Ex-CNN host Don Lemon entered a not guilty plea in a Minnesota federal court on Friday, February 13, 2026, over allegations of participating in an anti-ICE mob that stormed Cities Church in St. Paul last month.
Federal authorities arrested Lemon in Los Angeles late last month, charging him with conspiracy to violate religious freedoms and violations of the FACE Act—which prohibits disruptions to religious services. During his livestream broadcast on the day of the incident, Lemon showed himself accompanying agitators who interrupted a Sunday service at Cities Church. In the stream, he described the operation as “secret” and stated, “[I] can’t tell you what is going to happen, but you’re going to watch it live unfold here on the Don Lemon Show.” He also acknowledged the church storming’s organizer, radical activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, whom authorities are charging with similar offenses.
Lemon has maintained his actions were protected under the First Amendment, asserting he was an independent journalist present to “chronicle and report” rather than participate in activism. “We’re here just chronicling and reporting,” he said during the livestream. “We’re not part of the activist group, but we’re here just reporting on them.”
Renee Carlson, General Counsel for True North Legal representing Cities Church, directly countered Lemon’s defense: “By pleading not guilty, Don Lemon and other defendants are doubling down on their claim that the press can do whatever they want under the auspices of journalism. The First Amendment does not protect premeditated schemes to violate the sanctity of a sanctuary, disrupt worship services, or intimidate children.”
During the hearing, Lemon’s legal team requested the return of his phone, which remains in Homeland Security custody under a sealed search warrant.
