Don Lemon Arrested for Livestreaming Minnesota Protest

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents late on Thursday, January 29, in Los Angeles, per his former employer, on charges of violating the law during a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lemon broadcast a protest in which demonstrators disrupted a service on January 18 under the belief that a pastor at that church was “the acting field director of a local ICE office.” Lemon was in Los Angeles ahead of the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, per his lawyer Abbe Lowell. His arrest was confirmed by none other than Attorney General Pam Bondi, who took credit for leading the charge on Lemon’s arrest on social media. The Guardian reports that Lemon’s arrest comes after a federal magistrate judge declined to sign off on an arrest warrant on Lemon back on January 22. That decision reportedly infuriated Bondi, who has since taken matters into her own hands. Lemon reportedly spent Thursday night in jail and is expected to make a court appearance in Los Angeles sometime on January 30. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work,” Lowell said in a statement.