GREGG JARRETT: Don Lemon left his press pass at the door when he joined church-storming mob
Federal prosecutors allege former CNN podcaster participated in disrupting religious service rather than just reporting on it
By Gregg Jarrett Fox News
Published January 30, 2026 3:10pm EST
It is a popular fallacy that freedom of the press enshrined in the First Amendment is absolute. It is not and never has been.
The recent arrest of podcaster Don Lemon on federal criminal charges that he willingly joined a mob of anti-ICE protesters who stormed a St. Paul, Minnesota church during Sunday services will inevitably test well-established limits on press freedoms.
Journalists, however defined, cannot, without legal consequences engage in incitement, defamation, obscenity, threatened violence, national security breaches, and the commission of crimes.
Calling yourself a "journalist" or claiming that you are simply "committing journalism," as Lemon has done, is not a defense. It is your behavior that the law examines. Both words and actions can reveal your intent.
This is why Lemon has found himself in criminal jeopardy. His own digital videos seem to incriminate him.
In footage that Lemon posted online, it appears that he was not merely an observer recording the illegal protest inside the church, which would be a typical role of a reporter. Instead, he seemed to be an active participant who embedded himself with the mob and joined their cause in harassing and tormenting the parishioners.
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