agoOr would it show group A complains about some political posts, while that same group doesn't complain about other political posts? There's already a predictable trend in political posts that do and do not get flagged, clear even without this feature addition. Such a feature would either make the trend even more obvious, and/or perhaps encourage self reflection so as to not commit the sin of making contradictions in public.
- soganess 9mo ago> “so desperate to contend” The only thing desperate is people plugging their ears and lalala-ing “HN is not for politics.” The tech talk here is embarrassingly shallow. Depth is now the rare exception. If I want deep dives, I’ll go see about some crabs. This place now exists to launder the tech worldview, and that’s an inherently political act. Pretending it isn’t doing that is political too. Like most folks here nowadays, I primarily come for the politics. The difference is I’m not lying to myself about my posture.
- swed420 9mo agoI still primarily come for the tech/hacker vibe, but also understand and accept that continually hitting snooze on important political items will threaten my future ability to enjoy the former. I also respect the fact that this is run by an SV incubator and everything that entails. Out of all the discussion platforms, this one is still the most sane, for now. Moderation is a thankless job, and they do a pretty good job with that around here compared to all of the alternatives.
- mistermaster1 9mo ago[dead]