Media personality Don Lemon, fired by CNN, is insisting that charges against him stemming from that mob invasion of a church in Minnesota must be dismissed because of President Donald Trump.
After all, Trump doesn’t like Lemon and repeatedly has made critical comments about him.
That means, according to a court filing, the charges are a “vindictive prosecution” and must go away.
The arguments, of course, overlook what noted commentator Robert Knight said was an invasion where those protesting border security law enforcement in the region made the decision to “scream at parishioners, terrify children and harass people.”
He wrote, “If you’re a leftwing activist living in St. Paul, Minnesota, you now have official state sanction to invade a church, scream at parishioners, terrify children and harass people on their way out of the worship service. All of that happened at Cities Church last Jan. 18, when a mob invaded the Southern Baptist church during a protest because one of its pastors is also an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”
He explained, “Protesters reduced children to tears by screaming at them, ‘Do you know your parents are Nazis? They’re going to burn in hell.’ Others accused the parishioners of being ‘rich’ and ‘white.’ On June 3, because none of the 39 people arrested had committed physical violence or vandalism, St. Paul City Attorney Irene Kao dismissed all state charges.”
Still pending, however, are federal counts of conspiring to violate someone’s constitutional rights and violating the FACE Act, which bars the use of force or threats to intentionally interfere with someone expressing their First Amendment right to practice religion.
Lemon has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers now are claiming in court, “The government should not be permitted to use criminal prosecutions to chill journalism disfavored by the President.”
Prosecutors have alleged Lemon was part of a “takeover-style attack” at the church, which he live-streamed.
Don Lemon claims free speech violations and vindictive prosecution in bid to toss charges https://t.co/SLn1rrS8Dr
— The Minnesota Star Tribune (@StarTribune) August 7, 2026
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is asking a federal judge to dismiss the charges against him stemming from a church protest in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Lemon’s attorneys filed a motion arguing that the federal civil rights and conspiracy charges amount to vindictive prosecution. Lemon… pic.twitter.com/Loc4z5ynzQ
— One America News (@OANN) August 7, 2026
Lemon now wants the federal indictment dismissed, having his lawyers complain, “The record could not be more clear that Mr. Lemon has been a persistent target of President Trump’s ire before the events in Minnesota (and) that the Justice Department acted on the President’s animus by filing unprecedented charges against a journalist for doing his job.”
Lemon had been arrested after the mob barged into the church service and disrupted the worship, threatened the children and adults and more. He accompanied the mob.
His lawyers carved out a path to protect him, stating, “Prosecuting journalists for aiding and abetting the crimes they simply cover, on the theory that they failed to prevent those crimes or ‘promoted’ the criminals’ message, would chill large swaths of critical reporting. It would deter the public’s eyes and ears from gathering essential information in real time. It would end much of investigative reporting as we know it.”
His lawyers claim he is fully protected by the First Amendment and said even if the “protesters” actually committed crimes, Lemon was only “covering” events.
Knight noted that the church’s pastor, Jonathan Parnell, wrote, “They had stormed into the house of God, a place of peace and refuge, and they defiled it with rage.”
And he pointed out Lemon “had conferred with the activists and handed out donuts to them before the church invasion. Although he insists he was merely a journalist live-streaming the protest, he was arrested on charges of violating state and federal civil rights laws.”
Catholic League President Bill Donohue later pointedly asked the prosecutor who tossed the state charges, “If someone organized a group of protesters to take over your office, would you find that acceptable? There would be no violence – just in-your-face invective and intimidation. If this were to happen, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, morally or legally.”
