by Jack Cowhick
An alleged Minnesota churchgoer filed a lawsuit against former CNN anchor Don Lemon and protesters for “emotional distress,” TMZ reported Tuesday.
Ann Doucette alleged in court documents that Lemon and protesters “unlawfully interfered” with her right to “freely exercise her religion in a private place of worship” when he stormed her church during a Jan. 18 service to protest federal immigration enforcement, according to TMZ. She claimed to suffer “severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma” as a result of the protest, and is suing for an unspecified amount of money, according to the outlet.
Lemon and a group of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters entered The Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota following the shooting death of Renee Good in an attempt to confront the church’s pastor, who was believed to be connected to the law enforcement agency. Lemon live-streamed the event on YouTube and acknowledged, “It’s uncomfortable and traumatic for the people here, but that’s really … that’s what protesting is about.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Lemon in late January with violations against the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and Ku Klux Klan Act. The DOJ’s indictment alleged that the move was part of a “clandestine operation” called “Operation Pullup,” during which defendants “oppressed, threatened, and intimidated” churchgoers and the pastor. The former CNN anchor was then arrested in Los Angeles for what he called “an act of journalism.”
A judge ordered Lemon’s release without bond and without travel shortly after his arrest. Lemon said outside the courthouse in January, “I have spent my entire career covering the news–I will not stop now.”
Besides Lemon, Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen, William Kelly, Georgia Fort, Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson were charged for their role in the protest.
Fort, like Lemon, was also an independent journalist who went into the church with the protest group.
Cities Church, after the protest, put out a statement saying, “a group of agitators jarringly disrupted our worship gathering. They accosted members of our congregation, frightened children, and created a scene marked by intimidation and threat. Such conduct is shameful, unlawful, and will not be tolerated.”
“Invading a church service to disrupt the worship of Jesus — or any other act of worship — is protected by neither the Christian Scriptures nor the laws of this nation,” the church noted.
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Jack Cowhick is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Don Lemon” by Don Lemon.
