ABC And CBS Ignore Lemon Being Asked To Leave By Church's Pastor

Alex Christy
January 31st, 2026 2:30 PM

Text to Speech

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When it comes to the case against former CNN host Don Lemon’s alleged role in a recent takeover of a St. Paul church, the two most serious allegations against him are probably those that state he did not leave when the pastor asked him to and that he obstructed congregants as they tried to leave. However, neither ABC’s nor CBS’s Friday evening or Saturday morning news broadcasts reported on those details. While NBC mentioned the part about Lemon being asked to leave, it joined the other two in not explicitly mentioning the obstruction allegation, even if it showed footage of Lemon by the door.

CBS reporter Matt Gutman was the most vocal against Lemon’s arrest on Evening News, declaring, “Tonight, Don Lemon defiantly addressing reporters after being indicted on that federal civil rights charge.”

 

 

After showing video of Lemon at a press conference and from the day of the alleged crime, Gutman didn’t see what the big deal was, “Don Lemon says this act of conventional journalism has landed him in federal court.”

Gutman then profiled co-defendant Georgia Fort, calling her a “Minnesota journalist,” but ignoring her role with the NAACP before playing some clips from Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Trump.

On CBS Saturday Morning, colleague Ian Lee began by warning, “The Trump administration has journalist Don Lemon in its crosshairs. He's facing charges after following a group who disrupted a church service in Minnesota nearly two weeks ago. Lemon says he was reporting on the protesters who claim the pastor is also an immigration official.”

 

 

After clips of Lemon and Bondi, CBS brought out legal analyst Robin Nunn to suggest the case isn’t that strong, “Prosecutors have to show probable cause that there was an actual agreement to interfere with protected rights or physical obstruction under the FACE Act. Reporting on events, even controversial ones, is just not enough.”

Because CBS did not cite it, viewers were left with the impression the indictment doesn’t allege physical obstruction when it actually does.

On ABC’s World News Tonight, Matt Rivers simply recalled “federal agents arresting former CNN anchor and now independent journalist Don Lemon and three more people in connection with this church protest in St. Paul, Minnesota. Anti-ICE protesters disrupting Sunday service nearly two weeks ago, where one of the pastors is also the director of an ICE field office. Lemon was inside covering that protest, interviewing church members.”

The rest of Rivers’ segment featured dueling videos and quotes from Bondi, Fort, Lemon, and his lawyers. A truncated version of his report was given by Ike Ejiochi as part of Good Morning America’s Saturday recap of all things Minneapolis.

 

 

On NBC Nightly News, reporter Liz Kreutz, in her report, observed, “In Lemon's live stream from inside, you can see him interviewing congregates and a pastor who asked him to leave.”

Both ABC and CBS did show B-roll footage of Lemon with the pastor, but viewers would have had no reason to know that the pastor asked Lemon to leave. By contrast, Kreutz showed the pastor telling Lemon, “I have to take care of my church and my family, so I ask that you actually would also leave this building.”

 

 

Kreutz then showed footage of Lemon by the door insisting to congregates, “I'm just chronicling. I'm a journalist. They’re activists.”

It wasn’t all positive for Kreutz. She didn't mention that he is alleged to have obstructed the exit, and after a clip of Bondi, she hyped, “Journalism rights groups blasting Lemon's arrest. His attorney saying, ‘Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.’”

Kreutz’s report would re-air on Saturday’s Today.

Here are transcripts for the January 30 and 31 shows:

ABC World News Tonight

1/30/2026

MATT RIVERS: And tonight, federal agents arresting former CNN anchor and now independent journalist Don Lemon and three more people in connection with this church protest in St. Paul, Minnesota. Anti-ICE protesters disrupting Sunday service nearly two weeks ago, where one of the pastors is also the director of an ICE field office. Lemon was inside covering that protest, interviewing church members.

DON LEMON: I'm not part of the group. I'm just here photographing. I'm a journalist.

RIVERS: Sources telling ABC News Lemon was arrested at a Beverly Hills hotel overnight where he was covering the Grammy Awards. Authorities also arresting independent journalist and NAACP Vice President Georgia Fort.

GEORGIA FORT: Agents are at my door right now.

RIVERS: She captured video showing masked agents peering through her front window. The journalist live streaming as she was taken into custody.

FORT: When you can just be arrested for being a member of the press. We've seen all these violations. All right, guys, I've got to go, they're knocking.

RIVERS: Late today, Fort was released from custody. Attorney General Pam Bondi saying the arrests happened at her direction, calling this in a social media post a quote, “coordinated attack at that church.”

PAM BONDI: You have the right to worship freely and safely. And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.

