Former CNN host Don Lemon defended left-wing rioters who disrupted an evangelical church service in Minneapolis on Sunday, arguing during a livestream that the invasion of the sanctuary was justified because protesters believed a pastor was connected to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The incident unfolded as unrest continues across the Minneapolis–St. Paul area in response to ICE enforcement operations. Tensions intensified after an ICE agent was ambushed Wednesday by three illegal immigrants, an attack that left one of the suspects wounded. The violence followed a January 17 “targeted” immigration enforcement operation in which an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good.
Lemon broadcast footage of the protest during a six-and-a-half-hour livestream, arriving at Cities Church in Minneapolis roughly 40 minutes into the broadcast. In a TikTok caption posted Sunday alongside video of his arrival, Lemon wrote that “everybody has to be willing to sacrifice something to save democracy.”
During the livestream, Lemon described how protesters entered the church during services and began chanting “Justice for Renee Good,” effectively disrupting worship. He narrated events as demonstrators gathered inside the sanctuary, surrounding individuals and interrupting the pastor’s remarks.
Video recorded on a cell phone by the ICE agent involved in the January shooting shows Good allegedly ignoring commands from agents to exit her vehicle. The footage shows her backing up and looking toward the agent before she allegedly accelerated in his direction, after her girlfriend shouted, “Drive, baby, drive!” Good’s girlfriend is now under investigation by the Department of Justice on suspicion of attempting to impede federal law enforcement.
As the scene unfolded inside the church, Lemon told viewers that protesters were carrying out what he called a “clandestine mission.” He said demonstrators claimed to have learned that one of the church’s pastors was affiliated with ICE, which he suggested motivated the disruption.
Lemon went on to openly defend the rioters’ actions, comparing the church invasion to tactics used during the civil rights movement. He argued that public anger is inevitable when people believe constitutional rights are being violated.
“When you violate people’s due process, when you pull people off the street, you start dragging them and hurting them, and not abiding by the Constitution, people get upset and angry,” Lemon said. He told viewers to remember that the civil rights movement involved similar protests.
The former CNN host also dismissed objections to the disruption, insisting the Constitution allows protests at any time. According to Lemon, the purpose of protest is to disrupt normal life and make people uncomfortable.
Federal officials reacted swiftly. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon announced Sunday on X that the Justice Department had launched a probe into the church incident, tagging Attorney General Pam Bondi, who later said she spoke with the church’s pastor.
The White House condemned the episode in sharp terms. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the Daily Caller News Foundation that radical leftists have taken their actions to new lows, accusing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of fueling the unrest and turning rioters loose on the city. She said the Trump administration will continue enforcing the law.
Violence has not been limited to the church disruption. Left-wing rioters also targeted attendees of a Saturday counter-protest supporting ICE enforcement operations in Minneapolis, led by internet provocateur Jake Lang. Lang and others observed the rioters before Lang was apparently stabbed. He avoided serious injury because he was wearing body armor, but later posted that he was hospitalized for treatment of a head injury.
The series of incidents underscores how opposition to ICE operations in Minnesota has escalated into confrontations, disruptions of religious services, and physical attacks, even as prominent media figures defend the tactics used by the protesters.
