Don Lemon said a group of federal agents came to arrest him at his Los Angeles hotel even though his attorney had told authorities he would turn himself in, and he described the moment as chaotic and rushed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday.
Lemon told Kimmel that about a dozen agents approached as he was walking up to his room and said he felt people “trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs” as he pressed the elevator button. Lemon said he asked who they were, that they identified themselves, and that he asked to see a warrant. He said the agents told him they did not have it with them, then summoned an FBI agent from outside to show the warrant on a cellphone.
Lemon said he told the arresting officers that sending the agents to him was a waste of resources because law enforcement would not have needed to follow him if he had been allowed to surrender. He said the Department of Justice did not respond to a message seeking comment, and the FBI’s Minneapolis office declined to comment because the case had reached “the adjudication phase.”
During the arrest episode, Lemon said he was not able to make a phone call and that he was told he could talk to his attorney the next day. He said he tried to call his husband and his attorney using Siri on his Apple Watch, but neither picked up. He also said a diamond bracelet he was wearing kept catching on the handcuffs and hurt, and that the agents told him they would take it off and bring it to his husband at the hotel.
Lemon said the agents held him at the federal courthouse from midnight until 1 p.m. the next day, and he said he was released after a judge’s orders. Lemon’s attorney said Lemon plans to plead not guilty, and Lemon told reporters, “I will not be silenced” after his release.
Kimmel introduced Lemon as his first guest of the night, telling viewers Lemon “was arrested for committing journalism.” Lemon said he was not a protester and that he went to the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, to be a journalist, saying he was there to chronicle and record what was happening while following one group involved in the protest.
The charges stem from a Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church where an ICE official is a pastor. According to the report, a grand jury in Minnesota indicted Lemon, independent journalist Georgia Fort, and others on charges of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers during the protest.
Fort, in an interview with MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow on Monday, described the arrest of her family as traumatic, saying nearly two dozen agents came to her house and that her youngest children initially seemed to be asleep. Fort said she found out later that her eight-year-old woke up and was terrified, adding that the family now is trying to recover as they deal with fear about being alone and disruptions to their normal routines.
Fort said she believes there has been a strategic attack on the press for some time, but she said the arrests of her and Lemon take it to a new level. She said, “I really want American people to understand, attacking the press is not simply attacking journalists,” and added that she views it as an attack on the public’s right to know.
Kimmel’s segment also drew a parallel to earlier controversies over censorship. The report said Kimmel became a symbol of a fight against censorship last year after ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following remarks made in connection with the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr pressured broadcasters. ABC lifted the suspension after a public outcry, and Democratic senators raised concerns in Congress that Carr’s actions trampled on the First Amendment.