Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin provides details on the arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon in connection to his involvement in the anti-ICE protest that interrupted a church service in Minnesota.

It is a popular fallacy that freedom of the press enshrined in the First Amendment is absolute. It is not and never has been.

The recent arrest of podcaster Don Lemon on federal criminal charges that he willingly joined a mob of anti-ICE protesters who stormed a St. Paul, Minnesota church during Sunday services will inevitably test well-established limits on press freedoms. 

Journalists, however defined, cannot, without legal consequences engage in incitement, defamation, obscenity, threatened violence, national security breaches, and the commission of crimes.  

Calling yourself a "journalist" or claiming that you are simply "committing journalism," as Lemon has done, is not a defense. It is your behavior that the law examines. Both words and actions can reveal your intent.

MINNESOTA AG KEITH ELLISON DENIES DON LEMON, ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS VIOLATED FACE ACT AS DOJ MULLS CHARGES

This is why Lemon has found himself in criminal jeopardy. His own digital videos seem to incriminate him.  

In footage that Lemon posted online, it appears that he was not merely an observer recording the illegal protest inside the church, which would be a typical role of a reporter. Instead, he seemed to be an active participant who embedded himself with the mob and joined their cause in harassing and tormenting the parishioners.

Don Lemon livestreamed left-wing agitators who stormed St. Paul's Cities Church under the suspicion that its pastor had collaborated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

Lemon confronted the pastor with contentious questions, the same way that the agitators accosted stunned —and perhaps fearful — congregates. You can see and hear him arguing on their behalf that they were allowed to invade the church, disrupt the service, and........

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