It’s a good start. Three of the ringleaders of the Cities Church protest invasion were arrested today. But a federal judge has refused to issue a warrant for Don Lemon’s arrest.
First, the arrests.
Federal agents with Homeland Security and the FBI arrested three protesters — Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly — in connection with a demonstration that interrupted Sunday service at Cities Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media Thursday.
It isn’t that they ‘interrupted’ the church service. They totally disrupted it and ended up terrifying parishioners and traumatizing children as a result with their rabid antics.
Jordan Kushner, Armstrong’s attorney, told NBC News in a phone call Thursday afternoon that his client was “arrested for doing a peaceful nonviolent protest in a church.”
Kushner said Armstrong and demonstrators at the protest “were engaged in an exercise of free speech.”
The only thing “nonviolent” about that protest was that no one got hurt. Shouting, screaming, and parading around while disrupting a church service isn’t “peaceful” by any stretch of the definition.
Secondly, you can definite it all you want, but that was NOT “an exercise of free speech.”
The FACE Act as well as the Klu Klux Klan Act are very clear. Church services cannot be disrupted. Period.
If you object to a church minister having ties to ICE or any other organization you’ve decided to hate on because Trump, then you can stand your ass outside the church and NOT on the church grounds and scream at the sky.
Meanwhile, one of the others involved from the very beginning of this protest, Don Lemon, won’t be arrested for his role in the church invasion…YET. Why? Because a liberal Democrat judge refused to sign a warrant for his arrest.
A federal magistrate judge in Minnesota rejected charging gay journalist Don Lemon after he covered a protest inside a St. Paul church Sunday, concerning journalism groups about silencing coverage.
The judge would not sign the charging complaint against him, which has angered Attorney General Pam Bondi, CBS News reports.
“The attorney general is enraged at the magistrate’s decision,” one source told the outlet.
You know what? She’s not the only one enraged and ticked off. I am too. Don Lemon can do his damndest to hide behind his ‘journalist’ credentials. But he KNEW disrupting a church service was the plan. He KNEW and went along with it, gleefully.
https://twitter.com/TheOfficerTatum/status/2013275549506916545
He filmed everything inside the church and put himself on record insisting to the pastor that he and the rest have every right to disrupt a service. Yet a federal magistrate refused to sign off on the warrant for his arrest.
NEW: Multiple sources tell me & colleague @davidspunt that the federal magistrate in Minnesota who refused to sign off on an arrest warrant for Don Lemon is Douglas L. Micko and that his wife works as an Assistant Attorney General in Minnesota AG Keith Ellison's office.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 22, 2026
My shocked face is experiencing permanent paralysis. Needless to say, Micko’s refusal and his wife’s ties to Keith Ellison raises all sorts of red flags.
Meanwhile, one of the rabid protestors at Cities Church was this guy, William Kelly .
https://twitter.com/ClownWorld/status/2012984978758353220
NONE of what he was doing on Sunday was peaceful by any stretch of the imagination. Then he went on camera to dare Pam Bondi to come after him.
Checkmate. https://t.co/yNUoWMdbWt pic.twitter.com/A7BeTgzfk9
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 22, 2026
Kelly is now getting a taste of FO after he FA trying to claim no one could touch him. OOPS.
There are a few others involved that need to be arrested for their actions.
Don't forget this guy, please: Jamael Lundy
— Andrew @ Don’t Walk, RUN! (@DontWalkRUN) January 22, 2026
He works for the Hennepin County Attorney's office.https://t.co/EtYokw9eqZ pic.twitter.com/hbDY6MjXEh
Want to bet Lundy will try to claim free speech? They thought it would work for Armstrong, Allen, and Kelly. Until it didn’t.
Ms. Levy Armstrong is a lawyer and a former president of the Minneapolis branch of the N.A.A.C.P. Ms. Allen is a member of the St. Paul School Board. It was not clear Thursday morning whether the women had been charged with any crimes and, if so, what they had been charged with. Efforts to reach the women for comment on Thursday morning were unsuccessful.
“Personally, I will not be gaslit by the Trump administration,” Ms. Levy Armstrong said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, before her arrest. “They are trying to turn a peaceful nonviolent demonstration into a crime.”
James Cook, a lawyer for some of the protesters, said on Thursday that the arrests surprised him.
“It’s one of those things where you think it sounds like a lot of bluster. But there it is. They’re actually getting rounded up,” he said.
I don’t know why he’s surprised. We ALL know they broke several laws with their invasion of Cities Church.
Levy is claiming that, since the church welcomed them, it was entirely appropriate to disrupt the services and traumatize children. When, in fact, most churches welcome visitors in hopes that eventually they become members of the congregation. Being welcomed as a visitor does NOT give anyone the right to disrupt a service.
Mayor Jacob Frey needs to put a sock in it.
This is a gross abuse of power. The federal government is picking and choosing who to investigate – going after protestors and not the person who shot and killed one of our neighbors. I am calling for Nekima to be released immediately. https://t.co/HD1LGlPGv4
— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) January 22, 2026
This is the start of facing the consequences of their actions. Let’s hope the DOJ doesn’t waiver and sees it to the finish.
Feature Photo Credit: Original artwork by Victory Girls Darleen Click
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