Don Lemon and His Fellow Agitators Claim Church Stunt Arrests are Racist, with Michael Knowles

What this episode is about

The discussion centers on the recent arrest of several activists, including Don Lemon, in connection with a church stunt, with commentators claiming the arrests are racially motivated. Key figures in the conversation include Naima Levy Armstrong, who likens her experience of being shackled during her arrest to slavery, as well as commentary on the backgrounds and implications of their arrests involving notable social justice movements.

Key takeaways

• Chains don't equate to slavery; context matters—was she covering a protest or terrorizing a congregation?
• Mystery meat in jail isn't gourmet cuisine; prisons prioritize punishment, not parades.
• Majoring in African-American studies doesn't grant insight into criminology—superficial parallels won't save you from arrest.
• If you're shocked by prison conditions, maybe rethink your definition of justice—it's not a spa retreat.
• Arrest in the name of justice should surprise nobody; misbehavior has consequences, even for 'nonviolent' voices.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Megyn Kelly (Guest) · 8 min speaking
• Michael Knowles (Guest) · 5 min speaking
• Nikima Levy Armstrong (Guest)
• Don Lemon (Guest)

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Don Lemon, Nikima Levy Armstrong, Naima Levy Armstrong, Georgia Fort
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Don Lemon
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Don Lemon, Steven L. Miller
4. 9:00 – 12:00: Don Lemon, Nicki Minaj, Birch Gold Group

Notable quotes from "Don Lemon and His Fellow Agitators Claim Church Stunt Arrests are Racist, with Michael Knowles"

• Here's the other person who's already been arrested as the ring leader. Her name is Naima Levy Armstrong. I play this because it's very interesting where they're going with it now. Okay. I.

  about Naima Levy Armstrong · at 0:00

• Her. Saw 26. We had belly chains around our waist and we had handcuffs with bars in the middle. As someone who majored in African-American studies, I can tell you that is the closest I ever felt to slavery in my life.

  about Nikima Levy Armstrong · at 1:30

• Protesting and showed what they were doing. That's what journalists do. In response to which, Steven L. Miller responded, If you really want your mind blown, he violated the…

  about Steven L. Miller · at 6:02

• All the time. My producers were saying I said, How did I become the face of this? And my producer said, Don, you're a gay black man in America and you have a platform and…

  about Don Lemon · at 9:13

• You'd think he'd stop doing it. Nicki Minaj did have thoughts on Don Lemon.

  about Nicki Minaj · at 10:01

• A new year means new financial goals like making sure your savings are secure and diversified. Will this be the year you decide to talk to someone from Birch Gold Group? They…

  about Birch Gold Group · at 11:40

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Don Lemon — Person · Primary referenced subject (arrestee / media figure) · 9 mentions · first at 0:10
  Central figure in the segment: discussed as having been arrested/charged related to a Minneapolis church incident and as responding publicly by framing it as politically/racially motivated.
• Nikima Levy Armstrong — Person · Referenced arrestee / activist voice (clip subject) · 2 mentions · first at 1:17
  Presented via audio clips describing jail conditions and framing her arrest as unjust; used by the speakers as an example to criticize activist rhetoric and criminal-justice expectations.
• Naima Levy Armstrong — Person · Referenced arrestee (described as ringleader) · 2 mentions · first at 0:00
  Introduced as the alleged 'ring leader' already arrested; likely refers to the same person as 'Nikima/Nekima Levy Armstrong' given name similarity and shared arrest context.
• Georgia Fort — Person · Referenced arrestee (described as journalist) · 2 mentions · first at 0:15
  Named as one of the people arrested alongside Don Lemon; described as an independent journalist based in Minnesota.
  From or the post on X from Pam Bondi says at my direction early this morning, federal agents arrested Lemon, Trey Hearn, Georgia, and Jamal. So I think I'm guessing then that…
• Trey Hearn Jean Cruz — Person · Referenced arrestee (BLM Minnesota co-founder per episode) · 2 mentions · first at 0:21
  Identified as a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota and listed among those arrested; tied by the speakers to the 'George Floyd' activism milieu.
  From or the post on X from Pam Bondi says at my direction early this morning, federal agents arrested Lemon, Trey Hearn, Georgia, and Jamal. So I think I'm guessing then that…
• Jamal Lidell Lundy — Person · Referenced arrestee (government aide per episode) · 2 mentions · first at 0:32
  Named as arrested and described as an aide connected to a Minneapolis-area prosecutor and local government; used to suggest political/prosecutorial ties.
  There's Jamal Lidell Lundy who's an aid to the Soros based prosecutor out there in Minneapolis, Mari Mary Morardi and he works in local government there. And then I was told that Don Lemon's.
• Nicki Minaj — Person · Referenced celebrity / political foil · 4 mentions · first at 9:31
  Mentioned as a target of Don Lemon's insult and as someone who 'called for' his arrest; used to illustrate culture-war/political alignment arguments.
• Steven L. Miller — Person · Referenced commenter (social media reply) · 1 mention · first at 6:06
  Quoted responding to a post defending Don Lemon; invoked to introduce the claim that Lemon violated the 'KKK act' (Ku Klux Klan Act).

