Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles on Thursday night, according to his lawyer. He has said he was simply reporting on the event as a journalist.
Lemon has said he was simply reporting on the event as a journalist. His apprehension comes after the Trump administration’s Justice Department moved to charge Lemon, along with several others, with a civil-rights violation stemming from his participation in a January 18 anti-ICE protest inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, said Lemon was in the city to cover the 2026 Grammy Awards.
The arrest was called an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment,” maintaining that Lemon was acting solely as an independent journalist. Lemon himself stated he had no affiliation with the protest group and was merely chronicling the event, according to his lawyer, Abbe Lowell.
Lemon worked at CNN for 17 years, rising to national prominence as the host of Don Lemon Tonight and later serving as a co-anchor on CNN This Morning before leaving the network in 2023.
Over the years, Lemon has covered landmark events including Hurricane Katrina, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and President Barack Obama’s first inauguration, earning an Edward R. Murrow Award along with several regional Emmy Awards for his reporting.
Lowell said in a statement. “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.
