Federal authorities charged former CNN host Don Lemon with federal civil rights crimes Friday in connection with the Jan. 18 disruption of a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The longtime TV personality, along with several other defendants, is charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and interfering by force with someone’s First Amendment rights, which are violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) and Ku Klux Klan Acts, according to the indictment against Lemon and other defendants. Authorities arrested Lemon in Los Angeles, California, Thursday night.
Lemon and a group of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters burst into Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, during the Jan. 18 worship services and proceeded to scream and chant slogans. Lemon live-streamed himself inside the church with the group.
The indictment alleges Lemon conspired with others “to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate multiple persons … in the free exercise and enjoyment of the rights and privileges secured to them” under U.S. law.
Lemon was listed several times in the indictment as being a part of “overt acts” during the incident.
“Defendant Lemon thanked defendant [Nekima Valdez Levy] Armstrong for what she was doing and assured her that he was ‘not saying … what’s going on,’” one bullet point titled “Overt act #6” in the indictment read.
The indictment alleges that the church incident was part of a “clandestine operation” titled “Operation Pullup” that included demonstrators showing up “[where the targets] don’t expect [them].”
A livestream filmed by Lemon showed him entering the building while protesters shouted, “Justice for Renee Good,” who had been fatally shot by an ICE agent on Jan. 7 after she hit him with her vehicle.
A group of individuals organized the protest to demonstrate against an associate pastor who serves as an ICE officer.
Lemon maintained that all he did was “commit an act of journalism” by following the protesters inside the church. He angrily challenged federal officials on Jan. 22 to “keep trying” to come after him.
A magistrate judge previously rejected the DOJ’s attempts to arrest Lemon, though officials continued to find other ways to criminally prosecute him.
Abbe Lowell, the attorney representing Lemon, called the arrest an “unprecedented attack” on the First Amendment and an attempt by the administration to distract the public from their own problems.
“Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court,” Lowell said.
🚨BREAKING: Don Lemon has been ARRESTED, attorney says. pic.twitter.com/uv9FxbsQlW
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 30, 2026
Three other individuals, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, were also arrested Friday in connection with the incident, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.
In a video posted to X, Bondi warned that her agency will come after anyone who violates an American’s “sacred right” to worship.
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