Anyone who watched the video of Don Lemon at a St. Paul church this past Sunday can see that he was part of the protest rather than simply reporting on the protest.
Lemon was initially criticized on social media, with Nicki Minaj getting into an online battle with him, but then the DOJ got involved.
So much so, Attorney General Pam Bondi wanted to slap Lemon with charges, but the charges were denied by a federal magistrate judge in Minnesota.
If you ask me, Lemon was clearly part of the protest at the St. Paul church, not to mention this sensationalizing of the report.
He was gloating while interviewing the local pastor, then tried to claim that the pastor had shoved him, but that never happened (I have watched the video numerous times, and I never saw contact).
Nicki Minaj was livid over the protest, posting to X, "How dare you? I want that thug in jail! He would never do that to any other religion. Lock him up!"
The two of them went back and forth, with Lemon later responding, “You have nerve to talk about me and what you think that I do. Nicki Minaj, get a life. Stop being a pick me."
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon blasted Lemon, hinting that charges could be coming his way after this ridiculous stunt.
She stated, "Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility.”
She continued, "He went into the facility, and then he began — quote, unquote — 'committing journalism,' as if that’s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part, of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t."
Bondi had also commented on the stunt, confirming that she would be seeking to file charges against Lemon, as well as the people who organized the protest.
Bondi wound up getting two out of three, as she had announced that Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, a local Black Lives Matter leader and member of the Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education, had been arrested.
Unfortunately, her charges against Lemon were denied by a Minnesota magistrate judge.
Dhillon had previously stated that the Klan Act, legislation dating back to 1871, was going to be used, but I am guessing the local, and likely liberal, magistrate was allowing Lemon to hide behind the journalistic shield to avoid prosecution.
What he did was shameful, but now the precedent has been set. But my guess is that if a conservative journalist joined a protest to invade Tim Walz’s church or the mosque of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), those same protections would not be afforded.
