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Journalist Don Lemon has been arrested in connection with an anti-immigrant protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota, his attorney said Friday.
Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards, attorney Abbe Lowell said.
Lemon’s arrest came after a magistrate judge last week rejected an initial request by prosecutors to charge the reporter.
Lemon was among four people arrested Friday morning by FBI Director Kash Patel he said in a post on social media.
It’s unclear what charge or charges Lemon faces in the Jan. 18 protest, which took place between two fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis as part of an operation by the administration of US President Donald Trump to arrest people without authorization to live in the country.
Two of the people killed were American citizens and bystanders, while a third person was shot in the leg in a separate incident.
Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023 after 17 years at the network, said he had nothing to do with the organization that entered the church and was there as a reporter covering the protesters.
“Don was a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he had always done,” Lowell said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role is to illuminate the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
Lowell added that “Don will vigorously and thoroughly fight these charges in court.”
4th person arrested
A prominent civil rights attorney and two other people involved in the protest were arrested before Lemon last week after disrupting a service at City Church in St. Paul, where a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official serves as pastor.
The US Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation after the group disrupted service chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on January 7.
“Hear it loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a social media post last week.
Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly have been charged with conspiracy against rights for allegedly intimidating and harassing parishioners, according to a criminal complaint.
The White House drew criticism for altering a civil rights photo of Armstrong in a social media post promoting her arrest.
Cities Church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood, who runs the ICE field office.
The USA has a long history of protests within places of worship, as well as religious communities have tightened security protocols in recent years as deadly attacks on places of worship and security concerns have intensified. Two children were killed in a shooting at a church in Minneapolis last August.
The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church disturbance contrasts with its decision not to open a civil rights investigation into Good’s killing by an ICE officer. The department has not said whether it will open a civil rights investigation into the Jan. 24 shooting death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by federal officers.
Funding becomes a focal point
“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful protesters in Minnesota, the Trump Department of Justice is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, which is a true indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” Lowell said.
The federal government’s Operation Metro Surge has led to protests elsewhere in the US than Minnesota, and funding for the Department of Homeland Security has been a flashpoint in discussions about avoiding a partial government shutdown that begins this weekend.
Trump, dating back to his first presidential campaign in 2016, attacked Lemon on social media in response to the news, calling him “the dumbest man on television.”
Several people Trump has antagonized, mostly politicians and officials, have faced indictments or the threat of prosecution so far in his second, nonconsecutive term as president.
Democrats in Congress have accused the Justice Department of discarding previous safeguards of independence to do the bidding of Trump, who has vowed “retaliation” in his 2024 presidential campaign.
The powerful Lowell, who previously represented the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, currently represents New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook and former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor. Each was the target of a Justice Department investigation.
As it happens6:49Minnesota Attorney General Says He Fears For His Wife, Neighbors
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has accused the Trump administration of “extortion” for demanding the state hand over voter information as it continues its deadly immigration enforcement crackdown in the state. Ellison told As It Happens host Nilo Köksal that because of the presence of thousands of ICE agents in Minnesota, his neighbors and his legal immigrant wife live in fear.
New probes have been announced
The Trump administration has been criticized for prejudicing the fatal shootings, and days after the Good shooting, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said it had failed to meet the requirements for a civil rights investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that the FBI is now investigating the shooting death of Pretti. The department said earlier this week that the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a unit within the department, would lead the investigation.
US President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan says immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis need to be safer and more targeted. The change in tone comes after ongoing unrest and the killing of two Americans by federal agents.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during an interview with Fox News on Thursday that the FBI has an advantage. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the department, said in an email Friday that HSI will support them.
Separately, Customs and Border Protection is conducting its own internal investigation.
Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about when the change was made or why.
Trump sent his border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis earlier this week, and controversial Customs and Border Protection official Greg Bovino left the state after making a series of inflammatory comments.
Homan said Thursday that he wants ICE and CBP agents to focus on strategic operations targeting felony offenders. The agents were accused of randomly stopping people on the street to ask them for documentary evidence of legal residency or US citizenship and of mingling with protesters.
Homan mentioned a potential reduction in the size of the administrative contingent in Minnesota, but there were no specific announcements on that front.
When asked by a reporter Thursday night if the administration was “pulling back” in Minnesota, Trump replied, “No, no. Not at all.”
