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Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday warned protesters against violating a “sacred right” following the arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon earlier that morning, and threatened that if they did, President Donald Trump and his administration would “come after you.”
“Make no mistake, under the leadership of President Trump and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely,” Bondi said in a video posted on X. “And if I haven’t made it clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we will come after you.”
Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles on federal civil rights charges related to his coverage of a Jan. 18 protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in St. Paul, Minnesota, when protesters disrupted a Sunday morning service at Cities Church.
Bondi confirmed Friday in an initial social media post that Lemon was arrested at her “direction” along with freelance journalist Georgia Fort, Black Lives Matter Minnesota co-founder Trahern Jeen Crews, and Hennepin County Prosecutor’s Office staffer Jamael Lydell Lundy.
Bondi described the demonstration, which took place at a church where protesters alleged that one of the pastors was a top ICE official in the state, as a “coordinated attack.”
Lemon’s charges include conspiracy and interference with the First Amendment rights of those who had been worshiping at the church.

Evan Agostini/Invision/News
The vocal Trump critic was in Los Angeles preparing to cover the Grammys on Sunday when he was arrested.
His attorney, Abbe Lowell, noted in a statement that Lemon has been a journalist for 30 years and called the arrest an attack on the First Amendment.
Lowell further explained that Lemon’s “constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role is to shed light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
The White House openly celebrated the arrest on social media, while numerous journalists and Democratic lawmakers condemned it.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) warned: “Trump’s authoritarian takeover is accelerating.”


