The Trump Administration Arrested Don Lemon Like He Was a Fugitive Slave
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
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/ January 30, 2026
The Trump Administration Arrested Don Lemon Like He Was a Fugitive Slave
Lemon’s arrest is not only a clear violation of the First Amendment but also a blatant throwback to the Constitution’s long-discarded Fugitive Slave Clause.
Elie Mystal
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Don Lemon speaks onstage during the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center’s 2025 Ripple of Hope Gala in New York.
(Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for RFK Ripple Of Hope)
The Department of Justice arrested two journalists, Don Lemon, and Georgia Fort, in connection with their coverage of a protest that took place inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 18. The DOJ also arrested two activists, Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy, for their role in the protest. All four of the people arrested are Black.
The arrests of the two journalists are clearly unconstitutional. You don’t need to be a legal scholar to know that arresting journalists for covering the news is a clear violation of the First Amendment. Lemon’s arrest is also flatly illegal. Last week, the Trump administration went to a federal magistrate judge, Douglas L. Micko, to ask for an arrest warrant for Lemon. The judge refused. The Trump administration then appealed and lost that appeal. The legal system literally said the government couldn’t arrest Lemon, but the government arrested him anyway, and they went all the way to Los Angeles (far from Minnesota) to get him.
Georgia Fort is a prominent Black journalist based in Minnesota. She was out front in covering the George Floyd protests, and expertly covered the trial of his killer, Derek Chauvin. I have little doubt that this prior reporting is among the reasons she was targeted by the Trump administration.
I know less about the activists: Crews is a cofounder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, while Lundy works in the Hennepin County Attorney’s office and recently announced his candidacy for the Minnesota state Senate. I also know that arresting people for protesting is a violation of the First Amendment.
In her tweet proclaiming the arrests, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the four were arrested “at my direction.” Later reports suggested that the DOJ empaneled a federal grand jury that issued the arrest warrants for Lemon and Fort, but didn’t explain the cause for arresting Crews and Lundy. Going to a grand jury to get an arrest warrant that a judge and appeals court previously denied on constitutional grounds is highly unusual in a democracy, but I guess it’s how the fascists play the game.
I expect, at a minimum, that the arrests of Lemon and Fort will be thrown out in …
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
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The Trump Administration Arrested Don Lemon Like He Was a Fugitive Slave
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/ January 30, 2026
The Trump Administration Arrested Don Lemon Like He Was a Fugitive Slave
Lemon’s arrest is not only a clear violation of the First Amendment but also a blatant throwback to the Constitution’s long-discarded Fugitive Slave Clause.
Elie Mystal
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Don Lemon speaks onstage during the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center’s 2025 Ripple of Hope Gala in New York.
(Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for RFK Ripple Of Hope)
The Department of Justice arrested two journalists, Don Lemon, and Georgia Fort, in connection with their coverage of a protest that took place inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 18. The DOJ also arrested two activists, Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy, for their role in the protest. All four of the people arrested are Black.
The arrests of the two journalists are clearly unconstitutional. You don’t need to be a legal scholar to know that arresting journalists for covering the news is a clear violation of the First Amendment. Lemon’s arrest is also flatly illegal. Last week, the Trump administration went to a federal magistrate judge, Douglas L. Micko, to ask for an arrest warrant for Lemon. The judge refused. The Trump administration then appealed and lost that appeal. The legal system literally said the government couldn’t arrest Lemon, but the government arrested him anyway, and they went all the way to Los Angeles (far from Minnesota) to get him.
Georgia Fort is a prominent Black journalist based in Minnesota. She was out front in covering the George Floyd protests, and expertly covered the trial of his killer, Derek Chauvin. I have little doubt that this prior reporting is among the reasons she was targeted by the Trump administration.
I know less about the activists: Crews is a cofounder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, while Lundy works in the Hennepin County Attorney’s office and recently announced his candidacy for the Minnesota state Senate. I also know that arresting people for protesting is a violation of the First Amendment.
In her tweet proclaiming the arrests, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the four were arrested “at my direction.” Later reports suggested that the DOJ empaneled a federal grand jury that issued the arrest warrants for Lemon and Fort, but didn’t explain the cause for arresting Crews and Lundy. Going to a grand jury to get an arrest warrant that a judge and appeals court previously denied on constitutional grounds is highly unusual in a democracy, but I guess it’s how the fascists play the game.
I expect, at a minimum, that the arrests of Lemon and Fort will be thrown out in …
The Trump Administration Arrested Don Lemon Like He Was a Fugitive Slave
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
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The Trump Administration Arrested Don Lemon Like He Was a Fugitive Slave
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/ January 30, 2026
The Trump Administration Arrested Don Lemon Like He Was a Fugitive Slave
Lemon’s arrest is not only a clear violation of the First Amendment but also a blatant throwback to the Constitution’s long-discarded Fugitive Slave Clause.
Elie Mystal
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Don Lemon speaks onstage during the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center’s 2025 Ripple of Hope Gala in New York.
(Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for RFK Ripple Of Hope)
The Department of Justice arrested two journalists, Don Lemon, and Georgia Fort, in connection with their coverage of a protest that took place inside a church in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 18. The DOJ also arrested two activists, Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy, for their role in the protest. All four of the people arrested are Black.
The arrests of the two journalists are clearly unconstitutional. You don’t need to be a legal scholar to know that arresting journalists for covering the news is a clear violation of the First Amendment. Lemon’s arrest is also flatly illegal. Last week, the Trump administration went to a federal magistrate judge, Douglas L. Micko, to ask for an arrest warrant for Lemon. The judge refused. The Trump administration then appealed and lost that appeal. The legal system literally said the government couldn’t arrest Lemon, but the government arrested him anyway, and they went all the way to Los Angeles (far from Minnesota) to get him.
Georgia Fort is a prominent Black journalist based in Minnesota. She was out front in covering the George Floyd protests, and expertly covered the trial of his killer, Derek Chauvin. I have little doubt that this prior reporting is among the reasons she was targeted by the Trump administration.
I know less about the activists: Crews is a cofounder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, while Lundy works in the Hennepin County Attorney’s office and recently announced his candidacy for the Minnesota state Senate. I also know that arresting people for protesting is a violation of the First Amendment.
In her tweet proclaiming the arrests, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the four were arrested “at my direction.” Later reports suggested that the DOJ empaneled a federal grand jury that issued the arrest warrants for Lemon and Fort, but didn’t explain the cause for arresting Crews and Lundy. Going to a grand jury to get an arrest warrant that a judge and appeals court previously denied on constitutional grounds is highly unusual in a democracy, but I guess it’s how the fascists play the game.
I expect, at a minimum, that the arrests of Lemon and Fort will be thrown out in …
