Don Lemon Says DOJ Wanted to ‘Instill Fear’ and ‘Embarrass’ Him With Arrest: ‘That’s Why They Did it That Way’

During his Monday night appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Don Lemon recalled the moments leading up to his arrest.

Lemon said he was out in Los Angeles on Thursday night attending pre-Grammys parties before arriving back at his hotel, where he was arrested by federal agents.

“I got back to the hotel. I had my swag bag from the [party], and I was walking up to the room,” Lemon recalled. “I pressed the elevator button and all of a sudden, I feel myself being jostled and people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs. And I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ They said, ‘We came to arrest you.’ I said, ‘Who are you?’ Finally, they identified. I said, ‘If you are who you are, where’s the warrant?’ They didn’t have the warrant. So, they had to wait for someone outside, an FBI guy to come in, to show me a warrant on a cell phone.”

Earlier in the interview, Lemon said he previously heard rumors that he might be taken into custody and offered to turn himself in. However, he claims his lawyer never heard back from Attorney General Pam Bondi or Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about the offer.

Host Jimmy Kimmel called the ordeal a “waste of resources.” Lemon agreed and said he thought the arrest was designed to send a message.

“They want to embarrass you,” he added. “They want to instill fear. That’s why they did it that way.”

Federal agents took Lemon into custody in Los Angeles on Jan. 29. Lemon’s arrest came after the Department of Justice sought to charge him with a civil rights violation for disrupting a religious service during a Minnesota ICE Protest. The former CNN host turned independent journalist claimed he was not participating as a protester, but was there as a reporter covering the demonstration, which he broadcast on his live stream.

On Friday, a judge released Lemon on his own recognizance. Speaking outside the downtown Los Angeles courthouse, Lemon said his arrest would not hamper his work in the press.

“I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,” he said. “I will not stop ever. Last night, the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night for something that I have been doing for the last 30 years, and that is covering the news. The First Amendment of the Constitution protects me and countless other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them, and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.”