A federal magistrate judge rejected the Justice Department’s initial attempt to bring charges against journalist Don Lemon for appearing alongside protesters who breached a Minnesota church over the weekend, a source told CNN. In Lemon’s case, Justice Department officials immediately, and publicly, asserted that he would face charges. The Department of Justice could always try again to bring charges against Lemon. The church protesters claimed in Lemon’s video that a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul, David Easterwood, appeared to be a top ICE official in the Twin Cities. The Justice Department has arrested at least three people involved in the protests.

Source: CNN January 22, 2026 19:07 UTC