He's Not Joking: Jim Acosta Claims Don Lemon Was Arrested Because He's Black
Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta claimed on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration arrested Don Lemon because of his race.
Federal authorities arrested Lemon in Los Angeles, California, Thursday night in connection with the disruption of a worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 18.
Acosta argued on “The Jim Acosta Show” that Trump’s administration is only targeting Lemon simply because he is black, not because he may have committed a crime.
WARNING: The following post and video contain vulgar language that some may find offensive.
🚨🚨 @Acosta actually said that Trump had Don Lemon arrested because he’s black.
“Trump likes to fuck with Don because Don is black, and we just need to say that too. Trump is racist and he’s always attacked Don in racially loaded ways, calls him stupid and things like that and… pic.twitter.com/ZkpRQBwJSL
— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) January 30, 2026
“Trump likes to f*** with Don because Don is black, and we just need to say that, too,” he said. Trump is racist, and he’s always attacked Don in racially loaded ways, calls him stupid and things like that, and it’s disgraceful, it’s disgusting,” Acosta said.
Lemon live-streamed himself entering the church along with the protesters, who organized a demonstration against an associate pastor who also serves as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Lemon maintained that all he did was “commit an act of journalism” by going inside, though Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon previously said his prior knowledge of the protesters’ plans could implicate him.
Acosta also asserted that Lemon went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for journalistic purposes and that the Trump administration took advantage of that to “f***” with him.
“Everybody needs to get pissed off, you know, everybody needs to take to the streets, everybody needs to get online, get on social media, talk about how they support Don, how they’re gonna stand up for Don,” Acosta continued.
“And, you know, this is not some social media thing where Don’s doing this for clicks or any of that bulls***. Don went there to cover the killing of an American citizen by ICE and was covering a protest, and then the federal government said, and the Trump people said, ‘Oh, here’s a way to f*** with Don. We’ll f*** with him this way.’ They went in search of a technicality that they think is a viable and legal case, and it’s just not.”
Lemon is being charged with Conspiracy to Deprive Rights and Violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and interfering by force of someone’s First Amendment rights, a source with the Department of Homeland Security told The Los Angeles Times.
The Department of Justice also arrested Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy in connection with the incident.
Before these arrests, federal officials also arrested Chauntyll Louisa Allen, Nekima Levy Armstrong, and William Kelly on Jan. 22.
The protesters stormed into the church during a service and shouted, “Justice for Renee Good,” who was fatally shot by an ICE agent on Jan. 7 after ramming him with her vehicle. The agent suffered from internal bleeding in the torso as a result of the incident.
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