Don Lemon Released From Jail & Ready For War With Donald Trump

Don Lemon walked out of federal detention Friday morning and immediately fired back at the Trump administration for what he called a politically motivated arrest.

The former CNN anchor spent Thursday night in a Beverly Hills jail after federal agents arrested him at 11 P.M. in his hotel lobby. Lemon was in Los Angeles covering Grammy Week events when more than two dozen FBI and Homeland Security agents took him into custody. The 59-year-old journalist was busted for his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 18. Federal prosecutors charged him with Conspiracy to Deprive Rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Attorney General Pam Bondi called Lemon’s arrest part of cracking down on what she described as “the coordinated attack” on the church.

Lemon’s arrest came during Grammy Week, when he was documenting events for The Don Lemon Show. Hours before his arrest, he was photographed with Busta Rhymes at the Recording Academy Honors and posted videos of himself dancing at a Spotify event in West Hollywood. Lemon followed anti-ICE protesters into Cities Church while filming for his show. The demonstration happened days after Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Protesters chanted “ICE out” and targeted the church because Pastor David Easterwood reportedly works as an ICE field director.

Federal prosecutors initially struggled to obtain arrest warrants. One Minnesota judge said there was “no evidence” that Lemon had “engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.”