LOS ANGELES — Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested Friday in Los Angeles by federal agents on charges that he violated federal law during a protest last week at a church in Minnesota.

Lemon, an independent journalist who hosts his own YouTube show, was taken into federal custody in Beverly Hills while covering the upcoming Grammy Awards on Sunday, according to federal officials. Three others, including another journalist, were also arrested.

“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lemon’s attorney, Abbe 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 to account.”

At an initial court appearance Friday afternoon, the 59-year-old was released on his own recognizance, with minimal conditions. He plans to plead not guilty, according to his attorneys.

Holding his husband’s hand, he walked out of the courthouse, where he was met by a small crowd shouting, “We love you, Don!” and “Freedom of the press!”

He thanked people for their support and said he was arrested “for something I have been doing for the last 30 years.”

“There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable,” Lemon said. “I will not stop now, I will not stop ever.”

The arrests stem from a Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where anti-ICE protesters burst into a church and disrupted the Sunday service. The church was targeted because an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field officer apparently serves as pastor.

Demonstrators pumped their fists in the air and chanted “ICE out!” as Lemon and other journalists documented the protest and interviewed congregants in the pews. Some called out the name of Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother and U.S. citizen who was fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

Lemon is being charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and violation of the FACE Act and interfering by force of someone’s First Amendment rights, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told the Los Angeles Times. James Blair, a deputy White House chief of staff, said in an X post Friday that Lemon had been indicted by a federal grand jury.

In a 12-page indictment, federal prosecutors characterized Lemon and another independent journalist, Georgia Fort, as part of the group of protesters, including them as part of the 20 to 40 people who entered the church and “engaged in acts of oppression, intimidation, threats, interference and physical obstruction.”

The indictment specifically called out Lemon for livestreaming the incident, including a pre-operation meeting, during which he took “steps to maintain operational secrecy by reminding certain co-conspirators to not disclose the target of the operation and stepped away momentarily so his mic would not accidentally divulge certain” plans.

Prosecutors do not say that Lemon took part in the anti-ICE chants or yelling in the church, but said that he and Fort later approached the pastor and “surrounded him” while Lemon “peppered him with questions.” The indictment said Lemon stood so close to the pastor that the man’s hand grazed Lemon, and he told the pastor, “Please don’t push me.” It also stated Lemon ignored the pastor’s request to leave the church.

Lemon later “confronted” congregants, and “physically obstructed them as they tried to exit,” according to the indictment.

“Federal charges against the journalists who appear to be covering a protest should immediately raise red flags,” said Arron Terr, director of public advocacy for the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression. “The government bears a very heavy burden to show that Lemon actually crossed the line from observing and documenting into threatening, obstructing or conspiring to deprive other people of their rights. Based on what we’ve seen so far, it doesn’t look like the government has a strong case.”

The White House reveled in Lemon’s arrest Friday morning, sharing a photo on him on its account saying he was arrested “for involvement in the St. Paul church riots.” The caption of the post said, “When life gives you lemons ...” followed by an emoji of chains.

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi shared a video stating that “under President Trump’s leadership and this administration you have the right to worship freely and safely.”

“And if I haven’t been clear already,” Bondi added, “if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.”

Religious groups, however, have contended, in court and otherwise, that the Trump administration has violated the sanctity of houses of worship by rescinding their protections from federal immigration operations, one of Trump’s first acts upon returning to the White House last year.

Lowell, Lemon’s attorney, said the government’s case is a waste of time, attention and resources and they intend to fight it.

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

After the church protest, senior Trump administration officials attempted to charge eight people, including Lemon, citing a law that protects people seeking to participate in a church service.

But a federal magistrate judge in Minnesota approved charges against only three people, citing insufficient evidence that Lemon and others had conspired to deprive rights by interfering with someone’s religious freedom in a house of worship. Prominent local activists, including Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, were arrested Jan. 22.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department petitioned a federal appeals court to force the judge to issue arrest warrants for Lemon and four other people. The request was denied, but prosecutors this week sought and obtained the grand jury indictment.

On Jan. 23, Bondi told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the Department of Justice would continue to try to prosecute anyone who targeted a house of worship, including Lemon, whom she called “an online agitator.”

