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

[Summerliz03]

If the goal of the protest in the church was to confront a member of the church leadership because he is employed with federal immigration, wouldn't it be a good idea to ensure that he is at the church during the protest?

When have any of the protesters stated that their goal was to confront a member of the church leadership? I hadn’t heard or seen anything that has said this. It was to protest the treatment of Minnesotans by ICE, to inform the parishioners that the church they are a member of is employing a member of ICE and to bring light to the public at large about this fact. That’s literally it. IMO.

 

[Hexe]

If the goal of the protest in the church was to confront a member of the church leadership because he is employed with federal immigration, wouldn't it be a good idea to ensure that he is at the church during the protest?

For protesters, yes. For a journo documenting the protest it is not important.

If the subject of the protest is not at the location of the protest, what's the point?

That's a question to protesters. Not to a journo documenting the protest.

If the goal was to simply inform, that could be achieved by handing out a pamphlet after the church meeting ended.

I do not follow. Are you trying to claim Lemon wasn't behaving like a journo, because he did not take responsibility for how that protest was done, so wasn't behaving like a protester?

Sorry, I do not follow that logic. At all.

MOO

 

[Summerliz03]

If the goal was to inform, why the drama? Why the anger?

What was the independent journalist documenting - shock treatment of families with children attending church?

View attachment 642242

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

I guess because a protest can be provocative in order to make a point? I don’t know, history is full of protests that were deemed dramatic, stupid, pointless, etc. but without them, our world would look a lot different. People didn’t like Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus, they didn’t like a woman running in the Boston Marathon and tried to physically remove her…I could give 50 more examples. I guess the protesters felt like going into the church to get their point across was worth it if it allowed the public to learn about the church leadership. Again, I’m not here to defend or justify the protesters. The thread is about Don Lemon, the journalist who covered the protesters protest, which took place inside a church. IMO.

 

[Hexe]

What was the independent journalist documenting - shock treatment of families with children attending church?

Yes, among the other stuff. Journalists document wars, natural disasters, manmade disasters, murders, terrorist attacks and other horrible events. That's their job.

MOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Yes, among the other stuff. Journalists document wars, natural disasters, manmade disasters, murders, terrorist attacks and other horrible events. That's their job.

MOO

Was Lemon involved with planning it, or actively carrying it out. Those will be some of the questions.

 

[Hexe]

Was Lemon involved with planning it, or actively carrying it out. Those will be some of the questions.

Carrying out what?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Carrying out what?

The entering of the church and protest.

 

[Hexe]

The entering of the church and protest.

It's pretty obvious from the video footage available that he was not actively protesting, just documenting the events. If you have any evidence he was involved in organising the protest, please share.

MOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

It's pretty obvious from the video footage available that he was not actively protesting, just documenting the events. If you have any evidence he was involved in organising the protest, please share.

MOO

Was Lemon involved with planning the protest? We don't know.

 

[keek]

Circles. IMO

 

[Summerliz03]

Was Lemon involved with planning the protest? We don't know.

Both he and Nemika Levy Armstrong have stated that none of the protestors or the 2 journalists had any knowledge of any of the planning of the protest, outside of Armstrong herself and her small group of co-planners. You can view Ms Armstrongs 5 minute interview here where she discusses how the protests happened.

 

[Ruminations]

I guess because a protest can be provocative in order to make a point? I don’t know, history is full of protests that were deemed dramatic, stupid, pointless, etc. but without them, our world would look a lot different. People didn’t like Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus, they didn’t like a woman running in the Boston Marathon and tried to physically remove her…I could give 50 more examples. I guess the protesters felt like going into the church to get their point across was worth it if it allowed the public to learn about the church leadership. Again, I’m not here to defend or justify the protesters. The thread is about Don Lemon, the journalist who covered the protesters protest, which took place inside a church. IMO.

The Boston Tea Party was very edgy. The British Crown certainly had an argument that patriots were breaking the law.

Yet, those law breakers are depicted as heroes in American history books.

Will the protesters at Cities be remembered as heroes? Time will tell.

Thank goodness the events were documented by journalists for an objective evaluation of the protest.

MOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Both he and Nemika Levy Armstrong have stated that none of the protestors or the 2 journalists had any knowledge of any of the planning of the protest, outside of Armstrong herself and her small group of co-planners. You can view Ms Armstrongs 5 minute interview here where she discusses how the protests happened.

