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Don Lemon, the newsman and former CNN personality, was apprehended by federal officials on Thursday, January 29. The 59-year-old has been an avid backer of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement demonstrations this month as tensions soared with the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti. After word of Lemon’s detainment surfaced early on January 30, many are curious as to the reasons he was taken into custody initially.
His legal representative, Abbe Lowell, verified his detainment in a declaration posted via Instagram. It stated, “Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal officials last night in Los Angeles, where he was reporting on the Grammy awards. Don has worked as a reporter for three decades, and his constitutionally safeguarded work in Minneapolis was not unlike what he has consistently done. The First Amendment is intended to shield reporters whose responsibility it is to illuminate the truth and hold the powerful to account.”
Lemon has since been freed and addressed the populace afterward. Below, discover everything we presently know concerning Lemon’s detainment.
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When Was Don Lemon Taken into Custody?
According to his legal representative, Lowell, Lemon was apprehended by federal officials on the evening of January 29 in L.A.
Why Was Don Lemon Arrested by Federal Agents?
Per multiple sources, Lemon was detained by the feds concerning an occurrence earlier this month in which anti-ICE demonstrators disrupted a church liturgy in Minnesota.
‘Instead of probing the federal officials who killed two peaceable Minnesota demonstrators, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, consideration, and resources to this detainment, and that is the genuine indictment of misconduct in this instance,” Lowell added in his declaration regarding his client’s detainment. “This unparalleled assault on the First Amendment and manifest attempt to divert consideration from the numerous crises confronting this administration will not prevail. Don will contest these accusations forcefully and thoroughly in court.”
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.
More details soon.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 30, 2026
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on Twitter on January 30 that Lemon, along with several other individuals, was apprehended “at [her] direction” concerning “the coordinated assault on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
As indicated by an indictment that was unsealed on January 30, Lemon and eight other individuals were accused of conspiring to deny congregants at a church of their civil liberties in addition to violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, according to Politico. The statute forbids the intimidation or obstruction of individuals exercising their religious freedom rights at a house of worship.
Is Don Lemon in Jail?
No, Lemon is no longer in police detention. He was present in court on January 30 and pledged to challenge the charges against him.
“I have dedicated my entire profession to reporting the news,” he conveyed to a gathering of reporters outside of the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse. “I will not cease now. Indeed, there is no more significant period than precisely now, this very instant, for a free and autonomous media.”