Harmeet Dhillon targets journalists as assistant attorney general

Jan. 18, 2026 | DOJ civil rights official pursues charges against reporter, producer for protest coverage

Jan. 18, 2026 | DOJ civil rights official pursues charges against reporter, producer for protest coverage

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon indicated on Jan. 18, 2026, that she planned to pursue charges against independent journalist Don Lemon and his producer following their coverage of an immigration protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The former CNN anchor and his film crew followed demonstrators as they entered the church earlier that day, disrupting the service to protest the federal immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities area and the fatal shooting of Renee Good.

Dhillon condemned the protest in a post on social media that evening, telling Lemon he was “on notice” and that the First Amendment doesn’t protect his “pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service.”

The following day, Dhillon said that her office would seek charges against everyone present at the protest, NBC News reported, and specifically called out Lemon for his coverage.

“Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility,” Dhillon said in a podcast interview with conservative influencer Benny Johnson. “He went into the facility, and then he began — quote, unquote — ‘committing journalism,’ as if that’s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part, of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t.”

Lemon told NBC in an email that he stands by his reporting, adding that “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.”

The National Association of Black Journalists condemned Dhillon’s actions and rhetoric targeting Lemon in a Jan. 21 statement.

“NABJ’s support for Don Lemon is grounded not only in solidarity with our colleague, but in our unwavering defense of press freedom and journalistic integrity,” NABJ President Errin Haines said. “Any public suggestion that journalists may face criminal consequences for documenting protests sends a dangerous message that threatens the independence of the press and weakens the democratic principles journalism exists to protect.”

A federal magistrate judge refused to issue charges against Lemon, CBS News reported Jan. 22. In a statement shared by Lemon that day, his attorney Abbe Lowell praised the magistrate’s decision, saying it confirmed that Lemon had been working in a journalistic capacity.

“It was no different than what he has done for more than 30 years, reporting and covering newsworthy events on the ground and engaging in constitutionally protected activity as a journalist,” Lowell said. “Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”

The Justice Department appealed the magistrate’s decision, but in a Jan. 23 ruling, a federal appellate court declined to order the judge to sign arrest warrants for Lemon and his producer, MS NOW reported.

In an interview on “The Megyn Kelly Show” later that day, Dhillon said that her office was still pursuing charges against Lemon for conspiracy and violating a federal law that prohibits the use of force or intimidation to prevent access to places of worship or reproductive health services.

“We did our homework, sent prosecutors there to the ground, took affidavits, took evidence. They buttressed the case that we could witness from Lemon’s own testimony and his statements — and admissions against interest — in his own videos,” Dhillon said. “We have aggressively and very rapidly sought legal process.

“He is not out of legal jeopardy,” Dhillon added. “We’re going to pursue this to the ends of the earth.”