Recently dismissed CNN anchor Don Lemon might find himself under federal scrutiny after participating in a protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota. Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, cautioned Lemon that his involvement in the demonstration could lead to legal trouble, indicating that he is now “on notice.” Over the weekend, Lemon joined an anti-Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest outside a St. Paul church, where he was captured on video confronting a pastor and asserting his ‘First Amendment right’ to partake in the protest.

Dhillon, using the platform X, criticized Lemon’s rationale, emphasizing that his actions were incorrectly justified. She stated, “A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service… You are on notice!” She further revealed that she had communicated with Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI, indicating her commitment to investigating Lemon’s actions in Minnesota. “We are investigating potential criminal violations of federal law,” she noted.

When contacted by phone on Monday, Lemon’s spouse, Timothy Malone, chose not to comment on the situation, stating that he had “nothing to say” regarding the potential criminal charges facing Lemon. Dhillon explained that her department is assessing whether Lemon and the protestors violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which safeguards individuals’ First Amendment rights to religious freedom within places of worship. In a conversation with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, Dhillon mentioned that her office is also contemplating charges against Lemon under the Ku Klux Klan Act, which makes it unlawful to threaten, harm, or intimidate individuals to prevent them from exercising their civil rights.

‘The Klan Act is one of the most important federal civil rights statutes. Its a law that makes it illegal to terrorize and violate the civil rights of citizens. Whenever people conspire this, the Klan Act can be used,’ Dhillon said. ‘Everyone in the protest community needs to know that the fullest force of the federal government is going to come down and prevent this from happening and put people away for a long time.’ The prosecutor slammed Minnesota officials for ‘refusing to enforce’ their laws, and vowed the Department of Justice would step in if they did not act.

‘There is zero tolerance for this kind of illegal behavior & we will not stand for it,’ she said. In footage Lemon shared from his visit to the church, he said he had ‘no affiliations’ with the protest group, and he defended his actions as an ‘act of journalism.’ ‘I’m sure people here don’t like it, but protests are not comfortable,’ Lemon said. It comes as it was revealed that the anti-ICE mob that Lemon joined chose to target the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, also serves as the acting director of the St Paul ICE fieldoffice.

Easterwood, a pastor at the Cities Church in St. Paul, appeared alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in October, where he spoke of being ‘proud’ of leading the immigration crackdown in the town. At the protest while speaking with Lemon, protester Nekima Levy Armstrong singled Easterwood out as the reason they chose to overwhelm the Sunday service. ‘This will not stand, they cannot pretend to be a house of God, while harboring someone who is commanding ICE agents to terrorize our communities,’ Armstrong told Lemon. The ICE field office director’s role as pastor at the Cities Church reportedly caught the attention of protest groups Racial Justice Network, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, who organized the Sunday mob.

Easterwood has made headlines with his work with ICE in recent months, and after appearing alongside Noem at the October press conference, he responded to a lawsuit brought by local Minneapolis protester Susan Tincher. Tincher alleged that she was detained for asking an ICE agent to identify herself, which she says led several agents to pull her to the ground and handcuff her face-down in the snow. In her lawsuit, Tincher said she was then shackled in a cell for over five hours, and alleged that officers cut off her bra and her wedding ring of 32 years while she was detained.

Easterwood responded by blaming Tincher, saying she tried to enter a law enforcement perimeter, refused commands to leave and tried to push an ICE officer, and he defended the use of force on her as ‘necessary.’ He said officers ‘only use force that is necessary and reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances’, and are often subjected to ‘increased threats, violence, aggression, attacks, vehicle block-ins, and obstruction of immigration enforcement operations.’