Former CNN host Don Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday night and spent the evening in jail before he's expected to be arraigned in court Friday morning.
Lemon was present covering the protest at the church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where protesters said that a church leader was coordinating with federal agents.
A magistrate judge refused to issue an arrest warrant in Minnesota, saying the Justice Department didn't have a case.
Lemon told former colleague Alisyn Camerota last week for Scripps News that he expected this after an outcry from the far-right demanding that he be arrested.
"He was covering the protest. He said he stayed outside of the church until the protest began and then he went inside," said Camerota when speaking to John Berman on air Friday.
"This is what fascism looks like," said podcaster and influencer Joanne Carducci a.k.a. @JoJoFromJerz.
"Attorney for my colleague and friend Don Lemon has released a statement saying Don was arrested by federal agents in LA last night. This is outrageous and cannot stand. The First Amendment is under attack in America," wrote former CNN colleague Jim Acosta on X.
Legal analyst Katie Phang told Acosta on his show: "He has become unfettered. He is a man on the street guy. All he was doing in Minneapolis was letting people know what was happening."
"Trump is thin-skinned. It's disgusting what is happening," said Acosta.
Jim Acosta later added, "Don is there covering it. He's just covering it, and they're trying to criminalize reporting. It's b——, but it's a way to harass people. It's a way to tell people get in line. It's what Viktor Orban does."
Former Minnesota U.S. Attorney Doug Kelley told CNN in a comment that he saw the paperwork the DOJ submitted and that the judge wrote on it "No probable cause." He thinks that the DOJ likely went to a grand jury to get the arrest warrant.
CNN host Jake Tapper posted the initial complaint on X and added, "DOJ’s original complaint against Don was rejected by Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko who refused to sign the criminal complaint and then the DOJ appealed and that too was rejected. That chief judge, Hon. Patrick J. Schiltz — is a former Scalia clerk and George W. Bush appointee"
"You guys are gonna lose this case faster than you lost my press pass case," Acosta commented to Katie Miller, the spouse of top Donald Trump aide Stephen Miller.