Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, according to a statement from the attorney posted to Lemon's social media account Friday morning.
Three other people, including another journalist, were also arrested on charges of violating federal law during a protest last week at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, according to the Justice Department.
Lemon was detained early Friday while covering the upcoming Grammy Awards on Sunday, according to federal officials.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role is to shine a light on the truth and hold those in power accountable,” said the statement from Lemon's attorney, Abbe Lowell.
The arrests stem from a Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, where anti-ICE protesters broke into a church and disrupted Sunday services. The church was targeted because an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field officer apparently serves as its pastor.
Protesters raised their fists in the air and chanted “ICE Out!” while Lemon and other journalists documented the protest and interviewed parishioners in the pews. Some shouted the name of Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother and U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this month.
Lemon, 59, is being charged with conspiracy to deprive and violating the FACE Act and forcibly interfering with someone's First Amendment rights, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Times. James Blair, White House deputy chief of staff, said in an X publication on Friday that Lemon had been indicted by a federal grand jury.
“At my direction, federal agents early this morning arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” the U.S. attorney said. General Pam Bondi announced on social media. “More details soon.”
In a statement to the media, Lemon's lawyer rejected the claim that he had committed any crime.
“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful protesters, the Trump Department of Justice is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real allegation of wrongdoing in this case,” the statement read. “This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will vigorously and thoroughly fight these charges in court.”
After the protest, senior Trump administration officials sought to charge eight people, including Lemon, citing a law that protects people seeking to participate in a religious service.
But a federal judge in Minnesota approved charges against only three people, citing insufficient evidence that Lemon and others had conspired to deprive people of rights by interfering with someone's religious freedom in a place of worship. Prominent local activists, including Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, were arrested on January 22. Meanwhile, the Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to force a judge to issue arrest warrants for Lemon and four others. The request was denied.
On Jan. 23, Bondi told Fox News' Sean Hannity that the Justice Department would continue to try to prosecute anyone who attacked a place of worship, including Lemon, whom he called “an online agitator.”
“If you protested and walked into that church on Sunday and terrorized the parishioners, we will come after you,” Bondi said. “I don't care who you are. If you're a failed CNN journalist, you have no right to do that in this country. We don't live in a third world country.”
While agents were at her door Friday morning, freelance journalist Georgia Fort posted a video on Facebook calling the case against her a violation of her constitutional rights. He said federal agents arrived at his home at 6:30 a.m. and informed him they had obtained a grand jury indictment. His lawyer advised him to turn himself in.
Fort said he had documented the protest at Cities Church as a journalist.
“I don't feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press,” he said in the video. “It's hard to understand how we have a Constitution, constitutional rights, when you can be arrested just for being a member of the press.”
Lemon has argued that he entered the church as a journalist, not a protester, and that he is protected by the Constitution: “So this is what the First Amendment is about.”
In a statement early Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called Lemon “an internationally renowned journalist and friend.” Bass said Lemon was detained in Los Angeles “simply for doing his job and following a protest at a church in Minneapolis while reporting the story.”
“Let me be very clear: President Trump is not de-escalating anything following the fatal shootings of American citizens by federal agents,” the mayor's statement read. “In fact, the arrest of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort proves just the opposite: it is increasing.”
Times staff writers Joseph Serna, James Queally and Brittny Mejía contributed to this report.
