Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has expanded his legal defense team as he prepares to face trial over his alleged role in the anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lemon has hired former federal prosecutor Joseph Thompson, who previously worked in the very U.S. Attorney’s Office now prosecuting him.
Thompson will join lead attorney Abbe Lowell, a high-profile defense lawyer known for representing political figures in high-stakes cases. According to reports, Thompson resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office last month in protest of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement strategy in Minnesota.
Lemon was arrested in January and charged with conspiracy to violate religious rights and FACE Act violations after he live-streamed and seemingly coordinated with protesters who stormed Cities Church during a worship service. Prosecutors allege Lemon intentionally stepped away from his microphone during the pre-march gathering to avoid recording sensitive protest planning.
As worshippers gathered inside the church, dozens of activists led by the Racial Justice Network and Black Lives Matter Minnesota forced their way in. They crowded the aisles, chanted anti-ICE slogans, and disrupted the service until many congregants chose to leave.
“There is nothing in the Constitution that tells you what time you can protest,” Lemon declared during the broadcast. “You have to be willing to go into places and disrupt and make people uncomfortable. That is what this country is about.”
The church became a target after activist leader Nekima Levy-Armstrong claimed that one of its pastors also works for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “They cannot pretend to be a house of God while harboring someone who is directing ICE agents to wreak havoc upon our community,” she said during the demonstration. Lemon featured her prominently on his livestream, framing the protest as a righteous stand against government overreach.
Federal prosecutors, however, see the incident as a violation of federal law and a direct attack on religious liberty. The FACE Act prohibits intentional interference with the free exercise of religion. Prosecutors say Lemon crossed a legal line by participating in and promoting the disruption of a worship service.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche previously indicated that the Justice Department is committed to pursuing charges under the FACE Act, even after a federal magistrate declined to authorize charges initially. The Department has already charged three activists involved in the protest and continues to investigate Lemon’s deeper involvement.
The case is drawing national attention due to its implications for press freedom, religious liberty, and the limits of protest. Lemon, now self-described as an independent journalist, claims the protest was justified in response to what he called “unconstitutional” immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
“This is the beginning of what’s going to happen here,” Lemon warned on the day of the protest. “When you violate people’s due process, when you pull people off the street… people get upset and angry.”
With a former federal prosecutor now on his team, Lemon appears ready to mount an aggressive defense. But legal experts say his own livestream may end up being the most damning evidence against him.
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