Don Lemon

Molly Butler / Media Matters

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After calling for Don Lemon’s arrest, right-wing media are now celebrating it

Written by Reed McMaster & Ben Van Bloem

Published

Right-wing media figures called for Don Lemon's arrest, claiming he needed to be “next to fall” and made an “example out of” after he and fellow independent journalist Georgia Fort covered a January 18 protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a Minnesota church. After they were arrested on January 30, right-wing media figures celebrated, calling it “a wonderful thing to happen” and stating that it was time for Lemon to “feel some trauma.”

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  • Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents after reporting on a protest at a Minnesota church

    • Lemon and Fort documented protesters in Minnesota who disrupted a church service on January 18 after hearing reports that a pastor at the church was an ICE official. Lemon and Fort have now been indicted by a grand jury and were arrested by FBI and Homeland Security agents on January 30. The BBC reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi accused them of participating in a “coordinated attack” with the protesters against the church. [BBC, 1/30/26]
    • Lemon and Fort have both stated that they attended the protest as journalists there to document the event, not as protesters themselves. In a video recorded at the scene on January 18, Lemon stated, “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group. … I’m a journalist.” CNN reported that Fort “made the same points in a Facebook Live stream when federal agents arrived at her home early Friday morning. ‘This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media,’ Fort said before she surrendered to agents” [CNN, 1/30/26]
    • Before the arrests, right-wing figures accused Lemon of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and floated charging him under an 1871 law against the Ku Klux Klan. Conservative media personalities Benny Johnson and Will Chamberlain accused Lemon of violating the FACE Act, which criminalizes impeding a person's access to abortion clinics and places of worship. In an interview with Johnson, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon “floated the possibility of invoking the Enforcement Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act,” to charge Lemon. [The Independent, 1/19/26; U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, accessed 1/30/26; HuffPost, 1/20/26]
    • Multiple press freedom groups and Lemon's former employer CNN condemned the arrest, accusing the administration of violating his First Amendment rights. CNN wrote, “The FBl’s arrest of our former CNN colleague Don Lemon raises profoundly concerning questions about press freedom and the First Amendment.” The network further stated, “The First Amendment in the United States protects journalists who bear witness to news and events as they unfold, ensuring they can report freely in the public interest, and the DOJ’s attempts to violate those rights is unacceptable.” [CNN, 1/30/26]