“If you protested and went into that church on the Sunday and you terrorized the parishioners, we are coming after you,” Bondi said. “I don’t care who you are. If you’re a failed CNN journalist, you have no right to do that in this country.”

Lemon has argued he entered the church as a journalist, not a protester, and is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

The First Amendment does not automatically apply to private spaces. Some legal experts suggest Lemon’s defense based on the First Amendment could depend, in part, on whether the church’s Sunday service was open to the public.

“If the church was open to the public and Don Lemon was serving as a journalist covering the protest — both of which I understand to be the case — there are serious First Amendment concerns with arresting and prosecuting Lemon,” said Jean-Paul Jassy, a Los Angeles attorney specializing in the First Amendment. “This concern is heightened here as courts already rejected a warrant for lack of probable cause. It is very clear that this is a politically motivated attack on freedom of the press.”

In a social media post days before the Jan. 18 service, the church called for people to “join us.” After the incident, the church said on its website that agitators “jarringly disrupted our worship gathering” and created “a scene marked by intimidation and threat” that it described as an “unlawful” action. Calls for comment from the church on Friday were not immediately returned.

Katie Townsend, former legal director of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, noted that both the Department of Justice and Lemon were pushing First Amendment claims.

“DHS has said Lemon was charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and violation of the FACE Act (for allegedly interfering by force with the exercise of someone’s First Amendment rights), so the charges aren’t really tied to whether or not a church is a public space,” Townsend said.

“The First Amendment protects journalists’ right to cover protests and newsworthy events. Unfortunately, I do think the intent of these arrests is to chill news coverage of the ongoing protests in Minneapolis and elsewhere, to discourage journalists from covering protests from the ground.”

Lemon was fired by CNN in 2023. The network cited reports of inappropriate behavior, including an on-air comment that GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley was “past her prime.”

Last week, Lemon spoke in a video after a Minnesota judge declined to issue an arrest warrant for him.

“This is not a victory lap for me, because it’s not over,” he said. “They’re going to try again and they’re going to try again. And guess what? Here I am, keep trying. That’s not going to stop me from being a journalist, you’re not going to diminish my voice.”

On Friday, agents also took Fort, another journalist at the church on Jan. 18, into custody for her role in the protest. The independent journalist posted a video on Facebook on Friday as they were outside her door, calling the case against her a violation of her constitutional rights. She said federal agents arrived at her home at 6:30 a.m. and informed her that they had secured a grand jury indictment. Her attorney advised her to surrender herself.

Fort said she had documented the protest at Cities Church as a journalist. “It is hard to understand how we have a Constitution, constitutional rights,” she said, “when you can just be arrested for being a member of the press.”

Fort and the two others who were arrested in the case were also released Friday from federal custody, according to Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“What I witnessed in that courtroom this morning is that they can bring all the charges (but) we still believe in the American people, we still believe in the court system, we still believe in justice,” Hussein said.

As news of Lemon’s arrest spread, a stream of California politicians spoke out against the arrest. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said: “Donald Trump’s administration is killing innocent people, arresting journalists, and destroying America’s moral authority.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who attended Lemon’s court hearing, called his arrest an “assault on our democracy.”

“Journalists play such a critical role. ... We are all going to fight every day for your ability to tell the truth, for your ability to cover this story and any other story,” Bass said outside the federal courthouse, gesturing to the reporters around her. “We have to draw the line in the sand and say we will not allow for the dismantling of our democracy.”

During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Robbins requested stricter conditions for Lemon’s release, including travel restrictions and a $100,000 bond, arguing that Lemon was facing a “serious felony.”

At one point, Robbins read from parts of the indictment, arguing there was evidence that Lemon was a “potential danger.” Lemon chuckled.

According to the conditions of his release, Lemon is allowed to travel to Europe for a planned trip, though restricted from knowingly contacting victims, witnesses or co-defendants in his case.

“I will not be silenced,” Lemon said after his release. “I look forward to my day in court.”

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(Los Angeles Times staff writers Joseph Serna, Andrea Castillo and James Queally contributed to this report.)

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