The Arrest Of Don Lemon: Journalists Cannot Also Be Activists

The line between journalism and activism has become excessively thin in the past ten years, and the problems associated with this trend are numerous.  Media figures have long leaned toward the liberal side of the political spectrum; liberal bias among journalists is nothing new.  However, direct participation in an activist insurgency to help it or lead or propagandize in favor of it crosses into the realm of criminality.

Just because someone declares they are a “journalist” does not mean they’re protected from consequences if they commit a crime.  Furthermore, the political left seems to believe that the 1st Amendment gives them the right to disrupt the free speech of others as long as they are protesting:  This is a dangerous fallacy.  

It’s not clear yet if disgraced media pundit Don Lemon broke the law.  Criminal guilt is for the courts to decide.  He does appear to join with a horde of Anti-ICE protesters that invaded a Minneapolis church service with the plan to intimidate and antagonize Christian worshipers into declaring their opposition to deportation (A communist struggle session in the form of an ambush).  There is more than enough evidence to warrant Lemon’s arrest and prosecution for civil rights violations, and a lot of it he filmed himself.

REMINDER: Don Lemon fully admitted that he planned to storm and disrupt a church service with the anti-ICE lunatics.

The only person in this case who attacked the first amendment was him.pic.twitter.com/sYcPEEnPLz

— CJ Pearson (@Cjpearson) January 30, 2026

HOLY CRAP! Don Lemon admitted he “turned the camera off” while St. Paul church attack planners gave “CRITICAL INFORMATION” to their rioters

Even MORE proof Lemon was NOT documenting — he was ACTIVELY ASSISTING THEM

LOCK HIM UP! pic.twitter.com/fmdoRjB84o

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 30, 2026

Lemon is not acting like an impartial journalist covering the event, he is acting like a participant in the operation while using journalism as a cover.  

SICKENING: Anti-ICE mob just STORMED a church in Minneapolis during worship, desecrating sacred ground, harassing Christians mid-service!

This has ZERO place in America.

DOJ is now investigating for FACE Act violations!

Arrests need to happen!
pic.twitter.com/KAmMlFrsfM

— Gunther Eagleman (@GuntherEagleman) January 19, 2026

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche alleged Sunday that journalist Don Lemon was included in the planning of a protest at a Minnesota church, days after the former CNN anchor was arrested and charged with conspiracy and interfering with a place of worship. 

Citing an unsealed grand jury indictment, Blanche told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Lemon is accused of being “part of the planning” of the protest and was “part of the decisions to make sure the police didn’t know this was happening and federal law enforcement didn’t know this was happening.”

Lemon, along with several activists, has been charged with violating the FACE Act, a federal law prohibiting the use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to intimidate or interfere with persons accessing reproductive health clinics (including abortion clinics) or places of religious worship.  Obviously, the law was not originally intended to protect Christians, which makes Lemon’s arrest all the more ironic.

Lemon would go on to compare the church goers in Minneapolis to “White Supremacists” and accuse them of “entitlement”.  In other words, he believes that the incident is justified because the church was largely white.

Don Lemon on church members upset that he stormed their church: “They’re entitled, white supremacists” pic.twitter.com/aMlXYBugwB

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 19, 2026

The “journalist”, basking in the glow of his newfound limelight, says he will never stop fighting and asserts that he only became the “face of the protest” because he is a “gay black man in America.”  Liberals and some conservatives argue that the arrest is a political mistake and that it makes the Trump Administration look authoritarian, however, they’re looking at the situation with narrow vision.

The real question is, when does a journalist stop being a journalist?  Don Lemon was not arrested for journalism and exercising free speech.  He was arrested for allegedly violating the free speech of others.  The “optics” of the situation are irrelevant and Don Lemon being a media personality is irrelevant.  He should not be allowed to escape prosecution simply because the political left will inevitably spin the narrative.