According to independent journalist Don Lemon, around a dozen federal agents came to his Los Angeles hotel on January 30 to arrest and detain him overnight.
Even though the former CNN anchor’s attorney told authorities he would turn himself in to face federal civil rights charges over his coverage of an anti-immigration enforcement protest at a Minnesota church service, they rather arrested him at his hotel.
As noted by the Guardian, Don Lemon was the first guest of the night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Kimmel welcomed him by saying he “was arrested for committing journalism”.
Speaking to ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Monday, Lemon said that sending those agents was a waste of resources. As he was prepared to surrender himself to authorities, sending the agents was a waste of resources.
“I was walking up to the room and I pressed the elevator button, and then all of a sudden, I feel myself being jostled and people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs,” Lemon said on Monday on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
My first remarks since being arrested last night. pic.twitter.com/vbnw3a7PqS
— Don Lemon (@Donlemonbsky) January 30, 2026
The independent journalist asked the agents who they were and said they did identify themselves, but when Lemon asked to see a warrant, he was told they didn’t have one. They then contacted an FBI agent to come in from outside to reveal the warrant on a cell phone.
According to Lemon’s attorney, he plans to plead not guilty, and told reporters, “I will not be silenced after, later on Friday, Lemon was released from federal custody pending the outcome of the case under a judge’s orders.
Don Lemon wasn’t alone, as a grand jury in Minnesota indicted him and another independent journalist, Georgia Fort. They are both facing charges of conspiracy and interfering with the worshippers’ constitutional rights to freely exercise their religion during a protest on January 18 at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where the pastor is a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official.
Meanwhile, Lemon who was let go of his job at CNN in 2023, after following a run as a morning host, says he has no affiliation to the group that disrupted the service. However, he could only say a little about the case, but he did say he was not one of the protesters.
“I went there to be a journalist,” Lemon said. “I went there to chronicle and document and record what was happening. I was following that one group around, and so that’s what I did. I reported on them.”
The independent journalist said he asked the arresting officers if they would let him make a phone call and he said he was told no, and that he could only talk to his attorney the next day. Meanwhile, when he tried to use his Apple Watch’s virtual assistant Siri to call his husband and his attorney, neither of them answered his call.
Meanwhile, a diamond bracelet Lemon was wearing kept getting tangled on his handcuffs, and it hurt. He asked the agents to take it off and asked if they would mind taking it to his husband in his hotel room, to which they agreed.
“And that’s how my husband found out,” Lemon said. “Otherwise, no one would have known where I was.”
Moreover, he was kept in a holding room at the federal courthouse from 12 midnight to 1 pm the following day.
Don Lemon tells Jimmy Kimmel he offered to self-report/turn himself into the DOJ, but heard nothing.
Instead, they came for him at a Grammys Week event. pic.twitter.com/DYrmatTuNI
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) February 3, 2026
Kimmel had true sympathy for Lemon, as he had become a symbol of a fight against censorship, when he was temporarily suspended from his show. This was due to remarks he made following the September 10 shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairperso0n, Brendan Carr, pressured ABC to take Kimmel off the air shortly before that.
However, following a public outcry, ABC lifted the suspension and Kimmel was back on the air and attracting strong ratings than ever before. Meanwhile, in Congress, Democratic senators raised concerns that Carr’s actions had trampled on the constitutional right to free speech.
