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MAGA activists are calling for the arrest of journalist Don Lemon over his part in a protest at a Minnesota church on Sunday in which demonstrators interrupted its services to oppose ICE’s presence in their state.
The group stormed into Cities Church in St Paul to demand that President Donald Trump’s federal immigration forces leave and to call for justice for Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old mother-of-three shot dead by agent Jonathan Ross on the streets of Minneapolis earlier this month.
Lemon, an independent broadcaster since his departure from CNN, was interviewing one of the participants during a livestream before they entered the church. He then followed the group inside as they chanted “ICE out” and accused a pastor of collaborating with the agency.
“This will not stand, they cannot pretend to be a house of God, while harboring someone who is commanding ICE agents to terrorize our communities,” protester Nekima Levy Armstrong told Lemon before moving inside.
Worshippers in attendance subsequently left in droves, with one churchgoer quoted as saying: “These people have come into our house and they’ve interrupted our worship. Everybody’s gone home, their point has been proven worthless and so, in the end, I think they lose. I feel violated, I feel interrupted, I feel angry.”
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Don Lemon interviews one of the pastors of the Cities Church in St Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday January 18, 2026 as its services were disrupted by anti-ICE protesters (Don Lemon/YouTube)
Lemon also spoke to one of the church’s pastors, who claimed the activists had not been willing to discuss their concerns with him. “No one is willing to talk. I have to take care of my church and my family,” he said, asking the reporter to go.
Lemon noted in his report that police officers had waited outside the church but made no move to intervene to keep the peace.
Clips of the event were shared on social media by outraged conservatives, with the MAGA Voice account calling for Lemon to be investigated by the Department of Justice and FBI, and influencer Benny Johnson claiming that the journalist’s actions amounted to “not just an obscene violation of the FACE Act – it’s likely a hate crime.”
Johnson was alluding to the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE, Act of 1994, which created a legal protection for reproductive health clinics and places of worship, making it a crime to use force against, obstruct, or seek to intimidate anyone operating in such venues.
The act was also invoked by other right-wing personalities like Matt Walsh and Will Chamberlain and by Baptist minister Paul Chappell, who wrote: “We condemn the actions of Don Lemon and the group of activists who stormed Cities Church today in St Paul, Minnesota, in clear violation of the FACE Act.
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Don Lemon conducts interviews outside of the Cities Church in St Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday January 18, 2026 (Don Lemon/YouTube)
“Christians everywhere should demand that the Department of Justice arrest those who participated. We must protect religious liberty in this country.”
The episode has already attracted the attention of the Trump administration. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon shared some of the footage and announced the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was “investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote later: “I just spoke to the pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.
“If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in turn, warned: “President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.”
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Don Lemon interviews Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Sunday January 18, 2026 (Don Lemon/YouTube)
But there was also a message of support for Lemon from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, whom he had interviewed earlier in the day and who thanked him for “being on the ground in Minnesota to help lift up this fight for truth and fairness” – a further illustration of the sharp divide in outlook between federal and local officials regarding this month’s unrest in the state.
Trump has sent 3,000 ICE agents into Minnesota in the latest instalment of his crackdown on undocumented migrants, but the fatal shooting of Good has led to an explosion of protests against the operation, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanding the troops “get the f*** out of Minneapolis.”
The president last week threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to restore order, while Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has placed the National Guard on standby.
The DOJ announced Friday it is investigating Frey and Walz for allegedly impeding federal law enforcement.
Speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, the mayor insisted his city was “under siege,” branding the probe “ridiculous” and vowing: “We will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government.”
