Don Lemon’s arrest took place on January 29, 2026, when more than two dozen FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents detained him at a Beverly Hills hotel on a two-count federal indictment tied to his coverage of an anti-ICE protest inside a St. Paul, Minnesota church. He faces one count of conspiracy against rights under 18 U.S.C. § 241 and one count of interfering with religious freedom at a place of worship under the FACE Act, 18 U.S.C. § 248. Lemon pleaded not guilty, was released on his own recognizance, and the case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.1NBC News. Don Lemon Expected to Plead Not Guilty to Church Protests St. Paul2Los Angeles Times. Don Lemon Arrest Los Angeles
What Lemon Was Doing at Cities Church
On January 18, 2026, protesters entered Cities Church in St. Paul during a Sunday service, chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” a legal observer fatally shot by an ICE agent eleven days earlier. The protesters targeted the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, served as a director of the ICE St. Paul Field Office.3PBS NewsHour. Don Lemon Pleads Not Guilty to Civil Rights Charges in Anti-ICE Minnesota Church Protest
Lemon and his film crew followed the demonstrators inside and livestreamed what happened. He has maintained he was there as a journalist documenting the protest and had no affiliation with the organizers.4U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Don Lemon Arrested, Charged Over Covering Minnesota Church Protest5NBC News. Dhillon Don Lemon Anti-ICE Protest Church DOJ Charges6WUSF. U.S. Assistant AG Talks Don Lemon Arrest, Affirmative Action Settlements at FSU Appearance
The Charges and What They Carry
The grand jury indictment, returned on January 29, 2026, charged Lemon and eight co-defendants with two felonies.
The first count, conspiracy against rights under 18 U.S.C. § 241, makes it a crime to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate anyone in the exercise of a constitutionally protected right. The statute was enacted after the Civil War to combat Ku Klux Klan violence and carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.7FIRE. Federal Charges Against Don Lemon Raise Serious Concerns Press Freedom
The second count, under 18 U.S.C. § 248, is based on the religious freedom provision of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Passed in 1994 chiefly to address obstruction at reproductive health facilities, the statute also criminalizes using force, threats, or physical obstruction to interfere with the exercise of religious freedom at a place of worship.8Cornell Law Institute. 18 U.S. Code § 248 A first offense carries up to one year in prison and fines up to $10,000.3PBS NewsHour. Don Lemon Pleads Not Guilty to Civil Rights Charges in Anti-ICE Minnesota Church Protest According to reporting on the case, the DOJ had never previously brought a criminal prosecution under the FACE Act’s religious freedom component.9Fox 9. Don Lemon Hires Former U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson Church Protest Charges
How the Arrest Happened After Judges Refused Warrants
Federal prosecutors did not get to Lemon on the first try. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko refused to sign arrest warrants, finding no probable cause and no evidence that Lemon or his producer had engaged in criminal behavior.10CBS News. Appeals Court Don Lemon Protest Minnesota Probable Cause Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz upheld that decision, writing that the government had improperly lumped the defendants together: “Two of the five protestors were not protestors at all; instead, they were a journalist and his producer. There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.”11Politico. Don Lemon Arrest Minnesota Protest
The DOJ then filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit seeking a writ of mandamus to force the warrants to issue, calling the situation a “national security emergency” and warning that without immediate arrests, “copycats will invade churches and synagogues.”10CBS News. Appeals Court Don Lemon Protest Minnesota Probable Cause On January 23, a three-judge panel of Judges Jane Kelly, Jonathan Kobes, and L. Steven Grasz denied the petition, holding that the DOJ had not shown it lacked other adequate means of relief. Judge Grasz wrote separately that he believed probable cause had been “clearly” established, but agreed mandamus was not appropriate when ordinary paths remained open, including a grand jury indictment.12Politico. DOJ Trump Minnesota Don Lemon Protest
Prosecutors took that path. A grand jury returned the two-count indictment on January 29, and agents arrested Lemon that night in Beverly Hills, where he was in town to cover the Grammy Awards. Agents seized his cellphone.2Los Angeles Times. Don Lemon Arrest Los Angeles4U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Don Lemon Arrested, Charged Over Covering Minnesota Church Protest Attorney General Pam Bondi publicly announced the arrest, and the White House posted an image of Lemon captioned “DON LEMON ARRESTED FOR INVOLVEMENT IN THE ST. PAUL CHURCH RIOTS” alongside a chain emoji.13Kansas Reflector. In Arresting and Prosecuting Journalists, Trump Administration Draws From Authoritarian Playbook
Release Terms and Arraignment
