Don Lemon Shares Statement After Trump's DOJ Tries to Charge Him with Crime for Attending Anti-ICE Protest By Brenton Blanchet

Don Lemon is speaking out via his attorney after the Trump administration attempted to prosecute him for attending and broadcasting a protest opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Days after the independent journalist, 59, was put “on notice” by Trump’s Department of Justice — and shortly after a federal magistrate judge reportedly declined to sign off on criminal charges against him — Lemon shared a statement to Instagram from his attorney, Abbe Lowell, noting that he is ready to “fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”

On Thursday, Jan. 22, a Minnesota federal magistrate judge refused to sign a complaint charging Lemon in connection with a protest at a St. Paul church on Sunday, Jan. 18, according to multiple outlets including CNN, The Guardian and CBS News.

The reported refusal comes days after demonstrators interrupted a service in protest of David Easterwood, a pastor and local ICE agent.

“The magistrate’s reported actions confirm the nature of Don’s First Amendment protected work this weekend in Minnesota as a reporter,” read the statement from Lowell.

Lemon’s attorney, who also defended Hunter Biden against federal charges, continued, “It was no different than what he has done for more than 30 years, reporting and covering newsworthy events on the ground and engaging in constitutionally protected activity as a journalist.”

“Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court,” the attorney added.

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Lemon initially shared video footage from Cities Church in St. Paul on Sunday, telling viewers, “I’m sure people here don’t like it, but protests are not comfortable.”

Critics accused Lemon of instigating or organizing the protest, with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon claiming on X that “a house of worship is not a public forum for your protest” before warning Lemon that he was “on notice.”

She then threatened to invoke multiple different acts to prosecute Lemon and protestors during an appearance on The Benny Johnson Show on Monday, Jan. 19, including the FACE Act and Ku Klux Klan Act.

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Issuing a statement to Fox News Digital, Lemon said it was “notable that I’ve been cast as the face of a protest I was covering as a journalist — especially since I wasn’t the only reporter there. That framing is telling.”

“What’s even more telling is the barrage of violent threats, along with homophobic and racist slurs, directed at me online by MAGA supporters and amplified by parts of the right-wing press,” the former CNN anchor added.

“If this much time and energy is going to be spent manufacturing outrage, it would be far better used investigating the tragic death of Renee Nicole Good — the very issue that brought people into the streets in the first place, I stand by my reporting.”