Feb 3, 2026, 1:01 p.m02/03/2026, 1:02 p.m
US journalist Don Lemon has criticized his arrest on the orders of the Justice Department in connection with a protest against the US immigration authorities ICE as intimidation.
Former CNN presenter Don Lemon has since been arrested.Image: keystone
“They want to expose you. They want to intimidate you. “They want to spread fear,” said the former CNN host on the late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Monday evening (local time).
The 59-year-old was arrested by emergency services in Los Angeles last week after, according to his lawyer, he reported on a protest against ICE in a church in the state of Minnesota.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke of a “coordinated attack” on the church. Lemon is accused of, among other things, conspiring to violate civil rights and obstructing religious freedom.
In the broadcast, Lemon emphasized again that he was there as a journalist, not as a demonstrator. There is a difference, he emphasized.
Criticism of media companies
Lemon also used the show to criticize the US media. Media companies are “paralyzed” for fear of political pressure – for example, fear of losing access to the government or being sued, he said. This is not the time for false balance, Lemon said. “Some things are objectively wrong.”
Moderator Kimmel had his own experience with political headwinds. The well-known critic of Trump had to take a week-long break from his show last September. The US President publicly welcomed the temporary removal. (dab/sda/dpa)