DOJ Signals Criminal Charges for Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Disruption
Former CNN host Don Lemon could face federal conspiracy charges over his participation in a church protest in Minnesota that disrupted Sunday worship services, according to a senior Justice Department official.
Assistant Attorney for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said on Monday that the government is weighing multiple felony charges for those involved in the anti-ICE protest that stormed Cities Church in St. Paul. Lemon, who embedded himself with the demonstrators under the guise of conducting journalism, is now being investigated as a potential co-conspirator.
“I see various crimes that have occurred,” Dhillon told host Benny Johnson. “Exactly what they are I’m not going to flag, but the FACE Act has been mentioned as one of the predicates there.”
The FACE Act, typically used to prosecute pro-life activists under the Biden administration, also protects houses of worship from targeted disruption. It criminalizes the use of force, threats, or obstruction to interfere with religious services. Dhillon also cited the Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era law that prohibits conspiracies to deprive Americans of their civil rights.
“In other cases, the Biden DOJ used the Klan Act conspiracy charges tacked onto the FACE Act in the case of protests outside abortion clinics to bring much longer sentences,” Dhillon said. “We can do the same here.”
Dhillon zeroed in on Lemon’s involvement, saying the former CNN anchor knew in advance what was planned.
“Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility,” she said. “He went into the facility, and then he began ‘committing journalism,’ as if that’s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t.”
BREAKING: DOJ Announces Intention to Charge Don Lemon under the Ku Klux Klan Act.
The KKK Act makes it illegal to threaten, hurt, or intimidate people to prevent them from exercising their God-given rights.
HARMEET DHILLON: “The Klan Act is one of the most important federal… pic.twitter.com/GWnXAMtWc9
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 19, 2026
During the protest, demonstrators entered the church sanctuary, shouted down the pastor, and screamed anti-ICE slogans at congregants. One pastor reportedly works for the federal immigration agency, which was the justification used by organizers to target the church.
Dhillon made clear that the DOJ is preparing to send a message with this case.
“The FACE Act is just the start,” she said. “You have material support for disruptive activities, you have conspiracy to violate civil rights, you have potentially the use of other instrumentalities to commit crimes.”
She warned that anyone considering similar actions would face severe consequences.
“Come next Sunday, nobody should think in the United States that they’re going to be able to get away with this. Everyone in the protest community needs to know that the fullest force of the federal government is going to come down and prevent this from happening and put people away for a long, long time,” Dhillon said.
The Department of Justice is continuing to gather evidence. Lemon, who left CNN last year and now hosts a YouTube channel, has not yet been formally charged.