Federal agents arrested independent journalist Don Lemon on Thursday in Los Angeles, his attorney said in a statement, nearly two weeks after Lemon covered an anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul, Minnesota church that launched a federal effort to indict him.
Lemon was in the Los Angeles to cover Sunday’s Grammy Awards. He remains in federal custody, a spokesperson said.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” his attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work.”
The Trump administration has escalated its crackdown on the press in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the FBI searched the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson and seized her devices as part of a leak investigation into a Pentagon contractor. Arresting Lemon, who appeared to be conducting himself as a reporter, including interviewing church members and and activists, runs the risk of criminalizing journalism.
Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote Friday morning on X, “At my direction, early this morning federal agents 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.”
Fort, an independent journalist, posted a video saying that “agents are at my door right now” and they “have a warrant for my arrest.”
“This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media,”she said.
Federal judges had refused to sign off on arrest warrants against Lemon, a former CNN anchor, though federal law enforcement officials — and President Donald Trump — continued to make legal threats against him.
“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” Lowell added. “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.”
Lemon and his producer reported on a Jan. 18 protest at a St. Paul church, where protesters believed one of the pastors was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. The two were given advance notice of the protest, followed the protestors, commented on the protests and interviewed both the pastor on duty and the demonstrators, but Lemon did not specifically demonstrate. Lemon has defended his actions as “an act of journalism.”
Still, the government sought an arrest warrant against Lemon and others who protested at the church. The government arrested three people — Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Allen and William Kelly — and charged them with trying to impede the congregation’s First Amendment right to protest, though all three were released from pretrial custody after their initial detention.
The DOJ also sought an arrest warrant against Lemon and his producer, but both a magistrate judge in the state and Minnesota’s chief district judge declined to grant one. It then brought the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Eighth Circuit, but a three-judge panel declined to force an arrest.
“Don Lemon is an accomplished journalist whose urgent work is protected by the First Amendment,” Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X. “There is zero basis to arrest him and he should be freed immediately. The Trump Justice Department is illegitimate and these extremists will all be held accountable for their crimes against the Constitution.”
