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

[CSIDreamer]

I thought I read in this thread that the protesters were sitting in the pews waiting for the service to begin, and that DL entered through a side door and set up with his camera guy to film? Neither of which sound like storming the church to me, but

Does anyone know if the cameraman was also arrested?

Regarding the cameraman: there's a Jerome Richardson in the indictment. From reading the indictment, he is placed in the vehicle with Lemon traveling to the protest. I wonder if that's who he is. JMO

Then again, he might be the driver. It's just my opinion from limited searching, he may or may not be 21. JMO

 

[otto]

The journalists there were reporting on the incident, as they’ve done through recent history. They didn’t organize, plan or carry it out. JMO. I haven’t seen any evidence that they did.

When the independent journalist and protesters upset the pastor, the pastor asked them to leave.

Any thoughts on why the independent journalist interpreted that request as a statement that the pastor did not want the journalist and protesters to "worship"?

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

 

[Izzylizzy]

Coulumbia Journalism Review is longstanding, respected institution that monitors and reviews journalistic standards and ethics. Here’s a link to their recent article covering this incident. Hopefully, this might be of help to WS members.

Columbia Journalism Review

The voice of journalism, since 1961.

www.cjr.org

Thank you an excellent article.
A snip to focus on the immaturity, incompetence and revengeful use of our courts.


"Pamela Bondi, the US attorney general, said on X that the arrests were made at her direction. The White House celebrated the arrests in its own post depicting a black-and-white image of Lemon. “When life gives you lemons,” the caption read, alongside two shackle emoji.

Last week, the Justice Department attempted to bring charges against Lemon, but was rejected by a federal magistrate judge. The DOJ appealed; that, too, was turned away, by Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, an appointee of George W. Bush. Lemon and his producer “were not protesters at all; instead, they were a journalist and his producer,” Judge Schiltz found.

“There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.” The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.'

 

[Izzylizzy]

$100,000 rightly deserves a

"Late Friday afternoon, Mr. Lemon appeared in court at a federal building in downtown Los Angeles wearing a white suit. Lawyers for the government sought a $100,000 bond and asked to restrict Mr. Lemon’s travel to Minneapolis, to face the charges, and to New York, where he lives. A magistrate judge denied both of those requests."

Don Lemon Released Without Bond Over Minnesota Protest Charge

Nine people have been accused of violating federal law during the demonstration at a church this month, reviving a case that was rejected last week by a magistrate judge.

www.nytimes.com

 

[keek]

Thank you an excellent article.
A snip to focus on the immaturity, incompetence and revengeful use of our courts.


"Pamela Bondi, the US attorney general, said on X that the arrests were made at her direction. The White House celebrated the arrests in its own post depicting a black-and-white image of Lemon. “When life gives you lemons,” the caption read, alongside two shackle emoji.

Last week, the Justice Department attempted to bring charges against Lemon, but was rejected by a federal magistrate judge. The DOJ appealed; that, too, was turned away, by Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, an appointee of George W. Bush. Lemon and his producer “were not protesters at all; instead, they were a journalist and his producer,” Judge Schiltz found.

“There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.” The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.'

THERE'S America's result of ...no words.

 

[bearfossils]

Was an independent journalist reporting a story, or did the following happen?
Should we believe the independent journalist, or the children who were in the church?
Should we prioritize the rights of the independent journalist because his goal was to expose a federal officer's role at his church?

View attachment 641125

Don Lemon indictment

www.documentcloud.org

Love to know how viciously this government followed through with protecting churches weren’t Christian churches being funded, built, and/or led by white nationalists. Please leave me examples.

Also, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I really don’t care about the subjective feelings of children? I promise you, they’re either too young to care, or old enough to be more interested in their phones. I doubt they’re damaged intellectually to any degree more than religion or society would already. Get over it.

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

Love to know how viciously this government followed through with protecting churches weren’t Christian churches being funded, built, and/or led by white nationalists. Please leave me examples.

Also, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I really don’t care about the subjective feelings of children? I promise you, they’re either too young to care, or old enough to be more interested in their phones. I doubt they’re damaged intellectually to any degree more than religion or society would already. Get over it.

Also, hypocritically IMO, despite the risks of violating migrants’ religious freedom rights protected by the First Amendment, the Trump administration lifted restrictions that prohibited immigration enforcement activities in churches, schools and hospitals, according to EWTN News.

https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/minnesota-ice-catholic-church

What constitutional rights do undocumented immigrants have?

The administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy and the recent surge in family separations at the border -- a practice President Donald Trump ended through executive order -- has called attention to the legal rights of immigrants under U.S. law.

www.pbs.org

Milwaukee Lutheran church sues over Trump directive on ICE raids at houses of worship

A Milwaukee Lutheran church has joined a national lawsuit against the Trump administration's directive to allow immigration raids at houses of worship.

www.wpr.org

 

[Barbb]

He's a journalist for over 30 years!!! I was watching his stream on that day, he was reporting on the ground in Minnesota, and someone suggested he check out the church. He had no idea what was going on prior. All his videos are posted on his Youtube channel if you want to see for yourself. Highly recommend.

"A journalist is a professional who gathers, writes, and reports on news and current events. They are responsible for investigating and uncovering important information, and presenting it to the public through various mediums such as newspapers, magazines, television, and online publications. Journalists play a critical role in informing the public and holding those in power accountable. They must possess strong research, writing, and interviewing skills, as well as the ability to think critically and objectively." https://jobs.community.kaplan.com/career/journalist

"He had no idea what was going on prior".

He knew their names before they went in. He knew the name of the operation. He knew they were going in to protest. I've seen his livestream more than a few times. Don Lemon admitted that he was aware of the plans of the anti-ICE protesters and had done some "reconnaissance" with activist groups before they stormed the church, indicating he knew of their intentions and the names of key individuals involved.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Leadership | Cities Church

www.citieschurch.com

David Easterwood​

Pastor

C-Span video Pastor "ICE" Easterwood.

User Clip: David Easterwood ICE

C-Span Oct 24, 2025

www.c-span.org

 

[otto]

Leadership | Cities Church

www.citieschurch.com

David Easterwood​

Pastor


View attachment 641132


C-Span video Pastor "ICE" Easterwood.

User Clip: David Easterwood ICE

C-Span Oct 24, 2025

www.c-span.org

Has this man been charged with committing a crime? Any particular reason his personal information is posted?

 

[keek]

Lemon is a journalist until asked to leave, then he's there to worship.

Has this man been charged with committing a crime?

No one was murdered, that's a huge plus. Those investigations up coming. Those are the life and death events that matter, makes the hollering about the DL event sound ridiculous. DL needed to open up whatever was opened up. Red areas are turning blue with each 'little' election at this point. IMO

 

[witchway]

Has this man been charged with committing a crime? Any particular reason his personal information is posted?

This is public from the church’s website.

Also multiple lawsuits and TRO’s, habeas corpus as well, along with judge orders against him and others including Kristi Noem.

Here is an example:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.230171/gov.uscourts.mnd.230171.7.0.pdf

 

[bearfossils]

DBM.

 

[Izzylizzy]

"He had no idea what was going on prior".

He knew their names before they went in. He knew the name of the operation. He knew they were going in to protest. I've seen his livestream more than a few times. Don Lemon admitted that he was aware of the plans of the anti-ICE protesters and had done some "reconnaissance" with activist groups before they stormed the church, indicating he knew of their intentions and the names of key individuals involved.

Independent journalists are not legally required to inform authorities of a planned protest.

 

[bearfossils]

More churches are suing ICE over arrests in places of worship: ‘Congregations have gone underground

Another group of Christian denominations is suing Donald Trump’s administration to stop immigration enforcement arrests in their churches.

A lawsuit from Baptist, Lutheran and Quaker groups accuses Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of chilling First Amendment protections and infringing on religious freedoms. The groups filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to block the policy on Tuesday.

After Trump entered office, the administration rescinded previous Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy that prohibited enforcement actions in sensitive locations such as places of worship, as well as schools and hospitals.

Within the last month, federal agents seized a man in front of a church, brandished a rifle at a pastor and detained a grandfather dropping off his granddaughter at a church school in Los Angeles, according to the lawsuit. Federal officers have also recently chased several men into a church parking lot and arrested a parishioner at churches across southern California, according to church leaders.

“As a result, people across the country, regardless of immigration status, reasonably fear attending houses of worship,” according to the lawsuit. “The open joy and spiritual restoration of communal worship has been replaced by isolation, concealment, and fear.”

But Don Lemon recording a single church service is worth the federal government suing over? Can a Christian explain this to me? A reporter documenting a service is worth the federal government filing some kind of hate crime legislation? But the stuff above isn’t worth even discussing?

 

[Izzylizzy]

Has this man been charged with committing a crime? Any particular reason his personal information is posted?

You don't know the role Easterwood played in why there was a protest in his church?

 

[Summerliz03]

More churches are suing ICE over arrests in places of worship: ‘Congregations have gone underground



But Don Lemon recording a single church service is worth the federal government suing over? Can a Christian explain this to me? A reporter documenting a service is worth the federal government filing some kind of hate crime legislation? But the stuff above isn’t worth even discussing?

As a Christian, I’m FAR more worried about ICE conducting raids at churches and arresting parishioners as they are praying than I am about a group of protestors interrupting a singular church service for 15 minutes. All IMO.