C-SPAN Reports Threats Against CNN Anchors to FBI

A morning show caller on Friday threatened to shoot network anchors Don Lemon and Brian Stelter.

C-SPAN said Monday that it notified the FBI after a caller on Friday morning said on-air that if he came across CNN anchors Don Lemon and Brian Stelter, "I'm going to shoot them."

"Specific threats of violence made on C-SPAN are reported to the appropriate authorities," the network said in a statement. "On Friday, C-SPAN reported the incident and all relevant information to the FBI."

The public affairs network also said that it "cooperated fully with CNN Security officials" responding to the threat.

The caller, "Don," falsely asserted that Stelter and Lemon called all Trump supporters "racist."

Stelter aired video of the threat during his Reliable Sources show on Sunday morning, during a segment about threats to reporters. "I'm not asking for sympathy," he said. "I don't think I'm in extreme danger. I know some of my colleagues get much worse threats than I do."

The security of CNN employees has been an issue for months. In late January, about a week after a Michigan man was arrested for calling in threats to CNN, network president Jeff Zucker assured employees during a town hall meeting "that at no time did CNN feel their people were in jeopardy."

Stelter and Lemon have been favored punching bags of the right. On Friday night, President Donald Trump again called Lemon "the dumbest man on television," one of his regular insults.

"Friday's threatening phone call on C-SPAN is just a tiny illustration of the threats that are out there," Stelter said on his show.