  • Right-wing media called for Lemon’s arrest after the January 18 church protest

    • Daily Wire podcaster Matt Walsh praised the arrests of protesters, declaring, “Don Lemon needs to be the next to fall” and “everybody who stormed that church needs to be arrested.” Walsh said, “And so, this is hopefully just the beginning. And as we know, Don Lemon needs to be the next to fall. And I mean, everybody who stormed the church needs to be arrested. And we’re moving in that direction now, which is great.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh show, 1/22/26]
    • Streamer Zach Hoyt, known as Asmongold, said he would be “so happy” if Lemon was put “in jail under the Ku Klux Klan Act.” Hoyt celebrated “The Klan Act? Bro, Don Lemon is gonna get charged with the Klan Act. … Absolute fucking cinema. Bro, if they put him in jail under the Ku Klux Klan Act, that's going to be impressive. I'll be so happy.” [Twitch, Zachrawr, 1/20/26]
    • Fox host Emily Compagno listed off “a whole host of things” she'd charge Lemon with, including child endangerment. Compagno said, “If I were the federal prosecutor, I would charge, yes, the FACE Act, I would charge civil rights, I would charge conspiracy, I would charge obstruction of free exercise of religion, I would charge federal trespass, harassment, a whole host of things — and on the state level, child endangerment, too.” She complained, “What if they were armed? Try that in my church. This is sickening to me. And then to have Don Lemon try to mealymouth his way out of it, you know what? If he continues that charade I would charge him with lying to a federal officer.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 1/20/26]
    • On Sean Hannity’s radio show, Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett fantasized that Lemon “could be prosecuted as a willing participant” in the protest. Jarrett claimed that the FACE Act “fits like a glove,” adding, “On top of that, I would throw in trespass, disorderly conduct, [and] disturbing a religious meeting, which are normally state crimes. Look, Don Lemon could be prosecuted as a willing participant. He committed trespass, he appears, as you and I discussed last night, to have embedded himself in the mob. He knew full well what they intended to do — commit those crimes I’ve described.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 1/20/26]
    • Speaking about Lemon and the church protesters with podcaster Tim Pool, white nationalist Nick Fuentes argued, “I think you got to crush them. You got to make an example out of them.” Fuentes said, “What's funny is what happens with the right, they just get the book thrown at them. There's no defense. Ashli Babbitt, was there a big discussion in the national press about was that justified? Was that overkill? No. Absolutely not. But the left knows they get away with literally murder and every other thing. So I think you got to crush them. You got to make an example out of them. And then the next time, people think twice and say I don't know. Should we storm the church? We might go to jail like those other people.” [Rumble, TimcastIRL, 1/20/26]
    • On The Benny Show, Walsh called to prosecute Lemon with “every possible crime that you can charge him with legally” after he covered the church protest. Walsh argued, “Find every possible crime that you can charge him with legally. And there's a bunch. It's not just one. Find every crime you can charge him with. Charge him with every single one down to the letter and then give him the maximum possible sentence for every single one.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 1/22/26]
    • An op-ed in The Christian Post argued that Lemon and other protesters should be charged under the FACE Act. Op-ed contributor Daniel Schmid wrote, “Don Lemon and his Marxist mob stormed a Temple of the Most High God, and they ought to be prosecuted for it. Anything less would leave the Republic bewildered as to which face of the Department of Justice may be true.” [The Christian Post, 1/22/26]
    • Appearing on Hannity’s radio show again, Jarrett said Lemon should have been charged with a “hate crime” against white people. Jarrett argued churchgoers “were taunted because of their race, which qualifies as a hate crime.” [Premiere Radio Network, The Sean Hannity Show, 1/30/26]

  • Right-wing media celebrated and defended Lemon’s arrest on January 30 as “pretty unimpeachable”

    • Podcaster Megyn Kelly celebrated the arrest and claimed it was time for Lemon “to feel some trauma.” She stated, “Now it's time for you to feel some trauma. And we don't feel sorry for you because unlike those poor parishioners you actually did bring this upon yourself.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 1/30/26]
    • On Instagram, The Daily Wire celebrated Lemon’s arrest by posting a video of the character Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air dancing. The video’s caption said, “Actual footage of what happened in my brain when I woke up to the news that don lemon was arrested.” [The Daily Wire, 1/30/26; Instagram, 1/30/26]
    • The Daily Wire's Michael Knowles called Lemon's arrest “a wonderful thing to happen” and claimed it's “good for society.” He stated, “This is, without any qualification, a wonderful thing to happen. It is good for society, it is good for law and order, it's even good for Don Lemon because the guy is clearly very messed up.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 1/30/26]
    • Benny Johnson celebrated his show’s advocacy for Lemon’s arrest, claiming, “We were the Grand Central Station for arrest Don Lemon.” Johnson stated that he was “proud to have been part of the telling of the truth on this story, to keep the heat up on Don Lemon.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 1/30/26]
    • Conspiracy theorist Sherri Tenpenny celebrated the arrest of Lemon on Telegram and called for more arrests. She wrote, “Don't you love how good news always comes on a Friday? Minutes ago, I saw this! Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has been arrested, a Justice Department official familiar with the situation said on Friday. Lemon livestreamed a demonstration that interrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this month that protested President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the area. Yes! Let's keep going. We have a LONG list of people we'd like to see taken into custody!” [Telegram, 1/30/26; Media Matters, 7/19/23]
    • Fox host Jesse Watters called the protesters “Lemon’s mob” and argued that he “wasn’t an independent journalist. He was on their team.” Watters said, “Parents were grabbing their children and fleeing for safety. Lemon's mob was menacing families and calling them Nazis. He was encouraging and supporting the reprehensible behavior, and at one point thanked the ringleader. Lemon wasn't an independent journalist. He was on their team.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 1/30/26]
    • Fox host Charles Hurt argued that because it was a “grand jury that did indict him,” the indictment is “pretty unimpeachable.” On Fox & Friends, Hurt said, “Of course if it was a grand jury that did indict him, that's pretty unimpeachable.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/30/26]