Former CNN anchor Don Lemon pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal charges stemming from his presence at a January protest inside a St. Paul, Minnesota church that authorities say disrupted religious worship and targeted a pastor over alleged ties to federal immigration enforcement.
Lemon, 59, appeared in federal court Friday afternoon just after 12 p.m. local time. He was indicted alongside eight codefendants in connection with the Jan. 18 incident at Cities Church. Prosecutors allege the group entered the church during services as part of a coordinated demonstration against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the region, and Lemon was charged for joining in while documenting it as a freelance journalist.
The Justice Department has charged Lemon and eight others in the case with conspiracy against rights and with injuring, intimidating, or interfering with the exercise of religious freedom at a place of worship under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The statutes are typically used in cases involving alleged obstruction of religious services or threats tied to worship activities, or efforts to obstruct entry into abortion clinics.
Outside the courtroom, several protesters and supporters of Lemon gathered, holding signs. One of them stated “Free Speech Free Press,” while others held up anti-Trump administration posters with slogans including “abolish ICE.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi has described the incident as a “coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” signaling the administration’s intent to treat disruptions of religious institutions as federal civil rights matters rather than routine protest activity. During her testimony to Congress this week, she reiterated her commitment to protecting houses of worship from any kind of disruptions, such as the storming that occurred early last month.
Lemon was arrested Jan. 30, days after the protest, in a move that quickly drew backlash from press-freedom advocates and some media organizations, which argue the case risks criminalizing newsgathering. Supporters of the prosecution contend Lemon was not merely observing but actively participating in conduct that disrupted worshippers.
According to court filings, protesters accused the church’s pastor of working with federal immigration authorities.
Lemon’s role had been live-streaming the protest as a freelance journalist at the time, but he also revealed a level of prior awareness of the protester’s motives and intentions, a key part of the indictment that the government says blurred the lines between harmless reporting and sincere efforts to coordinate with the other agitators.
Previous administrations, especially former President Joe Biden’s, targeted anti-abortion advocates using the FACE Act, oftentimes leading to years of prison time. Republicans at one point eyed repealing the FACE Act, though the Trump administration has said that, as long as the law remains on the books, it won’t hesitate to use it in the context of obstructing or interrupting parishioners’ rights to worship.
Lemon has denied wrongdoing, and his not-guilty plea sets the stage for a legal fight expected to test the line between protected journalistic activity and participation in unlawful protest conduct. One codefendant has already sought to have his charges tossed out in a motion filed last week.
DON LEMON CODEFENDANT SEEKS TO TOSS FACE ACT INDICTMENT IN CHURCH STORMING CASE
Others named in the indictment include the protest group’s organizer, Nekima Levy Armstrong, as well as fellow protesters Chauntyll Allen and William Kelly. Judges last month denied a motion by prosecutors to keep all three of them detained pending trial.
Additional codefendants from the indictment are expected to be arraigned next week.
