Feb. 18, 2026

"GAVE MY SON A GUN: WOUNDED TEENS TESTIFY, WIFE SEALED IN FERTILIZER TANK & DON LEMON'S FELONY FIGHT"

"GAVE MY SON A GUN: WOUNDED TEENS TESTIFY, WIFE SEALED IN FERTILIZER TANK & DON LEMON'S FELONY FIGHT"
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Reid Carter covers the landmark Colin Gray trial in Georgia where the father of accused Apalachee High School shooter faces 29 felony counts - gave his 14-year-old a Christmas AR-15 despite FBI warnings and a Parkland shooter shrine in the boy's bedroom. Wounded teenagers deliver devastating testimony. Dale Warner's Michigan murder trial reveals wife Dee was strangled, wrapped in a tarp, sealed inside a welded fertilizer tank on family property for three years after she told him she wanted a divorce. Don Lemon pleads not guilty to federal felony charges for covering a Minnesota church protest - defense calls prosecution an "unconstitutional mess."

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WEBVTT

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Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Red Carter. Wednesday, February eighteenth,

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twenty twenty six. Three stories today, Two murder trials that

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just opened, and a former CNN anchor fighting federal felony

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charges for doing his job. Winder, Georgia, Day two of

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the Colin Gray trial. The father who gave his fourteen

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year old son an Ar fifteen style rifle for Christmas,

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despite FBI warnings about online shooting threats, despite the boy

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googling how to kill your Dad at age eleven, despite

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a shrine to the Parkland school shooter hanging above his computer.

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September fourth, twenty twenty four, that boy allegedly carried the

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rifle to Appalachi High School in a backpack hidden behind

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poster board, killed two teachers and two students, wounded nine others.

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Now his father faces twenty nine felony counts. The wounded

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teenagers took the stand. Adrian Michigan the Dale Warner murder trial.

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His wife d told him she wanted a divorce and

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planned to sell their businesses April twenty fourth, twenty twenty one.

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She was never seen alive again. Three years later, investigators

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cut open a sealed and hydrous ammonia fertilizer tank on

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Warner Family property. Inside D's body, still in her pajamas,

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duct tape around her face and neck, strangled, blunt forced

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trauma to her head. Dale tracked her movements over two

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thousand times, searched the internet for how to dispose of

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a ten thousand gallon propane tank. Now he's on trial

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for murder and Don Lemon, former CNN anchor, pleaded not

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guilty Friday to two federal felony charges. His crime walking

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into a Minnesota church to cover a protest about an

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ice connected pastor. His attorneys call it an unconstitutional mess.

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The government seized his phone. Multiple judges refused to sign

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arrest warrants before prosecutors went to a grand jury. Press

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freedom advocates are furious. I'm reed Carter today. A father's

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Christmas gift that killed four people, a wife sealed in

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a tank, and a journalist facing prison for covering a story.

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This is celebrity trials. Let's start in Georgia, Barrow County

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Courthouse Winder the trial of Colin Gray. This is only

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the second time in American history that prosecutors have charged

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a parent with murder in connection with their child's mass shooting.

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First were Jennifer and James Crumbly in Michigan, both convicted

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of involuntary manslaughter in the Oxford High School shooting, sentenced

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to ten to fifteen years each in April twenty twenty four.

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Now Colin Gray fifty five years old, facing twenty nine

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felony counts, two counts of second degree murderunts of involuntary manslaughter,

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twenty counts of cruelty to children, five counts of reckless conduct.

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Maximum sentence one hundred eighty years in prison. He's pleaded

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not guilty. His son, Colt Gray, was fourteen years old

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on September fourth, twenty twenty four. It was his fifth

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day at Appalachi High School, New School, New Town, just

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enrolled after being out of school for an entire year.

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That morning, Colt put a sig sour M four hundred

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AR style rifle in his backpack, beryl sticking out, wrapped

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in poster board to conceal it. Boarded the school bus

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with a loaded weapon. First period computer science class teacher

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Suzanne Harris noticed the heavy backpack. Colt asked her about

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active shooter drills. Red flag. She emailed school officials. Nobody

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pulled him out before second period started. Colt's mother, Marcy Gray,

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called the school counselor, frantic she'd received alarming text messages

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from her. Prosecutors haven't revealed the content, but Marcy told

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the counselor that Colt had access to firearms. That triggered concern.

