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

[Betty P]

On the pastor's left was a parishioner or lay person.
Georgia is standing quite a bit back. Her microphone is not visible in this picture, but I have seen it be barely visible in other pictures.

View attachment 646862

‘I Might Get Arrested, People’: How MAGA media outlets are fueling Trump’s crackdown on the press.

How MAGA media outlets are fueling Trump’s crackdown on the press.

www.cjr.org

Those MAGA “media” people seem a little unhinged, to say the least

The MAGA media response turned from anger to glee when Lemon and Fort were arrested last week. They were indictedalong with seven others on allegations that they “conspired and agreed with one another and with other persons…to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate” multiple people. (The Justice Department initially had trouble bringing chargesagainst Lemon after federal magistrate and appellate judges rejected the case.) “These arrests have been hilariously fun to look at and laugh at,” Johnson said on his show. “When are we gonna get the Don Lemon mug shot?”

“Hey, congratulations.… It’s great that they finally got him,” Pool said on his podcast. “But what are we gonna do about the fact that there is an active insurgency? I mean, this is sedition, this is seditious conspiracy!”

Seditious conspiracy? That’s quite a leap. JMO

 

[CSIDreamer]

A private platform moderating content is legal and is not the same as government suppressing speech.

IMO, the government is not suppressing speech when it safeguards the equally important right to worship free of intimidation and interference.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Meanwhile.

House Republicans advance bill to repeal FACE Act​

written by Kate Scanlon 2:57 PM June 12, 2025

House Republicans advance bill to repeal FACE Act

Abortion opponents said the Biden administration weaponized the law by not pursuing proportionate charges against those who vandalized pro-life facilities.

www.osvnews.com

The same guy introduced the bill in 2023. It is not going anyplace: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5577

IMO.

 

[SouthAussie]

IMO, the government is not suppressing speech when it safeguards the equally important right to worship free of intimidation and interference.

The govt could have achieved both. Prosecute the protesters, and allow the reporters to report on the protest without prosecution.

imo

"Even if an assembly is declared unlawful or is dispersed, that does not terminate the right of journalists to monitor protests."

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default...Human-Rights-Context-Protests-Journalists.pdf

 

[J. J. in Phila]

The govt could have achieved both. Prosecute the protesters, and allow the reporters to report on the protest without prosecution.

imo

"Even if an assembly is declared unlawful or is dispersed, that does not terminate the right of journalists to monitor protests."

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default...Human-Rights-Context-Protests-Journalists.pdf

Then the question returns to Lemon's actions.

MOO

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

Because, under FACE, it is cordoned area. If he were to follow a group of anti-abortion activists into a clinic, it would be the ame situation.

Except then he'd be pardoned by the POTUS, so...

MOO

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Except then he'd be pardoned by the POTUS, so...

MOO

It depends on who POTUS is.

 

[sds71]

Attys for Don Lemon & Georgia Fort oppose DOJ effort to delay church protest trial, argue interviews & public attacks from top officials underscore urgency of a quick resolution

LemonFortSpeedyOpp022026.PDF

www.documentcloud.org

https://twitter.com/x/status/2025038014871687303

 

[SouthAussie]

Attys for Don Lemon & Georgia Fort oppose DOJ effort to delay church protest trial, argue interviews & public attacks from top officials underscore urgency of a quick resolution

LemonFortSpeedyOpp022026.PDF

www.documentcloud.org

https://twitter.com/x/status/2025038014871687303

Some bits from your linked pdf:


Ms. Fort and Mr. Lemon seek to move this case forward expeditiously because they believe the caselaw will support the dismissal of the charges (as has occurred in other cases that have been rushed, politicized, and brought by this Administration)

This case is not complex within any precedential meaning of the law or the norms of the District of Minnesota. The volume of discovery previewed by the Government—2,000 pages of discovery, video footage that is largely public, and phone downloads—is typical for run-of-the mill cases in this District.

The Government has already had 31 days to gather, organize, and prepare discovery.

The Justice Department has assigned at least five federal prosecutors to the case, along with all other federal law enforcement resources it has brought to bear.

As the Government should know, the Department of Justice’s own internal policies reinforce that prosecutors are expected to thoroughly assess evidence and discovery obligations before charges are brought, as part of the charging decision, not afterward.

A central purpose of the Speedy Trial Act is to ensure defendants receive due process and can vindicate their trial rights promptly. Those interests are especially critical here, given the Administration’s continuing and repeated condemnation of Ms. Fort and Mr. Lemon.
From the President to the Attorney General and other senior Administration officials, members of the Government have not only publicly declared the journalists’ guilt but have openly derided and mocked them in the media.