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

[J. J. in Phila]

And seems to condemn rather than reconcile, which surprises me as it's so unlike the pastors I know.

But there is room for all types of faith in practice, even if I don't understand it.

jmo

As I pointed out, there were two other pastors listed.

 

[Ruminations]

That is not really the right question. Is a journalist protected by the First Amendment if he goes with someone who commits a criminal act, before, during and after the event?

That wasn't the right question? It wasn't even a question. It was a statement.

MOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

That wasn't the right question? It wasn't even a question. It was a statement.

MOO

I responded to apost that said "But the question if his behaviour."

 

[Hexe]

Because you are doing it, without their consent, during a church service.

Which is not what Lemon did. He started to interview people after the service already ended due to disruption by demonstration and people started to leave.

Also, it's rather hard to obtain consent without asking first.

MOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Which is not what Lemon did. He started to interview people after the service already ended due to disruption by demonstration and people started to leave.

Also, it's rather hard to obtain consent without asking first.

MOO

It had not.

 

[Hexe]

This post indicates a bias.

Everyone has some kind of bias. That's how people get different opinions.

MOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Everyone has some kind of bias. That's how people get different opinions.

MOO

It shows too much of a bias when claims other crimes.

 

[Hexe]

It had not.

Then please, point me to thst moment in the footage, where Lemon starts to interview people in the church before the demonstration started. I will be grateful.

MOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Then please, point me to thst moment in the footage, where Lemon starts to interview people in the church before the demonstration started. I will be grateful.

MOO

It was a continuous disruption, but thank you for pointing out the violation of statute and rights.

 

[Sundog]

Journalists don’t need to “justify” the stories they are following or why. The purpose of journalism is to document, and especially in the time we are living in where fair and free news media is being denied, devalued, and dismantled in favor of disinformation. Journalists have a right to report and share the truth of what is happening in our country: if that happens to be a protest that breaks out in a church, then the people have a right to know about it, and have free access to information gathered by journalists covering it. Freedom of the press is one of our fundamental rights, and one of the first rights to be oppressed and denied by an authoritarian government that seeks to manipulate and control the dissemination of information.

We’ve already seen multiple public news agencies and media groups defunded or eradicated by our current government, which has also repeatedly spoken about being dedicated to eliminating any kind of agency which perpetuated “anti-Christian” views and has thumped their chest repeatedly about being a Christian government. It makes total sense for journalists to be following protest groups around Christian churches or to be interested in documenting both those groups and the churches themselves.

In your opinion.

 

[Hexe]

It was a continuous disruption, but thank you for pointing out the violation of statute and rights.

A disruption which ended the service. A disruption Don Lemon did not participated in.

MOO

 

[Sundog]

This is not Trump. This is a grand jury.

Well said.

 

[otto]

Journalists were not there to tell the congregation their pastor works for ICE. The journalists were there to gather information and document the situation to inform the public.


jmo

According to the organizer:

"We asked Nekima Levy Armstrong — who is founder of the Racial Justice Network and a civil rights attorney — to talk about the origins of the protest, and the aftermath.

The protest was to draw attention to the fact that a church minister at Cities Church in Saint Paul is affiliated with ICE. ... We thought congregants would want to know they have a pastor in their church doubling as the director for the ICE field office in Minnesota."​

Nekima Levy Armstrong: Why We Protested at Cities Church in Saint Paul, and What Our Arrests Mean

Instead, Armstrong and Allen were taken to the Sherburne County Jail using three sets of restraints “as if we were hardened criminals and murderers. We had ankle shackles on our ankles, we had belly chains around our waist, and we had handcuffs with bars in the middle. As someone who majored in Af

www.womenspress.com

The independent journalist was present before, during, and after the protest to document the organizer and protesters as they politely and respectfully informed a church congregation about an absent member of their 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

The independent journalist summarized his message after the event:

"Don Lemon is doubling down after being caught red-handed conspiring with anti-ICE radicals who raided a Sunday church service in St. Paul, casting blame on the parishioners whom he labeled “entitled” and accusing them of “white supremacy.”

