Two more people have been arrested in connection with the church protest in St. Paul, Minnesota, where demonstrators disrupted a religious service — an incident that also resulted in the arrest of journalist Don Lemon, who says he was reporting on the scene.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that two men, Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson, were arrested in connection with the protest.
The demonstration took place on Jan. 18, when protesters interrupted a service to protest immigration enforcement, chanting “ICE out.” The New York Times reported that one of the church’s pastors is also an ICE official.
Federal prosecutors say a total of nine people — including Lemon — have been charged under the FACE Act, a law the government says protects the right of people to participate in services at houses of worship. Lemon’s arrest triggered major backlash, in part because of his high-profile career as a journalist, including 17 years at CNN.
After the protest, the Department of Justice first sought charges against eight people, including Lemon. Minnesota Chief District Judge Patrick Schiltz allowed charges against only three individuals to proceed, saying there was not enough evidence to move forward against Lemon and several others.
Prosecutors later disclosed that they secured a grand jury indictment against nine people they allege were connected to the demonstration.
Lemon, now an independent journalist, has insisted he was covering the protest rather than participating in it and has said he plans to fight the case in court. He was released after being arrested in Los Angeles and making an initial court appearance.
“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” his attorney said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work.”
Another independent journalist, Georgia Fort, was also arrested after covering the same protest. She live-streamed her arrest, including an encounter with federal agents who arrived at her home early on the morning of Jan. 30.
Minnesota has seen a surge of demonstrations in response to ICE’s increased presence in the Twin Cities area, including Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Those protests have intensified following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom were shot and killed in separate incidents involving federal agents.
