Minnesota AG rejects DOJ FACE Act claims against Don Lemon, anti-ICE protesters
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is denying allegations that anti-ICE protesters who attacked a church in his state over the weekend violated federal law, which the Justice Department has said they potentially violated.
Senior Justice Department officials said Sunday in St. He says they are investigating whether agitators who disrupted services at St. Paul’s Cities Church violated the FACE Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act.
FACE Act Using or threatening to use force to “injure, intimidate, or interfere” with a person seeking reproductive health services or a person attempting to lawfully exercise their First Amendment right to freedom of religion in a place of religious worship is a federal crime that carries potentially steep fines and prison time. Intentional material damage to a facility that provides reproductive health services or a place of religious worship is also prohibited. The Ku Klux Klan Act makes it a federal crime for individuals to deprive citizens of their civil rights.
DON LEMON RESPONDED TO TRUMP DOJ’S THREAT, STANDED NEXT TO ANTI-ICE PROTEST BROADCASTS AT MINNESOTA CHURCH
Anti-ICE protesters targeted Cities Church in Minneapolis on Sunday, yelling at churchgoers in the middle of services. (Facebook/DawokeFarmer2)
Appearing on former CNN host Don Lemon’s YouTube show, Ellison insisted that the FACE Act was only about reproductive rights.
“And by the way, the FACE Act was designed to protect the rights of people seeking reproductive rights…so that people can’t use religion to trespass on women’s reproductive health centers for religious reasons,” Ellison said. said Lemon.
“I cannot understand how they can bend any of these laws to apply to people protesting in church because of the behavior of a religious leader,” Ellison added.
DON LEMON WAS ‘ADVERTISED’ BY DOJ FOR HIS ROLE IN COVERING THE PROTEST THAT BROKE THE CHURCH
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison argued that anti-ICE protesters did not violate the FACE Act as the Justice Department considered filing charges. (Reuters/Tim Evans)
Lemon himself has been caught up in the controversy for providing embedded reports documenting the chaos that emerged from Cities Church.
While the liberal host argued that his actions as a journalist were protected by the First Amendment, Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, argued that Lemon’s involvement was illegal.
“A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest!” Dhillon told Lemon on
“You are warned,” he added.
ST PAUL PASTOR CONDEMNED AGITATORS AGAINST ICE DISTURBING CHURCH SERVICES, SAID ‘WE ARE HERE TO WORSHIP JESUS’
Don Lemon told Fox News Digital he stands by his reporting. (Don Lemon/YouTube)
“It’s remarkable that I was chosen as the face of a protest that I covered as a journalist, especially since I wasn’t the only reporter there. This framing speaks volumes,” Lemon said. Fox News Digital in a statement. “What is even more telling is the barrage of homophobic and racist slurs, as well as violent threats, directed at me online by MAGA supporters and amplified by some of the right-wing press.”
“If so much time and energy is going to be spent creating outrage, it would be far better spent investigating the tragic death of Renee Nicole Good, which is the very issue that brought people to the streets in the first place,” Lemon continued. “I stand by my reports.
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