WASHINGTON: Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested on Friday for his alleged involvement in a Minnesota church protest opposing US President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign the latest Justice Depart­ment move against a critic of the administration.

Lemon livestreamed a demonstration earlier this month that disrupted a church service in St Paul protesting at the presence of thousands of armed Immigration and Customs (ICE) agents Trump has sent this month to Minnesota’s biggest cities.

Federal agents in the surge have frequently clashed with protesters and fatally shot two US citizens, one before and one after the protest that led to Lemon’s arrest.

He is charged with conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and violating a law that forbids obstructing access to houses of worship, according to a Justice Depart­ment official.

Homeland Security Investigations and FBI agents arrested him in Los Angeles. The move occur­red just over a week after a federal magistrate declined to issue an arrest warrant for Lemon.

He had been under FBI surveillance for several days leading up to his arrest, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” a lawyer said.

“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand.”

The amendment of the US constitution protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Three other people, including an independent local journalist Georgia Fort, were also arrested.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2026