Appeals Court Denies Emergency Motion Seeking Arrest Warrants For Don Lemon And Others

A federal appeals panel, including two Trump appointees, declined the Department of Justice’s emergency bid to compel a lower court judge to sign arrest warrants authorizing the arrest of former CNN journalist Don Lemon and other individuals tied to a protest inside Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The weekend ruling came after strong skepticism from the lower court about the legal basis for charging Lemon.

As Politico reports:

A federal magistrate judge earlier this week turned down arrest warrants for five people connected to the protesters — who disrupted a Sunday service to oppose the Trump administration’s deportation operations in Minnesota.

Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko said prosecutors had failed to present evidence to justify the arrests. Among the rejected arrest warrants were those for former CNN anchor Don Lemon and one of his producers, who had advance notice of the protest and were at the church as the events unfolded. Senior DOJ officials have specifically called out Lemon, a longtime antagonist of President Donald Trump, and argued that his role as a journalist would not shield him from criminal charges.

Micko did authorize arrest warrants for three people whom prosecutors described as leaders of the intrusion into the church, although he rejected one of the charges the Justice Department sought against those individuals, who were taken into custody earlier this week and then released.

In a series of previously unreported moves, the Trump administration rushed to demand that a federal judge overturn Micko’s refusal to charge the five others, then quickly escalated the fight to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals after Minnesota’s chief district judge Patrick Schiltz declined to take immediate action, calling the gambit “unprecedented.” Federal prosecutors raced to the 8th Circuit, asking the court to issue a rarely used “writ of mandamus” to force Schiltz to grant the government’s request.

Late Friday, a three-judge appeals court panel rejected the Trump administration’s request. The panel included Judge Jane Kelly, an Obama appointee, and Judges Steven Grasz and Jonathan Kobes, both Trump appointees.

Lemon said he was present to document and report the protest as part of his independent journalism work. His attorney argued that his presence and livestream were protected under the First Amendment, a point the magistrate’s ruling implicitly acknowledged by denying the DOJ’s request.

Although the appeals court denied the emergency bid, the DOJ can still pursue charges through other legal avenues — for example, returning to a magistrate judge with a revised complaint, finding another judge to approve it, or seeking a grand jury indictment.

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