Ex-CNN anchor Lemon arrested

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested Friday in Los Angeles by federal agents on charges that he violated federal law during a protest last week at a church in Minnesota.

- BY BRITTNY MEJIA, JENNY JARVIE, RICHARD WINTON AND GRACE TOOHEY

ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times JOURNALIST Don Lemon after a hearing at a courthouse in L.A. on Friday.

Lemon, an independent journalist who hosts his own YouTube show, was taken into federal custody in Beverly Hills while covering the upcoming Grammy Awards, according to federal officials. Three others, including another journalist, were also arrested.

“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lemon's attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power to account.”

At an initial court appearance Friday afternoon, during which Lemon did not enter a plea, the 59-year-old was released on his own recognizance, with minimal conditions.

Holding his husband’s hand, he walked out of the courthouse, where he was met by a small crowd shouting, “We love you, Don!” and “Freedom of the press!”

He thanked people for their support and said he was arrested “for something I have been doing for the last 30 years.”

“There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable,” Lemon said. “I will not stop now, I will not stop ever.”

The arrests stem from a Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, where anti-ICE protesters burst into a church and disrupted the Sunday service. The church was targeted because an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field officer apparently serves as pastor.