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

[Rolypolyoly]

Interesting that it was the federal magistrate judge who recommended to the government prosecution that they go the route of a grand jury as one option.

Is it though? To me it reads "I'm not touching that with a barge pole, but if you're determined then float it past a GJ and you'll probably get a couple more miles out of it before it sinks"

 

[MrsWatson]

Is it though? To me it reads "I'm not touching that with a barge pole, but if you're determined then float it past a GJ and you'll probably get a couple more miles out of it before it sinks"

Worth noting that two other judges passed on prosecution before the GJ.

 

[Ruminations]

He is a federal officer upholding the laws of the US. ?

Extra judicial killings are not lawful.

The pastor didn't pull the trigger as far as I know, but if he said nothing after the killing of an American citizen, he can hardly claim that he is a federal officer upholding the most basic laws of the United States.

This country was founded on no kings, no oppression and free speech. It was also founded on no taxation without representation.

Being that ICE is very unpopular and appears to have a crazy-unlimited budget, this is also taxation without representation.

MOO

 

[Ruminations]

And my opinion is he's a journalist. Journalists have historically covered events, even when the participants have broken the law, without being charged because it was understood they had a right to cover the story thanks to the 1st Amendment.

MOO.

I don't think this symbolic arrest and crackdown on the legal actions of Lemon and other journalists is random, it's strategic.

First this, but will the next false arrest be when a journalist is on the street with legal ICE watchers? When a journalist interviews a witness to an extra-judicial killings if a citizen?

The gestapo has slipped its foot in the door to make journalism illegal by clutching pearls and sobbing for those for poor, interrupted parishioners. The end game has nothing to do with protecting freedom of religion. The end game is to make journalists covering protests illegal.

Journalism is essential to democracy. I hope that we all agree on that on this thread.


MOO

 

[Ruminations]

I wonder where they found a grand jury to hear their case.

Grand juries are generally standing and ready to hear presentations on a regular basis. Jurors have a term of service and hear many cases, not just one.

They are given elements of potential charges and behaviors that prosecutors believe occurred by the "target," and the grand jury makes the decision such as, "If the behaviors the prosecutor asserts happened are proven, than it would be X crime, Y crime, but don't try charging with Z, the behaviors you asserted occurred wouldn't meet the criteria for Z."

Prosecutors don't have to prove their assertions, and can use evidence that would not be admissible in a criminal trial, such as hearsay. Grand jurors do not have to feel anything was proven beyond a reasonable doubt, usually have to have some percentage of majority, not a consensus, and generally don't hear the defense or counter-argument.

Jurisdictions that rely on Grand Juries always have them available, with calendars of cases to present to them.

MOO

 

[SilentHill]

The pastor's other profession was working for federal immigration enforcement charged with detainment and deportation of illegal immigrants. I don't know any country that would just sit by and watch 15 million illegal immigrants enter the country with no repercussions.

Well that could be because a quick Google search shows your claim of 15 million illegal immigrants entering the country to be untrue.

Correcting the Record: False or Misleading Statements on Immigration - The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS)

During the 2024 US campaign season, numerous false or misleading statements have been made about immigration which deserve correction.

cmsny.org

 

[SouthAussie]

Grand juries are generally standing and ready to hear presentations on a regular basis. Jurors have a term of service and hear many cases, not just one.

They are given elements of potential charges and behaviors that prosecutors believe occurred by the "target," and the grand jury makes the decision such as, "If the behaviors the prosecutor asserts happened are proven, than it would be X crime, Y crime, but don't try charging with Z, the behaviors you asserted occurred wouldn't meet the criteria for Z."

Prosecutors don't have to prove their assertions, and can use evidence that would not be admissible in a criminal trial, such as hearsay. Grand jurors do not have to feel anything was proven beyond a reasonable doubt, usually have to have some percentage of majority, not a consensus, and generally don't hear the defense or counter-argument.

Jurisdictions that rely on Grand Juries always have them available, with calendars of cases to present to them.

MOO

I am guessing that this grand jury squeezed this case into the start of their calendar. The next available grand jury convened on the 27th. On the 29th there was a filed indictment.

