The Trump administration announced Friday it had ordered the arrest of journalist Don Lemon over his coverage of immigration protests in Minneapolis, as President Donald Trump described a nurse shot dead by federal agents in the city as an “agitator.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Lemon, a former CNN anchor now working independently, and several others were arrested “at my direction” on unspecified federal charges related to a “coordinated attack” on the Cities Church in St. Paul, where an ICE official serves as pastor. Lemon’s lawyer confirmed he was taken into custody in Los Angeles overnight and emphasized that his reporting “was no different to what he has always done.” A Minnesota magistrate judge had declined to charge Lemon last week.
The arrest drew swift criticism from press freedom advocates and political leaders. “This is an egregious attack on the First Amendment and on journalists’ ability to do their work,” said Committee to Protect Journalists CEO Jodie Ginsberg. Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called for Lemon’s immediate release.
Trump, meanwhile, defended the federal response to protests, calling 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti—killed by agents on Saturday—an “agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist.” Footage circulating online shows Pretti allegedly in a scuffle with federal agents days before his death, though its authenticity could not be independently verified. Residents questioned the justification for his killing.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that the Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Pretti’s death. The two agents involved have been placed on leave. Trump’s administration has appointed border chief Tom Homan to oversee operations in Minneapolis, signaling a shift from the previously combative approach by local federal commanders and promising a drawdown plan for federal agents if local authorities cooperate.
The killings of Pretti and Renee Good, another Minneapolis resident shot weeks earlier by federal agents, have intensified political scrutiny. In Congress, Democrats are seeking to renegotiate Department of Homeland Security funding, drawing a red line over immigration enforcement amid ongoing government shutdown negotiations.
