US Journalist Don Lemon Arrested at Minnesota Protest; Tech World Reacts to Trump Era Echoes
Los Angeles, CA – US journalist Don Lemon, formerly of CNN, was arrested Friday in connection with an anti-immigration protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota, according to officials. Lemon's attorney, Abbe Lowell, confirmed the arrest occurred in Los Angeles, where Lemon was covering the Grammy Awards. Lemon stated he was present as a journalist chronicling the protesters and has no affiliation with the organization involved in the church disruption, Euronews reported.
The arrest occurred amidst heightened tensions between residents and the Trump administration, mirroring a period when tech CEOs are now reflecting on their initial reactions to Donald Trump's rise in politics. Wired reported that in the days following Trump's 2016 election victory, the tech world was largely "shocked and appalled." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, at a conference, downplayed the idea that his company influenced the election outcome. Apple CEO Tim Cook, encountered by a Wired journalist, engaged in a conversation reflecting the raw emotions of the time.
The Minnesota protest and Lemon's arrest also come at a time when right-wing gun enthusiasts and extremists are attempting to justify the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Wired reported that Border Patrol agents shot and killed Pretti, leading to accusations that the Trump administration undermined Second Amendment rights. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem inaccurately labeled Pretti a domestic terrorist who brandished his legally held gun, despite video evidence to the contrary. FBI Director Kash Patel wrongly stated on Fox News that it is illegal to bring a gun to a protest.
Meanwhile, efforts to reach representatives of Trump Mobile, a phone purportedly associated with the former president, have been met with silence. According to The Verge, after initial contact with a company executive, communication ceased abruptly. "I got a reply from one of the executives behind the Trump phone, but then he left me on read," wrote Dominic Preston of The Verge.
In unrelated news, a 2017 FBI document released by the Department of Justice revealed that Jeffrey Epstein allegedly had a "personal hacker." TechCrunch reported that the informant described the hacker as Italian, specializing in iOS, BlackBerry, and Firefox vulnerabilities, and selling zero-day exploits to various countries.
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