‘You Are On Notice!’ Top DOJ Official Lashes Out at Don Lemon for Following Anti-ICE Protest into Church

(Screengrab via X)

A top Justice Department official placed Don Lemon “on notice” after accusing him of crossing the line by following anti-ICE protestors into a Minnesota church on Sunday — warning on a MAGA podcast Monday that journalism is “not a badge or a shield” that “protects you from criminal consequences.”

The rebuke came after Lemon entered a Sunday morning service at Cities Church in St. Paul with demonstrators chanting “ICE out!” and “Renee Good!” – disrupting worship while accusing a member of the church’s leadership team of ties to immigration enforcement. Lemon filmed the confrontation as it unfolded.

As congregants quickly left the building, one worshipper later told Lemon they felt “violated” and “angry.” Lemon also attempted to speak with lead pastor Jonathan Parnell, who described the protest as “shameful” and urged him to leave.

Late Sunday, Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, publicly rebuked Lemon on X.

“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,” she wrote. “You are on notice!”

In a follow-up post, Dhillon said the FBI had been “activated,” accusing protesters of “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”

In direct response to Dhillon, Lemon, who has been documenting protests in the state, rejected suggestions he should face prosecution.

“The MAGA administration and the fake news MAGAs are losing their mind over something that’s not even true,” he said, adding that he had “no affiliations” with the protest group and describing his actions as “an act of journalism.”

Dhillon was then interviewed by MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson on Monday and warned that “journalism is not a badge or a shield that protects you from criminal consequences when you are part of a crime.”

“I think the videos show how close he was to these folks, I think further evidence will show more information about that, but he clearly knew and he stated before going into the facility, it’s on his own video, what was going to happen there. What was going to happen was a violation of federal law,” she said.

She continued: “The FACE Act has been out there for more than 30 years and there were lawyers involved in this so-called protest and their purpose was to terrorize people of faith in a house of worship, they were targeting a different pastor not the one seen on camera, who they got information was an ICE supervisor. None of that matters. It’s off-limits to go into a house of worship to do you’re little protest.”

“Protests can occur on public property, protests can occur outside on certain sidewalks – not all sidewalks – and this is basic what you learn in the first year of law school,” she added.

Dhillon’s media appearances and condemnation of Lemon came after Attorney General Pam Bondi tweeted to say she had spoken with the pastor of the church that had been “targeted” and warned that any violations of the law would be prosecuted.

In a further appearance on Newsmax on Monday, Dhillon likened Lemon’s coverage to a “podcaster” choosing to “embed” with a bank robbery, warning that “would not be protected by the First Amendment.”

​​https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/2013264152161071168

Interviewed on Fox & Friends on Monday morning, Justice Department adviser Alina Habba said Bondi would “come down hard” on the protesters.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!