Award-winning journalist and former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Beverly Hills in connection with a protest he covered at a Minnesota church, his lawyer announced Friday.
Lemon was in town covering the Grammy Awards, according to a statement from his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, posted on X.
“Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.”
It is expected that Lemon, 59, will make his initial federal court appearance in downtown Los Angeles later Friday. According to the FBI, Lemon was arrested shortly before midnight in connection with an out-of-state warrant.
A representative for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told City News Service that Lemon is facing two federal charges: conspiracy against rights and interference by force of First Amendment rights, a violation of the FACE — Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances — Act.
Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that Lemon had been arrested “simply for doing his job and following a protest into a church in Minneapolis while reporting the story.”
She added that Emmy-winning news producer and Minnesota-based journalist Georgia Fort had also been arrested by federal agents in Minnesota for reporting on the same protest as Lemon.
“The arrest of journalists for going into a church in the course of reporting is shocking enough, but what’s even more alarming is that it’s no secret that Don Lemon is a Trump critic,” Bass said. “Let me be very clear — President Trump is not de-escalating anything after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents. In fact, the arrest of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort demonstrates quite the opposite — he is escalating.”
The former CNN on-air personality’s arrest follows a Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul that Lemon says he was covering.
According to The New York Times, the case was rejected last week by a magistrate judge.
A local official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor at the church.
The Trump administration has sought charges against eight people in the case, alleging violation of a federal law protecting the sanctity of the service that was interrupted.
A magistrate judge approved charges against three of them, but Lemon was not among them, according to The Times, which indicated an appeals court subsequently rejected a bid to force additional arrest warrants.
Prosecutors have alleged civil rights violations for what they contend was the disruption of a church service
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court,” Lowell said in his statement.
The annual Grammy Awards will be presented Sunday at downtown’s Crypto.com Arena.
“First, Trump’s agents shoot and kill people exercising their First Amendment rights, and now we’re arresting journalists going into a church,” Bass said. “It’s an egregious assault on constitutionally protected First Amendment rights.”
CNN issued a statement condemning Lemon’s arrest.
“The FBI’s arrest of our former CNN colleague Don Lemon raises profoundly concerning questions about press freedom and the First Amendment,” the network stated. “The Department of Justice already failed twice to get an arrest warrant for Don and several other journalists in Minnesota, where a chief judge of the Minnesota Federal District Court found there was `no evidence’ that there was any criminal behavior involved in their work.
“The First Amendment in the United States protects journalists who bear witness to news and events as they unfold, ensuring they can report freely in the public interest, and the DOJ’s attempts to violate those rights is unacceptable. We will be following this case closely.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted Friday on social media that the arrests of Lemon, Fort and two others were carried out at her direction, “in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X that “coordinated targeting of Cities Church” led to the arrests, which were conducted by officials from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
Lemon was on CNN for nearly a decade from 2014 until his firing in April 2023. He later launched his own media company and now hosts the Apple podcast “The Don Lemon Show.”