 

[Ruminations]

Well that could be because a quick Google search shows your claim of 15 million illegal immigrants entering the country to be untrue.

Correcting the Record: False or Misleading Statements on Immigration - The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS)

During the 2024 US campaign season, numerous false or misleading statements have been made about immigration which deserve correction.

cmsny.org

The Numbers are bogus, but they are growing. Or at least the percentage of new Americans with lapsed paperwork is growing. And that is by design.

The Gestapo wants you to believe that undocumented immigrants are causing your problems like inability to afford basics, or that undocumented immigrants, generally guilty of letting paperwork expire, are committing worse crimes than Epstein's friends and co-conspirators.

How are they making the proportion of undocumented immigrants grow?

If you were a new American resident, and your paperwork is coming up for renewal, but ICE is staking out your immigration office, do you

1) miss a date, and risk being guilty of a civil offense, like letting your driver's license expire, or
2) risk getting hauled away to Texas then shipped out to a random country and have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to get back to your home?

MOO

 

[CSIDreamer]

Yes, I will try.
The pastor was the target of a protest. It is impossible not to have some discussion about his beliefs and why the protest started. It would be unrealistic not to have a background as to why the protest happened. When posters keep saying there is no white nationalist connection to the church and the pastor, I asked for clarification. Was it or was it not true?
THE MAIN FOCUS IS ON THE JOURNALISTS. DID THEY COMMIT A CRIME?

Let me start with the research our members did connecting individual leaders within the church to white Christian nationalism. I want to be very clear about what is and is not being said here.

I am not saying this is about the congregation.
I am not saying the church publicly promotes white nationalist beliefs.
And I am certainly not comparing this church to something like Westboro.

I'm not saying the protesters did not commit a crime.

What the research shows is that a former leader and a current leader within the church appear to have documented ties to white nationalist ideology. That distinction matters.

Posters keep stating that the church has nothing to do with white Christian nationalism, and that simply isn’t accurate based on the research that’s been posted. This is about people involved in leadership, not the beliefs of the congregation as a whole.
We have removed a ton of posts talking about the pastor that were inappropriate. Keep in mind, if we don't get alerted on a post, more than likely we will not see it.

To be clear one more time:
I am not saying the congregation shares these views or that the church advertises them. I am saying that individuals in positions of authority appear to have connections, and that is what the research supports and that is why people were protesting.

This is still not the main focus of this thread, but since the claim keeps being repeated, it needed to be addressed.

If anything I’ve said is unclear, that’s on me—it’s late and I’m exhausted.
Please start reading at THIS POST to review the research for yourself
I am all for asking members to focus on the journalists and stop focusing on the topic of the protest. However, it would be unrealistic to stop all conversations about the topic of the protests.
No one is accusing the pastor of illegal activities. People were trying to show why he was a target right or wrong.
I reserve the right to change my mind after a really good night's sleep.

I thought there was a protest because he works for ICE?

 

[witchway]

So how is this a problem?

This shows that David Easterwood was not working just a side job, like a teacher or a coach or accountant. In other words a job that provides a positive service to a community.
But an agency ICE that is brutal imo these days on immigrant arrests (see lawsuits) . And actually the killing of united states citizens in his city.

He oversees those agents that did committed those atrocities. And then on Sunday’s preaches Jesus’s message to parishioners? You don’t see the problem with this that many do? all my only opinions (but strong ones ( )

I wonder if Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were also made aware of this as background and helped with the decision to cover this story. jmo

 

[Ontario Mom]

Yes, I will try.
The pastor was the target of a protest. It is impossible not to have some discussion about his beliefs and why the protest started. It would be unrealistic not to have a background as to why the protest happened. When posters keep saying there is no white nationalist connection to the church and the pastor, I asked for clarification. Was it or was it not true?
THE MAIN FOCUS IS ON THE JOURNALISTS. DID THEY COMMIT A CRIME?

Let me start with the research our members did connecting individual leaders within the church to white Christian nationalism. I want to be very clear about what is and is not being said here.

