A Sunday service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota was violently interrupted on January 18, 2026, when activists barged in, blocked aisles, and shouted down worshippers while video cameras rolled. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was on the scene and filmed much of the disruption, embedding himself in the middle of the action rather than simply reporting from the perimeter. Americans watching the footage were rightfully outraged to see a sacred place of worship treated like a political staging ground.
The Department of Justice’s civil rights leadership has publicly put Lemon and others “on notice,” saying that recording a disruption does not grant immunity if someone knowingly embeds with and amplifies a coordinated action that interferes with religious worship. Senior DOJ officials have signaled they are reviewing possible violations of federal statutes designed to protect houses of worship, including the FACE Act and other civil-rights provisions. If the law means anything, it must protect worshippers from mobs, not protect the mob.
Federal prosecutors didn’t just issue stern tweets — they moved. On January 22, 2026, the Justice Department announced arrests in connection with the church intrusion, charging organizers for their roles in what investigators describe as coordinated intimidation inside a place of worship. This is not hyperbole or “performative outrage”; it is the enforcement of federal statutes meant to keep religion and worship free from political terror tactics.
Conservatives should be clear-eyed: this was a deliberate tactic to shut down a Christian service and to intimidate parishioners who disagree with the left’s open-borders agenda. The FACE Act, while once associated with clinic protection, plainly covers intentional interference with religious exercise, and it is appropriate for the DOJ to use it here if the facts show purposeful obstruction and intimidation. If journalists or influencers knowingly embed with those actions, they cross the line from observer to accomplice, and the rule of law must treat them accordingly.
Reporting from multiple outlets also notes that political operatives and well-connected staffers were visible among the crowd, underscoring how activist networks and sympathetic officials fold into these actions. Whether or not every participant had a formal title, the optics and the organization behind this disruption point to a coordinated campaign rather than a spontaneous protest. The American people deserve to know who funded, organized, and led this assault on a church sanctuary.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi and the Trump Justice Department now face a test: will they enforce the law consistently, or allow partisan mobs to make churches into free-for-alls? Conservatives should demand swift, transparent prosecutions of those who crossed the line — including organizers, visible enablers, and anyone who aided the harassment of worshippers. Law and order must apply equally to powerful activists and the media stars who aid them.
If the DOJ fails to act forcefully, the consequence will be chilling: houses of worship will become soft targets for political theater, and ordinary Americans will lose confidence that their government will defend their right to pray in peace. Our movement should not be silent while the left weaponizes protest to terrorize congregations and silence dissenting voices. Demand accountability, insist on prosecutions, and stand with the persecuted worshippers whose basic liberties were violated that January Sunday.
