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

[PrairieWind]

I worked for Bank of America, we ran huge data queries for anything and everything. What you are talking about is that during a random analysis requested from the Treasury department, BOFA also got some of the J6’rs as well. I can promise you BOFA is not liberal!

BOA was very progressive. They have backed off on many of those positions at least publicly now.

I worked for Bank of America, we ran huge data queries for anything and everything. What you are talking about is that during a random analysis requested from the Treasury department, BOFA also got some of the J6’rs as well. I can promise you BOFA is not liberal!

A quick check of BOA top shareholders: Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street... These are the entities that brought us DEI/ESG scores. Now, they have backed off those positions quite a bit. But BOA has been very progressive.

 

[PrairieWind]

I'd say Easterwood was involved. He is the director of ICE field operations for the district. The shooters would have been on field operations.
And it is not as if the shooters suffered any consequences for their actions. There would be an internal investigation(s), and a refusal to cooperate with the local authorities about the killings.

Protesting Easterwood's seemingly conflicting pastor/ICE positions - and making sure the world knows - is a significant thing to many people.

I imagine that was behind the choice of location for the protest. To show the disparity between what he does ... and what he does.

imo

I thought we weren't supposed to talk about this anymore. Is the Church responsible for ICE? No. But they were made targets of an attempt to disrupt (and I think the motive of disruption has now clearly been shown) their services that had nothing to do with ICE operations. This is victim blaming and there is no question that the Church is a victim in this matter.

 

[SouthAussie]

I thought we weren't supposed to talk about this anymore. Is the Church responsible for ICE? No. But they were made targets of an attempt to disrupt (and I think the motive of disruption has now clearly been shown) their services that had nothing to do with ICE operations. This is victim blaming and there is no question that the Church is a victim in this matter.

I was responding to someone else's post about it.

imo

 

[witchway]

BOA was very progressive. They have backed off on many of those positions at least publicly now.

A quick check of BOA top shareholders: Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street... These are the entities that brought us DEI/ESG scores. Now, they have backed off those positions quite a bit. But BOA has been very progressive.

I worked in corporate okay? I know that all they care about is money. They are not by any shape or form progressive. I never heard squat about DEI or SEG while I was there. I worked with 1000’s of lawsuits from the housing crash. I worked with the government. Trump term and Biden term along with the Obama term. I don’t care about what the shareholders may or may have been.
I looked this lawsuit up I know what happened. They are not red or blue they are GREEN!

 

[SouthAussie]

It's truly mind blowing that anyone can defend this guy.

jmo

Lots and lots of people are doing it ... defending Don Lemon. Because they don't want the media silenced. They don't want the media to be afraid to be live-on-scene and report what is going on.

imo

 

[SouthAussie]

Abbe Lowell (Don's lawyer) .....

“You can look back at this last year and see that the administration’s attacks on the media are very much content-oriented,”

“Independent journalists pose a particular threat because they cannot be cowed or bludgeoned or pressured the way media that are owned by companies now can be. And so they pretend it is about something like bias. But that is just a facade.”

“If there is a silver lining in this part of the administration’s attack and the specific charges against Don, it is that what they put into their indictment actually describes the work of a First Amendment–protected journalist,”

Inside the legal defense of Georgia Fort and Don Lemon.

“You can look back at this last year and see that the administration’s attacks on the media are very much content-oriented,” Lemon’s lawyer said.

www.cjr.org

 

[PrairieWind]

Lots and lots of people are doing it ... defending Don Lemon. Because they don't want the media silenced. They don't want the media to be afraid to be live-on-scene and report what is going on.

imo

This isn't about "silencing" journalists. Has DL been allowed to post his reports? Yes. Has reporting on the event continued? Yes. Most of it against the administration. There is no silencing. What this is about is whether or not a person claiming to be a journalist can commit crimes and get away with it by claiming to just "be reporting it."

 

[Ruminations]

I thought we weren't supposed to talk about this anymore. Is the Church responsible for ICE? No. But they were made targets of an attempt to disrupt (and I think the motive of disruption has now clearly been shown) their services that had nothing to do with ICE operations. This is victim blaming and there is no question that the Church is a victim in this matter.

The FACE act is to protect the rights of PEOPLE, patients and parishioners, to get to clinics and to worship.

The church is the the victim anymore than clinics were when anti abortion people physically kept people from getting to the clinic door.

