Sorry, your browser does not support videos.
(Washington) United States Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that she had ordered the arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon in connection with protests against immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota.
Published at
Updated to
“On my instructions, early (Friday) morning, federal agents arrested Don Lemon” and three others, including an independent journalist and a former Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives, she wrote on X.
Pam Bondi said the arrests took place in connection with the “attack” on a church in St. Paul on January 18, when demonstrators disrupted a religious service in the Minnesota capital.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different from what he always did,” his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement.
“This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment (of the American Constitution, which protects freedom of the press) and this obvious attempt to divert attention from the many crises facing this administration will not go unanswered,” he added, assuring that his client would contest these accusations “with vigor and determination in court”.
Star presenter at CNN until his dismissal from the channel in 2023, Don Lemon now works as a freelance journalist.
In January, he covered an anti-ICE action at a church in St. Paul, where protesters believed the deputy director of the local ICE office was serving as pastor.
Three people had already been arrested last week for participating in this demonstration.
Immigration police have been carrying out a major operation in Minnesota for several weeks, where the death of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both killed by federal agents, has crystallized tensions.
