A federal appeals court has ruled that the Justice Department showed probable cause to charge former CNN host Don Lemon and four others for their involvement in an anti-ICE protest that stormed a Minneapolis church. However, the court refused to compel a lower judge to issue arrest warrants. The decision highlights tensions between press freedom claims and federal charges under religious interference laws.
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit determined that the Justice Department had established probable cause to charge Don Lemon and four unnamed others in connection with an anti-ICE protest last Sunday. The group stormed Cities Church in Minneapolis during a worship service, targeting the site because one pastor is reportedly an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
The ruling, unsealed Saturday, came after the department sought to force a Minnesota district court to approve five arrest warrants. While it affirmed the basis for charges on paper, the appeals court declined to mandate the warrants' issuance. Magistrate Judge Doug Micko had previously rejected signing Lemon's warrant, citing insufficient evidence from prosecutors.
Lemon's lawyer contends he was acting as an independent journalist, protected by the First Amendment while covering the event. Prosecutors counter that Lemon coordinated with anti-ICE organizers beforehand, embedding himself with the protesters. "Freedom of the press extends to a lot of different areas," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated. "It does not extend to somebody just trespassing and being embedded with a group of rioters and being part of the group that storms inside of a church."
The case invokes the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, aimed at protecting religious exercise, which the Trump administration is using here. Previously, the Biden administration applied it against pro-life activists blocking abortion clinics. Three organizers, including Black Lives Matter figure Nekima Levy Armstrong, have already been arrested by the FBI.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon posted on X: "Stay tuned 🤨." The Justice Department, vowing to pursue Lemon "to the ends of the Earth," may now pursue a grand jury indictment or re-present the case to another judge.
This development coincides with unrest in Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot an armed undocumented immigrant wanted for violent assault during a targeted operation Saturday morning. The man, carrying a loaded semi-automatic handgun, was killed after posing a threat to officers, per the Department of Homeland Security.
