Federal authorities arrested independent journalist Don Lemon in Los Angeles on Thursday evening, accusing him of breaking federal law during a protest of the Trump administration’s immigration policies at a church in Minnesota earlier this month.
A magistrate judge had rejected an earlier attempt by the Justice Department to sign off on charges against Lemon and other protesters — an extraordinary reproach of the case against Lemon, a former CNN host. But Justice Department officials had vowed to continue seeking charges against Lemon and had been expected to bring the case to a grand jury this week.
After the magistrate rejected the charges against Lemon earlier this month, Justice Department officials pressed Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz to sign off on charges against him and one of his producers. When Schiltz did not do so, officials unsuccessfully sought an order from the court of appeals.
In a letter to the appeals court, Schiltz wrote, “There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.”
The federal indictment charging Lemon was not available on public court dockets Friday morning. Lemon, who was in Los Angeles to cover the Grammys at the time of his arrest, has said he was reporting on the protest when he followed demonstrators into the church. He remained in custody Friday morning ahead of an initial court appearance.
“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 D. 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.”
Georgia Fort, an independent journalist in Minneapolis who said she had filmed the protest, said she was also arrested. She posted a live stream just after 6 a.m. Friday saying federal agents were at her door seeking to arrest her. According to Fort, the agents told her they had obtained a warrant for her arrest after a grand jury indicted her.
“It’s hard to understand how we have constitutional rights when you can just be arrested for being a member of the press,” she said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media Friday that authorities arrested two other people in addition to Lemon and Fort.
Bondi said they were all arrested for their roles “in the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
Bondi said more details on the arrests would be released soon.
Lemon followed demonstrators into Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18 as they protested one of its pastors who they say also works as a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. The protest, which interrupted services, has become a flash point in the debate over President Donald Trump’s administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota and drawn broad condemnation from right-wing influencers who have demanded prosecutions of all the protesters involved.
Prosecutors have charged three protesters with conspiring to violate the congregants’ constitutionally protected rights to religious expression. But a U.S. magistrate judge refused to sign arrest warrants for another five people present during the protest, including Lemon and one of his producers, citing a lack of probable cause.
Lemon, who spent 17 years at CNN, was fired from the network in 2023 after he made controversial comments about female politicians and their age. Lemon had previously apologized following a public backlash, calling the remarks “inartful and irrelevant.”
A major star at the network, Lemon was until 2022 the host of “Don Lemon Tonight” broadcast that aired at 10 p.m. He was then co-anchor of “CNN This Morning” alongside Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.
In 2024 Lemon announced a new show, called “The Don Lemon Show,” to air on the social media platform X. After Lemon taped an interview with Elon Musk, the owner of X, Musk canceled Lemon’s show before it could air.
Since then, Lemon has produced his show for YouTube, while also streaming on Spotify and other podcast platforms.
Lemon’s channel has in recent weeks focused critically on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts, with video clips titled “Police Chief Exposes ICE Abuse!” and “ICE Goons Demanding Proof of Citizenship From Residents.”
Jeremy Roebuck contributed to this report.
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