Pastor is head of authority Ex-CNN presenter arrested after ICE protests at church
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has been arrested in Los Angeles. The background is an incident in a church in Minnesota, where a protest against the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is said to have led to riots.
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- Don Lemon was arrested by federal authorities in Los Angeles on Friday morning.
- The arrest is in connection with protests at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 18.
- Among other things, he is accused of conspiracy and a violation of the FACE Act.
US authorities have arrested former CNN presenter Don Lemon. As reported by the Daily Mail, the federal police took the 59-year-old into custody in Los Angeles on Friday morning. The case is linked to an incident in Minnesota in mid-January.
It was triggered by a protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul on January 18, which was filmed for Lemon's show. During the service, anti-ICE protesters are said to have stormed the church, shouted at and harassed worshippers. Lemon was filmed smiling as he took pictures.
The demonstration was directed against the US immigration authority ICE - and specifically against the pastor of the church: David Easterwood. He is not only a minister, but also heads the local ICE field office in St. Paul (as acting director), it is said.
Lemon invokes freedom of expression
According to the report, Lemon is now being charged with "conspiracy to deprive rights" - i.e. a conspiracy to deprive other people of their rights. He is also alleged to have violated the FACE Act. This law is directed against the violent or intimidating disruption of certain protected places and activities.
Lemon denies that he broke any laws and invoked the constitution. "There is a right to free speech and free protest," he is reported to have said, defending his presence at the church protest.
Activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, who had interviewed Lemon on site, also played a central role in the protest. She was later also arrested. Armstrong had named Easterwood as the reason why the church service had been disrupted. "This will not stand, they cannot pretend to be a house of God while harboring someone who is inciting ICE agents to terrorize our communities," she is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.
Lemon lives in New York with husband Tim Malone, 41, whom he married in 2024. Lemon was fired from CNN in 2023; he later set up a YouTube channel and works as an independent journalist.
