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Former CNN host Don Lemon has been detained by authorities for participating in protests at a Minnesota church.
Lemon was arrested by federal agents Thursday night while covering the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, according to her attorney, Abbey Lowell.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis is no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose job it is to expose the truth and hold those in power accountable. There has never been a more important time for people like Don to do this work.”
He continued, “Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department devoted its time, attention, and resources to this arrest, which is a true indictment of misconduct in this case. This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and a clear attempt to distract from the many crises facing this administration is indefensible. Don will vigorously and thoroughly fight these charges in court.”
The U.S. Department of Justice has issued legal threats against former CNN host Don Lemon for his role in Sunday’s anti-ICE riot at a St. Paul city church. (Dimitrios Kambri/WireImage)
Earlier this month, Lemon live-streamed video of an attack on St. Paul City Church by left-wing agitators who suspected its pastor of working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Lemon told the audience that “freedom to protest” is what the First Amendment is about.
A federal magistrate judge previously rejected the Justice Department’s initial attempt to bring charges against Lemon.
leftmost stirrer levy armstrong on some peopleOne of the organizers of the church protest was among those arrested in connection with the incident. She appears in the Lemon scene.
“Listen loud and clear: We will not tolerate attacks on places of worship,” Bundy wrote on X.
Lemon insists he had “nothing to do with the group” and “didn’t even know they were going to this church until we followed them,” although videos he posted on YouTube suggest he had at least some knowledge of the agitators’ plans.
“We don’t know what happened. We do know, but we don’t know how it’s going to play out… We’ll see what happens after that and be a little surprised,” Lemon told the audience as they drove to the church.
“We just found out about this this morning,” Lemon continued. “I was just trying to figure out if I’d better go in so I could know what was going on.”
Don Lemon told Fox News Digital that he stands by his reporting. (Don Lemon/YouTube)
When Lemon arrived at the church, he told staff he planned to “go in and brief us on what’s going on,” but instructed his driver and photographer not to enter the church property.
“I’m just going to walk in there and see what’s going on,” Lemon said as he entered the church.
Lemon appears to have entered before the instigators, and the priest’s voice can be heard on Lemon’s audio before the ceremony is interrupted by shouting. Lemon then told the audience that protesters had entered the church and heard total chaos. Lemon’s cameraman then entered the building to live-stream the ordeal.
“I’m a reporter,” Lemon told a churchgoer amid the chaos.
Lemon went on to document a hostile invasion of the church, which he called a “secret mission.”
“You have to be willing to go to places and disrupt and make people uncomfortable. That’s what this country is about,” Lemon said.
Hammett Dillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, previously said Lemon could face serious consequences for his alleged role in the attack on the church.
Dillon said Lemon has the presumption of innocence, but his role as a reporter doesn’t necessarily serve as a “shield” against him as a potential criminal party.
“Don Lemon himself came out and said he knew exactly what was going on inside the facility. He entered the facility and then began ‘engaging in journalism’ as if it was a shield from becoming part of a criminal conspiracy, embedded in it,” Dillon said in interview Monday with Benny Johnson
“That’s not the case, so we’re putting the facts together, putting the facts together, and this is a very serious issue,” she continued. “By next Sunday, no one in America will think they can get away with it. Everyone in the protest community needs to know that the federal government is going to be out in force to stop this from happening and keep people out for a long time.”
Anti-ICE protesters targeted a city church in Minneapolis on Sunday, shouting at churchgoers during services. (Facebook/DawokeFarmer2)
Lemon said before fox news numbers He stood up for his reporting and faced online threats as a result.
“It’s important to note that I was chosen to be the face of the protests I was covering as a reporter, especially since I was not the only reporter there. The framing is telling. Even more telling is the series of violent threats, as well as homophobic and racist slurs, directed at me online by MAGA supporters and amplified by parts of the right-wing media,” Lemon said in a statement.
“If so much time and energy is going to be spent on creating outrage, it would be better spent investigating the tragic death of Renee Nicole Goode — the very issue that brought people to the streets in the first place,” Lemon continued. “I stand by my reporting.”
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The FACE Act makes The use or threat of force to “injure, intimidate, or interfere” with a person seeking reproductive health services, or a person lawfully attempting to exercise their First Amendment religious freedom rights in a place of religious worship, is a federal crime that may be punishable by steep fines and jail time. It also prohibits intentional damage to the property of a facility that provides reproductive health services or a place of religious worship. The Ku Klux Klan Act made it a federal crime to deprive individuals of their civil rights.
