Analysis
- Business hours posting (3:52 PM EDT)
- Clean formatting with author name header
- No original commentary or emotional language
- No typos, misspellings, or stream-of-consciousness
- Mechanical URL-share format typical of Scavino curation
The core factual elements of this claim are extensively verified across dozens of independent sources. On January 18, 2026, anti-ICE protesters entered Cities Church, a Southern Baptist congregation on Summit Ave in St. Paul, Minnesota, disrupting a Sunday worship service with chants of "ICE out" and "Justice for Renee Good" (a woman fatally shot by an ICE officer). The protesters targeted the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, was the acting field director of ICE's St. Paul field office. Don Lemon was present inside the church during the disruption and live-streamed the event.
On January 29, 2026, Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles. He was indicted along with eight co-defendants on charges of conspiracy against rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and injuring, intimidating, and interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom at a place of worship, under the FACE Act (18 USC 248). He pleaded not guilty on February 13, 2026.
The only contested element is the characterization that Lemon "joined" the protesters. Lemon and his attorneys maintain he was present as an independent journalist covering the event, telling viewers during his livestream: "We're not part of the activists, but we're here just reporting on them." However, the Gregg Jarrett column and DOJ allege he was an active participant, citing evidence that he drove to the event with activists, conducted "reconnaissance" with protesters beforehand, handed out donuts and coffee to demonstrators, and that his producer engaged in call-and-response chanting. A Minnesota magistrate judge rejected initial arrest warrants, finding "no evidence" Lemon "engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so," though the DOJ ultimately secured indictments through a different judicial path.
Verdict rationale: rated "mostly true" rather than "true" because the characterization of Lemon having "joined" the protesters (as opposed to covering them journalistically) is actively disputed in legal proceedings. The underlying facts — that he was present at a church disruption in St. Paul and was arrested on federal charges — are unambiguously confirmed by NPR, PBS, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, the Washington Post, Minnesota Reformer, MPR News, and many other outlets.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act does indeed cover places of religious worship. Section 248(a)(2) makes it a federal crime to intentionally obstruct any person from exercising their free exercise of religious beliefs at a place of religious worship by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction. Jarrett's legal framing on this point is accurate.
No contradictions with other posts detected yet.
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Post from Truth Social
GREGG JARRETT: Don Lemon left his press pass at the door when he joined church-storming mob: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gregg-jarrett-don-lemon-left-his-press-pass-door-when-he-joined-church-storming-mob