Several people charged in connection with a protest at a Minnesota church whose pastor served as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official pleaded not guilty Friday afternoon in a St. Paul federal courtroom.
Journalist Don Lemon, who is being represented by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy against the right of religious freedom at a place of worship and injuring, intimidating and interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom at a place of worship.
Lemon’s attorneys are also asking for the Department of Homeland Security to return his seized cellphone. In Friday’s hearing, Judge Douglas Micko lobbied federal prosecutors to return the phone, but they claim they’re still processing a search warrant.
Local activists Chauntyll Allen and Nekima Levy Armstrong and two others also pleaded not guilty during Friday’s hearing.
Court documents say the group interrupted services at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, last month. The protesters targeted the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, also led the local ICE office.
Legal experts told CBS News they expect the charges against the group to be dismissed. The indictment alleges the disruption violated the FACE Act, which prohibits people from intimidating or interfering with people exercising their constitutional freedom to practice religion. But some former Civil Rights Division lawyers say the charge is constitutionally flawed and has never before been used to prosecute interference in a house of worship.
Before the indictment, a federal magistrate judge in Minnesota refused to sign a complaint charging Lemon in the case.
Levy Armstrong told WCCO her faith compelled her to protest Easterwood.
“The reality is, as a Christian who is also an ordained reverend, in my tradition, it is important to speak up when you see injustice,” she said.
Independent journalist Georgia Fort and one other person charged in the case are set to be arraigned on Tuesday.