Don Lemon recounted his January arrest during a recent appearance on ABC’s “The View,” where the famed journalist tearfully shared his experience being taken into custody following coverage of a Minnesota ICE protest.. The host of “The Don Lemon Show” on YouTube that boasts almost 1.3 million subscribers, sat alongside panelist, former co-worker, and long-time friend Sunny Hostin to discuss the incident.. ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA. On Thursday, April 2, former CNN anchor Don Lemon paid a visit to “The View” and spoke about his experience being arrested in a Los Angeles hotel room days after doing on-the-ground coverage of an ICE protest at a Minnesota church.. Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles while in town to cover the 2026 Grammy Awards, but his legal team attempted to contact the Department of Justice beforehand when word spread that the journalist would be arrested. However, Lemon said they were ignored in favor of publicly embarrassing him.. “All they had to do was [say] ‘Hey, Mr. Lemon, turn yourself in,’” he said.. Hostin agreed with his assessment of the DOJ favoring public embarrassment, stating they wanted “to send a message to intimidate and harass.”. “I’ve been leaning on Sunny for counsel just as a friend. No legal stuff, but just as a friend,” Lemon said while on the panel, adding the DOJ chose to arrest him despite his willingness to turn himself in “because they want to embarrass people.”. The conversation took an emotional turn when Lemon teared up recalling how federal agents taking off a wedding present from his husband was the only way his arrest was known.. “I was fiddling with it, [and an agent] was like, ‘Do you want me to take that off?’” Lemon said of the diamond bracelet given to him by his husband Tim.. “There was an FBI agent that walked up to me and said, ‘I will take care of it.’ I said, ‘Give this to my husband…’ And he took it up. That was the only way that anybody knew that I’d been arrested,” he shared.. ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA. While staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel during Grammy weekend, Lemon was taken into custody by more than two dozen federal agents, from both the FBI and Homeland Security, according to PEOPLE.. Per the outlet, Lemon was arrested around 11 p.m. local time in Los Angeles at the famed location, when agents showed up at his hotel room door.. Following his arrest, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson issued a statement to the outlet regarding Lemon’s charges.. “Don Lemon is being charged with 18 USC 241, Conspiracy to Deprive Rights, and 18 USC 248, Violation of the FACE Act, interfering by force of someone’s First Amendment rights,” the spokesperson said.. The overwhelming response to Lemon’s arrest was generally supportive, and when the number of agents on hand to arrest him was released, the sentiment included what many believe to be a massive overreach.. “That is wildly excessive. That’s treating someone like they
