{"id":198737,"date":"2026-01-31T07:16:42","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T07:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/don-lemon-arrested-by-federal-authorities-after-protest-at-minnesota-church-service-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T07:16:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T07:16:42","slug":"don-lemon-arrested-by-federal-authorities-after-protest-at-minnesota-church-service-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/don-lemon-arrested-by-federal-authorities-after-protest-at-minnesota-church-service-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Don Lemon arrested by federal authorities after protest at Minnesota church service – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was released by a federal judge on Friday after he was charged by the Trump administration with violating the freedom of religion of worshippers at a Minnesota church where he was covering a protest earlier this month.
Lemon, now an independent journalist, was released on a personal recognizance bond and appeared outside a downtown federal courthouse several minutes later, saying the prosecution will not stop him from his work reporting news.
“I will not stop ever,” he said.
He added, “The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists. I will not be silenced.”
Lemon’s L.A.-area lawyer, Marilyn Bednarski, said in court that he plans to plead not guilty.
A federal grand jury seated in Minnesota returned the indictment<\/a> on Thursday against Lemon and eight co-defendants. The indictment charges Lemon with conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and injuring, intimidating, and interfering with the exercise of right of religious freedom at a place of worship.
Lemon, 59, and three of the co-defendants \u2014 Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort and Jamael Lydell Lundy \u2014 were arrested Friday in what Attorney General Pam Bondi described in a post on X<\/a> as a \u201ccoordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.\u201d
Three others had been previously arrested on federal charges and then released by a judge after the Trump administration tried to keep them detained.
A federal magistrate judge found the Trump administration lacked probable cause to arrest Lemon <\/a>and several of other defendants under a federal statute that a top Justice Department official conceded had never been used in the context of a protest at a church before.
Two of the people whose names appear on the indictment do <\/strong>not appear to have been taken into federal custody.
The arrest of one the country\u2019s most recognizable journalists is the latest development in the federal government\u2019s unprecedented immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, in which two U.S. citizens have been shot and killed.
Demonstrators had gathered at the Minneapolis church on Jan. 18 because they said its pastor works for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The indictment alleges Lemon attended a briefing by protesters ahead of the event and that he openly characterized the upcoming protest as one involving civil disobedience. Prosecutors said he kept the church location a secret until his live coverage.
Lemon was arrested by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations in Beverly Hills at approximately midnight, according to a federal warrant issued in another district.
His main defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in an earlier statement that federal agents took him into custody in Los Angeles, where he was covering the lead up to Sunday\u2019s Grammy Awards.
\u201cInstead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,\u2019 Lowell said. \u201cThis unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand.
\u201cDon will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court,\u201d Lowell added.
The Justice Department promised to pursue charges<\/a> against Lemon after he covered the protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul earlier this month.
In a video posted <\/a>on his YouTube channel, Lemon stood outside the church with protesters and said he was at an \u201coperation that is a secret.\u201d Lemon later said from inside the church, \u201cWe\u2019re not part of the activists, but we\u2019re here just reporting on them.\u201d
Protesters say the church\u2019s pastor, David Easterwood<\/a>, is the acting director of an ICE field office in the city.
Three of the protesters who disrupted the church service \u2014\u00a0Nekima Levy Armstrong<\/a>, Chauntyll Louisa Allen<\/a> and William Kelly \u2014\u00a0had previously been arrested.
The Trump administration attempted to keep them and three other protesters \u2014 a total of six of Lemon’s co-defendants \u2014 <\/em>detained until trial, according to court records, federal magistrate judges in Minnesota rejected their request for a detention hearing.
A federal magistrate judge had previously rejected a criminal complaint<\/a> against Lemon. A source familiar with the matter, described Bondi as \u201cenraged\u201d by the decision.
The protest came amid an immigration crackdown in which the federal government has sent 3,000 federal immigration agents to the Twin Cities over the last two months and arrested more than 3,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Amid the crackdown, Renee Good<\/a>, 37, and Alex Pretti<\/a>, 37, were both shot and killed<\/a> by federal immigration authorities in separate confrontations, incensing large swaths of the nation.
