{"id":34803,"date":"2026-01-21T06:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=34803"},"modified":"2026-01-21T06:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:13:11","slug":"latest-on-the-don-lemon-nicki-minaj-minnesota-church-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=34803","title":{"rendered":"Latest on the Don Lemon\u2013Nicki Minaj & Minnesota Church Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2022 A group of protesters disrupted a Sunday service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota<\/strong>, chanting anti-ICE slogans and accusing a church leader of coordinating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The protest was linked to broader demonstrations following recent contentious ICE operations in Minnesota.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)<\/strong> has launched a federal investigation into the incident, saying it might have violated laws protecting the right to worship without interference.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don Lemon\u2019s role and legal issues<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022 Former CNN anchor Don Lemon<\/span><\/span><\/strong> was at the scene and livestreamed the protest on his independent channel. He says he was covering the event as a journalist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 DOJ civil rights leaders have said Lemon could potentially face legal scrutiny because the protest disrupted a house of worship \u2014 and federal laws like the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act<\/em> can apply to interference with religious services.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicki Minaj\u2019s reaction<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022 Rapper Nicki Minaj<\/span><\/span><\/strong> posted a fiery message on social media calling Lemon \u201cdisgusting\u201d and demanding he be jailed for his role in the incident.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Minaj\u2019s post included derogatory language targeting Lemon, including language that commentators have identified as a homophobic slur<\/strong>. Lemon has publicly condemned those remarks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The escalating public feud<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022 Lemon responded by calling Minaj\u2019s comments \u201chomophobic\u201d and has engaged in a back-and-forth with her on social media, with both figures criticizing the other\u2019s motives and actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 This has become a flashpoint in broader debates about immigration enforcement, civil rights, freedom of worship, and media coverage of protests.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Context: Why this is a big deal<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022 Protests against ICE and U.S. immigration policy have intensified in recent months, especially in Minnesota, after incidents involving ICE agents that sparked public outcry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Churches and religious groups are legally protected spaces. Federal laws make it unlawful to intentionally obstruct worship services or intimidate worshippers \u2014 an issue the DOJ is now examining in this case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

What\u2019s next?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022 The DOJ\u2019s investigation<\/strong> into the church disruption is ongoing, and federal charges could be considered against organizers or participants if authorities determine civil rights laws were violated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The public dispute between Lemon and Minaj is continuing on social media, drawing attention from both political commentators and civil rights advocates.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2022 A group of protesters disrupted a Sunday service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, chanting anti-ICE slogans and accusing a church leader of coordinating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The protest was linked to broader demonstrations following recent contentious ICE operations in Minnesota. \u2022 The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}