On January 22, 2026, U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko declined to sign the Justice Department’s initial criminal complaint and arrest-warrant request against journalist Don Lemon over an anti-ICE protest inside Cities Church in St. Paul. That decision blocked that charging request; it did not acquit Lemon or end the government’s effort. DOJ sought emergency appellate relief, the Eighth Circuit declined to compel the warrant signatures, and a grand jury later indicted Lemon. He pleaded not guilty, and the reviewed record describes the case as ongoing.
What the magistrate judge rejected
The protest took place during a church service at Cities Church in St. Paul on January 18, 2026. Demonstrators chanted “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” according to the Associated Press. The Justice Department opened a civil-rights investigation. Lemon said he was there as a journalist; that is his account, not a fact established by the ruling. (Associated Press)
On January 22, CBS reported that Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko refused to sign the initial complaint and arrest warrant sought against Lemon. In the broader matter, Micko also declined to approve some proposed charges against other defendants, citing lack of probable cause. The decision was about the government’s initial request, not a trial verdict or a permanent dismissal. (CBS News)
Why the refusal did not end the case
After Micko’s decision, the Justice Department asked the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals for emergency relief that would compel the lower court to sign five arrest warrants. CBS reported on January 24 that the appellate court declined to order the signatures. Judge L. Steven Grasz separately wrote that he believed probable cause existed. His view was a separate opinion; it did not change the panel’s refusal to compel the warrants. (CBS News)
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The later grand-jury indictment was a distinct procedural step. The University of Michigan Law School’s Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse chronology says Lemon was arrested after a grand jury indicted him and others. The existence of that indictment means the initial complaint refusal should not be described as the end of the prosecution effort. (Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse)
Indictment, plea and later proceedings
The Clearinghouse chronology records that Lemon pleaded not guilty at his February 23, 2026 arraignment. On February 27, the Associated Press reported that Lemon, Georgia Fort and Nekima Levy Armstrong had been charged. Lemon and Fort said they had been at the church as journalists; those statements are their position, not an adjudication of the allegations. (Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse; Associated Press)
A July 2, 2026 defense filing quotes Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz’s correspondence about Lemon and his producer: “There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.” The quote is presented in a defense filing and should not be mistaken for a final ruling on the indictment. The same filing recounts both Micko’s initial probable-cause decision and the later indictment. (July 2 defense filing)
The Clearinghouse describes the case as ongoing. The reviewed sources do not establish a final disposition, so no later outcome should be inferred from the initial warrant decision or the quoted correspondence.
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- Initial request: Micko declined to approve the complaint and warrant request against Lemon.
- Appeal: The Eighth Circuit declined to compel the district court to sign the five warrants; Judge Grasz expressed a different view in a separate opinion.
- Later charging: A grand jury indicted Lemon and others, and Lemon pleaded not guilty.
These events are not contradictory: they describe different stages and decision-makers. A refusal to approve an initial complaint does not itself decide whether a later grand-jury indictment can proceed.
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