I am not saying this is about the congregation.
I am not saying the church publicly promotes white nationalist beliefs.
And I am certainly not comparing this church to something like Westboro.

I'm not saying the protesters did not commit a crime.

What the research shows is that a former leader and a current leader within the church appear to have documented ties to white nationalist ideology. That distinction matters.

Posters keep stating that the church has nothing to do with white Christian nationalism, and that simply isn’t accurate based on the research that’s been posted. This is about people involved in leadership, not the beliefs of the congregation as a whole.
We have removed a ton of posts talking about the pastor that were inappropriate. Keep in mind, if we don't get alerted on a post, more than likely we will not see it.

To be clear one more time:
I am not saying the congregation shares these views or that the church advertises them. I am saying that individuals in positions of authority appear to have connections, and that is what the research supports and that is why people were protesting.

This is still not the main focus of this thread, but since the claim keeps being repeated, it needed to be addressed.

If anything I’ve said is unclear, that’s on me—it’s late and I’m exhausted.
Please start reading at THIS POST to review the research for yourself
I am all for asking members to focus on the journalists and stop focusing on the topic of the protest. However, it would be unrealistic to stop all conversations about the topic of the protests.
No one is accusing the pastor of illegal activities. People were trying to show why he was a target right or wrong.
I reserve the right to change my mind after a really good night's sleep.

Since I am a part of this church community I'm well aware of the accusations made from those on the outside looking in. Including a vile accusation from Don Lemon who is on record on a podcast as stating Cities Church is full of "entitled white supremacists". Source: Don Lemon blasts Minnesota churchgoers harassed by anti-ICE protesters for ‘entitlement’ and ‘white supremacy’

It's important to understand there's a monumental world of difference between Christian Nationalism, and white nationalism. One is a religious idealogy, the other is racism, straight up. It's also important to understand that there are some Christians who claim to be Christian Nationalists that do actually hold to some sickening racists ideals. I don't expect those on the outside looking in to immediately spot the difference, since it's even confusing for a lot of us Christians. But the important thing to know is that the two labels are not the same thing at all and cannot be used interchangeably.

Pastor Joe Rigney, one of the co-founders of Cities Church (who hasn't been there in years) does in fact hold to Christian Nationalism, but the man is not a racist, and the current leaders of Cities Church are also NOT white nationalists, or "entitled white supremacists" as Don Lemon has accused.

I know you want all members to focus on the journalist side of this, but to be fair, the allegations against Cities Church and why they were targetted are entirely untrue, and highly offensive.

I will ask again since it seems this question was overlooked: IS this Pastor David Easterwood considered a victim by WS standards? He's named as such in the charging docs, called "Victim #1", so I'm just asking for some clarity.

 

[Ontario Mom]

I thought there was a protest because he works for ICE?

Allegedly, sure. Falsely accusing the church leaders of being racist surely doesn't hurt the cause though.

 

[Summerliz03]

Christian Nationalism is literally a political ideology. We can take the white part out of it, sure. But Christian Nationalism is not a religious ideology, and I say this as a Christian. There is nothing in Jesus’ teachings that promotes the dominance/prominence of Christianity over all aspects of life including politics, culture and social programs. This country was founded on religious FREEDOM, not as a Christian nation. When any religion wants to force itself upon every aspect of an entire country, that’s a political ideology and completely against anything that Jesus taught. IMO.

What is Christian nationalism and why it raises concerns about threats to democracy

White Christian nationalism has been in the headlines quite a lot as of late. Brad Onishi is a former evangelical minister who once identified as a Christian nationalist himself. He left the church in 2005 and began studying religion and extremism. Laura Barrón-López spoke with Onishi to better...

www.pbs.org

The fight over Christian nationalism in a small Tennessee town - BBC News

A controversy kicked off after two religious podcasters moved into an Appalachian hill town deep in the Bible Belt.

www.bbc.com

 

[K9Enzo]

IMO The protesters and agitators, along with Don Lemon, are nobodies in this context. They have no standing to enter a church during active worship and confront an entire congregation over who that church chooses to welcome as one of its own. Entering private property to disrupt a religious service is not protest. It is unlawful.

This is guilt by association weaponized as moral posturing. Working in a controversial agency, in the view of some, does not strip a person of their humanity or their faith. IMO

 

[witchway]

IMO The protesters and agitators, along with Don Lemon, are nobodies in this context. They have no standing to enter a church during active worship and confront an entire congregation over who that church chooses to welcome as one of its own. Entering private property to disrupt a religious service is not protest. It is unlawful.

This is guilt by association weaponized as moral posturing. Working in a controversial agency, in the view of some, does not strip a person of their humanity or their faith. IMO

It causes some to question though and some are. It’s juxtaposed at a minimum. jmo

 

[303gmf]

Since I am a part of this church community I'm well aware of the accusations made from those on the outside looking in. Including a vile accusation from Don Lemon who is on record on a podcast as stating Cities Church is full of "entitled white supremacists". Source: Don Lemon blasts Minnesota churchgoers harassed by anti-ICE protesters for ‘entitlement’ and ‘white supremacy’

It's important to understand there's a monumental world of difference between Christian Nationalism, and white nationalism. One is a religious idealogy, the other is racism, straight up. It's also important to understand that there are some Christians who claim to be Christian Nationalists that do actually hold to some sickening racists ideals. I don't expect those on the outside looking in to immediately spot the difference, since it's even confusing for a lot of us Christians. But the important thing to know is that the two labels are not the same thing at all and cannot be used interchangeably.

Pastor Joe Rigney, one of the co-founders of Cities Church (who hasn't been there in years) does in fact hold to Christian Nationalism, but the man is not a racist, and the current leaders of Cities Church are also NOT white nationalists, or "entitled white supremacists" as Don Lemon has accused.

I know you want all members to focus on the journalist side of this, but to be fair, the allegations against Cities Church and why they were targetted are entirely untrue, and highly offensive.

I will ask again since it seems this question was overlooked: IS this Pastor David Easterwood considered a victim by WS standards? He's named as such in the charging docs, called "Victim #1", so I'm just asking for some clarity.

Looks too similar to millions!
American's are all colors and beliefs and most prefer to keep it that way

Separation of church and state is vitally important

 

[K9Enzo]

Looks too similar to millions!
American's are all colors and beliefs and most prefer to keep it that way

Separation of church and state is vitally important

But separation of church and state does not mean the state gets to police churches, and it does not mean protesters, agitators, or Don Lemon get to walk into a church, during worship, and demand political agreement from a congregation, or lecture, question them based on their own grievances. IMO

 

[Inthedetails]

In an era when bots take over comment sections and social media posts, at least here at WS we know the posts are by humans that we "know" from over the years. While I might not like all that I read here, I do trust that posts are from real people and in that sense, they ring true. That's something to value. We're reading what real people actually are thinking about, whether we agree or not.

We're not in a bubble or echo chamber or whatever the current word is, but at a place that allows diverse opinions and outlooks.

Thanks to @tricia for allowing the discussion, as difficult as it is.

Just chiming in with that thought, for whatever it's worth.

my opinion

 

[sds71]

@MacFarlaneNews

Court sets arraignment for Don Lemon for Feb 13 at 1pm in US District Court in Minnesota

 

[Izzylizzy]

I say that the FACE charges against DL were based on revenge along with being politically motivated.
Meanwhile Republicans are in the process of trying to repeal the FACE ACT.

The message to Americans from Trump/DOJ now is you legally can block/enter/injure in an abortion clinic but not a church.

I'm curious if DL's lawyer Abbe Lowell can bring up to the judge that days into Trump's 2nd term he pardoned 23 protesters who were convicted and incarcerated under FACE ACT and is now using the same laws to charge a journalist who he had repeatedly called an enemy.

At the time of the pardons the DOJ also called for any pending FACE charges to be dropped against abortion protesters.
imo


'

Trump pardons anti-abortion protesters convicted of blocking clinics, harassing patients

The protesters had been charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which was signed into law in 1994.

pennsylvaniaindependent.com