Don Lemon is ramping up his defense in the criminal case tied to his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul, Minnesota, church last month by hiring a former Minnesota federal prosecutor who recently resigned amid controversy over the investigation into the fatal ICE shooting of Renée Good.
On Feb. 10, CNN reported that Lemon hired Joseph H. Thompson, a former Minnesota federal prosecutor who is now facing off against the same U.S. Attorney’s Office he helped lead until mid-January, when he and at least five other prosecutors resigned over the handling of the ICE shooting probe.
Thompson and the others stepped down after pressure from the Trump administration to shift the federal investigation toward Good’s widow and people connected to ICE protests, rather than scrutinizing the agents involved in the fatal shooting.
Lemon’s legal team is led by prominent Washington, D.C., attorney Abbe Lowell. Lemon faces federal charges accusing him of conspiracy against religious rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act after he and independent journalist Georgia Fort livestreamed a Jan. 18 anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service and sparked tense confrontations with the pastor and congregants.
Thompson spent 17 years with the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office, most recently serving as first assistant U.S. attorney and previously as acting U.S. attorney from June to October. He led several high-profile fraud prosecutions that drew national attention and political fallout in the state.
The lawyer and several colleagues resigned roughly a week after Good’s death, days before Lemon and protesters entered Cities Church.
After filing a notice of appearance for Lemon on Feb. 10, Thompson has officially joined the former CNN anchor-turned-independent journalist’s legal team to help fight charges brought by the Trump administration over his livestream of the protest. The demonstration targeted a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul, whom protesters allege had ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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