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

[Cryptic]

As for the FACE act, any conviction has probably been jeopardized by all the above (first time, open doors, welcome mat) plus the recent pardons, plus the appearance of malicious prosecution against the journalists which taints the whole case.

I don't think an argument of:

- "Well, our stated intent was to disrupt a worship service in a Church, but.... there were no locked doors, guards or 'keep out' signs at that church. So..... everything is cool-right? is going to work at a trial (sentencing, yes. I think it could be offered as a mitigating circumstance.).

In the end the FACE Act's key components seem to be: Did you inhibit first amendment freedoms at a place of worship (Check Yes, or check no)?. Not.... Ok, did you force your way in and then inhibit those freedoms? If I were a defense attorney, I would give my protester client a hard reality check:

- Let the others present any arguments they want, you are facing serious time.

- Lets try to plea bargain. We can plead guilty to a state charge of Criminal Trespass. Or, a lesser Federal Charge if one exists. Cant Plea Bargain? Then plead guilty. We"ll ask for minimum time based on:

Your honor: My client did not organize the protest and did not select the target. He / she made an impulsive decision to participate. When she saw the famous Don Lemon decked out in Lemon stuff and unpacking journalism gear, she thought she was engaging in a lawful protest. She never would have knowingly engaged in anything unlawful. She has no prior arrest record.

As Ruminations points out, my client did not force her way into the Church. In fact, she did not anticipate going into the Church at all. She thought the goal was to pass out Antit ICE flyers to people leaving, maybe chant some slogans. But, yes, caught up in the moment, she followed the others in. She, (following Rumination's lead) walked into the Church via the open front door. She acknowledges her guilt in suppressing First Amendment Freedoms in a place of worship. She is truly sorry and deserves a minimum, very minimum sentence.

 

[Cryptic]

That's highly inflammatory speculation with zero basis in fact.
JMO

Well, some parts are very factual:

Fun Fact: Lemon and the videographer were, the only journalists who showed up to the Church protest.

Speculation: Little voices might have told the other news reporters that it was not a good idea.

Fun Fact: CNN reporters do not appear to have ever followed protesters into a church, mosque or synagogue to get hot inside scoops.

Speculation: There might be a reason for that.

 

[ab01]

When it’s the POTUS doing it, it certainly is. It’s also a problem when Trump, acting as president, bans certain news reporters and news outlets from attending press briefings. That’s called a deliberate rejection of government transparency.

JMO

Acting as President!?! He is the President lol

 

[SouthAussie]

Fun Fact: Lemon and the videographer were, the only journalists who showed up to the Church protest.

Twin Cities journalist Georgia Fort, indicted on federal charges after last month's protest inside St. Paul's Cities Church, entered a not guilty plea on Tuesday.

A sea of supporters greeted Fort outside federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was one of two remaining defendants to enter pleas in connection to the Jan. 18 Sunday service at the church, where a pastor on staff is also the head of the capital city's ICE field Office.

"As a journalist, I not only stand here today asking the world to help protect the press, but to continue fighting for me as long as this case takes," Fort said.

Journalist Georgia Fort pleads not guilty in Minnesota ICE pastor church arrest

Twin Cities journalist Georgia Fort, indicted on federal charges after last month's protest inside St. Paul's Cities Church, entered a not guilty plea on Tuesday.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Ruminations]

Acting as President!?! He is the President lol

The poster has a subtle style, lol

They know Trump is president. What they didn't say concretely enough for all of us is when Trump is president, he is no longer a private citizen. If he said some things when he was not president, it is fair game, freedom of speech. The same things said while president can become things like threatening journalists and journalism.

It is inappropriate for the president to say many things that are appropriate for a private citizen.

MOO

 

[Hexe]

Fun Fact: CNN reporters do not appear to have ever followed protesters into a church, mosque or synagogue to get hot inside scoops.

Fun question: how many protests in the US happened inside of a church, mosque or synagogue before Minneapolis?

 

[Betty P]

Well, some parts are very factual:

Fun Fact: Lemon and the videographer were, the only journalists who showed up to the Church protest.

Speculation: Little voices might have told the other news reporters that it was not a good idea.

Fun Fact: CNN reporters do not appear to have ever followed protesters into a church, mosque or synagogue to get hot inside scoops.

Speculation: There might be a reason for that.

IIRC, there were other journalists who also covered the event, Georgia Fort and a Mr. Cruze. Speculation about others? Well the prosecution will have to prove their case in court instead of in the news media.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Fun question: how many protests in the US happened inside of a church, mosque or synagogue before Minneapolis?

A lot, actually. It was common in Catholic Churches in the late 80's ad early 90's. I remember them quite well.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Thanks. That’s exactly what I meant. Mr. Trump’s words and behavior are very often inappropriate for a person currently serving as POTUS. He verbally claims many powers he doesn’t have, makes inappropriate and abusive threats against our country’s closest allies and is often untruthful. JMO

ETA: Does anyone know when the pretrial hearings begin Gordon Lemon’s case? TIA

How is this relevant to Don Lemon?

