Demand Progress

Washington, D.C. — On Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that journalist Don Lemon was arrested at her direction. Federal judges had already rejected attempts by the U.S. Department of Justice to secure a warrant to arrest Lemon. This arrest comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to silence the press covering grassroots reactions to the president’s deeply unpopular decisions. Recently, Demand Progress led a coalition of press freedom and civil society groups asking Congress to investigate the Trump administration’s raid of a Washington Post reporter’s home.

The following is a statement from Demand Progress Policy Director Emily Peterson-Cassin:

“By arresting Don Lemon, the government is trying to scare journalists away from covering the events in Minnesota. The Justice Department’s previous, failed attempt to arrest Lemon was outrageous. Arresting him at the direction of the attorney general, even after federal judges rejected the government’s past attempts, is even more shocking. The Trump administration is clearly waging an ongoing, unconstitutional campaign to intimidate a free and fearless press into submission and must be held accountable.”