Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the arrest of Don Lemon as an “egregious assault” on his constitutional rights as a journalist.
“Don Lemon, an internationally known and renowned journalist and friend, was arrested last night by federal agents and is now in custody in Los Angeles — simply for doing his job and following a protest into a church in Minneapolis while reporting the story,” Bass wrote in a statement Friday morning.
“The arrest of journalists for going into a church in the course of reporting is shocking enough, but what’s even more alarming is that it’s no secret that Don Lemon is a Trump critic.”
Bass claimed the arrest — as well as that of independent journalist Georgia Fort, who was with Lemon when he allegedly stormed a Minnesota church earlier this month — would only further ignite ongoing unrest in the Midwest state following the deaths of two anti-ICE protesters.
“First, Trump’s agents shoot and kill people exercising their First Amendment rights, and now we’re arresting journalists going into a church. It’s an egregious assault on constitutionally protected First Amendment rights,” Bass wrote.
The White House has taken a victory lap on social media over former CNN anchor Don Lemon’s arrest Friday morning.”When life gives you lemons…” the official White House X account captioned a picture of Lemon with details of his apprehension.