Prominent free press organisations and journalists across the United States have sounded urgent alarms following the dramatic arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon, declaring that journalism must never be treated as a criminal act. The National Press Club issued a stark warning on Friday, emphasising that jailing a journalist for performing their professional duties represents a profound danger not only to press freedom but to the fundamental public right to information.
Federal Arrest During Grammy Coverage Preparation
Federal agents apprehended Don Lemon in Los Angeles on Thursday evening as he was preparing to cover the Grammy Awards, just two weeks after he reported on an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church. This arrest has triggered widespread condemnation from press freedom advocates who describe it as part of the Trump administration's escalating crackdown on free speech.
Both the National Press Club and PEN America released coordinated statements on Friday morning asserting that journalism is not a crime. One political reporter who contacted The Independent immediately after Lemon's detention described this as the most anti-free speech administration in living memory, noting that following the Washington Post raid earlier this month, the situation represents just one escalation after another on a weekly basis.
Legal Rejections Preceding Arrest
The arrest of Lemon, alongside independent journalist Georgia Fort and several protesters, occurred despite both a magistrate judge and a federal appeals court rejecting the Justice Department's attempts to bring charges against the 59-year-old former television personality. Lemon was present when a demonstration unfolded at a St. Paul church on January 18, where protesters disrupted a Sunday service to express opposition to one pastor's collaboration with a local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office.
The journalist, who now hosts a YouTube programme, did not participate in the protest but instead covered it for his show, conducting interviews with both demonstrators and one of the church's pastors. After Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko refused to sign the initial criminal complaint against Lemon, the Department of Justice appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, where Chief Judge Patrick J. Schlitz again rejected the appeal, stating that Lemon and his producer were not protesters and that no evidence suggested they engaged in or conspired to commit criminal behaviour.
Administration Pursuit Despite Legal Setbacks
Despite these legal setbacks, the administration continued to pursue charges against Lemon, who has long been targeted by Donald Trump and the MAGA media ecosystem for his consistent criticism of the president. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday morning that federal agents had arrested Lemon and others in connection with what she described as a coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul.
The administration and Trump's allies immediately celebrated the arrest across social media platforms, including the White House's official account which posted an image of Lemon with a caption referencing chains. Meanwhile, Lemon's attorney Abbe Lowell issued a strong statement condemning what he called an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and a transparent attempt to distract from the multiple crises facing the administration.
Press Freedom Organisations Issue Grave Warnings
The news that Trump's Justice Department had jailed a journalist whom the president has publicly criticised for years, simply for reporting on a protest, has sparked several press freedom groups to issue grave warnings about the administration's dangerous attacks on free speech and media independence.
National Press Club President Mark Schoeff, Jr. stated that jailing a journalist for doing their job threatens not only press freedom but the public's right to know, creating fewer witnesses, less accountability, and a more uninformed society. He emphasised that arresting or detaining journalists for covering protests, public events, or government actions represents a grave threat to press freedom that risks chilling reporting nationwide, with implications extending far beyond any single reporter.
PEN America's journalism and disinformation program director Tim Richardson noted that this arrest follows just days after the federal raid of a Washington Post reporter's home, declaring that once again the Trump administration has trampled the First Amendment. He called for the Department of Justice to drop the case against Lemon, highlighting that the fact that both a federal magistrate judge and a federal appeals court already rejected the evidence makes the arrest particularly troubling.
Broader Pattern of First Amendment Violations
Freedom of the Press Foundation Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern described the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort as naked attacks on freedom of the press, urging an even stronger commitment to journalism, truth, and the First Amendment in response. Katherine Jacobsen of the Committee to Protect Journalists stated that the treatment of journalists serves as an indicator of a country's democratic health, and that the United States is currently performing poorly in this regard.
Executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute Jameel Jaffer urged the Department of Justice to drop its prosecution of Lemon and Fort, calling their arrests extremely alarming given that multiple judges refused to approve warrants against them. He expressed particular concern that these arrests occur against the background of a broader effort by the Trump administration to tighten restrictions around press freedom.
Reporters Without Borders executive director Clayton Weimers described the arrests as another attack on press freedom, asserting that the Trump administration cannot send federal agents after reporters simply because they dislike the stories being reported, especially after repeatedly failing to obtain warrants from the courts. Free Press Action Advocacy Director Jenna Ruddock stated that these latest arrests represent just the most recent in a long line of First Amendment violations by the Trump administration that should outrage media organisations, elected officials, and the public alike.
Journalist Community Response
Meanwhile, other journalists have rallied behind Lemon, calling on colleagues to speak out on his behalf, particularly those who have previously positioned themselves as free speech absolutists. The Bulwark's Sam Stein specifically challenged the Twitter Files crew to comment on Lemon's arrest, noting that regardless of personal opinions about the journalist or the church protest, live streaming and covering events constitutes a First Amendment right that should ostensibly receive support from free speech advocates.
This reference notably includes current CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, whom Elon Musk commissioned to review documents from Twitter that allegedly showed government coercion of previous ownership to censor content, though Twitter's own lawyers refuted these claims. The broader journalist community continues to monitor this developing situation as a critical test case for press freedom protections in the United States.
