Journalist Don Lemon and three others were arrested Friday in connection with an anti-immigration protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church and increased tensions between residents and federal officials.
Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards, said his lawyer, Abbe Lowell.
Lemon’s arrest came after a magistrate judge last week rejected prosecutors’ initial request to charge the journalist.
Lemon was among four people arrested Friday morning, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. said in a post on social media.
It’s unclear what charge(s) Lemon faces in the Jan. 18 protest, which occurred between fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration’s operation to arrest people not authorized to live in the country.
The two people killed were U.S. 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 with the network, said he had no affiliation with the organization that visited the church and was there as a reporter chronicling the protesters.
“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 role is to shed light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
Lowell added that “Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
Civil rights lawyer already arrested
A prominent civil rights attorney and two others involved in the protest were arrested before Lemon last week after disrupting a service at Cities Church in St. Paul, where a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is pastor.
The U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation after the group disrupted services while chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” in reference to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot Jan. 7 by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
“Listen 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 were each charged with anti-rights conspiracy for allegedly intimidating and harassing parishioners, according to a criminal complaint.
The White House was criticized for altering a civil rights photo of Armstrong in a social media post that trumpeted his arrest. Friday, the White House account appeared to celebrate Lemon’s arrest.
Cities Church is owned by the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood, who runs an ICE field office.
The United States has a long history of protests inside places of worship, but religious congregations have strengthened security protocols In recent years, 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 quick investigation into the church disruption 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 killing of Alex Pretti, 37, by federal agents.
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has accused the Trump administration of “extortion” for demanding that the state turn over voter data as it continues its deadly immigration actions in the state. Ellison told As It Happens host Nil Köksal that the presence of thousands of ICE agents in Minnesota made his neighbors and his legal immigrant wife live in fear.
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“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is focusing its time, attention and resources on this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” Lowell said.
The federal government’s Operation Metro Surge has sparked protests elsewhere in the United States besides Minnesota, and funding for the Department of Homeland Security has been a flashpoint in discussions aimed at avoiding a partial government shutdown starting this weekend.
Trump, since his first presidential campaign in 2016, has lashed out at Lemon on social media in response to media coverage, calling him “the stupidest man on television.”
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Several people Trump has been upset with, mostly politicians and officials, have been charged or threatened with prosecution so far in his second non-consecutive presidential term.
Congressional Democrats have accused the Justice Department of setting aside old independence guardrails to do the bidding of Trump, who promised “retaliation” during his 2024 presidential campaign.
The powerful Lowell, who once served as an attorney for the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, currently represents New York State 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.
Pretti survey in progress
The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti’s death, Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche said at another news conference.
“We’re looking at anything that might shed light on that day,” Blanche said..
US President Donald Trump’s border official, Tom Homan, said immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis need to be safer and more targeted. The change in tone comes after continued unrest and the killing of two Americans by federal agents.
This development follows confirmation by the Department of Homeland Security earlier today that the FBI would now lead the investigation into Pretti’s death.
Blanche, in response to a question from a journalist, said the activity of “left-wing groups” was being investigated. White House officials accused the protesters of illegally interfering in the activities of immigration agents, with some even suggesting without evidence that they were being paid as part of an organized effort.
Trump, in a social media post Friday morning, described Pretti as an “agitator and, perhaps, an insurrectionist.”
Blanche already said There was no ongoing federal investigation into Good’s shooting..
“Cases are handled differently depending on the circumstances,” Blanche said Friday when asked about the two incidents.
Minnesota officials want to investigate the fatal incident involving Good, but have expressed frustration with a lack of cooperation from federal officials.
Earlier this week, Trump sent his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis, while controversial Customs and Border Patrol official Greg Bovino left the state after making a number of inflammatory comments.
Homan said Thursday he wants ICE and CBP agents to focus on strategic operations targeting criminal offenders. Officers were accused of randomly stopping people in the street to demand documented proof of legal residency or U.S. citizenship and engaging with protesters.
Homan has discussed a possible reduction in the administration’s contingent in Minnesota, but there has been no specific announcement on that.
When asked by a reporter Thursday evening if the administration was “stepping down” in Minnesota, Trump replied, “No, no. No way “.