 

[Betty P]

How is this relevant to Don Lemon?

I agree. I was simply answering a question someone asked about my earlier comment offering examples of Trump threatening journalists. US presidents aren’t supposed to threaten journalists. Don Lemon is a journalist.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The former CNN anchor was arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday while covering the Grammys. The longtime critic of President Donald Trump is accused of conspiracy and hampering the First Amendment rights of worshippers following his coverage of an anti-ICE protest last month at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. He denies the allegations, saying he was operating as a journalist.

As Trump-aligned figures increasingly hyped Lemon’s reporting as criminal, Lemon told Kimmel he retained an attorney and offered to cooperate with authorities well before the arrest.

The attorney said, per Lemon, ”‘If you are serious about this, let’s do it the right way. He’s perfectly willing to self-report,’ which means turn yourself in. ‘And so we don’t have to go through this whole rigmarole,’” Lemon recalled. But Lemon said his legal representative “never heard back from them.”

“People who are accused of much worse things than I am accused of doing, they are allowed the courtesy,” said Lemon, contrasting the treatment he received with that afforded to President Donald Trump, who was “allowed the courtesy to turn himself in.”

Don Lemon Shares The Most Disturbing Moment Of His Arrest

“Otherwise, no one would have known where I was,” the former CNN anchor told Jimmy Kimmel.

www.aol.com

 

[Hexe]

A lot, actually. It was common in Catholic Churches in the late 80's ad early 90's. I remember them quite well.

Inside the church? No. There was, as far only one protest inside the church, in the US, in that time period, as far as I remember. Stop The Church, December 10, 1989, New York. Before that there were the kneel-ins by the Civil Rights Movement, a non-disruptive form of protest.

I absolutely do not condone nor support disrupting the religious services in protest, let's that be clear. This form of the protest is, though, incredibly rare in the US so the argument that no CNN journo followed the protesters into the church is, well... Quite nonsensical.

 

[Ruminations]

How is this relevant to Don Lemon?

Interesting question.

There have been a few instances where posters have been avoiding the question of what exactly Don Lemon did wrong by replying, off topic, that Don Lemon thinks there is an attack on journalism. As if that has anything to do with behaviors and statutes.

There is an attack on journalism and it explains the inappropriate prosecution of Don Lemon. But he is not using that as a legal defense. He is using the fact that his actions were legal as a legal defense.

The other version of the same fallacy is to claim that Don Lemon is suggesting that journalism is some "break the law free" card, when of course he is not suggesting that. Reporting that you are doing journalism lawfully does not mean you think it's okay to do journalism unlawfully. It is true that he says he was doing journalism. It is not true that he contends it means he can break the law.

When Don Lemon (and countless others) bring up an attack on journalism, they are not explaining Don Lemon's behavior. They are explaining the prosecutors' inappropriate behavior.

MOO

 

[CSIDreamer]

It is not about distrusting only. It is about what the public is allowed to hear about, and what they are not allowed to hear about ... now. In 2025/2026.
How can they trust or distrust when they don't even know what is actually going on? How is it okay to have your media silenced? Refused access?

56 countries have more freedom of the press than the US. The country of "freedom".

I hope the charges against Don Lemon are thrown out. That journalism scores a small win.

imo

Even this site has had to put their foot down and determine what they believe to be legitimate media. In essence, they have had to silence and restrict media as well. JMO

 

[Cryptic]

Fun question: how many protests in the US happened inside of a church, mosque or synagogue before Minneapolis?

Fun answer: One does not need to be in Minneapolis to follow protesters to a Church.

For example, there were a lot of protests, including people forcing their way into Catholic churches when Roe V Wade was over turned.

Yet.... CNN and others stayed out. Thinking there is a reason why CNN and three letter type people don't seek out hot scoops by following protesters into churches. That reason is centered on brains.

 

[Rolypolyoly]

I try to get most of my news from international sources and it’s truly shocking how much different it is from US based news and how much we are not seeing here in the states. It’s actually quite scary. You really can’t tell we are in a news vacuum until you step out of it and see how restricted the media is here. Off topic a bit but Stephen Colbert had James Talerico, a democratic candidate for the Senate on his show this week and CBS refused to air it on the actual broadcast show and forced them to only release it on YouTube, per the FCC. They even released this ridiculous lawyer statement about it to appease the FCC and Stephen came out and called the whole thing a load of bull. Scary times we are living in here for sure.

That was a great interview!

 

[Cryptic]

Inside the church? No. There was, as far only one protest inside the church, in the US, in that time period, as far as I remember. Stop The Church, December 10, 1989, New York. Before that there were the kneel-ins by the Civil Rights Movement, a non-disruptive form of protest.

The FACE Act was passed in 1994.

I would not be surprised if the big news agencies such as CNN have legal departments. These legal departments might get pretty nervous about ideas like:

Hey, there is going to be a protest inside a Church. Lets follow them there, and go inside. Our reporters then get the hot scoops for our viewers.

 

[Betty P]

Sorry to bring this up again, but does anyone know when the pretrial hearings begin for Don Lemon? TIA