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School resource officers started searching for Colt too late. Colt

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left his second period class, told his teacher he needed

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to go to the counseling office, went to a bathroom instead,

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waited twenty six minutes, then emerged with the rifle. He

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opened fire in a classroom and hallway. Teachers Richard Aspinwall

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thirty nine years old, and Christina Irimi, fifty three students,

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Mason Shermerhorn and Christian Angelo, both fourteen, all four killed.

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Nine others wounded seven hit by gunfire. Barrow County Sheriff

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jud Smith was at the gun range that morning when

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the emergency notification came through. He raced to the school,

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found wounded students, one girl bleeding pleading with him, don't

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cover me with a sheet, don't let me die. Sheriff

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Smith delivered the most most devastating testimony on day one

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described helping wounded students describe the task. No law enforcement

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officer ever once telling parents that their children had been

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murdered at school. Then yesterday, day two, the wounded students

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took the stand. Natalie, a juvenile whose last name was

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withheld shot in her wrist and shoulder. She was fifteen

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years old. I started to scream that I got shot.

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It was like time stopped. Everything was moving quickly and slowly.

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I was worried I was going to die and how

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that would affect my parents. She saw Colt Gray on

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the floor afterward, hands behind his back. Said she'd seen

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him before but didn't recognize him, but I saw red

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when I saw him. Melanie Delira Castaneda, fifteen at the time,

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working on her math book. Her ear started ringing, smelled smoke.

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She stood up, turned toward the door and saw Colt

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Gray pointing a firearm into her classroom, firing indiscriminately. I

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didn't know I was shot, but I was. My body

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just told me to hold my arm. She hid between

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a pillar, the smartboard, and her desk. When police finally

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escorted her to the hallway, she saw two of the

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dead students lying on the floor. These are children testifying

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about being shot at school, being shot while doing math.

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Make it make sense. Now, Here's why Colin Gray is

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on trial, not because his son pulled the trigger, because

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prosecutors say he loaded the gun years before. The timeline

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is devastating. September twenty twenty one, Colt Gray was eleven

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years old, search the Internet for abuse and how to

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kill your dad. Child welfare case opened monthly checkups with

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a caseworker. Colin Gray consistently told the caseworker everything was fine,

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never mentioned counseling needs. May twenty twenty three, FBI received

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an anonymous tip a user on Disaccord the messaging platform

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had threatened in a chat group to shoot up a

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school within the next two years. FBI traced the threat

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to a computer in the Gray home. Jackson County deputies

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visited the home, questioned Colin Gray, asked if his son

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had access to firearms. Colin Gray's answer, he and his

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son take this school shooting stuff very seriously. Said if

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Colt made threats, he'd be mad as hell and all

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the guns would go away. Colt denied making the threats,

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said his account was hacked. Nobody confirmed or denied whether

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the threats came from Colt. Prosecutors say Colin Gray never

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received a definitive answer from law enforcement. Defense says that matters,

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Prosecution says it doesn't. Christmas twenty twenty three, seven months

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after the FBI visit, Colin Gray gave his fourteen year

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old son the AR fifteen style rifle as a Christmas gift.

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Continued buying accessories after that, including, according to prosecutors, a

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lot of ammunition. Prosecutors alleged Colin Gray knew about the

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Parkland shrine. Photos shown to the jury. Colt had images

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of Nicholas Cruz, the Parkland shooter who killed seventeen people

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in twenty eighteen, displayed above his computer. Prosecutors say Colt's mother,

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Marci knew the boy had tried to email crews in

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prison and send him money. She allegedly responded to this

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information with a laughing emoji. Days before the shooting, Colt

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told his father he was hearing voices telling him what

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to do. Prosecutors say Colin Gray still allowed the rifle

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to remain propped against a wall in his son's bedroom

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when deputies arrived at the Gray home after the shooting

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Colin Gray's first words, according to the prosecution, I knew it.

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My little girl just texted me. She's in middle school.

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She said, we're in lockdown. I'm like, God Almighty, please

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tell me your brother didn't do something. I knew it.

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Two words the prosecution wants burned into every juror's brain.

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Defense attorney Brian Hobbs painted a different picture, said Colt

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Gray lived a double life, sent affectionate text messages to

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his father, hid violent plans in private phone notes and

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online accounts. That the shooting was originally planned for February

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twenty twenty five, but Colt accelerated the timeline. Colin couldn't

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predict what was deliberately concealed from him. When someone conceals

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a plan, deceives the people around them acts independently. The

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law does not allow us to pretend that the people

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left behind should have seen through all of it. Hobbes argued.

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Colin Gray was a single father. Colt's mother, Marci, had

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lost custody of the two younger siblings due to substance

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abuse issues. Colin was raising three kids on his own.

