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> Lemon livestreamed a demonstration earlier this month that interrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, protesting President Donald Trump's immigratio
by 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.