Overview
- Federal agents detained Lemon late Thursday in the lobby of his Los Angeles hotel, where he was staying to cover the Grammy Awards, according to CNN.
- Justice Secretary Pam Bondi said she directed the operation and named three additional arrestees: Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy.
- The arrests relate to a Jan. 18 demonstration that entered Cities Church in St. Paul during protests over immigration enforcement.
- Lemon says he was present as a journalist livestreaming to YouTube and did not know the service would be disrupted; video shows him arguing with a parishioner about immigration law.
- Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, vows to contest the case in Los Angeles federal court, calling it an unprecedented attack on press freedoms, while the Justice Department has not detailed charges.