Federal agents arrest former CNN anchor Don Lemon
Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor, was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, his lawyer said on Friday, days after a magistrate judge refused to approve charges against him for documenting a protest at a church in Minnesota.
“Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” his attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement.
He continued:
Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case. This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.
Here’s more about the justice department’s previous effort against him:
Key events
Jeremy Barr
The arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon has sparked outrage from former colleagues, first amendment advocates and members of Congress.
“This is outrageous and cannot stand. The First Amendment is under attack in America!” Lemon’s former CNN colleague Jim Acosta wrote in a post on X.
Seth Stern, director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called Lemon’s arrest “a naked attack on freedom of the press”.
“Lemon’s arrest under a bogus legal theory is a clear warning shot aimed at other journalists,” he said in a statement to the Guardian. “The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them.”
After weeks of federal insurgency, Minnesota fought back, and it seems Donald Trump has lost faith in the people running his ICE operation in the state. So where does this leave Trump’s ‘ICE patriots’? How do Republicans unite over immigration policies that kill Americans? And where does it leave the far-right agitators in Trump’s cabinet?
In the latest edition of our Politics Weekly America podcast, Jonathan Freedland speaks to George Conway, a founding member of the Lincoln Project, who is running for Congress, about what happens next.
Have a listen here:
Independent journalist among those arrested for Minnesota church protest
Among those arrested by federal agents for a protest earlier this month at a Minnesota church is Georgia Fort, an independent journalist who was covering the demonstration.
“Agents are at my door right now. They’re saying that they were able to go before a grand jury sometime, I guess, in the last 24 hours, and that they have a warrant for my arrest,” Fort said in a video posted to Facebook, apparently shortly before she was taken into custody.
She continued:
This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest. As a member of the media, we are supposed to have our constitutional right of the freedom to film, to be a member of the press. I don’t feel like I have my first amendment right as a member of the press, because now federal agents are at my door, arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago.
Fort concluded with: “I’m going to have to hop off here and surrender to agents. As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago, and now I’m being arrested for that.”
Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries blasts arrest of Don Lemon
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat House minority leader, has issued a statement on X defending Don Lemon following his arrest by federal agents earlier today:
Don Lemon is an accomplished journalist whose urgent work is protected by the First Amendment.
There is zero basis to arrest him and he should be freed immediately.
The Trump Justice Department is illegitimate and these extremists will all be held accountable for their crimes against the Constitution.
The arrest could become a topic of investigation for House Democrats, if they win back control of the chamber in the November midterm elections, which would give them the power to issue subpoenas.
Attorney general Bondi announces arrest of Don Lemon, three others over church protest
The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, has confirmed the arrests of former CNN anchor Don Lemon along with three other people for the protest earlier this month at a Saint Paul, Minnesota, church.
Here’s what Bondi wrote on X:
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 …
Here’s everything we know about the arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon, from the Guardian’s Sam Levine, Jeremy Barr and Anna Betts:
Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, was arrested late Thursday on charges that he violated federal law during a protest at a church in Minnesota earlier this month, according to his lawyer.
Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Lemon, said that Lemon was “taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards”.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said. “The first amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
“Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump justice department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” Lowell added. “This unprecedented attack on the first amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
The New York Times and CBS News also both reported the arrest on Friday morning. It is understood that Lemon remains in custody as of Friday. The Guardian has contacted the Department of Justice for comment.
“This is outrageous and cannot stand. The First Amendment is under attack in America!” Lemon’s former CNN colleague Jim Acosta wrote in a post on X.
Don Lemon’s arrest comes as the justice department pursues charges against protesters who disrupted a service at the Cities church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, earlier this month.
The protesters believed that the church’s pastor was a field director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose agents have swarmed the Twin Cities in recent weeks in an aggressive immigration enforcement campaign that has resulted in the deaths of two US citizens.
However, the government’s prosecutions have faced roadblocks in the form of federal judges who have refused to approve charges against those allegedly involved in disrupting the service – including Lemon, at least prior to today.
Here’s more about that:
Federal agents arrest former CNN anchor Don Lemon
Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor, was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, his lawyer said on Friday, days after a magistrate judge refused to approve charges against him for documenting a protest at a church in Minnesota.
“Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” his attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement.
He continued:
Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case. This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.
Here’s more about the justice department’s previous effort against him:
Writing on his Truth Social platform about the appointment of Kevin Warsh as chair of Federal Reserve, Donald Trump said:
I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down. Congratulations Kevin!