If I were a parishioner there, I 100% would want to know if my pastor was employed in any way by the very same agency that just murdered my neighbor.

MOO

 

[PrairieWind]

The FACE act is to protect the rights of PEOPLE, patients and parishioners, to get to clinics and to worship.

The church is the the victim anymore than clinics were when anti abortion people physically kept people from getting to the clinic door.

If I were a parishioner there, I 100% would want to know if my pastor was employed in any way by the very same agency that just murdered my neighbor.

MOO

But that is up to the Church to decide, correct? Outsiders are not allowed, by federal law, to impose their beliefs upon that church.

 

[303gmf]

But that is up to the Church to decide, correct? Outsiders are not allowed, by federal law, to impose their beliefs upon that church.

Nor should a white xtian nationalist preacher impose their beliefs at their other job as ICE
Calling out the despicable nature is heroic and a free press is calling attention to it

The Johnson Amendment however weak is important

 

[SouthAussie]

This isn't about "silencing" journalists. Has DL been allowed to post his reports? Yes. Has reporting on the event continued? Yes. Most of it against the administration. There is no silencing. What this is about is whether or not a person claiming to be a journalist can commit crimes and get away with it by claiming to just "be reporting it."

I disagree.

And so as to not veer off into too much detail, I will just place this analysis here for anyone who wants to read it.

Columbia Journalism Review

Why so many experts think media capture is already a reality in America.

The phenomenon comes in many forms. Experts believe it’s already here.

www.cjr.org

 

[PrairieWind]

Nor should a white xtian nationalist preacher impose their beliefs at their other job as ICE
Calling out the despicable nature is heroic and a free press is calling attention to it

The Johnson Amendment however weak is important

so you are declaring this a white xtian nationalist church. got a citation for that? Isn't this exactly what we were supposed to NOT be discussing here? The church is a victim here. And you seem determined to blame them for this crime. And getting away with it as far as I can see.

 

[PrairieWind]

I disagree.

And so as to not veer off into too much detail, I will just place this analysis here for anyone who wants to read it.

Columbia Journalism Review

Why so many experts think media capture is already a reality in America.

The phenomenon comes in many forms. Experts believe it’s already here.

www.cjr.org

Oh but you do veer off topic. Isn't this supposed to be just about the DL case? Or is this thread now fair game to discuss these things again?

 

[SouthAussie]

"Former CNN anchor and independent journalist Don Lemon hopes that his arrest will be an example of the sacrifices that journalists must be prepared to make — including being willing to fight for freedom of press nationwide.

“I wanted to be an example to other journalists, especially young people like you, that that’s part of what you must do: ... Stand up to people who don’t respect our Bill of Rights and our Constitution,” Lemon said Wednesday to a crowd at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he was the headliner of independent student newspaper The Loyolan’s First Amendment Week. “If you're a journalist, you have to be willing to sacrifice safety and security in order to be able to bring people's stories in an authentic (way).” "

Don Lemon is ready to stand up for press freedoms — and he has some advice — CollegeJournalism.org

The former CNN anchor and independent journalist speaks about attacks on the free press while advising student journalists

www.collegejournalism.org

 

[303gmf]

so you are declaring this a white xtian nationalist church. got a citation for that? Isn't this exactly what we were supposed to NOT be discussing here? The church is a victim here. And you seem determined to blame them for this crime. And getting away with it as far as I can see.

Pastor dude maybe got called up for duty as TSA replacement? I see no victim other than journalists

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I've known countless Christian law enforcement over the years and there is no disparity whatsoever between being a Christian and enforcing the law of the land. In fact, there are multiple associations and fellowships both in the US and Canada, of Christian Law Enforcement and every single member would say the exact same thing.

We're not talking about enforcing the law. We're talking about the slaughter of US citizens in the street, which was the subject of the protest.

MOO.

Lemon's "I've Had It" podcast interview with Jennifer Welch posted after the protest (linked earlier in the thread) explained that that church was targetted in part because in his opinion, they're "entitled white supremacists". His very words. While I find his accusation completely racist, outrageous and untrue, he didn't seem to think the protest was about disparity. He gave the impression the church members deserved to have their service interrupted. It's truly mind blowing that anyone can defend this guy.

jmo

It's mind-blowing to me that anyone can defend ICE or this so-called Christian pastor and demonize DL.

MOO.