Incident details
- Date of incident
- February 27, 2026
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Targets
- Junn Bollmann (Independent)
- Arrest status
- Arrested and released
- Arresting authority
- Homeland Security Investigations
- Charges
-
-
Conspiracy: conspiracy against right of religious freedom at place of worship
- Feb. 26, 2026: Charges pending
-
Obstruction: injure, intimidate and interfere with exercise of right of religious freedom at place of worship
- Feb. 26, 2026: Charges pending
-
Conspiracy: conspiracy against right of religious freedom at place of worship
- Unnecessary use of force?
- No
Arrest/Criminal Charge
- Equipment searched or seized
- Status of equipment
- In custody
- Search warrant obtained
- No
Equipment Search or Seizure
Photographer Junn Bollmann was arrested in Los Angeles on Feb. 27, 2026, after he was indicted on civil rights charges for his coverage of a protest that disrupted services at Cities Church, above, in St. Paul, Minnesota, in January.
Shane Ryan Bollman, a documentary photographer known professionally as Junn Bollmann, was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 27, 2026, after a grand jury indicted him the previous day on charges connected to his coverage of a protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service in January.
Demonstrations in the Twin Cities area had been taking place since the beginning of January, following the expansion of an immigration enforcement crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, and federal officers’ fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents — Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Multiple members of the press followed demonstrators as they entered Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18 to voice their opposition to ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. Protest organizers said the church was targeted because one of the pastors was allegedly an interim director for the local ICE field office.
The indictment alleges Bollmann was present at a pre-demonstration meeting at a nearby shopping center, but the photographer is not included among those accused of engaging in “various chants,” “hostile and aggressive gestures” or any other activities while at the church.
He was, however, charged the same as the church protesters — conspiring to deprive rights and interfering with someone’s religious freedom in a house of worship.
Independent journalist Georgia Fort and former CNN anchor Don Lemon were also indicted in January for their coverage and were named in the superseding indictment.
Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Bollman on Feb. 27 outside his LA apartment, transferring him from the city’s Roybal Federal Building to the U.S. Marshals Service building and back before his arraignment and release, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
CPJ reported that the photographer’s electronic devices — including his cellphone, camera and laptop — were seized during his arrest and had yet to be returned.
Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project, condemned the Lemon and Fort arrests at the time as “naked attacks on freedom of the press.”
“The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them,” said Seth Stern, FPF’s chief of advocacy. “The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
