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

[J. J. in Phila]

Are they saying they sent evidence to the grand jury without first reviewing it?

A case must be ruled "complex" before a judge will allow the prosecution to waive a defendant's right to a speedy trial. This case doesn't meet that test. It involves charges against 2 journalists covering an event that lasted a couple of hours, at most.

Better examples of a complex case would be Brian Kohberger murdering 4 college students in their apartment or the Wagner family murdering 8 members of the Rhoden and Gilley families as they slept in 4 different homes.

The defendants in this case have already allowed a 21 day extension for the government to make it's case. Discovery should already be taking place on most of the evidence, as most of it has already been seen by the public. JMO.

LemonFortSpeedyOpp022026.PDF

www.documentcloud.org

Like testimony, absolutely. It does not happen until it happens.

Kohberger was state court, IIRC which operates under different rules.

MMO.

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

However, that is very large step to convincing a petite jury.

The old line about a prosecutor getting a grand jury to "indict a ham sandwich" came from a judge name Sol Wachtler, who was later convicted and served time in federal prison. It is a good proving ground for the strength of a case.

MOO

I am interested to see how strong the DOJ’s case is too, especially after learning that both Magistrate Judge Micko refused to issue the five remaining arrests warrants, including DL’s, for the DOJ because in his opinion there wasn’t enough evidence to criminally charge him and the four other defendants for violating the FACE Act and that Judge Schultz identified in his letter during the appeal process that two of the eight defendants weren’t even protesters but were journalists with no evidence of carrying out criminal behavior at the church. It would be interesting to know if the DOJ has made their case stronger since late December though I disagree personally that DL and Forte violated the FACE Act.

To be fair though on the other hand, I recall too one judge in MN’s 8th Circuit Court had stated publicly that the DOJ had shown that there was enough probable cause to issue all five arrest warrants so there is that.

As for the grand jury, to be honest for me personally it is hard to tell how strong the case is based on it after the reading the previous two statements from the MN judges. IIRC, 99% of federal grand jury cases come back with an indictment. Factors such as indictments, unlike guilt or innocence, are based on the grand jury’s belief that there is probable cause to reasonably believe a crime was committed by the defendant, not that the defendant committed it beyond a reasonable doubt and the jury only needs a majority vote, not an unanimous one to pass an indictment. Additionally, hearsay can be presented in court and it is exclusively led and organized by the government who is the only that can presents its case with its witnesses and evidences.

But those are just my own concerns

IMO/MOO

Judges blocked the Trump DOJ on Don Lemon. A grand jury could do the same.

Grand jurors around the country have rejected some of the Justice Department’s most blatantly political efforts.

www.ms.now

Trump DOJ goes into its Don Lemon case without a key tool: the courts’ trust

A motion from Don Lemon and Georgia Fort marks latest push to question the “presumption of regularity” historically given to the government.

www.ms.now

How US Grand Juries Work

'People's panel' a powerful tool for prosecutors

www.voanews.com

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/95-1135#_Toc202800027

https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3972&context=clevstlrev

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested late Thursday night on charges that he violated federal law during a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, his lawyer said, in a case rejected last week by a magistrate judge. Mr. Lemon has said he was simply reporting as a journalist when he entered the Cities Church on January 18 to observe a demonstration against the immigration crackdown in the area.

MSN

 

[CrimeDawg123]

This case is going to get thrown out so fast, just watch.