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Don Lemon takes no questions after no-bail release – charges detailed in unsealed indictment

January 31, 2026 | | Print Article

Don Lemon’s unsealed federal indictment revealed the charges brought against him as the former CNN host set to sell a narrative over his conditional release.

Given the track record of the Justice Department, which has established a perception of a two-tiered justice system, many were surprised — albeit pleasantly — to learn Friday morning that the podcaster had been arrested overnight for his alleged involvement in storming a church in Minnesota.

Later that day, Lemon took no questions following his release without bail as he stepped up to some cameras to issue a statement claiming his innocence in the face of two federal felony charges.

“Last night the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night for something I’ve been doing for the last 30 years, and that is covering the news,” said the podcaster, surrounded by a small contingent of supporters. “The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.”

“I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,” he’d also said. “In fact, 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.”

During his Friday court appearance, Lemon was said to have offered terse responses of “yes” to questions from U.S. District Judge Patricia Donahue, who went on to release him without bail. Conditions of his release, detailed by The Hollywood Reporter, included his being barred from contacting victims, witnesses or other defendants and the need to obtain permission for travel outside the country. He’d already been cleared for a trip to France, as long as it does not interfere with future court appearances.

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Along with Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort and Jamael Lydell Lundy, Lemon had been arrested for his connection to what Attorney General Pam Bondi had described as the “coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” on Jan. 18, prompting an expected partisan divide in response.

Juxtaposing the unsealed indictment with video of Lemon questioning Cities Church pastor Jonathan Parnell as the Sunday Service had been swarmed, journalist Nick Sortor commented, “FAFO, Lemon” while noting the two federal felony charges included “COUNT 1: 18 U.S.C. § 241 – Conspiracy Against Right of Religious Freedom at Place of Worship” and “COUNT 2: 18 U.S.C. § 248(a) (b), §§2(a) – FACE Act: Injure, Intimidate, and Interfere with Exercise of Right of Religious Freedom at a Place of Worship.”

Within the indictment, Lemon was alleged to have had foreknowledge of the storming of the church while choosing not to disclose those details. He was also alleged to have “oppressed, threatened, and intimidated the Church’s congregants and pastors by physically occupying most of the main aisle and rows of chairs near the front of the Church, engaging in menacing and threatening behavior,” with the other defendants.

The indictment further alleged that congregants were physically obstructed from exiting the church, where, “At one point, defendant LEMON posted himself at the main door of the Church, where he confronted some congregants and physically obstructed them as they tried to exit the Church building to challenge them with ‘facts’ about U.S. immigration policy.”

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Lemon’s cries of innocence were accompanied by an unsurprising wave of support from corporate media figures and prominent leftists like former Vice President Kamala Harris, who insisted the podcaster and fellow defendant Fort “were fulfilling their duty to the American people to report and inform,” whereas President Donald Trump was said to “show a flagrant disregard for the rule of law.”

“This arrest is another affront to our rights and freedoms and should alarm and enrage us,” the twice-failed White House hopeful added.

Despite such contentions, as Lemon was next set to appear before the court on Feb. 9, others called for accountability while celebrating the first sampling of “cosmic justice,” referring to his alleged mugshot as “a masterpiece” to that end.

“That smug, sanctimonious face..finally stripped of the studio lights, the teleprompter, the endless moral preening…now framed in county orange like the cheap convict he always was beneath the bespoke suits,” wrote the X account LHGrey. “Look close: the eyes are dead. The mouth that lectured America for years about ‘decency’ and ‘accountability’ is clamped shut, because for once there’s no corporate handler to bail him out with a scripted apology.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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