“I think people who are in religious groups like that — it’s not the type of Christianity that I practice — but I think they’re entitled, and that entitlement comes from white supremacy,” Lemon said of Minnesota’s Cities Church in a jaw-dropping interview with lefty “I’ve Had It” podcaster Jennifer Welch."​

Don Lemon blasts Minnesota churchgoers harassed by anti-ICE protesters for ‘entitlement’ and ‘white supremacy’

Don Lemon is doubling down after being caught red-handed conspiring with anti-ICE radicals who raided a Sunday church service in St. Paul, casting blame on the parishioners whom he labeled “e…

nypost.com

 

[CrimeDawg123]

From what I'm reading in the news media, it looks like the GOP DOJ is planning to use some crazy conspiracy theories (CT) to make their case. That probably won't stand up in court. The CT is getting so far "out there" that they're losing all credibility. Case in point: Trump endorsing the CT Gov. Walz hired killer Vance Boelter to shoot House Speaker Melissa Holtman, her husband and the Hoffmans. CT from DOJ just falls flat. If that's the circus they want to present during a GJ, it's wrong and won't work. Instead of discrediting the journalists, they end up discrediting the Trump Administration. JMO

President Trump pushes false conspiracy on the Hortman killings, implicating Walz involvement

President Trump shared a video claiming that Tim Walz was responsible for the killing of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, a conspiracy theory that has been debunked several times since the fatal Minnesota lawmaker shootings in June 2025.

www.fox9.com

You have got to be kidding me. Everytime I think we've seen the bottom, there's a new low.

 

[otto]

Otto, I do not even how to say it... But drawing attention to the fact a pastor is an ICE officer does not equal wanting to confront said pastor. There is a vast, VAST difference in meaning between these two sentences. Really.

MOO

The stated intent, and the end result, appear to have little in common.

 

[Sundog]

Surely if that evidence was available they would have shown it to the judges who said no? Then they would have said yes and there would be no need for a grand jury?

IIRC from reading the opinion of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals it was stated that if the federal prosecutors did not have all the evidence AT THAT TIME and wanted to pursue the matter further then they should take the case to a grand jury.

So the Circuit Court judges were basically saying that when you finish gathering evidence, THEN you might be able to get an arrest warrant, but on an emergency basis the arrest warrant was denied.

That's very different from stating that the Appeals Court agreed there was no evidence.

 

[SouthAussie]

IIRC from reading the opinion of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals it was stated that if the federal prosecutors did not have all the evidence AT THAT TIME and wanted to pursue the matter further then they should take the case to a grand jury.

So the Circuit Court judges were basically saying that when you finish gathering evidence, THEN you might be able to get an arrest warrant, but on an emergency basis the arrest warrant was denied.

That's very different from stating that the Appeals Court agreed there was no evidence.

I haven't read that. The one dissenting appeals court judge said there was clearly enough evidence in his opinion.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/24/doj-trump-minnesota-don-lemon-protest-00745589

 

[Hexe]

The stated intent, and the end result, appear to have little in common.

Their intent was to draw the attention to the fact one of the pastors is an ICE officer. They did not need to confront him to do that, they did not need him to even be anywhere near that church during the protest. Considering that multiple media wrote afterwards about pastor's day job, I'd say the protesters were very, very succesful in drawing that attention (the ethical and legal validity of their methods is a separate question).

But, to repeat myself, the above has absolutely no bearing on the question if Lemon was in that church as a journo. Journalist's job is to record the event, not to ensure the protest fulfill it's aims.

MOO

 

[Sundog]

It's false equivalence to compare a reporter helping criminals plan a bank robbery to reporters being alerted to attend a peaceful demonstration at a church.

One is easily perceived to be a criminal activity, the other isn't.

MOO

It is a federal crime according to the FACT Act which the protesters violated and are now facing criminal charges. And the protest in the church was in no way "peaceful."

 

[Inthedetails]

The protesters had a message to convey to the congregation. They did so through loud voices and signs. Additionally, the protesters wanted a wider audience to know so they tipped off journalists to the event, as do groups of all sorts inform journalists of happenings.

The journalists had a role to inform the public. They did so by witnessing, asking questions, gathering info, reporting, broadcasting. Journalists are in the business of spreading information to a wider audience than what is immediately in front of them.

Don Lemon did not use his camera and microphone at the event to inform the congregation. He used his camera and microphone to inform the public.

jmo