Los Angeles, California — Former CNN anchor and independent journalist Don Lemon was arrested Thursday night by federal authorities, according to a statement from his attorney, marking a sharp escalation in a case tied to recent immigration enforcement protests in Minnesota.
Lemon, 59, was taken into custody in Los Angeles while covering the Grammy Awards. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, said the arrest followed public statements from the Justice Department indicating it would pursue charges after Lemon reported on a protest inside a Minnesota church last week. That protest centered on allegations that a church pastor was employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, drawing demonstrators who opposed ongoing federal immigration operations in the Twin Cities.
Federal officials have not yet disclosed the specific charges or legal basis for Lemon’s arrest. Lowell criticized the move, arguing that federal resources were being directed toward arresting a journalist rather than investigating the deaths of two U.S. citizens who were fatally shot during separate federal immigration enforcement encounters in Minneapolis earlier this month. He described the arrest as an attack on press freedom and said Lemon would challenge the charges in court.
Lemon’s arrest comes amid an expanded federal immigration surge in Minnesota, where roughly 3,000 additional federal agents have been deployed over the past two months. Authorities have also arrested at least three other individuals who protested at the same church service Lemon covered.
The Justice Department has declined further comment as the case develops.
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