FLASHBACK: Don Lemon previously told Black, Brown citizens to carry guns in case ICE shows up
Following the Justice Department's (DOJ) announcement that it is considering charges against ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon for his alleged role in the disruption of a church service in Minnesota, attention has returned to past remarks in which he urged Black and Brown Americans "of all stripes" to legally arm themselves in case ICE agents come to their homes.
Lemon made the comment on "The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali" last October, clarifying that he was not "condoning or promoting violence" but that he was tired of "the niceties" while ICE agents were "rounding [people] up off the street without due process" and "sending them off to a gulag."
"If you believe in the Second Amendment, if you believe in the Constitution, Black people, Brown people of all stripes, whether you're an Indian American or a Mexican American or whoever you are, go out in your place where you live and get a gun legally. Get a license to carry legally," Lemon said. "Because when you have people knocking on your door and taking you away without due process as a citizen, isn't that what the Second Amendment was written for?"
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Lemon said he hoped the sentiment could "knock some sense" into people within the Trump administration.
"Nobody is illegal," Lemon argued. "It is a misdemeanor to cross the border. Now, if you do it a number of times, then it becomes something else. But… there's nowhere near the level of criminality, we have degrees of criminality in this country, and what Donald Trump did is at the highest level of criminality, except for taking someone's life, and someone who is crossing the border is nowhere near that."
In a statement to Fox News Digital from October, Ali defended Lemon’s comments, saying that Republicans should be open to the idea of more armed citizens.
"I only speak for myself, but Don Lemon has a right to express his views in the United States of America thanks to the First Amendment which is allegedly championed by the Trump administration," Ali said. "If anything, I'd assume Republicans would agree with him that Americans have the right to legally bear arms thanks to the 2nd Amendment. Unless, of course, they only believe that right exists for [W]hite Trump supporters? If so, they should admit that publicly."
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Lemon did not return Fox News Digital's prior request for comment regarding his comments on "Left Hook."
On Sunday, Lemon followed anti-ICE protesters into St. Paul's Cities Church as agitators believed its pastor was working with the Trump administration in its effort to round up illegal immigrants.
Following the chaotic church protest, the DOJ said it is considering bringing charges against the anti-ICE agitators involved, as well as Lemon, under statutes such as the FACE Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act.
The DOJ's assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon, suggested on Monday that Lemon's actions at the protest were illegal.
"A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest!" Dhillon told Lemon on X. "It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice!"
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also chimed in, telling Fox News' Will Cain on Monday that the DOJ was "absolutely investigating" Lemon's conduct and scoffed at the notion that his actions are protected by the freedom of the press.
Despite warnings from the DOJ and public backlash over his reporting of the protest, Lemon has remained defiant and defended his actions.
"It’s notable that I’ve been cast as the face of a protest I was covering as a journalist — especially since I wasn’t the only reporter there. That framing is telling," Lemon told Fox News Digital in a statement. "What’s even more telling is the barrage of violent threats, along with homophobic and racist slurs, directed at me online by MAGA supporters and amplified by parts of the right-wing press."
"If this much time and energy is going to be spent manufacturing outrage, it would be far better used investigating the tragic death of Renee Nicole Good— the very issue that brought people into the streets in the first place," Lemon continued. "I stand by my reporting."
As of Tuesday morning, no charges have officially been filed against Lemon.
Fox News Digital's Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.