CNN Anchor Don Lemon's Life Threatened In Harassing Calls: Report

MOUNTAIN HOME, AR — An Arkansas man is accused of making more than 40 threatening calls to CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta, according to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office. In the calls, the man is accused of general harassment, threat of bodily injury and threatening the life of a CNN journalist identified in media reports as CNN anchor Don Lemon.

The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office said that an investigator with Atlanta Police contacted them on Nov. 2. The investigator said he had received a complaint from CNN in Atlanta of threatening phone calls made to the network between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2.

Information obtained by Atlanta Police indicated that all the calls were made from a cellphone belonging to an Arkansas man identified by authorities as Benjamin Matthews, 39, of Rural Home.

USA Today reported that in one call on Oct. 31, Matthews reportedly threatened to beat up Lemon. And in a call the following day, he asked to be directed to Lemon’s “dead body hanging from a tree,” the paper reported. In yet another call, he is accused of asking an operator to “help kill Lemon.”

The sheriff’s office said audio recordings indicated that the calls were made by the same person and a person with personal knowledge of Matthews attested that it was him on the call. Additional investigation found that Matthews had made other recent phone calls another television network and to various public officials and organizations, the sheriff’s office said.

The harassing phone calls to CNN started five days after federal officials arrested a Florida man in connection with a spate of pipe bombs mailed to former government officials and prominent Democrats. At least two of those bombs were addressed to CNN’s office in New York City and a third bomb intended for CNN in Atlanta was intercepted. The third bomb was similar in appearance to the other mail bombs and a law enforcement official told CNN the package is from the same suspect, 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc. The suspect appeared to be an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump who continuously calls CNN “fake news” and a network with whom the White House has a contentious relationship. On Wednesday, the White House suspended the credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta after he got into a back-and-forth with the president during a news conference and the president did not take his second question. Trump has also questioned Don Lemon’s intelligence, refering to him on Twitter as the “dumbest man on television.”

Authorities obtained a bench warrant for Matthews on Nov. 6 and he was taken into custody. He is charged with five counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, four counts of second-degree terroristic threatening and nine counts of harassing communications.

He was scheduled to appear before the Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday morning.

Photo via Baxter County Sheriff’s Office