Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested Thursday evening on federal charges related to his attendance at an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
On January 18, Lemon entered a local church to cover a demonstration in which protesters disrupted a church service in opposition to one of the pastors working with a local ICE field office.
The Trump administration tried to charge Lemon and seven other people over the protest, claiming their actions violated a law that protects people participating in a service at a house of worship. Lemon, 59, claimed he observed the protest as a journalist covering it.
However, a federal judge and a federal appeals court rejected the Justice Department’s efforts to indict Lemon.
An attorney for Lemon, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that his client was taken into custody in Los Angeles while covering the Grammy Awards.
“Instead of investigating the federal agents who murdered two peaceful protesters in Minnesota, Trump’s Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of misconduct in this case,” Lowell said.
It was not immediately clear what the charges against Lemon were, but Lowell said he planned to fight the charges.
Lowell is a high-profile attorney who has also represented several opponents of President Donald Trump, including Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and the transparent attempt to distract from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will vigorously and thoroughly fight these charges in court,” Lowell said.
Lemon worked at CNN for 17 years before being fired in 2023. He has since become an independent journalist and publishes online.
The former CNN anchor livestreamed the church protest as part of his coverage of protests in Minneapolis. In the video, posted to YouTube, Lemon emphasized that he was “not part of the group.”
But Justice Department officials vowed to prosecute those who took part in the church protest for possibly violating churchgoers’ right to practice religious freedom.
Another independent journalist, Georgia Fort, was also arrested on Thursday evening. she said in a Facebook live video.
“I don’t feel like I have my First Amendment rights as a member of the press,” Fort said in her video. “Because now there are federal agents at my door trying to arrest me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago.”
It is also unclear what the charges against Fort are.
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