Former CNN host Don Lemon said Friday he will continue reporting despite his arrest by federal authorities, declaring that the case against him is an attack on press freedom.
Lemon was released on no money bond after a court appearance in Los Angeles, a day after he was arrested by federal officers. U.S. District Judge Patricia Donahue ordered his release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Outside the downtown courthouse, Lemon thanked supporters and defended his work as a journalist.
“I will not stop now. I will not stop ever,” Lemon said. “In fact, there is no more important time but right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on truth and holds those in power accountable.”
Lemon said the Justice Department sent federal agents to arrest him “for something I’ve been doing for the last 30 years, and that is covering the news.”
“The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists who do what I do,” he said. “I stand with all of them and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.”
federal agents accused Lemon of disturbing worshippers during a protest at a St. Paul, Minnesota, church earlier this month, alleging he disrupted congregants’ First Amendment right to practice their faith. During the hearing, U.S. Attorney Alexander Robbins accused Lemon of joining a “mob that terrorized people in a place of worship,” The Hollywood Reporter reported.
As conditions of his release, Lemon is prohibited from contacting witnesses, victims or defendants in the case and must seek court permission to leave the country.
The Trump administration sought to charge Lemon and seven others over the incident at Cities Church in St. Paul, where protesters believed the pastor, David Easterwood, was connected to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Lemon was arrested in connection with “a coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” though no sealed indictment has been made public.
Lemon, who was fired by CNN in 2023, now hosts “The Don Lemon Show” on YouTube and Substack.
The arrest drew swift criticism from Democrats and civil liberties advocates. Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Lemon’s arrest “is another affront to our rights and freedoms and should alarm and enrage us.”
“ICE is occupying communities and shooting Americans,” Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont wrote on X. “Now, former CNN anchor Don Lemon has been arrested for covering what ICE is doing. Arresting journalists is what happens in tin-pot dictatorships. We must fight back against authoritarianism.
