MN - Journalist Don Lemon arrested for church protest, Minneapolis, 18 Jan 2026

[Sundog]

Yes, on reading further, one appeals judge agreed. But was in the minority.

So, three out of 4 judges declined to sign arrest warrants.

<snipped for focus>

From the 8th Circuit Court's decision on the arrest warrants that you posted above, it sounds to me like all four of the judges agreed that there was probable cause for the arrest warrants, but that "the government has failed to establish that it has no other adequate means of obtaining the requested relief."

So to me, the decision wasn't based on not having probable cause for the arrests, but on the latter issue that I bolded above from the Appeal Court's decision.

Perhaps @PrairieWind can provide us, as an attorney, with an understanding of what that means. As a non-lawyer, it sounds to me that the Court's decision was made on a kind of technicality, and not on the issue of probable cause.

Since "probable cause" was not the issue, it appears, then taking the case to a grand jury seems appropriate.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72185493/00805439026/2/in-re-united-states-of-america/

BBM

 

[Sundog]

I find it strange that he says “You don’t want us to worship”. He included himself by using the word “us”. What a strange thing to ask since they disrupted the worship service. imo

Another good observation that many of us missed!

 

[SouthAussie]

Are you able to read the affidavits or are you restricted since you aren't in the US? Serious question. I know some other countries have issues here and there.

Yes, I have read the affidavits. They don't seem to be geo-restricted.

 

[LAborn]

The question is whether Lemon has violated the FACE Act. There is no question he is aware of the planned disruption of a scheduled worship service, and that he enters with them, and during the time of this worship service is interviewing a pastor that has indicated he has asked the protesters to leave. Clearly Lemon's own interview is disrupting the service.

 

[Hexe]

He filmed himself doing it.

He literally livestreamed himself in a church, during their regularly schedule time of worship, actively participating in interrupting the service.

How?

He wasn't participating in the worship, he was walking around, talking and filming and quite audibly making commentary on what was going on.

He started to make live commentary, as far as I remember, when the protest started, so when the service was already interrupted by others. <modsnip: off topic/unnecessary>

Don Lemon was not interrupting anything. He was documenting the events. That's literally his job as a journalist.

MOO

 

[otto]

I find it strange that he says “You don’t want us to worship”. He included himself by using the word “us”. What a strange thing to ask since they disrupted the worship service. imo

It is a very strange response from Lemon - comes off as argumentative - in my opinion.

Lemon is an independent journalist interviewing a pastor during a church service. He is not there to "worship", and neither are the protesters.

The pastor told Lemon that he could stay and worship. Although Lemon remained in the church for another 13 minutes, Lemon does not take time to worship.

It's like he flipped the script in the middle of the interview, implying that a request for protesters and independent journalists to leave the church meant that the pastor was depriving them of the right to worship in the church.

FBI affidavit in suport of arrest warrant | PDF | U.S. Immigration And Customs Enforcement | American Government

This affidavit, submitted by Special Agent Timothy Gerber, outlines the investigation into a group of agitators who disrupted a religious service at Cities Church in St. Paul, MN on January 18, 2026. The group, led by Nekima Valdez Levy-Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, coordinated their...

www.scribd.com

 

[CSIDreamer]

How?



He started to make live commentary, as far as I remember, when the protest started, so when the service was already interrupted by others. <modsnip>

Don Lemon was not interrupting anything. He was documenting the events. That's literally his job as a journalist.

MOO

Technically, he was broadcasting live from inside the church before the "excuse me, pastor" cue. The service was not yet interrupted when he entered.

Source: Lemon's own YT Live.

 

[LAborn]

Well, considering on HIS YT Live he said more than once "don’t say where we're going, it's secret". Why would he say that if he didn't know???

I wouldn't interpret that as anything specific about the location of the church. No one knew ahead of time, except the main lady, Nekima Levy Armstrong, who is a civil rights lawyer, activist and minister, in case you didn't know. That's it.

 

[Hexe]

Technically, he was broadcasting live from inside the church before the "excuse me, pastor" cue. The service was not yet interrupted when he entered.

Source: Lemon's own YT Live.

