Former CNN host Don Lemon arrested over filming anti-ICE church protest
Former CNN host Don Lemon was arrested Thursday night by federal agents in Los Angeles, nearly two weeks after he filmed an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota.
According to his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, Lemon was taken into custody while covering the Grammy Awards. The arrest stems from a January incident at Cities Church in St Paul, where protesters entered during a service after claiming one of the pastors was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official.
Lowell said Lemon was at the church in his role as a journalist and not as a participant in the protest. “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. He added that the case amounted to “an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.”
In a video posted online after the incident, Lemon defended his actions, saying: “Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was report on it.” In another clip, he is heard telling people at the scene: “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group… I’m a journalist.”
The Justice Department has argued that Lemon had no right to be on the church’s private property and that disrupting a service may have interfered with worshippers’ constitutional rights. Attorney General Pam Bondi described the protest as “horrific” during a Fox News interview, though she did not name Lemon directly.
The legal path to Lemon’s arrest has been complicated. Prosecutors initially sought to charge eight people connected to the protest under laws protecting places of worship. A magistrate judge approved charges against only three, excluding Lemon. The government then moved to appeal that decision, and a grand jury was later empaneled. FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents were involved in Lemon’s arrest, according to sources familiar with the case.
Lowell criticised the Justice Department’s focus, saying it was prioritising Lemon’s arrest instead of investigating federal agents involved in a recent immigration operation in Minnesota that left two US citizens dead. He called that decision “the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case.”
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand,” Lowell said. “Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
It is not yet clear what specific charges Lemon will face.
