Pam Bondi Releases Video Statement After the Arrest of Don Lemon: ‘We Are Coming After You’
Federal authorities arrested former CNN host Don Lemon and three others in connection with a Jan. 18 incident in which protesters burst into Cities Church in St. Paul,shouting and disrupting worship services. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrests and warned that attacks on the right to worship “will not be tolerated,” saying the management will pursue those who violate that right. The indictment charges Lemon and his co-defendants with conspiracy to deprive rights and interfering by force with First Amendment protections—alleged violations of statutes including the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances and Ku klux Klan Acts. Video and charging documents say Lemon livestreamed from inside the church, took part in the protest, and helped organize or support the group; Lemon maintains he was acting as a journalist. commentators and a fox News opinion piece argue he was an active participant rather than an observer, and some allege the conduct could amount to a hate-related offense.
Hours after former CNN host Don Lemon and others were arrested in connection with the invasion of a Minneapolis church, Attorney General Pam Bondi made it clear that such stunts will not be tolerated any time, any place.
“Make no mistake. Under President Trump’s leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely,” Bondi said in a post on X.
“And if I haven’t been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you,” she said.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 30, 2026
Earlier Friday, Bondi announced that “at my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
Lemon and his co-defendants face charges of conspiracy to deprive rights and interfering by force with someone’s First Amendment rights, which are violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances and Ku Klux Klan Acts, according to the indictment against Lemon and other defendants.
So much of Lemon’s arrest is perfect. After several activist judges failed to do their duty, a grand jury of citizens indicted Don Lemon on a serious act, the terrorizing of children and others praying at church services.
So fitting that The People indicted Don Lemon.🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/gfmXvcvaRN
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 30, 2026
Lemon and a group of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters burst into Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, during the Jan. 18 worship services and proceeded to scream and chant slogans. Lemon livestreamed himself inside the church with the group.
The indictment alleged Lemon conspired with others “to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate multiple persons… in the free exercise and enjoyment of the rights and privileges secured to them.”
Lemon has maintained that all he did was “commit an act of journalism” by following the protesters inside the church. He angrily challenged federal officials on Jan. 22 to “keep trying” to come after him.
🚨 BREAKING: Don Lemon indictment has been UNSEALED by the court, officially showing he has been charged with TWO FEDERAL FELONIES for participating in the attack on Cities Church in St. Paul
FAFO, Lemon.
COUNT 1: 18 U.S.C. § 241 – Conspiracy Against Right of Religious Freedom… pic.twitter.com/FXfCOKpUD1
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 30, 2026
In an opinion piece for Fox News, attorney Gregg Jarrett said Lemon was not protected by the First Amendment protection given to journalists because he was a participant in the church invasion.
“In footage that Lemon posted online, it appears that he was not merely an observer recording the illegal protest inside the church, which would be a typical role of a reporter. Instead, he seemed to be an active participant who embedded himself with the mob and joined their cause in harassing and tormenting the parishioners,” Jarrett wrote.
“Based on video footage, Lemon knew of the protesters’ plan to barge into the church and take over morning prayers,” he wrote.
He admitted that he had done “reconnaissance” with them, some of whom were members of Minnesota Black Lives Matter. He handed out donuts and coffee to the demonstrators and vowed to accompany them on their “Operation Pull-Up,” Jarrett wrote.
“As activists rushed into the Cities Church, so did Lemon who shoved his microphone in the face of the obviously shocked Pastor Jonathan Parnell who called the noisy intrusion ‘unacceptable and shameful.’ What followed wasn’t an interview, but a condescending and belligerent dressing-down,” he wrote.
“Lemon appeared on a leftist podcast and described the members of the church as ‘entitled white supremacists,’ as if that somehow justified an attack on them. It is not just a despicable remark, but it suggests that the congregants were taunted because of their race, which could qualify as a hate crime,” he added.
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