Los Angeles mayor blasts DOJ’s Don Lemon prosecution after judge frees journalist without bail

Out journalist Don Lemon was released without bail Friday after a federal court hearing in Los Angeles, as Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, sharply criticized the Justice Department’s case against him and warned that the prosecution marks a dangerous escalation in the Trump administration’s confrontation with the press.

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Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse Friday, Bass said Lemon should never have been charged, arguing that the conduct prosecutors described amounted to routine newsgathering, not a crime. “He should not have been in court anyway,” she said, adding that what she heard during the proceedings made “no sense at all.”

Lemon, a long-time CNN anchor, was freed on his own recognizance, with the court declining to impose bail or pretrial detention. Prosecutors had sought restrictions that would have limited where Lemon could travel while the case proceeds, Bass said.

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The hearing came as newly unsealed federal court records laid out the government’s theory that Lemon’s reporting crossed into criminal conduct during a January 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

According to a federal indictment returned by a grand jury in Minnesota, prosecutors allege Lemon was aware in advance of a planned operation to disrupt a worship service and took steps while livestreaming to avoid disclosing the target publicly. The indictment claims Lemon acknowledged before entering the church that he could not reveal “what’s going on,” and later stated during the protest that “the whole point” was to disrupt the service. Journalists are routinely made aware of events they don’t report on in advance.

Prosecutors further allege Lemon positioned himself inside the church in ways that obstructed congregants’ movement, confronted worshippers attempting to leave, and stood in close proximity to the pastor after being asked to depart, contributing to what the government characterizes as intimidation and interference with religious worship.

Bass rejected that description, saying the allegations describe the work of a reporter covering a contentious public event. “From my perspective — a lay person’s perspective — what they described as his crime was the work of a reporter,” she said.

In a statement to The Advocate issued early Friday morning, Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said his arrest represented an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and a dangerous effort to criminalize journalism.

“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.” Lowell accused the Trump Justice Department of prioritizing Lemon’s arrest over investigating federal agents who killed two peaceful protesters in Minnesota earlier this month, calling that choice “the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case.”

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The mayor also condemned prosecutors’ efforts to restrict Lemon’s travel, noting that such limits would effectively ground a journalist whose work requires national movement. She said she would have been “embarrassed” by a court proceeding that attempted to confine a reporter to a narrow geographic corridor.

Bass said the case was part of a broader erosion of civil liberties, warning that journalists are increasingly being treated as targets rather than watchdogs. With the nation approaching the 250th anniversary of its founding, she said, the stakes could not be higher.

As Lemon appeared before a judge, supporters organized by the Human Rights Campaign and other groups, including actress Jane Fonda, rallied outside the federal courthouse, holding signs in solidarity with journalists.

“This assault on our democracy has got to end,” Bass said, pledging to stand with journalists whose reporting, she argued, is being reframed as criminal conduct.