Staff Reports
The Department of Justice delivered a major blow to the mob-rule culture this week, unsealing a superseding indictment that adds 30 more defendants to the case arising from the January 18 disruption at Cities Church in St. Paul, bringing the total charged to 39. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a coordinated enforcement effort, signaling that this administration will protect houses of worship from political thuggery. For hardworking Americans who prize religious liberty, this is exactly the kind of decisive action we demanded from a Justice Department that finally has a backbone.
Among those swept into the expanded indictment are independent journalist Don Lemon and other high-profile activists, all accused of participating in a coordinated takeover-style disruption inside the sanctuary. Lemon has pleaded not guilty and insists he was acting as a journalist, but the footage and the charges suggest a far different role than the neutral onlooker he claims to be. The press should not be a shield for political agitators who target worshippers and children in their pews.
Federal prosecutors say the charges include conspiracy against the right of religious worship and violating laws that bar obstructing access to houses of worship, a clear legal response to a disgraceful attempt to weaponize a Sunday service into a political spectacle. This is not a First Amendment debate over signs on a sidewalk; it is an indictment of coordinated intimidation inside a private place of worship. Americans who believe in order and the rule of law should be relieved to see prosecutors treat this as the serious civil-rights violation it is.
Law enforcement executed a significant round of arrests—25 people detained in a single coordinated sweep—with more arrests promised as the investigation continues, showing that the government is not bluffing when it promises accountability. That sweep sent a message to every activist group and every celebrity pundit who thinks they can assemble, disrupt, and vanish without consequence. If you storm a church to score political points, expect the full weight of the law to come for you.
Beyond criminal charges, a parishioner at Cities Church has filed a pro se civil lawsuit alleging severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and interference with her right to worship—an important reminder that these stunts leave real victims in their wake. The legal pushback is now mounting on multiple fronts: criminal accountability and civil remedies for families who came to church to pray, not to be terrorized. That dual legal pressure should make would-be disruptors pause before turning a sanctuary into a stage for performative rage.
Let’s be blunt: Don Lemon made a career weaponizing the media against conservatives and religious Americans, branding opposition as existential danger while his own actions now read like the very extremism he used to decry. The arrogance of a cultural elite that lectures the country on decency while participating in the intimidation of worshippers is astounding and immoral. Conservatives should use this moment to hold the legacy media accountable for the double standards they live by.
This administration’s willingness to prosecute shows what happens when a government listens to the people and stops coddling the mobs that threaten our institutions. Americans of faith, families, and small-business owners deserve a federal government that protects them from political violence—wherever it comes from. We should cheer federal courage and insist it be applied equally and without fear.
Hardworking patriots know the truth: our churches, our neighborhoods, and our public spaces cannot become staging grounds for political performance art disguised as protest. Stand with those who worship in peace, demand accountability, and make no mistake—this is the sort of law-and-order leadership that will restore calm and common sense to our streets.