Warsh won out over Trump loyalist Kevin Hassett. The president posted on Truth Social that:
Their [sic] was great speculation that highly respected Kevin Hassett was going to be named Chairman of the Fed, and a great Chairman he would have been but, quite honestly, he is doing such an outstanding job working with me and my team at the White House, that I just didn’t want to let him go. Kevin is indescribably good so, as the expression goes, ‘if you can’t do better, don’t try to fix it!’ Thank you Kevin for doing such a great job!
Trump to Iran: end nuclear ambitions and stop killing protesters or face US military
Donald Trump has warned Iran it must end its nuclear programme and stop killing protesters if the large US armada of warships deployed in the Middle East are not to be used.
Trump was speaking at the premiere of the documentary Melania as the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, landed in Turkey to discuss whether there was a basis for a deal with the US.
The US president said protesters were being killed in their thousands, but that he had stopped Iran from carrying out executions.
Trump’s own administration has come under renewed scrutiny after US immigration officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Keith Porter in Los Angeles, and Silverio Villegas González in Illinois. ICE observers have reportedly faced violence, teargas and arrests.
Iran is prepared for the resumption of talks with the United States, but they should be fair and not include Iran’s defence capabilities, Iran’s chief diplomat said on Friday.
“If negotiations are fair and equitable, Iran is ready to participate in such talks,” foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said in a press conference with his Turkish counterpart in Istanbul.
Araqchi said no talks between Tehran and Washington were currently arranged.
Trump nominates Kevin Warsh as US Federal Reserve chair
Lauren Aratani
Donald Trump has nominated the former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh as its next chair amid an extraordinary attempt by the president to tighten his grip on the US central bank and flout its longstanding independence.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that he planned to announce his choice for chair of the Federal Reserve on Friday morning, hinting that “a lot of people think that this is somebody that could have been there a few years ago”. He then announced early Friday, as teased, and it was indeed Warsh.
If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh will replace Jerome Powell, who Trump first appointed in 2018, but later infuriated the US president by defying his repeated calls for lower interest rates.
In December, Trump said of Warsh: “He thinks you have to lower interest rates.”
Read more:
Opening Summary
Activists have called for a nationwide shutdown on Friday, advocating “no work, no school, no shopping” in a protest against the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration crackdowns.
Organisers say Friday’s “blackout” – or general strike, as some are calling it – is part of a growing non-violent movement to combat ICE’s aggressive enforcement tactics, which have come under renewed scrutiny after a series of fatal shootings involving federal agents.
“We are calling for this strike because we believe what we have been doing in Minnesota should go national,” said Kidus Yeshidagna, president of the Ethiopian Students Union at the University of Minnesota and one of the students organising the strike.
“We need more people and lawmakers across the country to wake up.”
In other updates:
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The Democrats and the White House reached a deal to avoid a government shutdown, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer’s office confirmed to the Guardian on Thursday. The deal will advance a package of spending bills, while separating a Department of Homeland Security spending bill from the package. The agreement will include funding for DHS for two weeks at current levels, while Democrats continue negotiating further guardrails on immigration agents in light of the recent fatal shootings in Minneapolis.
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Donald Trump sued the US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service for $10bn (about £7.9bn) over an unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns during his first term, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday evening. Thursday’s lawsuit puts Trump in the unusual position of suing government agencies that are part of the executive branch, which he leads. Trump famously broke precedent by not releasing his tax returns while running for, and then attaining, the presidency.
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Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan held a news conference in Minneapolis today, where he said ‘no agency is perfect’ but crucially did not mention the fatal shootings of US citizens by immigration agents there this month. During Thursday’s press conference, Tom Homan noted that the administration has “recognised that certain improvements could and should be made” in the ongoing immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, but didn’t specify what those looked like or when they would be implemented. The border czar also refused to comment on the newly published video footage of Alex Pretti earlier this month, which appears to show officers grabbing Pretti and bringing him to the ground during intense protests that have gripped Minneapolis. “We’ll let the investigation play out and let it go where it goes,” Homan added.
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Trump signed an executive order on Thursday laying the groundwork to slap tariffs on goods from countries that provide oil to Cuba, the White House said. The order, which ratchets up Trump’s pressure to topple the Communist government, declares a national emergency and establishes a process for the US secretaries of state and commerce to assess tariffs against countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to the island nation. The White House has yet to specify tariff rates for violating its new policy of blocking Cuba from buying oil.
