Don Lemon's arrest escalates Trump's clashes with journalists

The former CNN anchor arrested Friday has never been afraid of controversy, despite some career setbacks.

- By Stephen Battaglio

JOURNALIST Don Lemon, center, leaves federal court in downtown Los Angeles on Friday after a hearing.

(ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times)

For years at CNN, Don Lemon had been a thorn in the side of President Trump, frequently taking him to task during his first term over his comments about immigrants and other matters.

On Friday, the former CNN anchor now an independent journalist who hosts his own YouTube show was in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles and charged with conspiracy and interfering with the 1st Amendment rights of worshipers during the Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn.

Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles on Friday, along with a second journalist and two of the participants in the protest of the U.S.government's immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis.

Lemon identified himself at the protest as a journalist.

His attorney said in a statement Lemon's work was "constitutionally protected."

"I have spent my entire career covering the news," Lemon told reporters after he was released on his own recognizance Friday afternoon. "I will not stop now.

There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable. Again, I will not stop now. I will not stop, ever." The scene of a reporter standing before a judge and facing federal charges for doing his job once seemed unimaginable in the U.S.

The arrest marked an extraordinary escalation in the Trump administration's frayed relations with the news media and journalists.

Last month, the FBI seized the devices of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson in a predawn raid as part of an investigation into a contractor who has been charged with sharing classified information.

Such a seizure is a rare occurrence in the U.S.