Did a ‘New’ Arrest Just Puncture Lemon’s ‘Journalism’ Defense?

Just when did Don Lemon get involved in the plan to invade a church and terrorize its parishioners during worship services? Lemon insists he didn’t plan it at all, but only came along to report on the event. Prosecutors point to portions of his own video stream as evidence that he acted in concert with the radicals who violated the FACE and Ku Klux Klan Acts at Cities Church in Minnesota. 

A relatively new development might tilt the playing field toward conviction:

Investigation into ICE protesters storming the Minnesota Church reveals Don Lemon didn’t just happen to be there

Don Lemon was part of the planning and was provided logistics days in advance

Storming the church was a highly organized event by Democrats

“Developing — a new… pic.twitter.com/h5H8vU4DvM

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 6, 2026

“Developing — a new federal arrest is drawing attention to what prosecutors say was Don Lemon’s role in planning and recording the disturbing protest of demonstrators storming that Minnesota church service. 

A Temple University student has now surrendered on federal charges admitting he helped Don Lemon with logistics and local contacts ahead of that anti-ICE protest — Court records and social media posts show Richardson describing himself as assisting Don Lemon in the days leading up to the protest — Prosecutors say this new arrest undercuts that defense, suggesting planning and not just passive coverage.”

That certainly sounds like a bad development for Lemon, and a very good development for the attorneys representing Cities Church, who no doubt are preparing to sue Lemon et al into oblivion. But is this the smoking gun prosecutors need to convict Lemon at trial? The arrest isn’t exactly new, as it turns out, and the word “admitting” in the above report does a little heavy lifting. 

Jerome Richardson, the Temple University student in this report, turned himself in on Monday after being charged in the case. Richardson only “admits” to helping connect Lemon to the organizers of the protest, and insists that neither he nor Lemon violated the law, CBS News reported on Tuesday. However, Richardson may have let his mouth get ahead of him afterward:

A St. Paul native, Richardson said he was there helping Lemon with logistics and getting the former CNN host connected with local activists as he prepared to cover the demonstration live on YouTube.

“Don was reporting on the situation on the ground during the occupation by DHS and ICE and Border Patrol agents. At that time, I was proud to support his work in exposing the everyday injustices that resulted from the agenda. As a consequence of this support, I’m now being targeted by Trump and the federal administration,” Richardson said in the video.

“This is the price of being unapologetic about humanity and love of Christ,” he continued, noting he supported the protesters, highlighting “the hypocrisy of how Pastor David Easterwood could simultaneously be a pastor at the church and the local leader of ICE operations.”

“What people are experiencing goes against human and civil rights as well as the teachings of Jesus, who indeed flipped over tables,” Richardson said in the video.

Ahem. Let us skip over the obvious theological idiocy of this argument, except to note that Jesus did that because it was literally His Father’s temple, not someone else’s church. Instead, let’s focus on what this statement says about intent. This statement makes it very clear that Richardson and his co-conspirators fully intended to disrupt the service, punish the church for its choice of pastor, and lecture them about their version of the One True Faith. 

Aaaaand THAT is a clear violation of the FACE Act, the Klan Act, and the First Amendment rights of everyone in that church. Richardson just admitted to a conspiracy with Lemon and others to deprive Cities Church’s worshipers of their freedom of religious expression and worship by imposing their own theological and political views by force on them in the middle of their church, not to mention blocking egress and access to the children those conspirators put at risk. Richardson may not realize that yet, but his attorneys will, and prosecutors likely have already clipped and saved the video for the potential jury. 

Maybe Richardson will also claim to be a journalist by publishing the video. That’s not a Get Out Of Jail Free card in any case, as Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon told Catherine Herridge yesterday, especially when you conspire to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights and violate statutes like the FACE and Klan Acts (via Power Line):

NEW: @AAGDhillon Says Several Anti-Ice Agitators Involved in Minnesota Church ‘Attack’ Have Claimed To Be Journalists In Attempt to Shield Themselves From Prosecution

“I think it’s also important for your viewers to know that several of the people we’ve arrested so far claim to… https://t.co/isEWXBfnU0 pic.twitter.com/14Aa3KnpGG

— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) February 5, 2026

“I think it’s also important for your viewers to know that several of the people we’ve arrested so far claim to be journalists.”

“Whether you’re a journalist or not, you can’t break into a church. You can’t make children cry. You can’t prevent parents from getting to their children in Sunday school to rescue them. You can’t make elderly women run out a side door that actually had a cone in front of it because it was dangerous to go in and out that door slip and injure themselves and have to go to the emergency room. That’s all illegal…”

Indeed. Richardson’s video may well make that point even clearer to a jury … as long as they’re more interested in justice than nullification. 

Correction: For some reason, I used the name “Robinson” rather than “Richardson” throughout. I have since corrected it and offer my apologies to readers and to Mr. Richardson. 

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