A federal magistrate judge declined to sign off on charges against Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, in connection with a protest at a Minnesota church over the weekend, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The magistrate’s decision “enraged” the attorney general, Pam Bondi, according to NBC News and CNN.
The refusal comes as Donald Trump and other allies have called for Lemon to be arrested after he attended and broadcast a protest in which demonstrators interrupted a service at Cities church in St Paul over the weekend. Protesters said they were there because a pastor at the church was the acting field director of a local ICE office and videos of the incident went wild.
The justice department did not immediately return a request for comment.
Abbe Lowell, an attorney representing Lemon, said Lemon engaged in constitutionally protected activity.
“The magistrate’s reported actions confirm the nature of Don’s first amendment protected work this weekend in Minnesota as a reporter. It was no different than what he has done for more than 30 years, reporting and covering newsworthy events on the ground and engaging in constitutionally protected activity as a journalist,” he said.
“Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
Federal prosecutors can go before a magistrate judge to get them to determine there is probable cause for charges to begin a criminal case. A grand jury must then return an indictment within 30 days. It is “extremely rare” for a magistrate judge to reject charges, said Andrew Tessman, a former federal prosecutor.
“I really have not heard of it happen before,” he said. “Usually just because the prosecutor is usually very careful about alleging all the supporting facts that would support a charge.”
While there are other ways the justice department could move to charge Lemon, a magistrate judge’s refusal to sign off on the case was not a good sign for the government, Tessman said. “That probably means a grand jury is going to be as skeptical about this as the federal judicial officer.”
Trump has condemned Lemon’s actions.
“I saw him the way he walked in that church, it was terrible,” Trump said of Lemon earlier this week. “I have such respect for that pastor. He was so calm, he was so nice. He was just accosted. What they did in that church was horrible.”
Bondi announced two of the protesters had been arrested on Thursday morning. “WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” she said in a post on Twitter/X.
Jeremy Barr contributed reporting