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Tried to get his son help, even scheduled a mental

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health appointment for September fifth. The shooting happened September fourth,

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one day too late. The defense also pointed the finger

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at Marseilles, said she knew about Colt's obsession with school shooters,

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knew about the cruise case, didn't warn Colin. Trial expected

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to last three weeks. Jurors imported from Hall County because

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the judge agreed Barrow County residents were too close to

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the tragedy. Dozens more witnesses expected. The legal question, did

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Colin Gray consciously disregard a known risk? Did he have

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enough warning signs to know his son could hurt people?

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Or was Colt Gray so deceptive that no parent could

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have predicted what happened? The human question is simpler. You

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buy an AR fifteen for your mentally ill teenager who

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was visited by the FBI about school shooting threats, and

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who has a shrine to a mass murderer on his wall?

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What did you think was going to happen? Richard Aspinwall

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was thirty nine years old math teacher coach. Father Christina

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Eremi was fifty three, math teacher, immigrant from Romania who

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came to America for a better life. Mason Shermerhorn was fourteen,

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Christian Angelo was fourteen. They should be in class us

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right now, should be complaining about homework, should be planning

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prom Someone has to say their names. We'll be right

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back with the Dale Warner murder trial. His wife told

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him she wanted a divorce. Three years later, they found

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her body sealed inside a fertilizer tank on his property.

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Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm reed, Carter Adrian, Michigan,

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Lenawee County Circuit Court. The murder trial of Dale Warner,

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charged with open murder and tampering with evidence, faces life

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in prison. Pleaded not guilty, rejected a plea deal for

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second degree murder. April twenty fourth, twenty twenty one, tecumsa

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Michigan small farming community southeast of ann Arbor. Dale and

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d Warner lived on a large agricultural property on Munger Road,

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multiple buildings, barns, offices. They ran several businesses together, a farm,

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a farm equipment supply company, a trucking operation. D managed

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three companies employing fewer than twenty people. The marriage was over,

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had been over. Prosecutors described it as no intimacy, only secrecy.

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They didn't sleep together. They were just roommates. The couple

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fought nearly every day by text, face to face, over money,

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over the businesses, over everything. That Saturday morning, D learned

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Dale had told an acquaintance that she was on xanax

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and was a mess. That was the final straw. D's daughter,

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Amber Million, testified about what she saw when her mother

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came home. She was hysterically crying. When she came into

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the house, she threw up and was crying and just

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saying she was done, done with the marriage, done with Dale,

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wanted a divorce, wanted to sell everything. That evening, D's

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sister in life law, Amy Joe Alexander, came to pick

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up the warner's nine year old daughter for a sleepover.

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Arrived at seven forty two pm found D outside on

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the deck. She'd been crying, red, blotchy spots on her neck,

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puffy eyes, make up, a mess. D told Amy she

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was done, wanted to sell the trucking company, planned to

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ask Dale for a divorce. That night, Amy took the daughter.

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It was D's idea to have the child sleep elsewhere.

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She didn't want her daughter witnessing the fight she was

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about to have with Dale. Nobody ever saw d Warner

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alive again. The next morning, D's phone went straight to voicemail.

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Her hummer was parked at the office, no response to texts,

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no activity on her credit cards or bank accounts. Nothing.

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D Warner, fifty two years old, vanished. Dale told investigators

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d was upset Saturday night, but eventually calmed down and

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fell asleep on the living room couch. He left the

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house around six am Sunday while she was still sleeping,

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said she was gone when he got back. Prosecutors say

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every statement Dale gave about that morning was inconsistent. Dee's

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children wanted to call police. Dale didn't. The kids got

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together and reported her missing anyway. Then the investigation unraveled

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Dale Warner's secret life. Prosecutors revealed Dale had been stalking

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his wife. Used a mobile phone app to track the

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location of her vehicle more than two thousand times between

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January twenty twenty and April twenty twenty one. Two thousand times,

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had someone clone her phone to monitor her movements, installed

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cameras in the home, asked a farm worker to buy

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a GPS tracker to place on one of her cars.

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That's not a husband worried about his wife. That's a

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man keeping tabs on his target. When retired Lenwy County

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detective Kevin Greca arrived at the property with a search

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warrant days later, Dale wasn't there, but surveillance cameras on

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the farm captured what happened next. Dale's son, Jarn, called

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him and said cadavered dogs were coming to search the property.

