Key Takeaways

• Don Lemon connected his arrest to coverage of an anti-ICE protest, emphasizing his role as a journalist.
• He described being arrested at his hotel without a physical warrant and held overnight without a phone call.
• He said the arrest was meant to intimidate journalists covering politically sensitive events.

On Monday (Feb. 2), Don Lemon discussed his recent arrest during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” During the sit-down, he tied his highly publicized federal criminal case to reporting he did of a Jan. 18 anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Kimmel introduced Lemon as a “longtime TV and digital newsman” who was “arrested for committing journalism,” then asked how he was doing. Lemon answered, “I don’t know… I’m okay. But I’m not going to let them steal my joy.”

Lemon said he followed one group inside the church to “chronicle and document and record what was happening,” and emphasized, “I’m not a protester. I went there to be a journalist.”

Kimmel noted that Donald Trump reposted a social media call for Lemon to be arrested and imprisoned for allegedly violating the FACE Act. Lemon said he hired an attorney, who reached out and offered for him to “self-report,” but he “never heard back from them.”

Lemon said agents arrested him in Los Angeles after he returned to his hotel from Grammy weekend events. He described being grabbed near the elevator and put in handcuffs, then asking, “Where’s the warrant?” After the agents couldn’t produce one, he said “an FBI guy” arrived to show him the warrant on a cell phone. Lemon estimated “maybe a dozen” people were involved.

He said he was taken to a holding area at a federal courthouse, where he was booked with a mug shot and fingerprints “twice,” then held from “about midnight, 12:30 to one or so the next day.” Lemon said he was denied a phone call and used his Apple Watch to try to reach his husband and attorney. He added that an agent delivered a bracelet to his husband, which is how his family learned where he was.

Don Lemon on the arrest: “They want to intimidate you”

Lemon argued that the large, public arrest was not just about taking him into custody. “They want to embarrass you. They want to intimidate you. They want to instill fear,” he said, framing the incident as a warning for people who show up to document politically charged moments.

If you didn’t catch Lemon speaking to REVOLT about journalistic freedom and blasting Megan Kelly, check that out here.