SERVES HIM RIGHT

Former CNN Anchor Don Lemon Charged With Civil Rights Crimes

 

Newsmax   

Jan 30, 2026

 

 

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was charged Friday with federal civil rights crimes in connection with an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.

He is charged with conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers during a Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official serves as a pastor. Another journalist and two protest participants also were arrested.

Lemon was arrested Thursday by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he had been covering the Grammy Awards, his attorney Abbe Lowell said.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi later announced on X that the arrest of Lemon, as well as fellow protesters Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, were executed "at my direction."

She posted a 16-second video on social media at 11:41 a.m., without mentioning Lemon or any of those arrested by name, that citizens have the right to worship freely and safely and if anyone interferes, "we are coming after you."

Newsmax's James Rosen was told by sources that Lemon briefly resisted -- after he was already in handcuffs and taken to an elevator, but that his arrest otherwise unfolded without incident.

Fort, a local independent journalist, livestreamed the moments before her arrest Friday on Facebook Live, saying “agents are at my door right now” with a warrant and a grand jury indictment.

Crews is a leader of Black Lives Matter Minnesota who has led many protests, particularly following George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in 2020.

Lundy is an intergovernmental affairs manager in the office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, and is married to St. Paul City Council Member Anika Bowie. Bowie and Moriarty could not be reached for comment. 

Lowell called Lemon's arrest an "unprecedented attack on the First Amendment."

"Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards," 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."

Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, has said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and that he was there as a reporter chronicling protesters.

The White House, on its official X account, mocked Lemon by posting a black-and-white photo of him from his livestream at the Cities Church, noting he had been arrested, with the intro "When life gives you lemons..."

The arrest came after a magistrate last week rejected prosecutors’ initial bid to charge Lemon. Rosen reported Lemon was indicted in Minnesota on Thursday along with five others.

Charges include conspiring to deprive a constitutional or statutory right and interfering with individual's religious freedom in a house of worship, covered by the FACE act.

Sources told Rosen his first court appearance is likely to be in Los Angeles before being returned to Minnesota for prosecution.

Lemon on Jan. 18 livestreamed a demonstration that interrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, to protest President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the area.

Lemon said he was at the demonstration as a journalist. He said he was tipped off ahead of time but did not know the activists would disrupt the service.

He can be seen arguing with a parishioner about immigration enforcement. Trump administration officials quickly condemned the demonstration and accused protesters of intimidating Christian worshippers.

Lemon was expected to have an initial court hearing later Friday.