By Jana Winter and Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has been arrested for his involvement in a protest at a church, his lawyer and a Justice Department official familiar with the situation said on Friday.
Lemon livestreamed a demonstration earlier this month that interrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, protesting President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the area.
Lemon is charged with conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights
and violating the FACE Act by allegedly obstructing access to a house of worship, according to a Justice Department official. FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested him in Los Angeles, the source said.
Lemon's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, called his arrest an "unprecedented attack on the First Amendment."
Lemon said he was at the demonstration as a journalist. He said he was tipped off ahead of time but did not know the activists would disrupt the service. He can be seen arguing with a parishioner about immigration enforcement.
Trump administration officials quickly condemned the demonstration and accused protesters of intimidating Christian worshippers.
Federal agents arrested three other people and charged them with violating the FACE Act, a 1994 law that prevents obstructing abortion clinics and places of worship, but a U.S. judge earlier this month declined to approve Lemon's arrest, citing a lack of evidence.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lemon spent 17 years at CNN, becoming one of its most recognizable personalities.
CNN fired him in 2023 after he made on-air comments about women and then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley that were widely perceived as sexist. Lemon later apologized.
(Reporting by Jana Winter, Andrew Goudsward, and Katharine Jackson; Editing by Scott Malone, Andy Sullivan and Lisa Shumaker)
