Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is at the centre of a growing legal controversy after he was taken into federal custody on Thursday night, January 29, in Los Angeles.
The longtime journalist was in the city for Grammy Awards weekend when federal agents reportedly moved in. While authorities have yet to publicly detail the charges, the development has sparked immediate debate among media professionals and civil liberties advocates.
According to reports by CBS News, federal agencies involved in the arrest include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations. A grand jury was also said to have been empanelled earlier the same day, though the exact scope remains unclear.
Lemon’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, confirmed that his client was taken into custody and criticised the action, framing it as an attack on press freedom.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different from what he has always done,” Lowell said.
The arrest is reportedly linked to a federal case arising from an anti-ICE protest earlier this month inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Demonstrators allegedly entered the church after learning that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official was among its pastors. While several individuals connected to the incident were charged, a federal appellate court last week declined to compel arrest warrants for Lemon and others, despite a judge finding probable cause.
Lowell accused the Trump administration of singling out the journalist while failing to prioritise investigations into federal agents involved in recent fatal shootings in Minnesota, describing the move as “an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.”
The development has triggered intense reactions online, drawing in ICE, MAGA-aligned commentators and the Trump administration, as questions grow over journalistic freedom, protest coverage and federal authority.
As of the time of this report, federal authorities have not formally announced the charges against Lemon, and further updates are expected as the legal process unfolds.
