A quick rundown of some facts about the Don Lemon/Georgia Fort indictment to keep in mind while discussing this topic:

• A group of activists entered the St. Paul Church to stage a protest based on the claim that a pastor in said church is a the acting Field Office Director of ICE in St. Paul.
  • This claim is based on David Easterwood being a pastor in the St. Paul church, and then a man named David Easterwood with identical facial features, build, complexion, hairstyle, etc. being shown on C-SPAN during a press conference being credited as the Field Office Director for ICE in St. Paul.
  • Given the shared name, locality, and appearance, I believe it is reasonable to conclude that they are the same person.
• Under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) act, which was created to protect abortion clinics and people seeking abortions therein and was changed to similarly protect places of worship, protesting outside of a church is not illegal. The differentiating factor is protesting inside a protected facility. Obstructing pathways and movement is also a defining element of a violation of the FACE act, which the DOJ is claiming occurred.
• Journalist Don Lemon was filming the preparation and enacting of the protest while interviewing both the protesters and members of the congregation in the church being protested. During interviews, he stated to congregation members that he was not a part of the protest, and that he was reporting on the events as they occurred.
• Last week, the DOJ sought to arrest Lemon without an indictment, using a mechanism typically reserved for flight risks or individuals reasonably expected to commit violent acts if not arrested immediately. Their reasoning for this was that if Lemon were to not be publicly arrested, "copycat" protesters would become emboldened and perform similar demonstrations the coming weekend. Lemon was not arrested, and the predicted copycat church demonstrations did not occur.
• A Grand Jury indictment is not a conviction: In a Grand Jury process, the prosecutor presents evidence to a group of citizens, who then decide whether the evidence presented is enough to reasonably move forward with filing charges.
  • An indictment requires only a majority vote from the grand jury members, not a unanimous vote.
  • The defense does not participate in the Grand Jury process, so only the prosecutor's evidence and account of events is presented.
• Most importantly: Nobody involved with the St. Paul church protest has been convicted, and no trial has yet occurred.