Sponsors

• Birch Gold Group — Company · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at 11:47
  Promoted as a financial service offering gold investment options, particularly for IRA and 401k rollovers.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Here's the other person who's already been arrested as the ring leader. Her name is Naima Levy Armstrong. I play this because it's very interesting where they're going with it now. Okay. I should mention three other people were arrested today besides Don Lemon. There's Georgia Fort who I mentioned. She describes herself as an independent journalist based in Minnesota. There's Trey Hearn Jean Cruz who was um a co-founder of is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota. um big on the George Floyd thing. There's Jamal Lidell Lundy who's an aid to the Soros based prosecutor out there in Minneapolis, Mari Mary Morardi and uh he works in local government there. And then I was told that Don Lemon's producer was also indicted. But the press release from or the post on X from Pam Bondi says at my direction early this morning, federal agents arrested Lemon, Trey Hearn, Georgia, and Jamal. So I think

1:06 I'm guessing then that Lemon's producer is yet to come. I think I have been reliably told that he was indicted. So we'll see whether that pans out. Uh we'll cover it either way whether it's true or it's not true. We'll update the audience. But okay, let's get back to Nikima who was arrested along with uh that other lady and William Kelly last week. Here is her take on what her arrest in this week have been like for her. Saw 26. We had belly chains around our waist and we had handcuffs with bars in the middle. As someone who majored in African-American studies, I can tell you that that is the closest I ever felt to slavery in my life.

1:46 Being shackled as if I was a slave. It is unacceptable and unconscionable. It's great to work your priors.

1:58 She sounds like someone who majored in African-American studies. She I that part I totally believe. Generally speaking, any department in a university that ends with studies, you it's not a real department. You're not you're not learning a lot in that department. And and here she's saying, well, you see, there's this superficial similarity because I criminals are in chains and slaves are also in chains, which makes me think uh as a boy I would wear a Paul O'Neal jersey, a big Yankee fan. I'm still a big Yankee fan. So, does does that mean that I'm a professional baseball player? Am I a New York Yankee?

2:32 I don't, you know, superficial similarities uh do not necessarily signify uh any any real similarity. So I I guess maybe this would be her argument. If the chains themselves are what's so bad, then we need to abolish all of the prisons, right? You know, I I would I was saying that as kind of a punchline, but probably Yeah, that's right.

2:54 Yeah. Amazing. Like it's the closest I ever felt to a slave. How did you get in handcuffs again, Nikima? Oh, wait. You terrorized a room full of children and churchgoers. That's what happens. Uh broken bones happen. People in tears and terrified. That's what you did. That's why I'm not in cuffs. Michael Nolles is not in cuffs. But you are. That something is different between the three of us,

3:16 you know. But she's having a hell of a week there, Michael Nolles, because listen, listen, listen to this top 30. Once we got to the Sherburn County Jail, we were strip searched. We were placed in jail uniforms. We were locked in cells side by side. And I'm not even going to talk about what they tried to feed us that look like mystery meat. That makes me sad for the people who are currently incarcerated and not even being fed decently for their survival. I didn't want to even use the restroom in my cell. Why? Because there's a camera watching your every move. This is in spite of going through X-ray machines and being strip searched where they know you have no contraband. And yet still there's a camera in your room watching you with nothing else in there but a a bed on cements and a metal toilet that doubles as a water fountain.

