Former CNN anchor Don Lemon detained in the US for filming a protest against ICE

Agents from the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security detained former CNN anchor Don Lemon. He was filming a protest by a group of opponents of the Trump administration’s immigration policies who disrupted a church service in Minnesota, BBC reports.

Lemon was arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles on several charges related to his coverage of a protest at a church in St. Paul two weeks ago.

The 59-year-old journalist was arrested Thursday evening in Los Angeles while he was covering the Grammy Awards ceremony, Lemon’s lawyer Abby Lowell said.

On January 18, Lemon, long one of CNN’s most recognizable faces and now a freelance journalist, walked into a Baptist church in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a group of activists. Protesters said one of the church’s pastors serves with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Lemon repeated several times during the broadcast that he was not associated with the participants of the action, but was only covering it.

However, Lemon is charged with conspiracy to violate constitutional rights and violating a law that prohibits the use of force or threats to intentionally interfere with a person’s First Amendment right to religious freedom.

Lemon was released on personal recognizance and will not be subject to pretrial supervision. The judge required him to obtain permission to travel abroad and allowed him to travel to France in June. Prosecutors had pushed for stricter conditions for his release.