Don Lemon didn’t merely report from the scene in St. Paul — he embedded himself with a mob that stormed Cities Church during worship, livestreaming the disruption and giving aid and cover to activists who chased congregants out of their house of worship. That’s not journalism, it’s spectacle, and it violated the basic decency Americans expect when they go to church. Many law‑abiding citizens watched in disbelief as a once‑trusted media personality traded solemn reporting for agitprop.
Federal authorities moved quickly after the incident, seeking to hold those who organized and executed the disruption accountable, but a magistrate judge declined to sign a criminal complaint specifically against Lemon, saying the evidence presented did not establish probable cause to charge him at this stage. That procedural decision does not erase what happened inside that sanctuary or the broader moral rot it revealed; it simply means the Justice Department must pursue the proper legal routes if it wants to press charges. Americans should not mistake a temporary judicial restraint for moral exoneration.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department did arrest several organizers connected to the protest and opened an aggressive civil‑rights and FACE Act inquiry into the coordinated invasion of the church, a strong signal that the federal government is taking attacks on houses of worship seriously. If the law means anything, those who plan and carry out days of organized harassment cannot be allowed to desecrate religious services with impunity. The arrests of the core organizers underscore that there are consequences for weaponizing protest against ordinary Americans trying to worship.
President Trump’s response was swift and unapologetic, using his platform to call out the left‑wing chaos in Minneapolis and to accuse Democrat officials of enabling lawlessness and cover‑ups. Conservatives have every right to cheer a president who stands with victims of political intimidation and defends the rule of law, rather than coddling media elites who treat sacred spaces like stages for their virtue signaling. The public needs leaders who will call out bad actors across the partisan divide and insist on equal justice.
If the DOJ believes further action is warranted, it can bring evidence before a grand jury and pursue indictments — the magistrate’s decision simply means prosecutors must follow the correct procedures rather than demand shortcuts. Americans who care about both religious liberty and honest reporting should demand the same two standards apply to everyone: if you break the law, you face the music; if you do legitimate journalism, you are protected. The double standard that rewards activist media while punishing ordinary citizens and worshippers will not stand if patriots keep calling it out.
This episode is a stark reminder that the media class too often substitutes spectacle for responsibility and that the left’s tactics have grown bolder and more contemptuous of ordinary Americans’ rights. Hardworking families who go to church, pay taxes, and follow the rules deserve protection from mobs and from a system that excuses the powerful. It’s time for the country to demand accountability, defend our houses of worship, and restore respect for true journalism — not the performative stunts that Don Lemon and others have embraced.
