FORMER CNN ANCHOR Don Lemon has been arrested for alleged involvement in an “coordinated attack” on a church during protests in Minnesota against an immigration crackdown.

Pam Bondi, President Donald Trump’s attorney general, said she had ordered the arrest of Lemon – now an independent journalist – and three others.

She alleges that they were involved in a “coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”

At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

More details soon.

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 30, 2026

Lemon was among the reporters who covered a protest against the immigration crackdown at the church where an official with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is a pastor.

A magistrate judge in Minnesota had declined last week to charge Lemon.

Lemon’s lawyer said he was taken into custody in Los Angeles overnight, where he was covering the Grammy awards.

His lawyer said Lemon has been a journalist for 30 years and that his “constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done”.

Attorney for my colleague and friend Don Lemon has released a statement saying Don was arrested by federal agents in LA last night. This is outrageous and cannot stand. The First Amendment is under attack in America! pic.twitter.com/V4TVEK7Icy

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 30, 2026

The statement from Lemon’s lawyer added: “Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protestors, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest”.

On 7 January, 37-year-old Renee Good who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis and on 24 January, ICU nurse Alex Pretti, also 37, was shot dead by federal agents during a protest against an immigration crackdown in the Minnesota city.

Lemon’s lawyer described the arrest as an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and a transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration”.

“Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court,” added the statement.

Government shutdown

The White House had scrambled to stem widespread outrage over the killings of Pretti and mother-of-three Good.

Trump claimed he wanted to “de-escalate a little bit” in the fallout of the killings and appointed a new point man in Minneapolis, border chief Tom Homan, who said on Thursday that some federal agents could be withdrawn from the city.

Trump sent Homan to Minnesota to take control of immigration operations with orders to report directly to him, effectively sidelining Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem.

Homan said at his first news conference in the Minnesota city yesterday that “certain improvements could and should be made,” a marked difference in tone from his predecessor on the ground, combative Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino.

Homan said his staff was “working on a drawdown plan” for some of the more than 3,000 federal agents who have been taking part in “Operation Metro Surge” contingent on receiving greater cooperation from the local authorities in the Democratic-run city.

The two agents involved in Pretti’s shooting have been placed on leave, and Homan said any federal agents who breach standards of conduct “will be dealt with.”

Backlash over the deaths of Pretti and Good has landed in Congress, with the Senate edging closer to a vote today to limit the effects of a government shutdown set to begin at midnight.

Democrats have drawn a red line around funding for the Department of Homeland Security, demanding it be stripped out and renegotiated to impose new constraints on immigration enforcement agencies.

-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper