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

[concernedcitizen706]

Well the entire group sure tried to use intimidation tactics and clearly interfered with the congregants right to worship in the sanctity of their own church.

Y'all can't read the laws and apparently almost nobody in the country can either. I
t says doing all those things, using FORCE. Or OBSTRUCTION. Neither of which the journalists or the protesters did.

If they did not use force or obstruction to accomplish their means, such as interfering with the service, then this law does not apply to them.

Otherwise a state law would apply to them, probably trespassing.

 

[concernedcitizen706]

It looks like a pied piper scenario.

I think that a charismatic leader made irresponsible promises. She organized 40 protesters and led them into a church to disrupt families with children during Sunday morning worship. Given her credentials as a reverend, lawyer, activist and media personality, protesters would have trusted that she was acting within the law.

The independent journalist should have considered professional journalism code of ethics and standards to assess whether his actions were legal under First Amendment press rights in the context of the FACE Act and First Amendment religion rights. That is, he had a higher responsibility to make an independent decision regarding interviewing a pastor and the congregation during a scheduled religious meeting.

However - although the stated intent of the protest was to inform the congregation about a church member's second job, Lemon stated prior to the protest that the intent was "a “resistance” operation against federal immigration policies." It's unknown why he believed federal immigration policies were decided by a church. As a journalist, presumably he did research and arrived at this belief independent of outside influence.

"Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and he was there as a solo journalist chronicling protesters.
...

Since he left CNN, Lemon posts regularly on YouTube and has not hidden his disdain for Trump. During his online show from the church he interviewed churchgoers and demonstrators.
...

Lemon started live-streaming and told the audience he was with a group gearing up for a “resistance” operation against federal immigration policies, according to the document. ... Lemon thanked Nekima Levy Armstrong for what she was doing and assured her he was not saying what was going on.
...

Some experts and activists said the charges are not only an attack on press freedoms but also a strike against Black Americans who count on Black journalists to bear witness to injustice and oppression."

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested, lawyer says

Journalist Don Lemon and three other people were arrested Friday in connection with an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church and increased tensions between residents and U.S. federal officials.

www.ctvnews.ca

Nekima Levy Armstrong

Nekima Levy Armstrong is an award-winning civil rights lawyer, activist, and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP. She is a frequent speaker on national news outlets about racial justice advocacy and public policy, most notably including an interview with Oprah.

www.nekimalevyarmstrong.com

~ in my opinion ~​

Yeah if that woman lawyer did it, as in she was responsible for it, then I would look into her background a little more to see who paid her off. I think you greatly overestimate people's knowledge of the laws. I think 99% of people were not aware that it's a big deal to protest in a church. I consider myself fairly well informed and I never knew about that until now. Probably only lawyers would know about that. Or religious leaders. You can clearly see Don Lemon didn't realize it during the protest, from what he was saying. So yeah maga set Don up I'm pretty sure. Probably some Russian lawyer plotted this after studying all our laws and and sent the word out and Maga got it done. But they can't use this trick again now because now everybody knows, lol. It was a one-time trick.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Y'all can't read the laws and apparently almost nobody in the country can either. It says doing all those things, using FORCE. Or OBSTRUCTION. Neither of which the journalists or the protesters did.

If they did not use force or obstruction to accomplish their means, such as interfering with the service, then this law does not apply to them.

Otherwise a state law would apply to them, probably trespassing.

The words in the law are "or" not "and". It doesn't say all those things, it says any
. Speaking of reading.

JMO

 

[Ontario Mom]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019453685294653559

 

[otto]

Physical obstruction means blocking their way to the service. Don Lemon or his group did not do that.

My understanding is that the obstruction charge for Don Lemon relates to blocking the pastor from his congregation and family:

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

 

[otto]

How so? What I see is a journalist who put on his journalist hat and began doing what journalists do on the daily, what they are Constitutionally protected to do.

MOO.

My understanding of the First Amendment is that, regarding:

• Religion - protects the right to practice religion freely
• Press - ensure the freedom of news media to report without government censorship

I haven't found any discussion regarding First Amendment, and press rights versus religion rights. The issue here seems to be: who has priority regarding First Amendment rights?

The First Amendment protects the right to practice religion freely. That is, no one has the right to interrupt, disrupt, interfere, intimidate, or obstruct people practicing religion. A scheduled religious ceremony would be defined as "practicing religion".

The First Amendment ensures the right of the press to report without government censorship. Is government censorship at play when an independent journalist enters a church with protesters intent to launch a "resistance operation against federal immigration policies," and to prevent a religious group from practicing religion?

I think the first question has to be: is it reasonable, or protected by the First Amendment, to launch a resistance operation against federal policies in a church while families and children are practicing religion?

The second question has to be: is the press protected when accompanying a resistance operation into a church to document hostile and aggressive action against those practicing religion? If the resistance operation will foreseeably cause psychological injury, is the press given a pass to document the intent to cause unjustified harm and the resulting trauma?

"Lemon started live-streaming and told the audience he was with a group gearing up for a “resistance” operation against federal immigration policies, according to the document. Lemon “took steps to maintain operational secrecy ..."​

​

During the briefing before the operation, prosecutors say, Lemon thanked Nekima Levy Armstrong, a prominent local activist for what she was doing and assured her he was not saying what was going on.​

​

Inside the church the defendants shouted slogans and blew whistles after the pastor was about to begin the sermon and gestured in a hostile and aggressive manner, according to prosecutors, and the pastor and congregants perceived “threats of violence.”​

​

Lemon told the livestream he saw a young man who was frightened, sad and crying and it was understandable because the experience was traumatic and uncomfortable, the indictment says.”​

January 30, 2026

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested, lawyer says

Journalist Don Lemon and three other people were arrested Friday in connection with an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church and increased tensions between residents and U.S. federal officials.

www.ctvnews.ca

~ in my humble opinion ~​

 

[Inthedetails]

I haven't found any discussion regarding First Amendment, and press rights versus religion rights. The issue here seems to be: who has priority regarding First Amendment rights?

snipped

There is not a priority. The First Amendment is the First Amendment.

jmo

 

[otto]

I wish we would stop using the word trauma repeatedly.

<respectfully snipped by me>

The reason we use the word "trauma" is because "traumatic" is the word that Don Lemon used to describe the consequence and psychological harm caused by the "resistance operation".

"Lemon started live-streaming and told the audience he was with a group gearing up for a “resistance” operation against federal immigration policies,
...

Lemon told the livestream he saw a young man who was frightened, sad and crying and it was understandable because the experience was traumatic and uncomfortable.”

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested, lawyer says

Journalist Don Lemon and three other people were arrested Friday in connection with an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church and increased tensions between residents and U.S. federal officials.

www.ctvnews.ca