According to “The New York Times,” Lemon appeared in federal court in St. Paul today along with four other defendants, all of whom pleaded not guilty.

Don Lemon pleads not guilty to 2 charges in Minnesota church protest case

According to "The New York Times," Lemon appeared in federal court in St. Paul today along with four other defendants, all of whom pleaded not guilty.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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February 13, 2026 7:19 p.m. ET

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Don Lemon leaves a courthouse in St. Paul on Feb. 13, 2026. Credit:

Stephen Maturen/Getty

Former CNN journalist and veteran reporter Don Lemon has pleaded not guilty on two federal charges related to his live coverage of a protest at a Minnesota church service led by an ICE-affiliated pastor.**

According to *The New York Times*, Lemon appeared in federal court in St. Paul today along with four other defendants, all of whom pleaded not guilty. They are among nine people to have been charged in the case on two counts: conspiring to violate religious freedoms at a house of worship, and with injuring, intimidating, and interfering with the exercise of religious freedoms at a place of worship.

The journalist, who was fired from CNN in 2023 and now produces news content for his YouTube show, *The Don Lemon Show*, has maintained he was covering the Jan. 18 protest in his capacity as a journalist.

"The power and protection of the First Amendment has been the underpinning of my work," Lemon told reporters outside of the courthouse Friday, per the *Times*. "The First Amendment, the freedom of the press, is the bedrock of our democracy."

Journalist Don Lemon arrives with his legal team for an arraignment hearing in St. Paul on Feb. 13, 2026.

Stephen Maturen/Getty

Shortly after his arrest, Lemon's attorney, Abbe Lowell, provided a statement to ** confirming that he'd been arrested and later released on a personal recognizance bond.**

"Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done," the statement read. “This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court."

A rep for Lemon didn't immediately respond to EW's request for additional comment Friday.

During a recent sitdown interview on *Jimmy Kimmel Live*, Lemon opened up about the details of his arrest.

"I'm okay, but I'm not going to let them steal my joy. But this is very serious. These are federal, criminal charges," Lemon began.

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He explained to Kimmel that he was arrested in the early hours when he went back to his hotel after attending a pre-Grammys event in Los Angeles.

"All of a sudden, I feel myself being jostled and people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs," Lemon recalled, noting that they told him, "We came to arrest you," allegedly without initially identifying themselves to him. When they did, Lemon said he asked, "'If you are who you say you are, where's the warrant?' They didn't have a warrant, so they had to wait for someone from the outside, an FBI guy, to come in to show me a warrant on his cell phone."

He then said "a bunch of guys" took him outside, including some FBI agents, which Lemon told the late-night host was a waste of resources, given that he'd earlier informed officials that he was willing to turn himself in if he were to be arrested.

"They want to embarrass you, they want to intimidate you, they want to instill fear, that's why they did it that way," he concluded.

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