Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday defended the arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon in connection with his coverage of an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota.
‘I don’t think that’s journalism. That’s not it [the] First Amendment,” Greene said Friday of Lemon’s involvement in “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
On Friday, federal agents arrested Lemon and accused him of civil rights crimes, including conspiracy to deprive civil rights and interfering with religious freedom.
Lemon livestreamed left-wing agitators storming St. Paul’s Cities Church on Jan. 18 under suspicion that the pastor had collaborated with ICE.
Greene appeared to be the only defender of Lemon’s arrest on HBO’s late-night panel.
‘It’s not good to arrest [Lemon]” said Maher.
The former congressman pushed back on Maher’s argument, citing federal law that protects religious practice at places of worship.
“Well, I’m going to say he violated the FACE Act,” Greene countered. “He entered a church, disrupted their worship and later compared them to white supremacists in an interview.”
“That’s not journalism,” Greene claimed. “That is activism.”
“But does this warrant an arrest?” Maher asked.
Greene further argued that Lemon aligned himself with “activists” by “harassing people” in the middle of the church, causing children to cry.
Meanwhile, Greene’s fellow panelist and MS NOW co-host Joe Scarborough found no fault with Lemon being “aggressive” in his reporting.
“I think there has to be some kind of distinction between whether someone goes in there and says, ‘I’m not with them, can I ask you some questions?'”
“Because you will be anchored in war, you will also be anchored in protests,” Scarborough continued.
He further claimed that the Trump administration’s arrest of Lemon was intended to “scare” other journalists.
On January 19, Lemon gave his team’s explanation for how he became “the face” of the anti-ICE protests in Minnesota.
“My producers said, ‘Don, you’re a gay black man in America. And you have a platform, and you’re the biggest name,'” Lemon said on Jennifer Welch’s “I’ve Had It” podcast.
He then blasted “racist, bigoted homophobes” for singling him out after he covered the Cities Church protest.
“Of course you’re going to be the person they pick, and they’re going to make headlines because it appeals to their base, and by the way their base is full of racist, bigoted homophobes like Nicki Minaj,” Lemon added.
The former CNN anchor was released without bond and will appear in federal court in Minneapolis on February 9.
