US journalist Don Lemon and three other people were arrested on Friday in connection with an anti-immigration protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church and increased tensions between residents and the Trump administration, officials said.
Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he had been covering the Grammy Awards, his attorney Abbe Lowell said.
It is unclear what charge or charges Lemon and the others are facing in the 18 January protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul.
Lemon's arrest came after a magistrate judge last week rejected prosecutors' initial bid to charge him.
Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, has said he has no affiliation to the organisation that went into the church and that he was there as a journalist chronicling protesters.
"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."
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on social media Friday morning confirming the arrest of Lemon and the others who were present during the protest at the church where a local official with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor.
"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 said.
Since he left CNN, Lemon has joined the legion of journalists who have gone into business for themselves, posting regularly on YouTube.
He hasn't hidden his disdain for Trump. Yet during his online show from the church, he said repeatedly, "I'm not here as an activist. I'm here as a journalist." He described the scene in front of him and interviewed churchgoers and demonstrators.
Shortly after the first attempt to charge him fell through, he predicted on his show that the administration would try again.
"And guess what," he said, "here I am. Keep trying. That’s not going to stop me from being a journalist. That's not going to diminish my voice. Go ahead, make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel if you want. Just do it. Because I'm not going anywhere."
Local independent journalist Georgia Fort livestreamed the moments before her arrest Friday on Facebook Live, saying "agents are at my door right now" and that they had an arrest warrant and a grand jury indictment.
"I don't feel like I have my first amendment right as a member of the press because now the federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago," Fort said, adding that she knew she was on a list of defendants that is under seal.
A prominent civil rights attorney and two other people involved in the protest were arrested last week. Prosecutors have accused them of civil rights violations for disrupting the church service.
The Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting "ICE out" and "Justice for Renee Good," referring to the 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
"Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP," Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in social media post last week.
Cities Church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood, who leads an ICE field office. Many Baptist churches have pastors who also work other jobs.
The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church disruption stands in contrast to its decision not to open a civil rights investigation into Good's killing by an ICE officer.
The department has not said whether it will open a civil rights probe into the killing of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by federal officers.
"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.