Lemon appeared at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles on January 30, 2026. Government lawyers asked for a $100,000 bond and travel limited to Minneapolis and New York, and tried to classify Lemon as a danger to the community. Judge Patricia Donahue rejected all of those requests and released him on his own recognizance without pretrial supervision. He was barred from contacting victims, witnesses, or co-defendants, and required to seek court permission for international travel; a planned June 2026 trip to France was preapproved.14NewsNation. Don Lemon Arrested in Los Angeles13Kansas Reflector. In Arresting and Prosecuting Journalists, Trump Administration Draws From Authoritarian Playbook
On February 13, 2026, Lemon appeared in federal court in St. Paul and pleaded not guilty to both counts before Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko, the same judge who had initially refused the arrest warrants. Four co-defendants were arraigned at the same hearing and also pleaded not guilty.15CNN. Don Lemon Arraignment Minnesota16Minnesota Reformer. Don Lemon, Cities Church Protestors Plead Not Guilty in Federal Court in Minnesota Lemon’s lead attorney, Abbe Lowell, announced plans to seek grand jury materials and to challenge the prosecution on constitutional grounds. Joseph H. Thompson, a former acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota who resigned his government post in mid-January 2026, joined the defense team.17The New York Times. Joseph Thompson Don Lemon Minneapolis Protest
The Press Freedom Fight
Alongside the criminal case, the DOJ tried to obtain search warrants for data from Lemon’s YouTube channel and the channels of two other journalists, Georgia Fort and Junn Bollmann, including business records and device information. Magistrate Judge John Docherty rejected the initial applications for lacking probable cause. When prosecutors resubmitted them on March 6, 2026, he denied them again, this time invoking the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, which prohibits most search warrants targeting journalists and those who disseminate information to the public.18Freedom of the Press Foundation. Unsealing of Failed Don Lemon and Georgia Fort Warrants Exposes Attack on Press
According to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the DOJ had not mentioned the Privacy Protection Act in its applications and argued that prosecutors were not required to flag warrants that might violate federal law. Judge Docherty disagreed, writing: “When the government presented these warrants, both originally and for re-presentment, it did not direct the Court’s attention to the Privacy Protection Act. It should have.”18Freedom of the Press Foundation. Unsealing of Failed Don Lemon and Georgia Fort Warrants Exposes Attack on Press19Spokesman-Recorder. Trump DOJ Search Warrants Journalists Press Freedom The government withdrew the applications, and the documents were unsealed on May 22, 2026.20U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Independent Journalist Arrested, Charged Over Minnesota Protest Coverage
Dhillon has carried the government’s public argument. On the evening of the protest she posted, “The First Amendment does not protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice!”21Deadline. Don Lemon ICE Protest Charges She has since said “committing journalism” is not “a shield” from criminal liability.5NBC News. Dhillon Don Lemon Anti-ICE Protest Church DOJ Charges Lemon responded: “The First Amendment of the Constitution protects me and countless other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them, and I will not be silenced.”13Kansas Reflector. In Arresting and Prosecuting Journalists, Trump Administration Draws From Authoritarian Playbook FIRE reported that some career DOJ prosecutors refused to participate in the charging process, citing insufficient evidence.7FIRE. Federal Charges Against Don Lemon Raise Serious Concerns Press Freedom Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison publicly rejected the federal government’s claim that the protesters had violated the FACE Act.22Politico. DOJ Charges 30 More for Minnesota Church Protest
Where the Legal Case Is Vulnerable
Legal analysis has flagged several weak points in the government’s theory that the defense is expected to press.
The religious freedom provision of the FACE Act has never been used in a criminal prosecution before. Unlike abortion clinics, which courts have tied to interstate commerce to satisfy the constitutional basis for federal jurisdiction, the indictment reportedly does not explain how Cities Church affects interstate commerce, leaving an opening for a Tenth Amendment challenge. The conspiracy count under § 241 is also open to attack on the ground that the statute was designed to reach state actors interfering with constitutional rights rather than private individuals at a protest. And prosecutors must prove that each defendant specifically intended to prevent the exercise of worship, a demanding showing against two defendants who say they were covering the event, not participating in it.23Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Cities Church Protest: What Is the FACE Act and Who Does It Protect?
Where Things Stand
On February 27, 2026, Bondi announced that 30 more individuals had been indicted in connection with the same protest, bringing the total number of defendants to 39. The expanded indictment added allegations that some participants had conducted “reconnaissance” at the church the day before.24PBS NewsHour. 30 More People Indicted Over Anti-ICE Protest at Minnesota Church22Politico. DOJ Charges 30 More for Minnesota Church Protest
As of mid-2026, the case against Lemon and his co-defendants remains pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Defense motions challenging the constitutionality of the prosecution and seeking access to grand jury materials have been filed but not yet resolved.