Don Lemon, journalist and former CNN anchor, was arrested on Jan. 29 on charges regarding an alleged violation of federal law at a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minneapolis (MI). Lemon was released the following day after initial court hearings. The arrest has sparked a wave of backlash among professional journalists. On Feb. 3, Lemon appeared on late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live to talk about his arrest.
On Jan. 18, Lemon was covering an immigration protest in St. Paul, MI. A local pastor, who was also an Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, was interrupted mid-service by a group of protesters, which Lemon followed into the building, in order to interview protesters inside the church. Lemon told Kimmel, “There’s a lot that I cannot say, but what I will say is that I’m not a protester. I’m there to be a journalist.”
On Jan. 19, President Donald Trump reposted an X comment calling for Lemon’s arrest for violation of the FACE Act. The FACE Act of 1994 prohibits use of force, threats, intimidation, and obstruction to dissuade someone from exercising religious freedom in a place of worship, providing anyone with medical services or reproductive health services. It blocks violence and blockades in places like clinics and churches.
Lemon’s attorney reached out to law enforcement officials to say he would be willing to turn himself in in the event that law enforcement opened a case, which is a standard procedure in similar cases. Protesters, Lemon, and other local journalists were arrested.
Lemon explained on the late-night show he was returning to a Los Angeles hotel when he was grabbed and handcuffed by ICE agents, who at the time did not present a warrant, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) later provided. He was held in a federal courthouse, where he was fingerprinted and had his headshot taken. He was arrested at around midnight and released early-afternoon the next day. He was not given a phone call, and was told the court would allow him to talk to his attorney (which happened the following day). His husband found out about his arrest when a Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agent delivered Lemon’s bracelet upstairs to his husband’s room.
He commented that the federal law enforcement officers, including FBI officers, were kind and courteous, and pointed out they were completely different from ICE agents. DOJ head Pam Bondi said on X the arrests were made at her direction.
Many Democrats have expressed their alarm about the arrest. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffies said in a statement, “There is zero basis to arrest Don Lemon, and he should be freed immediately. The illegitimate extremists in the Trump administration will all be held accountable for their crimes against the Constitution. America will not be intimidated.” Local congressman Salud Carbajal said on X, “Arresting a journalist for doing their job is a direct attack on our First Amendment rights. This is what authoritarianism looks like, and we cannot not give in.”
This comes after what many liberal leaders are calling a crackdown on freedom of speech. Late Night host Seth Meyers said in September of 2025, “Trump promised to end government censorship and bring back free speech, and he’s doing the opposite. And it has experts worried that we’re rapidly devolving into a repressive autocracy in the style of Russia or Hungary much faster than anyone could have predicted.”
Since being sworn into the presidency in January of 2025, President Trump has gained over $35 billion in lawsuits against media companies. He filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal in July, saying the news company defamed him by publishing his “birthday letter to Epstein,” which Trump’s defamation lawsuit claims caused irreparable damage to his reputation.
Trump also has a $10 billion lawsuit against BBC regarding the editing of Trump’s Jan. 6 speech, with $5 billion in defamation damages and another $5 billion in unfair trade practices. He has another $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times, claiming the news organization defamed him in the 2024 presidential election. News outlets CBS and ABC agreed to pay $16 million to settle lawsuits Trump has brought, also for defamation.
Trump also called for the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s: Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September. ABC news and its corporate parent, Walt Disney Company, suspended the show from Sept. 17 to Sept. 22. Trump and his sympathetics cited Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s death, and democratic leaders denounced the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC)’s decision to not air the show. Kimmel criticized Trump and the FCC, saying that, “A government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American.”
Kimmel’s suspension comes soon after The Late Night Show with Steven Colbert announced it would be closing shop in July. CBS’s late night show will disappear on May 21, 2026 due to cited financial decisions. Trump celebrated the decision, saying on social media, “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.”
Knowing the state of censorship in national journalism makes local stories more important and powerful. The Forge is a 112 year-old publication run by students, that strives to be non-biased and accurate in reporting, and to bring stories that matter to the SBHS student body.
