Journalist Don Lemon arrested while covering the Grammy Awards
By Al Jazeera, January 30, 2026Journalist Don Lemon has been arrested in connection with his coverage of a protest against United States President Donald Trump’s deadly immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota.
Lemon’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said on Friday, January 30, 2026, that the journalist had been arrested in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards.
It was not immediately clear what charges Lemon was facing. In recent weeks, however, the Department of Justice indicated it would target Lemon for attending a January 18, 2026, protest in which demonstrators disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“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.
He cited the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects freedom of the press.
“The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable,” Lowell said. “Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court ”.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the arrest on Friday, saying Lemon had been taken into custody with three others in connection with what she described as the “coordinated attack on Cities Church in St Paul, Minnesota”.
Lemon was part of a series of arrests that morning, all related to the church demonstration. They included independent journalist Georgia Fort, as well as activists Jamael Lydell Lundy and Trahern Jeen Crews.
Federal authorities had previously arrested Minneapolis civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong and two others in connection with the protest.
Press freedom groups swiftly condemned the action, which they called a major escalation in the administration’s attacks on journalists.
“The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them,” Seth Stern, the chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement.
The National Press Club also denounced the arrests in a statement. “Arresting or detaining journalists for covering protests, public events, or government actions represents a grave threat to press freedom and risks chilling reporting nationwide,” it wrote.
Lemon had previously been an anchor at CNN, but he was fired in 2023. He has since worked as an independent journalist and has a prominent presence on YouTube.
‘I’m here as a journalist’
During his online report from the church protest, Lemon repeatedly identified himself as a reporter while interviewing both demonstrators and church attendees.
“I’m not here as an activist. I’m here as a journalist,” he told those present.
Protesters targeted the church, which belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention, because its pastor, David Easterwood, also serves as the head of a field office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Critics have questioned why the Justice Department swiftly opened a probe into the church protest, while it declined to open a civil rights investigation into an ICE agent’s killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026.
The department has not yet said if it will open an investigation into the January 24 killing of US citizen Alex Pretti by border patrol agents in Minneapolis.
“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,” Lowell said in his statement.
Friday’s arrest comes after a federal judge in Minnesota took the rare move last week of refusing to sign an arrest warrant for Lemon. Justice Department officials nevertheless promised to continue pursuing charges.