Former CNN anchor Don Lemon speaks to the press as he leaves federal court in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 30, 2026. REUTERS/Jill Connelly
On Thursday, February 26, the Trump-era U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) case against journalist and former CNN host Don Lemon took on a Philadelphia element when Jerome Richardson — a Minnesota native now attending Philly's Temple University — was recognized by members of the Philadelphia City Council. Richardson is facing charges as part of the same DOJ case against Lemon, who was arrested after covering a protest inside an evangelical fundamentalist church in Minneapolis. And the case continued to evolve and expand on Friday, February 27, when Politico's Josh Gerstein reported on new defendants.
Late Friday morning, Gerstein — in a post on X — reported, "DEVELOPING: Superseding indictment returned in Don Lemon Minnesota church protest case. Local press says more defendants added and arrested. Awaiting more details."
According to Samantha Fischer, a reporter for KARE Channel 11 in Minneapolis, "KARE 11 confirmed at least nine more people were arrested in connection with a St. Paul church protest last month that already saw the high-profile arrests of journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon, as well as attorney and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. KARE's Lou Raguse said sources reported those arrested were taken to the federal courthouse in St. Paul, where they're expected to make their first court appearances Friday afternoon."
Gerstein tweeted a copy of a federal court document in United States of America v. Nekima Valdez Levyarmstrong, Et Al.
In the document, Harmeet K. Dhillon — assistant U.S. attorney general in DOJ's Civil Rights Division — and other federal prosecutors write, "The United States of America, by and through its undersigned attorneys, hereby moves the Court for an order to unseal the Superseding Indictment in the above-referenced matter."
Lemon and his allies maintain that the Trump DOJ case him has no merit, as he wasn't part of the demonstration inside the Minneapolis church and was strictly there as a journalist.