Prior to his arrest, Lemon said he stood by his reporting.
\u201cIf this much time and energy is going to be spent manufacturing outrage, it would be far better used investigating the tragic death of Renee Nicole Good \u2014 the very issue that brought people into the streets in the first place,\u201d he said in a statement last week.
Lemon\u2019s next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 9 in Minneapolis.
Fort, one of Lemon’s co-defendants and an independent journalist based in Minneapolis, told NBC News that she was arrested Friday morning as her three daughters watched.
\u201cNearly two dozen federal agents surrounded my home at 6 a.m., shortly after my husband left for work,\u201d she said by email. \u201cAs the mother of three daughters, ages 7 to 17, it was heartbreaking to have my children begin their day this way.\u201d
Fort live-streamed the moments before her arrest on Facebook and titled the resulting video, \u201cAgents are at my door.\u201d
\u201cMy 17-year-old daughter witnessed everything and is old enough to understand the context: I am a journalist who was arrested for doing my job, despite the constitutional protections afforded to the press,\u201d Fort said.
The federal government cited the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act to justify the arrest of the three protesters. The federal statute prohibits the use of force or intimidation to anyone trying to access reproductive services, but also contains provisions that cover houses of worship.
Harmeet Dhillon, the Trump administration\u2019s top DOJ Civil Rights Division official, conceded earlier this month that the use of the statute in this manner lacks historical precedent.
\u201cIn all these years up until I was the assistant attorney general for civil rights, nobody ever used that houses of worship part to prosecute protesters or criminals blocking access to a house of worship, so we\u2019ve started to do that,\u201d Dhillon said in a video she posted<\/a> earlier this month.
Trump had pardoned a number of anti-abortion protesters prosecuted under the FACE Act, and the Justice Department dismissed other cases that were pending.
A Justice Department memo issued days after<\/a> Trump\u2019s inauguration last year also created new bureaucratic hurdles on abortion cases that don\u2019t apply to church cases. It mandates that \u201cfuture abortion-related FACE Act prosecutions and civil actions will be permitted only in extraordinary circumstances, or in cases presenting significant aggravating factors, such as death, serious bodily harm, or serious property damage. Cases not presenting significant aggravating factors can adequately be addressed under state or local law.\u201d
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit that promotes press freedoms worldwide, condemned Lemon’s arrest.
“The arrest of journalist Don Lemon in connection with his reporting on a protest in Minnesota should alarm all Americans,” Katherine Jacobsen, who works on the organization’s U.S. efforts, said in a statement. “Instead of prioritizing accountability in the killings of two American citizens, the Trump administration is devoting its resources to arresting journalists.”
CNN said in a post on X<\/a> that Lemon\u2019s arrest \u201craises profoundly concerning questions about press freedom and the First Amendment.\u201d
The group Human Rights Campaign organized a rally outside the Edward R. Roybal federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles where proceedings for Lemon took place on Friday.
Speaking outside court, board member Todd Hawkins decried Lemon\u2019s arrest and prosecution.
\u201cWhen journalists can be detained for covering protests, none of us are safe,\u201d he said. \u201cPunish the press, ignore the dead, dare the public to look away. We will not look away.\u201d
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who announced Lemon’s release outside the courthouse, earlier condemned his arrest.
\u201cLet me be very clear \u2014 President Trump is not deescalating anything after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cIn fact, the arrest of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort demonstrates quite the opposite \u2014 he is escalating.\u201d
In its own post on X, the White House appeared to mock Lemon.
“When life gives you lemons…” the White House account wrote, coupled with a chain emoji and image of Lemon from inside the church.
Representatives for Lemon, Lemon’s husband, Cities Church and the three others arrested did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ryan J. Reilly is a justice reporter for NBC News.
Matt Lavietes is a reporter for NBC News.
Chloe Melas is an entertainment correspondent for NBC News.\u00a0
Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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