News anchor-turned-activist Don Lemon has been released with no bail or restrictions on his travel despite prosecutors claiming he “knowingly joined a mob to terrorize” members of a Minnesota church congregation.
Lemon sauntered into a federal courtroom in Los Angeles at Friday afternoon sporting the same cream-colored double-breasted suit he wore at a pre-Grammys bash the night before.
He blew a kiss to his husband Tim Malone, who was seated in the third row of the public gallery behind LA Mayor Karen Bass and her team before taking a seat next to his defense attorney Marilyn E. Bednarski.
Prosecutor Alexander Robbins said Lemon was accused of a “very serious felony” and that he had “knowingly joined a mob to terrorize” members of Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18.
Robbins asked Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue that Lemon be made to surrender his passport and not have any contact with witnesses, victims or co-conspirators.
He requested a $100,000 bond, which the defense objected to as “unnecessary” before challenging the request to restrict Lemon’s travel, largely owing to an annual weeklong boat trip in France he attends each year.
Bednarski said Lemon was “not a flight risk” and “not a danger of any kind,” calling him “one of the most well-known figures in the world.”
She mentioned a not guilty plea at one point during the proceedings, but neither she nor Lemon formally entered a plea at the initial hearing.
Donahue released Lemon on his own recognizance with no pretrial supervision and no restriction on international travel. Bail was not imposed.
Speaking to a small group of supporters outside the courtroom, Lemon said: “I’ve spent my entire career covering the news, I will not stop now, I will not stop ever,” to cheers from the crowd.
“Last night the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night for something I have been doing for the last 30 years,” he added, reading off a piece of paper.
“That is covering the news.”
He then pointed out that the First Amendment “protects that work for me and for countless other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.”
Lemon then sped away with his husband and legal team in a dark Range Rover.
His next hearing will be Feb. 9 at District Court of Minnesota.