Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort were arrested by federal authorities in connection with their coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church, raising questions about press freedom.
Lemon, 59, was taken into custody by federal agents Thursday night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards, according to his attorney Abbe Lowell. Fort was arrested Friday morning at her home in Minnesota.
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the arrests in a post on social media Friday morning, saying the actions were taken at her direction.
“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,” Bondi wrote on X.
The arrests stem from a Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, where demonstrators confronted the congregation over the church’s pastor, David Easterwood, a Minneapolis ICE official. Lemon and Fort were present covering the demonstration.
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According to the Department of Homeland Security, Lemon is being charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and interfering by force with someone’s First Amendment rights. Both journalists have maintained they were reporting on the protest, not participating in it.
Lemon posted video during the protest in which he is heard saying, “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group. I’m a journalist.”
Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minneapolis chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, posted a Facebook live video Friday morning announcing federal agents were at her door.
“As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago and now I’m being arrested for that,” Fort said. “It’s hard to understand how we have a Constitution, Constitutional rights, when we can just be arrested for being a member of the press.”
Lowell, Lemon’s attorney, called the arrest an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.”
“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 said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
Lowell added: “Instead 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.”
The arrests came despite earlier court rulings in favor of the journalists. A federal magistrate judge previously refused to approve a criminal complaint against Lemon, saying prosecutors had not shown probable cause. That decision was upheld by an appeals panel last week, with the judge noting Lemon’s role as a reporter covering the event.
CBS News cited sources “with direct knowledge” who said a grand jury was selected and assembled Thursday before Lemon’s arrest, suggesting prosecutors sought an indictment through that route after the magistrate’s ruling.
Also arrested were Trahern Jeen Crews, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota and a former Democratic candidate for the Minnesota House, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, a small business owner and current Democratic candidate for the Minnesota Senate.
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Minneapolis civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, who participated in the church protest, was arrested last week in connection with the incident. She called her arrest “political retaliation” at a Thursday press conference.
“This is not only an immigration fight, this is a fight for police accountability,” Levy Armstrong said. “This is a fight for racial justice. This is a fight for our constitutional rights, and we must not forget that.”
The arrests occur amid heightened tensions over federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota. Two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis this month during incidents related to protests against ICE operations.
Press freedom advocates expressed concern about the arrests. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said it was “deeply troubled” and working to gather more information.
Lemon is scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday. The charges Fort faces have not been publicly detailed.
