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Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent Minnesota journalist Georgia Fort were among four people arrested by federal agents.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X: “At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards, his attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement posted on social media.
Last week, the Trump administration sought to charge several people including Lemon after protesters entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, where an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official serves as a pastor.
A judge declined to approve Lemon’s arrest, citing a lack of evidence. But three others were charged for violating a law that prevents people from obstructing places of worship or abortion clinics.
This morning, Minnesota independent journalist Fort posted a video on social media saying federal agents were her door. Fort said in the post that she had filmed the protest at the same church as a journalist.
Lemon had live-streamed the demonstration and said he was there as a journalist. But U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted on X that the church was “a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice.”
Lemon’s lawyer Lowell in the statement called the arrest an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration.””
Lowell also said: “Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
Lemon, who is now an independent journalist, left CNN in 2023 after 17 years at the cable network, amid criticism that he made sexist comments about women and aging. He has been a longtime critic of Trump.