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Surveillance video showed Dale racing to the Munger Road property,

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climbing into a front end loader moving an anhydrous ammonia

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tank to the spray barn. Prosecutors played drone footage for

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the jury Dale moving the tank, the same tank where

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D's body would eventually be found. Police later learned Dale

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had searched on an iPad for how to dispose of

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a ten thousand gallon propane tank similar to an anhydros tank.

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The man was googling how to get rid of the

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evidence while investigators closed in Google search history as forever folks.

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The tank was eventually located in a storage building on

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Warner family Land in Tipton, several miles from the couple's home.

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A sealed anhydrous ammonia tank welded shut a tag on

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it reading do not use. August twenty twenty four, authorities

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cut it open, put a camera inside. First there was

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the tarp, and in the tarp was a body d Warner,

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still in her pajamas, duct tape covering her face and neck, strangled,

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blunt forced trauma to her face and head. Dale's fingerprint

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was found on the tank. Surveillance footage showed him accessing

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welding equipment around the time d disappeared. He killed her,

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wrapped her in a tarp, taped her face, stuffed her

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in a fertilizer tank, welded it shut, moved it off

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the property when investigators got close and searched the internet

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for how to make it all disappear smart enough to

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plan a cover up, too stupid to know they'd check

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his iPads search history. Defense attorney Marisa Vinsky kept her

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opening statement brief, said the prosecution's case is built on speculation, assumption,

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and innuendo. Pointed out that multiple people were on the

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farm at the time D disappeared. Said the jury shouldn't

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judge Dale's character, just whether there's proof beyond reasonable doubt.

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D's daughter, rickle Bach, testified she last saw her mother

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around five to six pm that Saturday, texted her around

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nine pm. No response. Late that night, Rickle drove past

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her mother's house. Lights were on the Hummer parked unusually.

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The next morning D was gone. Dale told Rickle that

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D had been leaving in the night, said she had

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pills everywhere, said she left her wedding ring behind, trying

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to make it look like D just walked away from

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her life. But D didn't walk away. D didn't leave

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her children, her businesses, her life. D told her husband

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she wanted a divorce, and she died for it. The

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trial is expected to run through mid March, dozens more witnesses.

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The prosecution must prove Dale not only killed D but

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did so with premeditation. The evidence looks damning. The stalking,

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the surveillance footage of him moving the tank, the welding,

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the Google searches, the fingerprint, the inconsistent statements, and the

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body of a strangled woman sealed inside a tank on

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his property for three years. D Warner was fifty two

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years old, mother, business owner, friend, She managed three companies,

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raised her children, built a life in a small Michigan

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farming town. She should be running those businesses today, should

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be watching her grandchildren grow. Instead, her husband sealed her

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in a tank like she was nothing. Rest in paced.

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Someone has to say your name coming up. Former CNN

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anchor Don Lemon facing federal felony charges for covering a

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church protest. His attorneys call it an unconstitutional mess. Multiple

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judges refused to sign arrest warrants. The government seized his phone.

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Is this journalism or a crime? Welcome back to celebrity trials.

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I'm reed. Carter f Day, February thirteenth, Federal Court, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

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Don Lemon, fifty nine years old, former CNN anchor pleaded

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not guilty to two federal felony charges. The charges conspiracy

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against the rights of religious freedom at a place of

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worship and injuring, intimidating, and interfering with the exercise of

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the right of religious freedom at a place of worship.

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His alleged crime covering a protest with a camera as

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a journalist. January eighteenth, twenty twenty six, City's Church in

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Saint Paul. Protesters entered the church during a service. They

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alleged a pastor there worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement

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ICE amid the federal immigration raids that had been sweeping

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through Minneapolis and the surrounding region. Don Lemon, now working

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as a freelance journalist, followed the protesters inside, live streamed

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the demonstration, documented what was happening, did what journalists do.

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January thirtieth, federal agents arrested Lemon. A grand jury returned

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an indictment against him and eight co defendants connected to

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the church protest. Friday's hearing was brief. Procedural Magistrate Judge

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Douglas Miko reminded Lemon of his constitutional rights, asked if

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he understood the charges. Lemon said yes. Judge said he

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was free to travel unless he violated any state or

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federal laws. Not guilty plea entered on all counts. But

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here's where it gets interesting. Prosecutors revealed they seized Lemon's

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phone during the arrest and obtained a search warrant for it.

