By Kara Scannell, Hannah Rabinowitz, Brian Stelter, Liam Reilly

(CNN) — Two independent journalists, Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, have been arrested in connection with a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Lemon and Fort were live-streaming as dozens of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters rushed into Cities Church on January 18, interrupting a church service and leading to tense confrontations.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday announced said four people total had been arrested “in connection with the coordinated attack” at the church.

The other two individuals Bondi named were Trahern Jeen Crew and Jamael Lydell Lundy.

Court records related to the arrests were not immediately available. Lemon, a former CNN anchor who now hosts his own show on YouTube and other platforms, is expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday.

Lemon was in L.A. to cover the Grammy Awards and was arrested after 11 p.m. local time in a hotel lobby in Beverly Hills.

“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 Friday morning. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”

“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” Lowell added. “This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”

Lemon has repeatedly said he was present at the demonstration as a journalist, not as an activist. In a video of the episode that he posted to YouTube, Lemon said, “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group… I’m a journalist.”

Fort made the same points in a Facebook Live stream when federal agents arrived at her home early Friday morning.

“This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media,” Fort said before she surrendered to agents.

“We are supposed to have our constitutional right of the freedom to film, to be a member of the press,” she said. “I don’t feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press because now federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement that the arrests are “deeply troubling,” adding: “In Minnesota, we do not treat journalists like criminals for doing their jobs. No one should be arrested merely for holding a camera, asking hard questions, or telling the public what we have a right to know.”

A previous attempt to charge Lemon

Videos of the church disruption spurred widespread outrage, particularly from allies of the Trump administration, some of whom publicly pressured Bondi and other officials to take action.

The DOJ first attempted to charge eight people, including Lemon, last week. A magistrate judge rejected those charges against five of the people including Lemon, saying that there was insufficient evidence to charge.

The judge, however, encouraged prosecutors to take the case to a grand jury and seek an indictment. And Lemon on his YouTube show that the government would try again to charge him.

“Keep trying,” Lemon said. “That’s not gonna stop me from being a journalist. You’re not gonna diminish my voice.”

It is highly unusual for the Justice Department to criminally charge a reporter, though it is not without precedent. Those cases are heavily scrutinized before the decision to bring charges is made, and often face extended legal battles over whether the reporter is protected by the First Amendment before the case makes it to trial.

Still, senior DOJ officials immediately — and publicly — asserted that Lemon would face charges after the incident at the Minnesota church. Lemon did not have a right to be on the church’s private property, they said, adding that interrupting a church service may have impeded churchgoers’ constitutional rights to express their religion.

On Friday morning, FBI director Kash Patel called what happened a “coordinated targeting” of the church.

Press freedom advocates condemn arrests

Press freedom groups blasted the arrests of the two reporters on Friday.

“These arrests under bogus legal theories for obviously constitutionally protected reporting are clear warning shots aimed at other journalists,” said Seth Stern, the chief of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation. “The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them.”

Stern told CNN “the answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment. If the Trump administration thinks it can bully journalists into submission, it is wrong.”

Katherine Jacobsen, the US, Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said Lemon’s arrest “should alarm all Americans.”

“As an international organization, we know that the treatment of journalists is an indicator of the condition of a country’s democracy. The United States is doing poorly,” Jacobsen said.

Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizen, called the action against Lemon an “authoritarian breach” and an “egregious violation of the First Amendment.”

“Reporters in America are free to view, document, and share information with the public,” Gilbert said. “This arrest is a constitutional violation, an outrage, an authoritarian breach, and utterly appalling.”

CNN also issued a statement in defense of Lemon, who was terminated by the network in 2023.

“The FBl’s arrest of our former CNN colleague Don Lemon raises profoundly concerning questions about press freedom and the First Amendment,” the network said. “The Department of Justice already failed twice to get an arrest warrant for Don and several other journalists in Minnesota, where a chief judge of the Minnesota Federal District Court found there was ’no evidence’ that there was any criminal behavior involved in their work. The First Amendment in the United States protects journalists who bear witness to news and events as they unfold, ensuring they can report freely in the public interest, and the DOJ’s attempts to violate those rights is unacceptable. We will be following this case closely.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

The-CNN-Wire
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