Federal authorities charged former CNN host Don Lemon with federal civil rights crimes on Friday in connection with the disruption of a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The longtime journalist, along with several other defendants, is charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and interfering by force with someone’s First Amendment rights, which are violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) and Ku Klux Klan Acts, according to the indictment against Lemon and other defendants. Authorities arrested Lemon in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday night after he live-streamed himself inside the church alongside anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters on Jan. 18.
The indictment alleges Lemon conspired with others “to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate multiple persons … in the free exercise and enjoyment of the rights and privileges secured to them” under U.S. law. Lemon is listed several times in the indictment as being a part of “overt acts” during the incident.
“Defendant Lemon thanked defendant [Nekima Valdez Levy] Armstrong for what she was doing and assured her that he was ‘not saying … what’s going on,’” one bullet point titled “Overt act #6” in the indictment read.
The indictment alleges that the church incident was part of a “clandestine operation” titled “Operation Pullup” that included demonstrators showing up “[where the targets] don’t expect [them].”
Lemon told his audience during the livestream that he was headed to the operation and would not give any details away about the protesters’ plans, according to the indictment. While the defendants entered the church, the pastor and congregants allegedly feared their disruption was the prelude to a mass shooting.
Lemon and the other defendants also allegedly “oppressed, threatened, and intimidated” the pastor and congregants by “physically occupying” the main aisle and rows of chairs near the front of the church, according to the indictment. They also allegedly engaged in “menacing and threatening behavior” by chanting and yelling at the congregants loudly and by “physically obstructing” them from exiting the church.
A livestream filmed by Lemon showed him entering the building while protesters shouted, “Justice for Renee Good,” who had been fatally shot by an ICE agent on Jan. 7 after she hit him with her vehicle. A group of individuals organized the protest to demonstrate against the pastor who serves as an ICE officer.
Lemon maintained that all he did was “commit an act of journalism” by following the protesters inside the church and angrily challenged federal officials on Jan. 22 to “keep trying” to come after him. A magistrate judge previously rejected the DOJ’s attempts to arrest Lemon, though officials strived to find other ways to criminally prosecute him.
Abbe Lowell, the attorney representing Lemon, called the arrest an “unprecedented attack” on the First Amendment and an attempt by the administration to distract the public from their own problems.
“Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court,”Lowell said.
BREAKING: Don Lemon has been ARRESTED, attorney says. pic.twitter.com/uv9FxbsQlW
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 30, 2026
BREAKING: Don Lemon has been ARRESTED, attorney says. Three other individuals, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort and Jamael Lydell Lundy, were also arrested in connection to the incident on Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced. Bondi warned that her agency will come after anyone who violated an American’s “sacred right” to worship in a video posted to X.
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