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Lemon's attorney, Abby Lowell called the phone seizure a possible

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over execution. A journalist's phone seized by federal agents searched

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with a warrant. Think about what's on a journalist's phone. Sources, contacts,

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story notes, communications with confidential informants. The government now has

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all of it. Outside the courthouse, Lemon addressed reporters. I

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wanted to say this isn't just about me. This is

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about all journalists, especially in the United States. For more

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than thirty years, I've been a journalist, and the power

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and protection of the First Amendment has been the underpinning

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of my work. The First Amendment, freedom of the press,

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is the bedrock of our democracy. His attorney, Lowell, made

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a significant legal argument inside the courtroom, told the judge

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the defense wants grand jury. Transcripts said prosecutors took an

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unusual path to secure the charges. Here's why. Before the

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grand jury indictment, a judge declined to sign arrest warrants

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against Lehman and his co defendants. Not one judge, multiple judges.

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They looked at the evidence and said no, So prosecutors

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went around them took the case directly to a grand jury.

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Late Friday, attorneys for Lemon and fellow journalist Georgia Fort

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filed a joint motion calling the prosecution an unconstitutional mess,

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unworthy worthy of the American justice system. In the United

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States of America, we do not prosecute journalists for doing

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their job. That happens in Russia, China, Iran and other

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authoritarian regimes, and yet the government sold this unconstitutional mess

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to the Grand jury. The motion noted something unusual about

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the indictment. It doesn't bear the name of a single

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line prosecutor from the Minnesota US Attorney's office. That's irregular

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suggests the charges were driven from Washington, not from local

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federal prosecutors who actually know the community. Attorney General Pam

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Bondi called the church protest a coordinated attack on Citi's church.

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But Harmeat Dillon, the administration's top civil rights official at

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the Justice Department, made a remarkable admission, said, the statutes

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being used to charge Lemon have never been used this

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way before. In all these years up until I was

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the Assistant Attorney General for Civil rights, nobody ever used

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that houses of worship part to prosecute protesters or criminals

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blocking access to a house of worship. So we've started

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to do that. So the government is using religious freedom

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laws designed to protect worshippers to charge a journalist who

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is documenting a protest, first time ever, novel legal theory

344
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untested in court. The National Association of Black Journalists released

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a statement calling the arrests part of the government's escalating

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effort and actions to criminalize and threaten press freedom under

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the guise of law enforcement. This case sits at the

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intersection of immigration enforcement, press freedom, and religious liberty. The

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federal government has been conducting aggressive immigration raids in the

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Minneapolis area. Two American citizens were fatally shot by federal

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agents during clashes. Protests erupted across the region. Don Lemon

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went to cover one and got arrested for it. Whether

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you think the church protesters were right or wrong, the

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question for this trial is simple. Is a journalist who

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documents it's a protest a participant in that protest is

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pointing a camera the same as blocking a door, is

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live streaming, the same as intimidation. Every press freedom organization

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in the country is watching this case because if Don

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Lemon can be charged with felonies for covering a protest,

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any journalist can at any event anywhere. Lemon spent thirty

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years at CNN, anchored the network's nightly news for years,

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left in twenty twenty three, went freelance. Now he's facing

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federal felony charges that could mean prison time to my colleagues,

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countless journalists around the world, my family, and my friends.

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You all have showed up for me in a real way,

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Lemon said outside court, and I am extremely grateful for that.

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I feel it. I feel it, I feel it. Trial

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date not yet set, but the legal battle has already begun.

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Defense wants grand jury transcripts. Wants to know exactly what

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prosecutors told the grand jury to get an end sightment

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that multiple judges had already refused to authorize. Welcome to

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Justice in America, where a journalist goes to prison for

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pointing a camera and a father who gives his mentally

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ill son and ar fifteen gets to plead not guilty.

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That Celebrity trials for Wednesday, February eighteenth, twenty twenty six.

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Colin Gray trial enters day three in Georgia, Wounded teenagers

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testified about being shot at Appalachi High School. Father faces

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twenty nine counts for giving his son the rifle. I

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knew it, he allegedly told deputies when they arrived at

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his home. Dale Warner on trial in Michigan, wife d

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found strangled and sealed inside a fertilizer tank on his property,

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three years after she told him she wanted a divorce.

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Surveillance footage Google searches and a fingerprint on the tank,

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and Don Lemon pleads not guilty to federal felonies for

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covering a church protest. Defense calls it an unconstitutional mess

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phone seized press freedom on trial Richard Aspinwall thirty nine,

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Christina Iremi fifty three, Mason Shermerhorn fourteen, Christian Angelo fourteen,

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d Warner fifty two. Someone has to say their names.

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I'm reed, Carter, see you tomorrow. This is celebrity trials.