Don Lemon Released After Arrest but Still Faces Federal Civil Rights Charges for Coverage of Anti-ICE Church Protest By Danielle Bacher and Paloma Chavez

Don Lemon has been released following his arrest in connection with covering an anti-ICE protest on Friday, Jan. 30.

Lemon, 59, blew a kiss to his husband, Tim Malone, as soon as he entered the courtroom on Friday. Malone was sitting in the galley for the court appearances.

Lemon was then seen leaving the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Los Angeles after his arraignment. 

The former CNN anchor walked hand-in-hand with Malone, 41, as a supporter shouted, “We got your back, Don. We’re proud of you, Don.”

The arrest stems from a Jan. 18 protest at a church in St. Paul, Minn., where demonstrators interrupted a religious service to protest immigration enforcement, chanting “ICE out.”

Prosecutors accused Lemon of violating a federal law that protects the right of people to participate in services at houses of worship. However, Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, insisted he entered the church as a journalist covering the protest. 

Lemon “was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards,” Lowell said in a statement earlier Friday.

Both the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest to PEOPLE. “The HSI [Homeland Security] & FBI arrested Mr. Lemon last night in Beverly Hills at approximately midnight based on a federal warrant issued in another district,” the FBI said in a statement.

Lemon is charged with conspiracy against rights of religious freedom at place of worship and injure, intimidate, and interfering with exercise of right of religious freedom at a place of worship, according to the criminal docket out of the U.S. District of Minnesota.

Under the terms of Lemon’s personal recognizance bond, he can travel freely and keep his passport, but needs approval for international travel. 

He also must avoid contact with any victims or witnesses in the case. His next court date is Monday, Feb. 9, at 10 a.m. local time in Minneapolis at the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

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Marilyn Bednarski, Lemon’s attorney, said in court on Jan. 30 that he intends to plead not guilty and is “committed to fighting this case.”

The government previously tried to charge Lemon with a crime for attending an anti-ICE protest in a steadily escalating campaign involving a string of highly unusual legal moves to strong-arm courts into conceding to its demands.

Following the church protest, the Justice Department initially sought charges against eight individuals, including Lemon. Minnesota Chief District Judge Patrick Schiltz allowed charges against only three to proceed, finding insufficient evidence against Lemon and others. However, in the 14-page indictment unsealed Friday, prosecutors revealed they had secured grand jury charges against nine people connected to the incident.

The indictment added Lemon and another independent journalist, Georgia Fort, along with Black Lives Matter leader Trahern Jeen Crews. According to court documents, Lemon and Fort were livestreaming as dozens of anti-ICE protesters entered the church, interrupting the service while yelling and blowing whistles. Prosecutors allege Lemon and Fort participated in a “takeover-style attack” that was “traumatizing to church members.”

On Friday, Lemon appeared outside the downtown federal courthouse several minutes after exiting the courthouse, saying the prosecution would not stop him from reporting on ICE activities.

“I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,” he said. “I will not stop ever.”

“Last night, the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night for something that I have been doing for the last 30 years, and that is covering the news,” Lemon added. “The First Amendment of the Constitution protects me and countless other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them, and I will not be silent. I look forward to my day in court.”

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A week before being taken into custody, Lemon predicted he’d be arrested, despite Schiltz’s rejection of the government’s previous attempts to apprehend him.

“Look, I’m not naive,” Lemon told Scripps News’ Alisyn Camerota on Jan. 23. “I think they’re probably going to try again and again to shame like they did with James Comey and everyone.”

“If one doesn’t work, they try something else, and that fails, and they try something else, and then they just don’t give up because they want to save face,” he said. “I don’t know what’s next.”

Lemon predicted the Trump administration would “go around a judge and just do it themselves” if there’s “no law to fit.”