Journalist Don Lemon Arrested By Federal Agents Following Minnesota Church Protest Recording
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles on Thursday night in connection with his presence at a recent protest inside a Minnesota church. The arrest occurred while Lemon was in California covering the Grammy Awards. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, confirmed the detention, stating that Lemon is being held regarding an incident that took place on January 18 at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The events leading to the arrest center on a demonstration where protesters entered the church to confront a pastor who also serves as a high-ranking official for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Lemon, who currently hosts an independent show on the X platform, entered the building and livestreamed the disruption. While the specific charges remain unclear, the Department of Justice had previously sought to charge Lemon and others under federal civil rights statutes, arguing that the demonstration violated the sanctity of a religious service.
Legal experts and Lemon’s defense team have raised significant objections to the arrest, citing a prior ruling by a federal magistrate judge who refused to sign an arrest warrant for the journalist last week. The judge had indicated that there was insufficient probable cause to suggest Lemon was a participant in the disruption rather than a member of the press documenting a newsworthy event. “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, calling the arrest an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.”
The arrest comes amidst heightened tensions in Minnesota following the deaths of two protesters involved in anti-immigration enforcement demonstrations earlier this month. Activists have targeted the Cities Church specifically because of its leadership’s ties to ICE operations in the region. Supporters of the enforcement actions argue that the protesters, and by extension Lemon, trespassed on private property and interfered with the rights of the congregation to worship in peace. Conversely, press freedom advocates maintain that criminalizing a journalist for recording a protest, even on private property, sets a dangerous precedent for independent media coverage. Lemon has vowed to fight the charges in court.
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