Top Justice Department Official Floats Ku Klux Klan Act as Possible Prosecution Vehicle for Fired CNN Journalist Don Lemon

The former CNN anchor-turned-independent journalist Don Lemon could face charges under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 after he was present at an anti-ICE protest inside of a St. Paul, Minneapolis church on Sunday. Mr. Lemon on Monday accused the parishioners of being white supremacists. The assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon, has been leading the charge in the investigation of Mr. Lemon and other protesters, which was launched less than 24 hours ago. She says everyone present could face prosecution under the FACE Act, which protects abortion clinics and houses of worship from protesters who seek to interfere with both institutions’ operations. “The [civil rights division] is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers,” Ms. Dhillon wrote on X Sunday night. On Monday, she appeared on conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast to talk about the investigation. She again mentioned the FACE Act, but declined to offer any specifics about what the investigation or prosecutions could entail. She then mentioned the Enforcement Act of 1871 — also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. “In other cases, the Biden DOJ used the Klan Act conspiracy charges tacked on to the FACE Act in the case of protests outside of abortion clinics to bring much longer sentences,” Ms. Dhillon said Monday. She says using the act in order to enhance criminal penalties for the protesters would require an investigation into who is funding the anti-ICE group. Ms. Dhillon noted the original intent of the law, which was to prevent both the active members of the KKK and law enforcement from infringing on the rights of newly freed slaves who were facing harassment at home, at their businesses, or in their churches. She called it one of the most “important” civil rights statutes which was used to prosecute those who attempted to block their fellow Americans from exercising their constitutional rights. “The Klan Act can be used to bring a conspiracy charge,” Ms. Dhillon said. “What the Biden administration did is, if three grandmas got together to pray outside an abortion clinic … they would say, ‘Oh, that’s not just a violation of the [FACE] Act, that’s a conspiracy to violate the civil rights of women going in there to get abortions.”“So, we’re going to add additional charges,” she declared. Mr. Lemon claims that he was simply performing journalistic duties when he tagged along for a protest inside of the charge. Anti-ICE demonstrators interrupted services on Sunday because one of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, is the head of the St. Paul ICE field office. During his own interview with liberal commentator Jennifer Welch on Monday, Mr. Lemon said that those parishioners whose church service was interrupted on Sunday have a sense of “entitlement” because of “white supremacy.”“They think that this country was built for them, that it is a Christian country, when actually, we left England because we wanted religious freedom,” Mr. Lemon said. He says that one of his producers told him on Monday morning that he became the face of the protest only because he is “a gay Black man in America” who has “a platform.”“It plays to their base, and their base is full of racists, bigots, [and] bigoted homophobes,” Mr. Lemon said. President Trump weighed in on Mr. Lemon’s situation on Monday, saying that he ought to get the same punishment as other anti-abortion activists received during the Biden administration. On Truth Social, Mr. Trump shared a message from an X user who said Mr. Lemon should receive 40 years in prison.

Top Justice Department Official Floats Ku Klux Klan Act as Possible Prosecution Vehicle for Fired CNN Journalist Don Lemon

Top Justice Department Official Floats Ku Klux Klan Act as Possible Prosecution Vehicle for Fired CNN Journalist Don Lemon

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