How does the broadcasting disrupt the service?

 

[Sundog]

Don Lemon and his cameraman were driven to the church by someone who is described as a local producer and activist.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/01/23/don-lemon-minneapolis/

I didn't see anything in the article to suggest that Lemon didn't know where he was going. The driver was a local activist and would know the directions to the church better than Lemon who is not a local.

 

[Sundog]

She literally just said they didn't know!
I can only guess that they were told to follow the lead car to the final destination.

ETA @SouthAussie has kindly provided a link showing that they were driven there by someone else.

That someone else who was a local drove the car, doesn't mean that Lemon didn't know where they were going, i.e. to a church. Lemon was not a local and being driven by a local makes sense due to knowing how to get to the church. It doesn't mean that he didn't know where they were going.

 

[CSIDreamer]

How does the broadcasting disrupt the service?

You said he started to make live commentary after the protest started. I replied to that.

 

[Summerliz03]

That someone else who was a local drove the car, doesn't mean that Lemon didn't know where they were going, i.e. to a church. Lemon was not a local and being driven by a local makes sense due to knowing how to get to the church. It doesn't mean that he didn't know where they were going.

Nekima said the only people who knew where they were going were herself and a small group of her co-planners, she doesn’t say how many co-planners there were. So if I was going to guess, I would think Don and his camera man got a ride with one of the groups co-planners. All MOO.

 

[SouthAussie]

The pastor told Lemon that he could stay and worship. Although Lemon remained in the church for another 13 minutes,

Apparently, Don Lemon's video (which the Washington Post analysed) shows that he left the church building 7 minutes after he was asked to leave.

Then he stood outside and began interviewing those outside.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/01/23/don-lemon-minneapolis/

 

[SouthAussie]

That someone else who was a local drove the car, doesn't mean that Lemon didn't know where they were going, i.e. to a church. Lemon was not a local and being driven by a local makes sense due to knowing how to get to the church. It doesn't mean that he didn't know where they were going.

And it doesn't mean that he did know either.

imo

 

[Ontario Mom]

Don Lemon was not interrupting anything. He was documenting the events. That's literally his job as a journalist.

MOO

I am not a lawyer but I don't believe the law says that if someone else is already breaking the law (the known protestors), you can just go ahead and do the same, under the guise of "being a journalist". Churches and places of worship are supposed to be protected and are off limits and I don't believe there's any sort of exemption.

I believe that's why Lemon is charged the same as the protestors. They were doing their thing, he was doing his thing, and they ALL had a hand in disrupting that service.

jmo

 

[Sundog]

Nekima said the only people who knew where they were going were herself and a small group of her co-planners, she doesn’t say how many co-planners there were. So if I was going to guess, I would think Don and his camera man got a ride with one of the groups co-planners. All MOO.

It's just a guess at this point, we don't know yet.

 

[Sundog]

And it doesn't mean that he did know either.

imo

Agree, we are all just speculating/guessing.

 

[LAborn]

It is a very strange response from Lemon - comes off as argumentative - in my opinion.

Lemon is an independent journalist interviewing a pastor during a church service. He is not there to "worship", and neither are the protesters.

The pastor told Lemon that he could stay and worship. Although Lemon remained in the church for another 13 minutes, Lemon does not take time to worship.

It's like he flipped the script in the middle of the interview, implying that a request for protesters and independent journalists to leave the church meant that the pastor was depriving them of the right to worship in the church.

FBI affidavit in suport of arrest warrant | PDF | U.S. Immigration And Customs Enforcement | American Government

This affidavit, submitted by Special Agent Timothy Gerber, outlines the investigation into a group of agitators who disrupted a religious service at Cities Church in St. Paul, MN on January 18, 2026. The group, led by Nekima Valdez Levy-Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, coordinated their...

www.scribd.com

Lemon wasn't a protester, he was there to document and interview if possible as a journalist. Was he a member of the church? No. Suggesting by saying "us" means he's a protester is just not the case. jmo

 

[SouthAussie]

Thank you.

"Nekima Levy Armstrong says Don Lemon didn't know where he was going"

from your link