Former CNN News anchor Don Lemon was arrested late Thursday night in connection with an anti-ICE protest that saw demonstrators storm a church in Minneapolis during Sunday services, his lawyer said Friday.
Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he’d been covering the Grammy Awards at the time, according to his attorney, Abbe Lowell. The charges he faces are unclear.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
Lemon was one of several journalists in attendance at the protest of Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18. He was there when demonstrators disrupted services at the house of worship, where they were gathered in protest of David Easterwood, a pastor with an apparent connection to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Ousted from CNN in 2023 after nearly two decades on air, Lemon — who faced backlash at the time over comments about women and aging — currently hosts his own YouTube show. Over the course of his seven-hour livestream the day of the demonstration, he spoke with a range of people, among them protesters, congregation members and even a pastor.
“Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was report on it and talk to the people involved, including the pastor, members of the church and members of the organization,” Lemon said in a recent video. “That’s it. That’s called journalism.”
Lemon is due to appear in court in Los Angeles at some point on Friday.
The Trump administration had initially sought to charge eight people in connection with the incident — including Lemon — by way of a law that protects people seeking to participate in a service in a house of worship. A magistrate judge, however, rejected charges against all but three people due to a lack of evidence. Those in custody include Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly.
Prosecutors have accused them of civil rights violations
“WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” the White House wrote in a post announcing their arrests.
Shortly after the first attempt to charge him fell through, Lemon suggested on his show that the administration would try again.
“And guess what,” he said, “here I am. Keep trying. That’s not going to stop me from being a journalist. That’s not going to diminish my voice. Go ahead, make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel, if you want. Just do it. Because I’m not going anywhere.”
Lemon’s arrest is just the latest development in the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, where protests have occurred on a daily basis since the ICE-involved shooting deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was behind the wheel of her car earlier this month when a federal agent fired at close range, fatally striking her. Just weeks later, Pretti, an ICU nurse, was gunned down at a protest decrying the overwhelming number of federal agents deployed to the area.
Since December more, than 3,000 agents have descended on Minnesota.
“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” Lowell said, vowing to fight Lemon’s charges.
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand.”
With News Wire Services
