Former CNN host Don Lemon has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his coverage of a protest last month at a church over federal immigration raids in Minnesota.
Lemon, 59, was charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and interfering with religious freedoms by allegedly obstructing someone's First Amendment rights by force.
The arrest came after he went into the Cities Church in St Paul on January 18 with protesters who said one of its pastors was an immigration enforcement official.
He livestreamed the protest in an incident that resulted in charges for eight others as well.
Lemon did not speak as he entered the courtroom on Friday, where two dozen protesters gathered to support him. Four co-defendants who were there with Lemon also pleaded not guilty.
Lemon has defended his decision to enter the church, saying he was simply carrying out his duty as an independent journalist covering a protest. I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now, he stated soon after his arrest.
During Friday's hearing, one of Lemon's lawyers, Abbe Lowell, expressed concerns to the judge that investigators had taken Lemon's cellphone when they arrested him in Los Angeles late last month, according to US media.
Lemon and eight other co-defendants, including another journalist, have been charged with conspiracy against religious freedom and intimidating or interfering with the exercise of that right at a place of worship.
In the January 18 incident, protesters interrupted a service at the church by chanting slogans against ICE operations. Lemon has reiterated that he was there as a journalist and not affiliated with the church protesters.
Footage showed a chaotic scene unfolding inside the church as protesters and congregants shouted at each other. Federal agents killed a second protestor, nurse Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis two weeks later amidst this ongoing tension regarding immigration enforcement actions.
Once an influential figure at CNN, Lemon was fired in April 2023. He has since become a polarizing figure with ongoing discourse surrounding his role and actions during such protests.
