‘Heartbreaking,’ ‘Terrifying’; CNN Suffers Epic MELTDOWN Over Don Lemon’s Arrest

On Friday morning, CNN’s Information Central and The Scenario Room have been in a state of anger and mourning over the “disturbing,” “heartbreaking,” “stark,” and “terrifying” arrest of their “good friend” and former CNN colleague Don Lemon for his position within the January 18 storming of a St. Paul-area church and, based on the Justice Division, violating the First Modification rights of congregants to worship freely in addition to the Freedom of Entry to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

Over the course of roughly two hours, quite a few CNN faces rallied to Lemon’s protection by citing his work badgering congregants and the pastor as “insightful” to the purpose that America is “higher off for” Lemon having gone alongside and exercised a “foundational” tenet of “democracy.” Extra broadly, Lemon’s YouTube web page was heralded as having yielded “opinionated” “movies” and “simple journalism.”

A longtime good friend to the Black Lives Matter motion, Information Central co-host Sara Sidner first reacted by calling this “a surprising transfer” that “can’t be overstated,” main chief media analyst Brian Stelter to instantly defend Lemon and even reward his actions:

No phrase on whether or not Stelter considers lecturing the pastor and congregants about their supposed lack of true Christianity his type of interview. In fact, he phrased these believing Lemon shouldn’t be absolved of scrutiny as “MAGA loyalists.”

Stelter additionally lobbed the declare that we’re all “higher off for” having had Lemon present up:

Sidner reacted by declaring the entire matter “terrifying” and beautiful” as a result of “committing journalism will not be a criminal offense…on this nation” since all Lemon did was “he went into the church and began interviewing individuals after the protest entered the church”:

WATCH: CNN anchor Sara Sidner says it’s “terrifying” and “beautiful” to listen to good friend and former colleague Don Lemon was arrested as a result of “committing journalism will not be a criminal offense…on this nation”….

“And we ought to be clear, committing journalism will not be a criminal offense. It’s not a criminal offense in… pic.twitter.com/FOXNd8pC1G

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026

Stelter assured her “journalists is not going to be deterred” in doing their jobs (i.e. hating Trump and MAGA voters) and laughably insisted Lemon’s work on YouTube contained loads of “simple journalism”:

Within the subsequent block, co-host John Berman spoke with Alisyn Camerota, his former partner-in-crime from the now-defunct New Day:

As one other good friend of Lemon’s, CNN authorized analyst Joey Jackson known as the arrest “heartbreaking” in “weird occasions” as a result of his innocence ought to be clear to even “an eighth grader” who “is aware of one thing concerning the First Modification” and the “freedom” Lemon needed to act as he did:

Jackson added that is “notably alarming” since “we all know Don” and he was not “impeding, interfering, bodily threatening, et cetera., somebody’s worship,” however simply “overlaying” what was occurring. https://x.com/CurtisHouck/standing/2017283393679986909

Sidner discovered a second liberal authorized thoughts to again up CNN’s full-court press to make this story all about themselves:

She continued on the high of the 9:00 a.m. Jap hour by cloaking Lemon’s soul within the First Modification whereas Stelter made it appear to be Lemon was an American hero on January 18:

For good measure, Stelter invoked far-left podcaster Jennifer Welch’s feedback from January 19 in addition to an X submit from a CNN colleague in Kenya:

Since Stelter did it within the final block, Sidner supplied her personal rallying cry of kinds to proceed what’s doing (which is being the unofficial CNN spokesperson for any leftist protest motion she connects with):

Jackson had extra madness in spherical two, even suggesting the mob that stormed the church may not have violated the FACE Act as a result of nobody was bodily harm:

Going to interrupt, Jackson decried “troubling” and “selective enforcement of legal guidelines” based mostly on Lemon being arrested, however not the ICE officer who shot Renee Good (click on “increase”):

JACKSON: So, perceive this. The legal guidelines apply to us all. And I feel the issue we’re having is the selective enforcement of legal guidelines, proper? And to not get into this, however you don’t need to protest the actions as to Renee Good. And was there any illegality? Now we’re entering into the, you realize, different points, however you need to cope with this. Wow. However the backside line is the legal guidelines are evenly utilized or ought to be to everybody, however the software, relying upon the character of what you’re doing, can differ. A protester is there for a particular intent. You’re voicing no matter objections or opinions you could have as to no matter points on this case, proper? ICE and the pastor being ICE and whether or not or not you want their ways. Many People are disgusted with the ways, me included. Nevertheless, saying that’s totally different a protester from you going, John Berman, Don Lemon, or anybody else and easily overlaying the occasion.

BERMAN: Protecting the occasion.

JACKSON: Whenever you’re overlaying the occasion, you’re not partaking or concerned in protested actions. You’re merely broadcasting these actions in order that the remainder of the nation and neighborhood might know what’s occurring and to that extent, to me, we’re in a distinct world once you’re making use of the FACE Act, Freedom of Entry to Clinics, to a journalist who’s overlaying the occasions of protesters. So, that’s the troubling factor. After which, John, it will get additional troubling when a choose says, no, an appellate courtroom says no, however you detain somebody anyway, and then you definitely allegedly, we don’t know, go to a grand jury, which, once more, can indict a ham sandwich.

The Boston Globe’s Jackie Kucinich and Axios’s Margaret Talev additionally joined within the 9:00 a.m. Jap hour to weigh in with Kucinich calling their pal’s arrest “definitely disturbing” to witness “one other chapter in” President Trump’s “retribution marketing campaign” that can require “numerous norms…to be examined.”

For her half, Talev in contrast Lemon to ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel in that “there’s a via line and it entails freedom of speech and what voters informed us fairly constantly in numerous polling and focus teams…that they are not looking for any president to considerably curb free speech or the rights of the press[.]”

Shifting to The Scenario Room, co-host Pamela Brown insisted all of us care as a lot as they do, calling the event “a big escalation and a second or a second for our nation.”

Stelter supplied a hilarious declare through which he doubts Lemon needs to be the focal point;

Referring to Lemon having been arrested in Los Angeles as a result of he was slated to interview celebrities on the purple carpet of The Grammys, Stelter stated that may have been “an instance of Lemon simply desirous to work, generally overlaying leisure, generally reporting the information in Minnesota” and “[h]e didn’t need to be the story right now.”

Stelter made positive to throw some like to Georgia Fort, one other so-called journalist arrested, for livestreaming federal regulation enforcement arriving at her dwelling and demanding she come out, saying it “actually speaks and testifies to her journalistic intuition.”

No, Brian, it testifies to how a lot she’s into herself.

Talking of being excessive on their very own provide, Stelter and Jackson confirmed that in their very own methods with the previous once more taking part in journalism superhero and the latter leveling a baseless declare concerning the Justice Division:

Wrapping up the Lemon protection for a couple of hours, Jackson once more defended Lemon and the mob from the congregants: “If we’re in a society…the place we’re not arresting individuals predicated upon lawful violations, however simply predicated upon harm emotions…the place we’re simply seeing the denigration of regulation and lawlessness, and it’s simply — it’s alarming and surprising[.]”

To see the related CNN transcripts from January 30, click on right here (for CNN Information Central) and right here (for The Scenario Room).