{"id":15454,"date":"2026-01-20T17:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/doj-dhillon-don-lemon-church-protest\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T17:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:04:17","slug":"doj-dhillon-don-lemon-church-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/doj-dhillon-don-lemon-church-protest\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ civil rights chief blasts Don Lemon for covering anti-ICE protest inside church, vows charges against protesters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lead:<\/strong> The Justice Department\u2019s assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon, said on Monday the department “will pursue charges” tied to an anti-ICE demonstration held inside a St. Paul, Minnesota, church \u2014 remarks that singled out former CNN anchor Don Lemon for reporting from inside the building. The comments came in an interview with conservative host Benny Johnson and focused on whether journalists or activists at the scene could be part of a criminal conspiracy. Dhillon named possible federal statutes under review and warned of forceful federal action if similar incidents recur. Don Lemon and the church have said they are cooperating with questions; the DOJ has not publicly confirmed targets of any potential charges.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced the DOJ “will pursue charges” linked to a protest inside Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota; she discussed the case on “The Benny Show.”<\/li>\n
  • Dhillon specifically criticized Don Lemon\u2019s presence and coverage inside the church but did not confirm whether prosecutors will file charges against him individually.<\/li>\n
  • The protest was tied to outrage after the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by ICE officer Jonathan Ross, which has driven sustained demonstrations in Minneapolis\u2013St. Paul.<\/li>\n
  • Dhillon cited potential violations of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994 and the Enforcement (Ku Klux Klan) Act of 1871 as tools under consideration.<\/li>\n
  • Former President Donald Trump called the incident a “church raid” on Truth Social and urged investigations into Minnesota Democrats, elevating political pressure around the episode.<\/li>\n
  • The Department of Defense ordered about 1,500 troops to prepare for possible deployment to Minnesota if the Insurrection Act were invoked, according to two defense officials speaking to NBC News.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Background<\/h2>\n

    The demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul grew out of public protests following the Jan. 7 shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer identified in news reports as Jonathan Ross. Good\u2019s killing has prompted large-scale activism and calls for accountability directed at ICE locally and nationally. Local leaders, activists, and federal officials have clashed over tactics, legal boundaries and the appropriate law-enforcement response.<\/p>\n

    Dhillon, who leads the DOJ civil rights division, has framed the church incident as a potential federal civil-rights and public-order matter. The FACE Act, enacted in 1994, is designed to protect access to reproductive-health services and places of worship; the Enforcement Act of 1871 (often called the Ku Klux Klan Act) provides a longstanding federal conspiracy charge when civil rights are targeted. Those statutes are seldom invoked together in modern protest contexts, making Dhillon\u2019s mention notable to lawyers and civil-rights observers.<\/p>\n

    Main Event<\/h2>\n

    Video posted by organizers and reporters shows activists entering the church and chanting slogans such as “ICE out” and the name “Renee Good.” Don Lemon posted footage and commentary from inside the building, saying he was reporting on a planned “operation” and interviewing participants. At one point a pastor asked Lemon to leave unless he came to worship; Lemon said he was present to document the protest and insisted reporters were separate from activists.<\/p>\n

    Dhillon publicly condemned the actions as potential desecration of a house of worship and a disruption of worshippers, and she told Benny Johnson that journalism should not be treated as a permit to join or embed within a criminal conspiracy. She said the DOJ was “putting the facts together” and warned of decisive federal remedies if laws were violated.<\/p>\n

    Protest leaders described the mobilization as “Operation Pull Up,” with organizer Nekima Levy Armstrong telling reporters the goal was to demand justice for Renee Good and to pressure ICE. Organizers alleged that a church official had ties to the local ICE field office; that link has not been independently verified by newsroom reporting. The live streams and social-media posts of the event intensified partisan reactions, with right-wing voices denouncing the demonstration and left-leaning commentators emphasizing the underlying grievance over Good’s death.<\/p>\n

    Analysis & Implications<\/h2>\n

    Dhillon\u2019s public comments signal a willingness by the civil-rights division to treat some protest conduct as a federal criminal matter when places of worship are involved. Invoking the FACE Act centers the legal question on whether protesters unlawfully obstructed worshippers; mentioning the 1871 Enforcement Act raises the threshold to alleged conspiracies to violate protected civil rights. Both paths would require federal prosecutors to assemble evidence that goes beyond disagreement or civil disobedience.<\/p>\n

    Targeting journalists with rhetoric that suggests they participated in conspiratorial conduct raises First Amendment and press-freedom concerns. Legal scholars say mere presence or reportage at a protest does not automatically equate to criminality; prosecutors would need to show active participation or agreement to commit illegal acts. Dhillon\u2019s remarks about journalism not serving as a “shield” reflect a prosecutorial posture but do not, standing alone, demonstrate that a case against a reporter is imminent.<\/p>\n

    Politically, the dispute adds fuel to an already polarized response to Good\u2019s death. Former President Trump\u2019s characterization of the event as a “church raid” and calls for legal action against state officials deepen the nationalization of a local protest. If federal charges are pursued, the case could set legal and political precedents on how far the government will go to police protests occurring in houses of worship.<\/p>\n

    Comparison & Data<\/h2>\n
    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Statute<\/th>\nYear<\/th>\nPrimary focus<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    FACE Act<\/td>\n1994<\/td>\nProtects access to reproductive-health services and places of worship from obstruction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Enforcement (Klan) Act<\/td>\n1871<\/td>\nAllows federal action against conspiracies to deprive civil rights<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

    The DOJ\u2019s referencing of both statutes signals a range of enforcement tools: FACE is specific to obstruction at facilities and worship sites, while the 1871 Act is broader, historically used to prosecute organized conspiracies. Context matters: prosecutors must prove elements of each statute to secure convictions, and those legal thresholds differ significantly.<\/p>\n

    Reactions & Quotes<\/h2>\n

    Officials and participants offered sharply different framings of the same event, underscoring political polarization and legal uncertainty.<\/p>\n

    \n

    “Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility… he began \u2014 quote, unquote \u2014 ‘committing journalism,’ as if that\u2019s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part, of a criminal conspiracy. It isn\u2019t.”<\/p>\n

    Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Dhillon used this language to argue that reportage does not automatically exempt individuals from prosecution if evidence shows coordinated illegal conduct. She stopped short of naming specific defendants, and the DOJ has not announced formal charges as of Dhillon\u2019s interview.<\/p>\n

    \n

    “It\u2019s notable that I\u2019ve been cast as the face of a protest I was covering as a journalist \u2014 especially since I wasn\u2019t the only reporter there… What\u2019s even more telling is the barrage of violent threats, along with homophobic and racist slurs, directed at me online.”<\/p>\n

    Don Lemon, former CNN anchor<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Lemon framed himself as a reporter who faced online harassment after the coverage. He urged authorities to focus resources on investigating Renee Good\u2019s death rather than manufacturing outrage about journalistic presence.<\/p>\n

    \n

    “In Minneapolis, we\u2019re not going to be intimidated. We\u2019re not backing down.”<\/p>\n

    Jacob Frey, Mayor of Minneapolis<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Mayor Frey emphasized local resistance to pressure and cautioned against federal escalation that could inflame tensions on the ground.<\/p>\n