Don Lemon remains defiant, dares Trump DOJ to 'make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel' as potential charges loom
Don Lemon offered a defiant message Thursday night as the Justice Department pursues potential charges against the former CNN host for his role in livestreaming the left-wing agitators that stormed a Minnesota church.
Lemon was expected to face charges after Attorney General Pamela Bondi warned that "no one is above the law" on the heels of Sunday’s anti-ICE protest at St. Paul's Cities Church. However, a federal magistrate judge earlier in the day rejected the Justice Department’s initial attempt to bring charges against Lemon in connection with the incident.
"I stand proud, and I stand tall," Lemon said on his YouTube show Thursday night. "This is not a victory lap for me, because it's not over. They're going to try again, and they're going to try again. And guess what? Here I am. Keep trying."
"That's not going to stop me from being a journalist. You're not going to diminish my voice. Go ahead. Make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel if you want," Lemon told the DOJ. "Just do it! Because I'm not going anywhere."
MAGISTRATE JUDGE REJECTS CHARGES AGAINST DON LEMON IN CONNECTION WITH ANTI-ICE CHURCH PROTEST
"None of this is about justice. This is about power. And it's about people who are incompetent. It's not about justice," Lemon added.
Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, appeared to accept Lemon's dare to bring the charges, replying on X, "Okay."
Lemon took a swipe at Bondi, who was reportedly enraged over the federal magistrate judge’s decision to block the DOJ’s charges against him.
"I'm just surprised that someone like Pam Bondi would be angry for someone doing their job, someone abiding by the law," Lemon said. "Why would you be angry about that unless you were trying to use it as a weapon, rather than to seek the truth and justice? Because you may not like justice, but when justice is served, it is served."
Lemon maintained his position that he had walked into Cities Church last Sunday as a reporter, not as a protester.
The agitators who stormed the church did so under the suspicion that its pastor had collaborated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Lemon told viewers that "the freedom to protest" is what the First Amendment is all about.
While charges have been brought against others from that protest, Lemon has yet to face any himself. According to reports, the DOJ may seek "other avenues" to charge him.
"The magistrate’s reported actions confirm the nature of Don’s First Amendment-protected work this weekend in Minnesota as a reporter. It was no different than what he has done for more than 30 years, reporting and covering newsworthy events on the ground and engaging in constitutionally protected activity as a journalist. Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court," Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Lemon who also represented Hunter Biden, told Fox News Digital.
Lemon has insisted he has "no affiliation to that organization" and "didn't even know they were going to this church until we followed them there," although video he posted on YouTube suggested he had been at least somewhat aware of the agitators’ plan. According to the livestream, Lemon entered the church before the agitators arrived. He went on to document the hostile invasion of the church, which he called a "clandestine mission."
"You have to be willing to go into places and disrupt and make people uncomfortable. That’s what this country is about," Lemon said.
Far-left agitators Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, two of the protest's organizers, as well as viral protester William Kelly, were charged with conspiracy against rights.