Federal agents arrested former CNN anchor Don Lemon in Los Angeles late Thursday night. He was taken into custody while covering the Grammy Awards. The arrest stems from his presence at an anti-ICE protest inside a Minnesota church earlier this month.
Attorney Abbe Lowell condemned the move as an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.” He stated that Lemon was performing constitutionally protected journalistic work. Lowell argued the Justice Department is ignoring the deaths of protesters to focus on “distracting” arrests.
The incident occurred on January 18 at Cities Church in St. Paul. Demonstrators interrupted a service to protest a pastor who also leads the local ICE field office. Lemon live-streamed the disruption, which the Trump administration has labeled a violation of religious freedom.
Last week, a federal magistrate judge notably refused to sign an arrest warrant for Lemon. The judge ruled that the government failed to establish probable cause for a criminal charge. Attorney General Pam Bondi was reportedly “enraged” by the judge’s decision to block the initial charges.
The Justice Department likely utilized a grand jury to secure the arrest after the judge’s refusal. Lemon could face charges under the FACE Act for obstructing a house of worship. Prosecutors have already charged at least three other individuals in connection with the same protest.
Lemon maintains he was acting as an independent journalist with no ties to the activist group. His legal team has vowed to fight the charges “vigorously and thoroughly” in court. The arrest has already sparked a massive backlash from media figures and civil rights advocates.
The Justice Department is expected to provide further details during a press conference later today. This marks a significant escalation in the administration’s crackdown on anti-ICE agitators and their associates. For now, the “Queen of Rap” may be a fan of the President, but Don Lemon is his latest legal target.