Former CNN Anchor Don Lemon Arrested As Lawyer Condemns 'Unprecedented Attack'

Journalist and former CNN anchor Don Lemon filmed a recent ICE protest in St. Paul, Minnesota, at a church. This came after it was discovered that one of the pastors at the church was involved with the government agency. After the protest, Lemon faced criticism from the Trump administration for his involvement, and the latest is that he has been arrested.

Now, Lemon has been arrested following his involvement with the Minnesota church.

According to TMZ, Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles after having concluded his reporting for the upcoming Grammy Awards, which will take place this weekend on February 1. He is being charged with impeding people's right to worship, which, per the report, is a violation of federal law.

Regarding the protest, which Lemon didn't appear to organize or be a part of except for filming, it happened on January 18 at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Lemon's attorney, Abbe Lowell, released a statement following his arrest. He 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. 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 statement continued, "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. 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."

Many social media users reacted to the news of Lemon's arrest. One person wrote, "No arrests of the ICE thugs who murdered Alex Pretti, Renee Good, or Keith Porter. No arrests of anyone in the Epstein Files. But they arrested Don Lemon because of his journalism."

Someone else offered a theory, saying, "Trump Bond girl Pam…has been so desperate to have Journalist Don Lemon arrested…even though a Judge told her she couldn't arrest the Press for doing their job…Pam did it anyway…to please her Boss Man…this won't go well for her career." A different social media user said, "They've arrested Don Lemon. This is not good…"

Another person said, "Don Lemon, arrested for covering a protest as a journalist. Wow…" Finally, someone in support of the arrest stated, "He was arrested in Los Angeles yesterday evening. Now let's pray he gets prosecuted and convicted to the fullest extent of the law!"

According to CNN, a federal magistrate judge shot down the Justice Department's request to bring charges against Lemon for the church protest. An insider spoke to the news organization about the Justice Department's response. They said, "The Attorney General is enraged at the magistrate judge's decision."

Notably, Pam Bondi is the Attorney General. The report also states that, as of January 22, she had been in Minnesota for two days, speaking with various prosecutors about Lemon and his involvement in the church protest.

According to AP News, Lemon was fired from CNN in 2023 after 17 years at the network. This came after he made controversial remarks on "CNN This Morning" about politician Nikki Haley. According to reports, he reached a settlement with the network that required it to pay him about $24 million.

Since leaving CNN, Lemon has been pursuing independent journalism. First, in January 2024, he announced that he would host "The Don Lemon Show" on X. However, this fell apart after the host clashed with Elon Musk during a March 2024 interview. After this, he took the show to YouTube, where he has amassed over a million subscribers.

Lemon spoke to Revolt in January 2026 about what having his own platform means to him. The anchor explained, "It means freedom. It means autonomy. We have to own our own platforms in order for our stories to be told. People often try to tell our stories, and they tell it, or they just don't tell our stories, or when they do try to tell it, it's often the wrong way."