Don Lemon compares Minnesota church arrest to civil rights leaders 'fighting for our freedom'

Former CNN host Don Lemon likened his arrest to civil rights protesters of the past during a speech on Saturday.

Lemon spoke at the Human Rights Campaign’s 2026 Greater New York dinner following his arrest and release for his alleged role in an anti-immigration enforcement protest at a Minnesota church.

"So last week, I felt the weight of that truth in a very, very personal way," Lemon said. "Can you imagine the state having control of your freedom simply because they don't like that you are doing your job? So that was very frightening to me."

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He continued, "But in my time when I was there, I thought about all the people who come before me. I thought about all of the people who fought for civil rights who fought for gay rights, all of the people who were at Stonewall, [Marsha P. Johnson]. I'm like, yes, those are the people, those are the real heroes. And so what’s happening to me, I have at least in this time that I’m living now more agency, more resources, more rights than I hope than the people who were fighting for our freedom and our civil rights."

Though Lemon compared his struggles to those of civil rights protesters, he insisted earlier in his remarks that he was a "journalist" and "not a protester."

"I saw how fast a story can be turned into a warning. But I'm not an activist. I'm not a protester. I am a journalist. And my calling is not to shout, but my calling is to witness. And that's what they're afraid of, of that witness to tell," Lemon said.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Lemon for comment.

Lemon was charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and a FACE Act violation stemming from his involvement with a group protesting Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) at St. Paul’s Cities Church last month. He was released without bail on Jan. 30.

In a Substack post made shortly after his release, Lemon drew comparisons between his experience and that of James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

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"James Baldwin understood that clarity carries consequences. Dr. King knew that truth invites punishment. Malcolm X saw that systems built on hierarchy will always attempt to silence those who name them. And as voices in the Black prophetic tradition have long warned, truth that threatens power will be met with the full force of authority. And I have felt that force in my own life," Lemon wrote.