Wave Staff and Wire Reports
LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass was on hand Jan. 30 when award-winning journalist Don Lemon made an appearance in federal court hours after being arrested in Beverly Hills in connection with a protest he covered at a Minnesota church last week.
Government lawyers asked that Lemon be held on a $100,000 bond and also asked a judge to restrict his travel to Minneapolis and New York, where he lives. A magistrate judge denied both requests and granted Lemon’s release without bond.
He was not asked to enter a plea and future court dates in the case will take place in Minnesota.
Bass was one of many public officials and First Amendment advocates criticizing the arrest of Lemon.
Bass said in a statement that Lemon had been arrested “simply for doing his job and following a protest into a church in Minneapolis while reporting the story.”
“The arrest of journalists for going into a church in the course of reporting is shocking enough, but what’s even more alarming is that it’s no secret that Don Lemon is a Trump critic,” Bass said. “Let me be very clear — President Trump is not de-escalating anything after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents. In fact, the arrest of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort demonstrates quite the opposite — he is escalating.”
Shortly after the court hearing, Bass convened a Zoom roundtable of Black elected leaders, city officials and journalists to discuss what the case signaled — not just for Lemon, but for journalism more broadly.
Elected leaders joining the call included U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles; county Supervisor Holly Mitchell, Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood; Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Gardena; Assemblywoman Sade Elhawary, D-Los Angeles; and state Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, D-Los Angeles.
While the meeting was prompted by Lemon’s arrest, the discussion quickly moved beyond him, turning to growing concerns about the vulnerability of Black journalists covering protests and dissent.
The National Association of Black Journalists also criticized Lemon’s arrest. In a statement on its website the organization said it was “outraged and deeply alarmed by the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort by federal agents, and by the government’s escalating effort and actions to criminalize and threaten press freedom under the guise of law enforcement.”
Association President Errin Haines added: “As journalists, our first obligation is to bear witness and to inform. When those obligations are met with detention or prosecution instead of protection, we must ask: what message are we sending about who gets to report and who gets silenced? A free press, not a penalized one, is essential to democracy; especially, when coverage intersects with contentious public issues.”
Speaking after his court appearance, Lemon described the stakes plainly.
“I have spent my entire career covering the news,” he said. “I will not stop now. There is no more important time than right now… for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”
Kamlager-Dove said the arrests cut to the heart of democratic accountability.
“Journalists must be able to report on protests, government actions, and civil rights issues without fear of arrest or retaliation,” she said. “When reporters are targeted for doing their jobs, it threatens the public’s right to know and undermines our democracy.”
McKinnor said that reality cannot be ignored.
“Black journalists have long played a critical role in documenting what others overlook or avoid,” she said. “When reporters are arrested for covering protests, it sends a message that truth-telling itself is being criminalized.”
Smallwood-Cuevas called the arrests “deeply troubling” and warned that “when journalists are arrested for documenting protests, it sends a chilling message not just to the press, but to the public.”
Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Culver City, who was not on the Zoom call with Bass, placed the moment in historical context.
“Black voices matter. Black journalists matter. Black press has shaped the national discourse and amplified the cries for freedom and justice for the last 200 years,” Bryan said. “We know that a free press, and a Black free press in particular, is fatal to fascists. So do they- that’s why they are using unconstitutional and illegal violence on our journalists. They will not be silenced, and neither will we.”
City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson posted a statement on social media, saying “Don Lemon’s arrest by federal agents in L.A. is a gross misuse of authority and is unconstitutional.
“Journalists, especially those with such a strong track record, have the right and duty to cover ICE and all federal agencies in their abuse of power,” he added. “This incident, combined with the fatal shootings of civilians by federal agents, underscores a troubling escalation of actions against those exercising their First Amendment rights.”
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, head of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable called the arrest of Lemon “a blatant effort at intimidation by federal authorities of Lemon, a nationally known Black media voice who has been vocal in opposing ICE abuses.”
Lemon could face two federal charges: conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated.
According to an indictment filed against Lemon and seven others in a Minnesota federal court, a group of “agitators” entered a church in St. Paul Jan. 18 that is led by an official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who serves as its pastor. The agitators “engaged in acts of oppression, intimidation, threats, interference and physical obstruction” forcing the pastor and congregation to terminate the service and attendees fled the building in fear, leaving children to wonder “if their parents were going to die.”
Lemon live-streamed the event on his YouTube channel.
Emmy-winning news producer and Minnesota-based independent journalist Georgia Fort also was arrested by federal agents in Minnesota for reporting on the same protest as Lemon. She is also charged in the indictment.
CNN issued a statement condemning Lemon’s arrest.
“The FBI’s arrest of our former CNN colleague Don Lemon raises profoundly concerning questions about press freedom and the First Amendment,” the network stated. “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.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on social media that the arrests of Lemon, Fort and others were carried out at her direction, “in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
Lemon was on CNN for nearly a decade from 2014 until his firing in April 2023. He later launched his own media company and now hosts the podcast.
City News Service and California Black Media assisted on this story.
