(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former CNN anchor turned YouTuber Don Lemon appeared to admit he was embedded with a group of anti-ICE protesters who disrupted a church service in Minnesota on Sunday, according to video he recorded ahead of the incident.
In the footage, Lemon said he conducted “reconnaissance” alongside the protesters before the disruption unfolded, as seen in a clip shared on X by the Media Research Center.
INTENT: The opening to Don Lemon’s insane livestream is an admission of foreknowledge that the group he was in contact with was going to storm a church, based on his prior communications with its leader. pic.twitter.com/g0GVHB4871
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 19, 2026
“These are resistance protesters, they’re planning an operation we’re going to follow them on,” Lemon stated. “I can’t tell you exactly what they’re doing, but it’s called Operation Pull-Up.”
He later added, “So that’s what we’re doing here, and after we do this operation, you’ll see it live, these operations are surprise operations, again I can’t tell you where they’re going.”
The protest, which went viral on social media and was largely documented by Lemon for his online show, disrupted a church service after anti-ICE activists claimed one of the church’s pastors also served as a federal immigration officer.
The disruption has drawn scrutiny for potential violations of the federal FACE Act.
Lemon himself was later put “on notice” by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon after he defended the protest inside the church.
“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,” Dhillon wrote. “You are on notice!”
Dhillon has suggested in subsequent media appearances that Lemon himself could face a federal investigation, along with other activists involved in the disruption.
BREAKING: DOJ Announces Intention to Charge Don Lemon under the Ku Klux Klan Act.
The KKK Act makes it illegal to threaten, hurt, or intimidate people to prevent them from exercising their God-given rights.
HARMEET DHILLON: "The Klan Act is one of the most important federal… pic.twitter.com/GWnXAMtWc9
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 19, 2026
