Independent journalist Don Lemon has described the moment he was arrested at a hotel by FBI agents to late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel.
Lemon was arrested last Thursday on federal charges related to a protest against immigration enforcement at a Minnesota church that the former CNN anchor covered.
The journalist told Kimmel during Tuesday’s show that he was approached by agents as he returned to the Los Angeles hotel where he was staying in anticipation of covering the Grammy awards.
Lemon was arrested by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, NBC News reported, citing a federal warrant.
“I was walking up to the room, and I pressed the elevator button, and then all of a sudden, I feel myself being jostled and people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs,” Lemon said.
He continued: “And I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ And they said, ‘We came to arrest you.’ And I said, ‘Who are you?’ And then finally, they identified themselves.”
Lemon told the comedian that he asked for a warrant, which they didn’t immediately provide. “So they had to wait for someone from outside, an FBI guy, to come in to show me a warrant on a cell phone,” the journalist said.
The former CNN anchor said “a bunch of guys” took him outside and “FBI guys were out there,” adding, “It had to be maybe a dozen people.”
“They want to embarrass you. They want to intimidate you. They want to instill fear. And so that’s why they did it that way,” Lemon said after explaining that his attorney told authorities before the arrest that he would turn himself in.
On January 18, protesters disrupted a service at the Cities Church in St. Paul to show their discontent with a pastor who was leading a local field office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota has caused tensions between federal immigration agents and residents to grow. The Cities Church protest happened in between the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, U.S. citizens who were fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Lemon and others were charged with conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers in connection with the protest. Lemon pleaded not guilty.
According to the indictment filed in federal court in Minnesota, Lemon and his eight co-defendants, which included independent journalist Georgia Fort who also pleaded not guilty, “oppressed, threatened, and intimidated the Church’s congregants and pastors” by occupying space near the front of the Church, engaging in “menacing” behavior and/or “physically obstructing” them as they tried to move.
Supporters of Lemon, including actress Jane Fonda, gathered outside a Los Angeles courthouse last Friday. Lemon was released after his court hearing and vowed to fight the charges against him.
“I have spent my entire career covering the news,” Lemon said outside of court. “I will not stop now.”
