Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday warned protesters about not violating a “sacred right” following the arrest of former CNN host Don Lemon earlier that morning, threatening that if they do, President Donald Trump and his administration “are coming after you.”
“Make no mistake, under President Trump’s leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely,” said Bondi in a video published on X. “And if I haven’t been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.”
Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles on federal civil rights charges related to his coverage of a Jan. 18 protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in St. Paul, Minnesota, when demonstrators interrupted a Sunday morning service at Cities Church.
Bondi confirmed Friday in an initial social media post that Lemon was arrested at her “direction” alongside independent journalist Georgia Fort, Black Lives Matter Minnesota co-founder Trahern Jeen Crews and Hennepin County Attorney’s Office staffer Jamael Lydell Lundy.
Bondi described the demonstration, which took place at a church where protesters alleged one of the pastors was a top ICE official in the state, as a “coordinated attack.”
Lemon’s charges include conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of those who had been worshipping at the church.
Evan Agostini/Invision/Associated Press
The vocal Trump critic was in Los Angeles preparing to cover the Grammys on Sunday when he was arrested.
His attorney, Abbe Lowell, noted in a statement that Lemon has been a journalist for 30 years and called the arrest an attack on the First Amendment.
Lowell explained further that Lemon’s “constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine a light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
The White House openly celebrated the arrest on social media, while numerous journalists and Democratic lawmakers condemned it.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) warned, “Trump’s authoritarian takeover is quickening.”
