Journalists arrested as Trump team sets fire to First Amendment

Independent journalist Don Lemon, formerly of CNN, was arrested by federal agents Thursday night for reporting on an anti-ICE protest at a church in Minnesota, making him a target in President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to shut down free speech.

Lemon’s attorney Abbe Lowell said that Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles, where he was covering the upcoming Grammy Awards.

In a statement, Lowell said that Lemon’s arrest was an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment” and a “transparent attempt” by the Trump administration to distract from the crises that the country is facing.

“Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court,” he added.

Lemon clearly identifies himself as a reporter in a video of the Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, noting, “We’re not part of the activists, but we’re here just reporting on them.”

No sugar-coating it: Daily Kos needs your help. Can you chip in $5 today?

Similarly, Minnesota-based independent journalist Georgia Fort, who also covered the protest, has reportedly been arrested.

“This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media. We are supposed to have our constitutional right—freedom to film, to be a member of the press,” Fort said in a live stream Friday morning.

“I don’t feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press because now federal agents are at my door, arresting me for filming the church protest,” she added.

A federal magistrate judge already shut down a previous attempt by the Department of Justice to press charges against Lemon.

“The government lumps all eight protestors together and says things that are true of some but not all of them. Two of the five protestors were not protestors at all; instead, they were a journalist and his producer. There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so,” Judge Patrick Schultz wrote in a letter.

No billionaire backers, no paywalls. Daily Kos news exists because of YOU, our small-donor community. Now, we need your help. Please donate today.

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas slammed the arrest.

“Are you F-ing KIDDING ME?! [Lemon] has been arrested by the DOJ?! Exercising your first amendment constitutionally “protected” right gets you locked up, exercising your 2nd gets you killed, and actual murder… well in uniform, gets you nothing! This IS NOT NORMAL nor OK!” she wrote on Bluesky.

And Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California called Lemon’s arrest “a blatant assault on our First Amendment rights.” 

Time and again, the Trump Administration pursues its own political enemies over real justice,” he wrote on Bluesky.

Meanwhile, the official White House X account shared a photo of Lemon to announce his arrest. 

“When life gives you lemons …” the post reads, along with an emoji of chains.

The arrests of Lemon and Fort are part of a serial pattern of Trump attacking free speech, which is protected by the Constitution.

The administration has gone after small businesses for dissenting, attempted to purge late-night talk show hosts for mocking Trump, raided the home of a reporter for reporting on the administration, and shook down media companies for producing coverage skeptical of the administration.

Much of the mainstream media recently parroted the administration’s spin that Trump was changing his authoritarian “tone” in Minnesota, but these arrests prove that—as expected—that was never the case.

Click here to check out this story on DailyKos.com.

We're not asking for much

The average donation to Daily Kos is just $9.44. These gifts may seem small, but they’re a big deal to us—in fact, they’re our largest source of income. We couldn’t keep going without them. Will you join thousands of other Daily Kos readers and donate $9.44 right now to help us close our funding gap?