Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles on Thursday evening, as the journalist was covering the Grammy Awards, his attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear what charge or charges Lemon is facing. A magistrate judge and an appeals court had earlier rejected DOJ efforts to charge Lemon, a former CNN anchor who is now an independent journalist.
The Justice Department has been attempting to bring charges against Lemon after he live streamed an anti-ICE protest inside a church in the Twin Cities earlier this month.
“The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable,” Lowell said in a statement. “There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing his work.”
His attorney added, “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.”
Lemon’s arrest is a long-feared escalation on the Trump administration’s war on the news media, what First Amendment organizations have warned would be a chilling effect on the free press. Also this month, the Trump administration FBI executed a search warrant on the home of Hannah Natanson, a reporter for The Washington Post, seizing her computer and phones, among other things. Although Natanson was not the target of the investigation, the Post sued to seek the return of her reporting materials.
Lemon live streamed the protest at Cities Church in St. Paul earlier this month, with demonstrators interrupting the services. Lemon has said that he “had no affiliation” to the protest organization. “I didn’t even know they were going to this church until we followed them. We were there chronicling protests,” he said.
At the time, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department Civil Rights Division, wrote a message to Lemon on X that the First Amendment does “not protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice!”
Donald Trump also attacked Lemon, reposting a message on Truth Social that called for the independent journalist to be jailed.
During the live stream inside the church, Lemon told viewers, “I’m not going to get in the middle of it, because I’m not here as an activist. I’m here as a journalist.”
CNN reported that Lemon is expected to make a court appearance on Friday.
More to come.
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