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A Minnesota federal Justice of the Peace choose refused to signal a grievance charging unbiased journalist Don Lemon in reference to a protest inside a church in St. Paul on Sunday, a number of sources acquainted with the proceedings advised CBS Information.
“The legal professional normal is enraged on the Justice of the Peace’s determination,” stated a supply acquainted with the matter. Legal professional Common Pam Bondi has been in Minnesota for 2 days, because the Justice Division has sought to surge prosecutorial and legislation enforcement sources there.
A unique supply harassed that the method just isn’t over, and the Justice Division might discover different avenues to cost Lemon.
On Thursday morning, Bondi introduced two arrests linked to the church protests — Chauntyll Louisa Allen, who serves on the St. Paul College Board, and Nekima Levy Armstrong. Bondi alleged that Armstrong was concerned in organizing the protest.
A supply acquainted with the matter confirmed {that a} Justice of the Peace choose accepted prices in opposition to Allen and Armstrong.
Kristi Noem, the Division of Homeland Safety secretary, stated Armstrong is being charged with a federal crime underneath 18 USC 241, a civil rights legislation that prohibits two or extra folks from conspiring to intrude with constitutionally protected rights, just like the free apply of faith.
Protesters stated they entered St. Paul’s Cities Church on Sunday, after discovering that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official gave the impression to be one of many pastors on the church. Protests and clashes between some residents and federal immigration officers within the Twin Cities have been occurring each day because the Trump administration deployed hundreds of ICE and Border Patrol brokers to the world. Amongst different calls for, protesters have known as for accountability within the dying of Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and Minneapolis resident who was fatally shot by an ICE officer on Jan. 7.
Lemon, a former CNN anchor, attended the protest, which interrupted the Sunday service, prompting congregants and their households to go away.
In an interview with the pastor, Lemon stated, “There is a Structure and a First Modification, and freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest.”
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant legal professional normal for the Civil Rights Division, has publicly hinted that Lemon might probably face prices for his position in disrupting the service.
Being a journalist “just isn’t a badge or a defend that protects you from felony penalties,” she stated throughout an look on the “Benny Present,” hosted by far-right podcaster Benny Johnson.
Dhillon declined to remark when reached by CBS Information.
The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Washington, D.C., confronted comparable hurdles final yr, after President Trump flooded the streets with federal brokers as a part of an initiative to crack down on violent crime.
Prosecutors in U.S. Legal professional Jeanine Pirro’s workplace have been ordered to pursue each case as a federal offense when doable – a plan that backfired because the Justice Division started to see grand juries reject prices and Justice of the Peace judges push again on instances they seen as flimsy or that contained constitutional defects.
In an Oct. 8, 2025, opinion, Justice of the Peace Choose Zia Faruqui within the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Columbia revealed that over the course of eight weeks because the crime surge started in August, the federal government moved to dismiss 21% of all instances that have been charged by felony grievance.
That statistic is “stunning,” he wrote, in contrast with the 0.5% of instances charged by felony grievance that the federal government dismissed within the district over the previous decade.
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