Attorney General Pam Bondi pushed back Saturday against First Amendment criticisms after the Trump administration arrested journalist Don Lemon and other anti-ICE agitators accused of storming a Minnesota church, warning that attacks on houses of worship will not be tolerated.
“When we say God bless America, we mean it. We’re going to protect America, and if you do that in any house of worship in this country, we’re going to find you. We’re going to indict you, and I’m going to prosecute you,” she said on “My View with Lara Trump.”
Her remarks come amid criticism that the arrests violated the agitators’ First Amendment rights, something she dismissed by pointing to Title 18’s Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 as evidence to the contrary.
“You also have a First Amendment right to worship freely and safely. On a Sunday morning, all of those parishioners, so many of them thought they were going to be involved in a mass shooting. They didn’t know what was happening,” she said.
DON LEMON RELEASED FROM CUSTODY AFTER LA COURT APPEARANCE
“People have the right to go to church, to synagogue, to a mosque, wherever you worship and feel safe while you are there, and under the Donald Trump administration, we’re going to make that possible for them.”
Bondi described the incident as a coordinated operation that unfolded as families arrived for worship, with the agitators caravanning to the church, entering and sitting in the pews alongside those there to worship.
“These parishioners are coming in, and they didn’t realize they had already been infiltrated. They had part of these attackers walking in with them, sitting next to them in the pews. They’re there to worship God,” she said.
According to Bondi, the group stormed the church from multiple directions, shouting chants in unison as the service was underway, leaving congregants scrambling for safety.
She said parents were temporarily blocked from reaching their children at Sunday school, while others were prevented from exiting the building as panic spread through the sanctuary.
“Some of the lucky women ran out the side door, falling on the ice, legs up in the air. One woman hurt her arm so badly she had to go to the hospital,” she recounted.
“Parishioners were blocked from exiting the church. Don Lemon, on video, blocked one of them. Screaming, yelling at the pastor. That’s illegal in this country.”
Lemon, a former CNN anchor, was charged in Los Angeles Friday afternoon on allegations of conspiring to violate someone’s constitutional rights and alleged FACE Act violations.
Now an independent journalist, Lemon said he had been attending the demonstration as a reporter, not as a protester. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Lemon remarked, “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group.… I’m a journalist.”
Lemon and his defenders argue that the arrest violated his First Amendment rights.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