There may be evidence to the contrary.

 

[Summerliz03]

There may be evidence to the contrary.

Ok well so far, the prosecution has not presented that in any of the indictment documents. If the case makes it to trial, I would hope that if they have evidence of Don Lemon or Georgia Fort involved in the planning of the protest, they would present it. I personally don’t believe they have that evidence. IMO.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

That easy - professional journalists, in the traditional sense, are employed. That employment governs their conduct regarding activities and reporting.

In Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is governed by their Journalistic Standards and Practices. It's probably different in the US, but that's how Canadians might interpret the difference between professional journalist and independent journalist.

I'm not interested in debating whether Don Lemon adhered to Canadian journalism standards and practices, or whether he should. I'm answering the question as to why I see a difference between an independent and a professional journalist.

"The trust of the public is our most valued asset. We avoid putting ourselves in real or potential conflict of interest. This is essential to our credibility." ...​

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Protests and demonstrations, and the right to conduct them, are part of the democratic process. By definition, they are organized to attract the public and the media’s attention. But these situations may evolve and result in confrontation, violence or acts of vandalism.​

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If reporters on one side of a confrontation cannot provide an overview, we ensure the audience receives a broader context in the course of our coverage. ...​

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We consider the public interest before offering live coverage during a riot or demonstrations. That includes taking into account the possibility of showing scenes of extreme violence. We are also aware that our presence can sometimes in and of itself create a focal point of activity.​

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If CBC staff has exclusive access to a sit-in or demonstration by advance knowledge, a decision to accompany the organizers should be referred to the Managing Editor.​

https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/vision/governance/journalistic-standards-and-practices/introduction

For the legal issues here, none of what you've been talking about matters. It doesn't matter whether he's independent, employed or self-employed, or doing it for free, whether he's objective, rude, unlikable, professional, good at his job, unethical, biased, a propagandist, or even whether he has been officially government certified as a journalist (that's not a thing), for him to be covered by the freedom of the press clause of the First Amendment. All that matters is that he is gathering information and publishing information to the public. And the medium doesn't matter. It could be through TV, a blog, a pamphlet or a sandwich board.

Now, Don Lemon's decades of experience and continuing livelihood as a journalist certainly does make the question about whether he is a journalist rather blinkered, but it doesn't even matter here. That church incident could have been his first day doing it, and he is still covered as a member of the press.

And in this church incident, he was broadcasting live, so it's quite plain he was acting as a journalist that day. The question is whether he did more that would be make him liable.

The First Amendment doesn't give the press blanket immunity from other laws, you don't get to publish anything at all, you can be sued for defamation. And in this case it's possible he could have been interfering with the church service by the FACE Act standards, while reporting the story. But likewise, simply being inside the church during the the protest doesn't make him guilty.

I'm not even going to say this is moo, because it's just plain facts.

freedom of the press

www.law.cornell.edu

Freedom of Press

What is freedom of press? How is it protected under the First Amendment? Are there any exceptions? Here's everything to know.

www.freedomforum.org

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Ok well so far, the prosecution has not presented that in any of the indictment documents. If the case makes it to trial, I would hope that if they have evidence of Don Lemon or Georgia Fort involved in the planning of the protest, they would present it. I personally don’t believe they have that evidence. IMO.

It would have been presented to the grand jury.

 

[Summerliz03]

It would have been presented to the grand jury.

3 judges originally rejected their indictment request, so it seems odd that they wouldn’t have included evidence of Don Lemon or Georgia Fort being involved in the planning process of the protest, since it would make their case much stronger, if they in fact have that evidence.

 

[Ruminations]

It would have been presented to the grand jury.

Unlikely.

And irrelevant. We are discussing the information we have access to.

You never addressed the evidence that is available to suggest the journalists' involvement in planning a protest. That we can see, hear or read, please.

MOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

3 judges originally rejected their indictment request, so it seems odd that they wouldn’t have included evidence of Don Lemon or Georgia Fort being involved in the planning process of the protest, since it would make their case much stronger, if they in fact have that evidence.

Because of time frame, more evidence can be presented to a grand jury.

You might want to look at the Jerry Sandusky threads.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Unlikely.

And irrelevant. We are discussing the information we have access to.

You never addressed the evidence that is available to suggest the journalist's' involvement in planning a protest. That we can see, hear or read, please.

MOO

That would have been presented within the grand jury.