Judge Rejects Attempt To Charge Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Interview As Three Protesters Are Arrested (UPDATE)

A civil rights attorney and at least two other people have been arrested after disrupting a Minnesota church service to protest anti-immigration enforcement. Trump administration officials confirmed the arrests on Thursday. Meanwhile, a judge declined to approve related charges against Don Lemon. On Sunday, protesters entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a local official with ICE serves as a pastor. This comes after Trump officials and even Nicki Minaj called for the journalist to be arrested and charged over his media coverage of the protest.

RELATED: Whew! Nicki Minaj Seemingly Hints At Turning Up The Heat After Don Lemon Accused Her Of Using Slur Against Him

Judge Rejects Charges Against Don Lemon

A judge rejected federal prosecutors’ bid to charge Don Lemon related to the church protest, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly.

Don Lemon was among those who entered the church. He has said he is not affiliated with the protest organizers and was there as a journalist covering the protest.

“Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism which was to report on it and talk to the people involved, including the pastor, members of the church, and members of the organization,” Lemon said in a video posted on social media. “That’s it. That’s called journalism.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what the Justice Department would do after the judge’s decision. Authorities could return to a magistrate judge to again seek a criminal complaint or an indictment against Lemon before a grand jury. CNN, which fired Lemon in 2023, first reported the ruling.

Details On Protestors Arrested In Connection To Minnesota Church Disruption

New developments in the case unfolded as Vice President JD Vance arrived in Minnesota. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong in a post on X.

Levy Armstrong is a longtime activist in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. She has helped lead local protests after the high-profile police-involved killings of Black Americans, including George Floyd, Philando Castile and Jamar Clark. She is a former president of the NAACP’s Minneapolis branch.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a photo on X of Levy Armstrong with her arms behind her back next to a person wearing a badge. Noem said she faces a charge under a statute that bars threatening or intimidating someone exercising a right.

Homeland Security Investigators and FBI agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong who played a key role in orchestrating the Church Riots in St. Paul, Minnesota.

She is being charged with a federal crime under 18 USC 241.

Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States -… pic.twitter.com/O9yp4nRio1

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) January 22, 2026

Bondi later posted on X that a second person had been arrested, Chauntyll Louisa Allen. FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that Allen is charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The law prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services or seeking to participate in a service at a house of worship. Patel said a third person, William Kelly, has also been arrested.

Every last individual who allegedly targets our brave federal law enforcement, targets places of worship, or in any way pays for or facilitates such illegal activity will be pursued.

And will be caught. pic.twitter.com/SgHd8oklZe

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) January 22, 2026

The Justice Department quickly opened a civil rights investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.” The 37-year-old mother of three was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.

“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” the attorney general wrote on X.

Church Attorney Reacts To The Arrest 

Cities Church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood. David leads the local ICE field office. Many Baptist churches have pastors who also work other jobs. Attorneys representing the church hailed the arrests.

“The U.S. Department of Justice acted decisively by arresting those who coordinated and carried out the terrible crime,” said Doug Wardlow, director of litigation for True North Legal. The company calls itself a public interest civil rights firm, in a statement.

Prominent leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have come to the church’s defense. Leaders argue that compassion for migrant families doesn’t justify violating a sacred space during worship.

Church Attorney Reacts To The Arrest 

Vance, speaking in Toledo ahead of his Minnesota visit, warned the church protesters: “Those people are going to be sent to prison so long as we have the power to do so. We’re going to do everything we can to enforce the law.”
Arrests follow a DOJ civil rights investigation

It’s unclear which attorneys would represent Allen and Kelly.
Saint Paul Public Schools, where Allen is a member of the board of education, is aware of her arrest but will not comment on pending legal matters, according to district spokesperson Erica Wacker.

Allen and Levy Armstrong are part of a community of Black Minnesota activists who have protested the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police.
Kelly defended the protest during a news conference Tuesday, criticizing the church for its association with a pastor who works for ICE.

The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church protest stands in contrast to its decision not to open a civil rights investigation into the killing of Good. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week there was “no basis” for a civil rights investigation into her death.

Administration officials have said the officer acted in self-defense and that the driver of the Honda was engaging in “an act of domestic terrorism” when she pulled toward him. But the decision not to have the department’s Civil Rights Division investigate marked a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials.

The Justice Department has separately opened an investigation into whether Minnesota officials impeded or obstructed federal immigration enforcement though their public statements. Prosecutors this week sent subpoenas to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties, according to a person familiar with the matter.

VP visits Minnesota
Vance, a Republican, arrived amid tense interactions between federal immigration law enforcement authorities and residents. State and local elected officials have opposed the crackdown that has become a major focus of Department of Homeland Security sweeps.
His visit comes less than a month after Renee Good was killed. He has called Good’s death a “tragedy of her own making.”
Vance said early Thursday that the “far left” has decided the U.S. shouldn’t have a border.
“If you want to turn down the chaos in Minneapolis, stop fighting immigration enforcement and accept that we have to have a border in this country. It’s not that hard,” Vance said.

A federal appeals court this week suspended a decision that barred immigration officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals froze the ruling that had barred retaliation, including detaining people who follow agents in cars.
After the court’s stay, U.S. Border Patrol official Greg Bovino, who has commanded the administration’s big-city immigration campaign, was seen on video repeatedly warning protesters on a snowy Minneapolis street “Gas is coming!” before tossing a canister that released green smoke into the crowd.
Bovino, speaking Thursday during a news conference, urged better cooperation from local and state officials in Minnesota, and blamed an “influx of anarchists” for the anti-ICE sentiment.
“The current climate confronting law enforcement … is not very favorable right now in Minneapolis,” he said. The Associated Press left messages for the Minneapolis Police Department requesting its response to Bovino’s comments.

RELATED: ICE Agents Reportedly Detain 5-Year-Old Boy In Minnesota And Use Him To “Bait” Father Into Capture

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Giovanna Dell’orto, Chris Megerian, Corey Williams, and Jack Dura contributed to this report. 

The post Judge Rejects Attempt To Charge Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Interview As Three Protesters Are Arrested (UPDATE) appeared first on The Shade Room.