Ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon released after arrest over Minnesota church protest

Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, was released on Friday after being arrested late on Thursday on charges that he violated federal law during a protest at a church in Minnesota earlier this month.

Outside a federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles after his release, Lemon vowed not to be silenced, saying: “I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now.”

“The first amendment to the US Constitution protects that work for me and 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.”

The justice department charged Lemon and three others with civil rights crimes, saying they interfered with the exercise of religious freedom at a place of worship and conspired to do so.