Don Lemon — the veteran journalist who spent part of his early career in St. Louis before becoming one of the most recognizable faces in American news — was arrested Thursday night in Los Angeles. His arrest stems from his coverage of a protest at a Minnesota church earlier this month.
USA Today said the charges, filed by the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security, accuse Lemon of conspiracy to deprive someone of their rights and interfering with another person’s First Amendment rights. The outlet also said that Lemon’s attorney, high-powered defense lawyer Abbe Lowell, calls the allegations “an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.”
The arrest stems from a January 18 protest inside Cities Church in St. Paul, where demonstrators confronted a pastor who also serves as an ICE field office director. Lemon was present as a journalist documenting the protest — one of several reporters on site that day.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrest immediately.
“The arrest of journalist Don Lemon in connection with his reporting on a protest in Minnesota should alarm all Americans,” Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator, told Newsweek.com. “Instead of investigating the role of federal immigration agents in the killings of two American citizens, the Trump administration is devoting its resources to arresting journalists.”
According to the Los Angeles NBC affiliate, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also called the arrest “shocking” and “alarming.”
For years, Lemon has been a frequent target of the Trump administration — singled out by name, mocked on social media, and labeled “the dumbest man on television” by Trump himself during his presidency. Lemon, in turn, has been one of the most outspoken critics of Trump’s rhetoric, policies, and treatment of the press.
Since leaving CNN in 2023, Lemon has leaned even further into independent reporting, often focusing on civil rights, immigration, and government accountability. His recent work has included coverage of protests, police violence, and federal enforcement actions — the kind of reporting that has repeatedly put him at odds with the administration.
Before he became a national figure, Don Lemon spent part of his early career in St. Louis at KTVI, where he reported on local politics, crime, and community issues.
Lemon returned to St. Louis in 2014 during the Ferguson uprising, where he reported live from West Florissant Avenue as police deployed tear gas and armored vehicles against protesters. His coverage — sometimes emotional, sometimes confrontational — became part of the national conversation about policing, race, and media responsibility.
He went on to cover protests in Baltimore, Minneapolis, Kenosha, and other cities where communities rose up against police violence. On January 18, Lemon was inside Cities Church in St. Paul as protesters disrupted a service to call attention to the pastor’s role as an ICE official. Federal authorities allege that Lemon’s presence and reporting constituted participation in a conspiracy — a claim his attorney flatly rejects.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell told CBS News.
According to Deadline.com, Lemon is expected to appear before a federal judge, though the charges remain sealed. The White House has mocked the arrest publicly, signaling that the administration intends to make an example of him.
For many journalists, activists, and civil‑rights advocates, the case raises questions about whether documenting protest — especially protest against federal power — is being criminalized.
Information from USA Today, CBS News, Newsweek.com, Deadline.com