RIVERS: Lemon's legal team firing back, calling it an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.” A federal judge had previously rejected the DOJ’s attempt to charge Lemon, finding “no evidence” of criminal behavior. But despite that judge's order, Lemon recently telling Scripps News he believed the DOJ would still try to charge him.

LEMON: They will try to fit or retrofit something or go around a judge and just do it themselves. And it doesn't matter. And everything that they say pertains to protesters. I was not a protester.

***

NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas

1/30/2026

LIZ KREUTZ: Tonight former CNN anchor turned independent journalist Don Lemon out of custody but facing federal civil rights charges after covering an anti-ICE protest inside a church near Minneapolis. Appearing in Los Angeles Federal Court today, Lemon charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and for violating a federal law that prohibits people from interfering with the right to attend religious services, a move Lemon's attorney calls an "unprecedented attack on the First Amendment."

DON LEMON: I'm just here to chronicle and to get some answers.

KREUTZ: The charges stemming from Lemon's coverage of this protest during a Sunday morning church service earlier this month where demonstrators say a pastor also worked as an ICE field director.

LEMON: This shows you just how divided America is when you look at the protesters here and then you look at the people there praying.

KREUTZ: In Lemon's live stream from inside, you can see him interviewing congregates and a pastor who asked him to leave.

PASTOR: We're here to worship Jesus because that's the hope of these cities. That’s the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.

LEMON: I’m going to be very respectful. Please don't push me.

[jump cut]

PASTOR: I have to take care of my church and my family, so I ask that you actually would also leave this building.

KREUTZ: Lemon repeatedly identifies himself as a journalist.

LEMON: I'm just chronicling. I'm a journalist. They’re activists.

KREUTZ: But The DOJ is grouping Lemon, who has been critical of the Trump administration, and another independent journalist, who was also arrested, with the protest organizers. Federal authorities arresting Lemon, even after a judge had initially ruled there was insufficient evidence to do so.

PAM BONDI: Make no mistake, under President Trump's leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely, and if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.

KREUTZ: Journalism rights groups blasting Lemon's arrest. His attorney saying, “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.”

***

CBS Evening News

1/30/2026

6:37 PM ET

MATT GUTMAN: Tonight, Don Lemon defiantly addressing reporters after being indicted on that federal civil rights charge.

DON LEMON: I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now.

I'm just going to walk in.

GUTMAN: Don Lemon says this act of conventional journalism has landed him in federal court. Tonight he is facing charges of disrupting a Minnesota church service nearly two weeks ago.

LEMON: I'm not going to get in the middle of it because I'm not here as an activist. I’m here as a journalist.

GUTMAN: Lemon followed demonstrators inside a church whose pastor was also an immigration official.

Lemon was arrested last night in Los Angeles where he was covering the Grammys. Meanwhile, 1500 miles away—

GEORGIA FORT: Agents are at my door right now.

LEMON: Minnesota journalist Georgia Fort, who was also at the church, posted live as she was about to be arrested. Lemon has defended his actions that day.

LEMON: I was there something chronicling what they were doing, which is what journalists do all the time.

GUTMAN: But two days after that protest, President Trump called him out.

DONALD TRUMP: Like Don Lemon, who is, you know, a loser, lightweight. I saw him, the way walked in that church, it was terrible.

Reporter: When the Trump administration first tried to indict Lemon and Fort, it was rejected by two federal judges in Minnesota. Today, attorney general Pam Bondi said it was her decision to arrest the journalists.

PAM BONDI: You have the right to worship freely and safely. And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.

LEMON: And I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.

GUTMAN: Tony, his day in court is February 9th in Minneapolis, just a short time ago, he said “no time is more important for a free and independent media” and that he will not stop now or ever. His attorney said they will fight this case vigorously in court, Tony.

***

CBS Saturday Morning

1/31/2026

8:08 AM ET

IAN LEE: The Trump administration has journalist Don Lemon in its crosshairs. He's facing charges after following a group who disrupted a church service in Minnesota nearly two weeks ago. Lemon says he was reporting on the protesters who claim the pastor is also an immigration official.

DON LEMON: I'm not going to get in the middle of it it because I'm not here as an activist. I'm here as a journalist.

LEE: Attorney General Pam Bondi said it was her decision to make the arrest.

PAM BONDI: You have the right to worship freely and safely. And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.

LEE: Federal agents arrested Lemon in Los Angeles Thursday night along with three other people in Minnesota including a local journalist.

LEMON: I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now.

LEE: The indictment names Lemon and eight others alleging they conspired and launched a coordinated take over-style attack at a church.

ROBIN NUNN: Prosecutors have to show probable cause that there was an actual agreement to interfere with protected rights or physical obstruction under the FACE Act. Reporting on events, even controversial ones, is just not enough.

 

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