NEW YORK — Former CNN anchor Don Lemon denounced the federal charges stemming from his presence at a January protest inside a St. Paul, Minnesota, church as “racist” during a panel at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention.

“To me, and to most people — most sane, rational people — these are cooked-up charges to, I believe, to embarrass, to really suppress journalism,” Lemon said during a Thursday morning panel on misinformation. “To make journalists afraid and fearful and to second- and third-guess themselves about telling the truth.