• Federal magistrate judge declined to authorize criminal charges against Lemon for appearing at church disruption
• Sources say DOJ could pursue other avenues to charge former CNN host over Sunday protest coverage
• Lemon maintains he was present as journalist documenting anti-ICE demonstration at St. Paul church

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA (TDR) — A Minnesota federal magistrate judge refused to sign a criminal complaint charging journalist Don Lemon in connection with Sunday’s protest inside a St. Paul church, dealing a setback to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s efforts to prosecute the former CNN host over his coverage of the demonstration.

Multiple sources familiar with the proceedings told CBS News the judge declined to authorize charges against Lemon, who appeared alongside anti-ICE protesters who interrupted a worship service at Cities Church.

“The attorney general is enraged at the magistrate’s decision,” a source familiar with the matter told CBS News.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi has been on the ground in Minnesota for two days meeting with federal prosecutors as the Justice Department surges resources to the state.

“The Attorney General is enraged at the magistrate judge’s decision,” a person familiar told CNN.

A different source stressed the process is not over, and the Justice Department could find other avenues to charge Lemon.

Lemon Maintains Journalistic Role

Lemon, who now produces independent content after leaving CNN, was with dozens of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters as they rushed into Cities Church on Sunday morning, interrupting the service and leading to tense confrontations.

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Lemon has consistently maintained he was present at the demonstration as a journalist and not as a protester.

“I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group… I’m a journalist,” Lemon said in video he posted on YouTube during the incident.

The former cable news host filmed protesters as they crowded into the church sanctuary, chanting slogans and confronting congregants during the worship service.

Two Organizers Face Approved Charges

While the magistrate judge rejected charges against Lemon, a different magistrate judge approved charges against two protest organizers.

Bondi announced Thursday morning the arrests of Chauntyll Louisa Allen, who serves on the St. Paul School Board, and Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and activist.

“Minutes ago at my direction, @HSI_HQ and @FBI agents executed an arrest in Minnesota. So far, we have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” Bondi wrote on X.

“A second arrest has been made at my direction. Chauntyll Louisa Allen has been taken into custody. More to come. WE WILL PROTECT OUR HOUSES OF WORSHIP,” she added.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Armstrong is being charged with a federal crime under 18 USC 241, a civil rights law that prohibits two or more people from conspiring to interfere with constitutionally protected rights like the free practice of religion.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed that a magistrate judge approved charges against both Allen and Armstrong.

Dhillon Previously Warned Lemon

The rejection of charges against Lemon comes days after Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon publicly warned the journalist about his involvement in the church disruption.

“A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service,” Dhillon wrote on X.

“You are on notice!” she added in her message to Lemon.

Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, told Newsmax that journalism is not a shield from criminal conspiracy, saying Lemon was committing journalism while potentially participating in illegal activity.

Lemon Defended Actions As Protected Journalism

Lemon defended his coverage as protected First Amendment activity in response videos posted after Dhillon’s warnings.

“The MAGA administration and the fake news MAGAs are losing their mind over something that’s not even true,” Lemon said in one response.

“We were there chronicling protests. Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was report on it and talk to the people who were involved,” he explained.

“That’s it. It’s called journalism, the First Amendment,” Lemon added.

Armstrong, one of the arrested organizers, supported Lemon’s account in interviews, saying he had no advance knowledge of where protesters would go.

“Don Lemon did nothing wrong, other than being there documenting our voices, as well as the voices of parishioners, and asking them what they thought about ICE, what they thought about Pastor David Easterwood being a high-ranking official within ICE,” Armstrong told Democracy Now.

Sunday Church Disruption Context

Approximately 30 to 40 protesters stormed Cities Church during Sunday morning worship services, interrupting the opening prayer and chanting “ICE out,” “Justice for Renee Good,” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

The demonstration targeted the church because David Easterwood, listed as a pastor on the church website, serves as acting field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota.

Lemon interviewed lead pastor Jonathan Parnell during the disruption, capturing the pastor’s condemnation of the protest.

“This is unacceptable, it’s shameful. It’s shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship,” Parnell told Lemon.

“We’re here to worship, we’re here to worship Jesus, because that’s the hope of these cities, that’s the hope of the world, is Jesus Christ,” the pastor added.

Parnell asked Lemon to leave the church unless he was there to worship.

Broader ICE Enforcement Tensions

The church protest occurred amid escalating tensions over Renee Good’s death, a 37-year-old mother of three fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on January 7.

Protesters and Minnesota officials have condemned ICE operations in the state, while the Trump administration has defended enforcement actions and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to protests.

The Pentagon has ordered approximately 1,500 troops to prepare for potential deployment to Minnesota, though President Trump said Friday he might not need to use that authority.

Dismissal Rate Concerns

The CBS News report noted concerns from at least one magistrate judge about high dismissal rates in federal criminal cases.

In an October 2025 opinion, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia revealed that over eight weeks since a crime surge began in August, the government moved to dismiss 21 percent of all cases charged by criminal complaint.

“That statistic is ‘shocking,’ he wrote, compared with the 0.5% of cases charged by criminal complaint that the government dismissed in the district over the past decade,” CBS News reported.

The dismissal rate has raised questions about prosecutorial decision-making and case quality in the District of Columbia federal court.

Press Freedom Implications

The magistrate judge’s rejection of charges against Lemon raises questions about potential Justice Department targeting of journalists covering controversial protests.

Legal experts and journalism advocates have expressed concern about the Justice Department investigating a journalist for covering a demonstration, even when that demonstration involved illegal activity like disrupting a church service.

The distinction between participating in illegal activity and documenting illegal activity for journalistic purposes remains a contested issue, particularly when journalists are physically present inside locations where crimes occur.

Lemon’s case differs from the organizers who face charges because he did not help plan or coordinate the church disruption, instead arriving to document an event already in progress.

DOJ May Pursue Alternative Prosecution Routes

Sources indicated the Justice Department could pursue other legal avenues to charge Lemon despite the magistrate judge’s rejection of the initial complaint.

Federal prosecutors could potentially seek an indictment from a grand jury, file charges in a different jurisdiction, or pursue alternative charges under different statutes.

Bondi’s presence in Minnesota for two days signals the Justice Department’s prioritization of prosecutions related to the church disruption and broader anti-ICE protests in the Twin Cities.

The attorney general has personally announced arrests and publicly committed to protecting places of worship, suggesting continued federal law enforcement focus on Minnesota demonstrations.

Does a journalist’s presence at a church disruption to document events constitute participation in illegal activity, or does the First Amendment protect news gathering even when covering crimes in progress?

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