Philadelphia City Council recognizes Temple student charged alongside Don Lemon after Minnesota ICE protest

A Temple University student charged along with journalist Don Lemon after assisting in news coverage of an anti-ICE protest in Minnesota was recognized by Philadelphia City Council on Thursday.

Jerome Richardson, a Minnesota native, said he helped Lemon coordinate logistics as the former CNN anchor planned to livestream coverage of a Sunday, Jan. 18 demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul. Organizers focused on the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, heads the St. Paul ICE field office.

Richardson later turned himself in. Lemon said he offered to turn himself in, but federal agents came to a hotel in Los Angeles and took him into custody.

The Justice Department said the demonstration interfered with constitutional rights to worship.

In a city council meeting Thursday, Richardson thanked councilmembers for the recognition and criticized President Trump.

"I'd like to lift up the names of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were murdered at the hands of ICE," Richardson said. "As you heard at the State of the Union, if Donald Trump loses the midterms, the Donald Trump era and effect is over. And so we must show up to the midterms in a robust way. Whenever journalists are under attack, we are all under attack."

Council voted 15-0 last week to recognize Richardson and, in their words, support First Amendment rights.

"Arresting journalists and those who help them document what is happening in our country during this pivotal moment is unconstitutional and antithetical to the values outlined by our Founding Fathers here in Philadelphia 250 years ago," the resolution about Richardson states.

An online fundraiser for Richardson's legal defense has raised over $60,000.