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Don Lemon could be charged for Cities Church storming; Trump threatens jail for Minneapolis anti-ICE protestors
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is facing severe flak for livestreaming an anti-ICE protest at the Cities Church in St Paul-Minneapolis
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is facing severe flak for livestreaming an anti-ICE protest at the Cities Church in St Paul-Minneapolis this week. President Donald Trump even threatened to jail all protestors who were at the protest amid unverified claims that pastor David Easterwood is an ICE official in Minnesota.
Lemon, 59, broadcast live from the Twin Cities on Sunday as demonstrators entered Cities Church in St Paul. Trump officials, including Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon and AG Pam Bondi, said the protestors are being investigated and could face punishment under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which also covers obstruction of worship.
Lemon has insisted he was present strictly in a journalistic capacity and says his actions are protected under the First Amendment.
Trump threatens jail
Trump reshared a post on Truth Social from an X account called ‘MoniFunGirl’, which called for Lemon to be sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The post cited an alleged case in which ‘a small group of elderly ladies were protesting at an abortion clinic and were given 40 years in prison for violating the FACE Act’. The author later clarified they meant ‘months’ rather than ‘years’, but Trump reposted the message without comment.
The president also made another post. “Just watched footage of the Church Raid in Minnesota by the agitators and insurrectionists. These people are professionals! No person acts the way they act. They are highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics, in a certain manner, just like they are doing. They are troublemakers who should be thrown in jail, or thrown out of the Country. The first to go should be Walz, and Fake Sleazebag, Ilhan Omar, who is supposedly worth over $30 Million Dollars, even though she’s never had anything but a Government job. Investigate these Corrupt Politicians, and do it now!” he wrote.
DOJ weighs in
The Justice Department has since said it will pursue charges against all participants involved in the Minnesota protest, with Harmeet Dhillon publicly singling out Lemon.
Speaking to conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, Dhillon said, “Well, look, we have a presumption of innocence in this country, so I want to preserve my ethical duties here.”
She added, “But let me just say that, you know, he’s a journalist — he was a journalist, I don’t know he is now, but he, journalism is not a badge or a shield that protects you from criminal consequences when you are part of a crime. And I think the videos show how close he was to these folks.”
Dhillon continued, “I think further evidence will show more information about that. But he clearly knew and he stated before going into the facility, it’s on his own video, what was going to happen there.”
She later raised the possibility of invoking the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era law designed to combat intimidation and protect civil rights, suggesting it could apply if parishioners’ right to worship was obstructed.
In a separate post on X, Dhillon warned that Lemon is ‘on notice’ and, during an appearance with Glenn Beck, advised him to ‘lawyer up’.
Don Lemon responds
Lemon, who left CNN in 2023, has pushed back against the mounting criticism. Speaking to podcaster Jennifer Welch, he said he was being deliberately singled out by the administration.
“I was on with my producers this morning… My producers were saying, I said, ‘How did I become the face of this?’, and my producers said Don, you’re a gay, black man in America.”
He continued, “And you have a platform, and you’re the biggest name. Of course you’re going to be the person that they single out, and they’re gonna make the headline because it plays to their base, and their base is full of racist, bigoted homophobes.”
