By Variety | Created at 2026-08-07 15:14:35 | Updated at 2026-08-07 17:22:39
2 hours ago
Don Lemon asked a federal judge to dismiss criminal civil-rights charges against him related to his presence as a protest earlier this year at an anti-ICE protest in Minnesota. In a filing Friday, the former CNN anchor’s lawyers asserted the indictment of Lemon stemmed from Donald Trump‘s longstanding “animus” and violated the First Amendment.
“The record could not be more clear that Mr. Lemon has been a persistent target of President Trump’s ire before the events in Minnesota,” his lawyers wrote in a motion seeking to dismiss the charges. The filing said the Justice Department “acted on the President’s animus by filing unprecedented charges against a journalist for doing his job.”
Federal agents arrested Lemon in Los Angeles (where he was covering the Grammy Awards) on Jan. 29 in connection with his attendance at a Jan. 18 anti-ICE protest inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. On Jan. 30, a judge ordered him released. Lemon and several other journalists have been charged with violating the FACE Act, which prohibits people from intimidating or interfering the constitutional right to the freedom of religion.
Trump’s animosity toward Lemon “is well documented, stretching back over a decade,” per the journalist’s lawyers, who said the DOJ charged Lemon “as punishment for his First Amendment protected reporting on protests related to Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota.”
“The government should not be permitted to use criminal prosecutions to chill journalism disfavored by the President,” Lemon’s lawyers wrote. “The law has long recognized that bearing witness is not the same as taking part.”
“Perhaps recognizing that Mr. Lemon’s presence as a journalist was protected by the First Amendment, the government’s case agent falsely claimed in numerous sworn affidavits that Mr. Lemon affirmatively joined the protestors by ‘chanting with agitators and obstructing parishioners’ path of travel,'” his lawyers wrote.
Lemon, who has pursued a career as an independent journalist after he was fired from CNN in 2023, has consistently said he was not participating as a protester but was there as a reporter covering the demonstration, which he broadcast on his livestream. In an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, Lemon said the DOJ wanted to “embarrass” and “instill fear” in him: “That’s why they did it that way.”
Lemon’s legal team, led by attorney Abbe Lowell, said in Friday’s filing that, “Upon hearing rumors of an indictment, counsel for Mr. Lemon contacted the Department of Justice to coordinate Mr. Lemon’s self-surrender. Instead of arranging the normal self-surrender after a charge would be filed, in what can only be described as an effort to punish and humiliate Mr. Lemon, the government ignored the request to arrange an orderly surrender and chose to deputize agents to his Los Angeles hotel — where he was covering the music industry’s annual awards show — to arrest him at midnight.”
Following Lemon’s arrest, the Trump White House’s official X account posted a photo of the journalist with the text “Don Lemon Arrested for Involvement in the St. Paul Church Riots,” with a caption reading: “When life gives you lemons…” followed by the emoji for chains.
Trump has frequently attacked Lemon. At last month’s rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner — in which Trump blasted the mainstream media and insulted several journalists, politicians and celebrities — he said in his speech that Lemon was the winner of the lowest ratings and the “lowest IQ on television” and said Lemon was “the dumbest man on television. I said, you know, when you say some things, you never make a comeback. It’s not like, ‘Oh gee, hey Don, let’s have dinner some night.’”
In response to Trump’s comments at the WHCA Dinner, Lemon said in a statement: “Apparently I’m living rent free in Donald Trump’s head, alongside Barack Obama. I’m not surprised by his insults. But they reminded me that if I ever have a microphone that big, I’m going to use it to make life more affordable by helping Americans earn a living wage, buy a home, afford quality health care, and trust their government again.”
Lemon added: “The presidency is the biggest microphone in the world. Americans deserve a President who spends more time solving problems than settling scores.”