4:16 Note to Nikima, we're not really arresting the best people. So generally we like to keep an eye on that.

4:23 I I love the complaint. She said she thought she was going to the Ritz. Michael,

4:27 I wonder did she expect fuagra? They didn't even serve me creme brulee afterward. Not even a tasty little snack to follow my meal. This is And she seems genuinely surprised by this

4:41 mystery meat. Mystery meat. This wasn't even grass-fed wag you. No, it wasn't. You're because prison this is truly this has been lost on the left but I think it's been lost on some parts of the right too.

4:54 Prison is for punishing people. That's what it's for. When when we often hear we have uh overpopulation of the prisons. Uh that is not true. As long as crime is going up as long as crime is substantial we have a severe underincarceration problem. The purpose of the criminal justice system primarily is retribution. There are secondary purposes which is rehabilitation or deterrence. But the primary purpose, the reason we arrest you and put you in the clink in the first place is because you did something wrong. And when you do something wrong, you get punished and you don't get fuagra. If if this woman had majored in criminology rather than African-American studies, maybe she would have learned that. Maybe not.

5:37 Here's Jamal Hill. Always a radical. They arrested Don Lemon. This is horrifying. I don't care what your political beliefs or leanings are. By the way, that's a lie. She very much cares. Uh, what journalism outlet you represent, this absolutely cannot stand. He did not participate. Jamal, take the time. Watch the tape. Don did not enter the church until the pro protest began. Also not true. He interviewed the people protesting and showed what they were doing. That's what journalists do. In response to which, Steven L. Miller responded, "If you really want your mind blown, he violated the KKK act. She's she's going to fall out of her seat when she hears that." And okay, and speaking of making it a black thing, here's SAT 20 n from Nikima.

6:26 Here we are, black women, nonviolent. Our only weapons are voices. Being treated like Hannibal Lectar, being treated like a mass murderer. Tell me, where is the justice in that? And media, you have a responsibility, as I said before, because you all participate in spinning headlines and turning us into criminals. Even though we are standing up for the poor, we're standing up for the vulnerable, we are standing up for the truth. I don't I don't think Hannibal Lectar was even in the the fictional version of of you know the movie was allowed out on bail in like a nice suit to talk to the media without his weird face mask on.

7:14 Michael, I don't I'm not sure it's identical. They're going to treat me like Hannibal Lectar and they won't even serve me fava beans with a nice glass of keanti. I think she's very upset by the quality of the food. I see this as a recurring theme. the point that she's making about the the protests or that J Hill is making about the protests. We have to correct the language here. What occurred in that church is not a protest. Even before you had reminded me that Don Lemon's being charged under the Klux Clan Act, uh the the comparison with the clan is apt because you you should ask these people, would you consider a lynching or even just a milder cross burning to be a protest? In a in a way, it's a kind of a protest. It's a gathering of people who are angry about something who want some of their grievances redressed. That's true. And so in that way, it's similar to the mob that showed up to the church, but it's

8:05 obviously not a protest because protests are constitutionally protected acts. And what those people are doing is a criminal act. And so you just as you don't get to host the lynching or the cross burning and claim it as a constitutionally protected protest or an act of journalism if someone's filming it or something that the same holds true of the church. What happened in that church was many things and it violated multiple laws. What it emphatically was not is a protest.

8:34 Well, you've got now these BLMs because it's no accident that the George Floyd crew from Minneapolis is jumping in on this. that they were the ones who did the church so-called protest. I mean, it was terrorism to me. Um, that Don Lemon also in the wake of last Sunday and the the threats of arrest played the race card. You're shocked. I know. Shocked. Um, this is the sound bite here. Sat 18 because there's a there's an update here. S 18 first.

9:02 And you know, I said I don't understand how I've become the face of it when I was a journalist. I do understand that I'm the biggest name there. And I'm also as as I was on with my producers this morning, you know, you and Kylie talk all the time. My producers were saying I said, "How did I become the face of this?" And my producer said, "Don, you're a gay black man in America and you have a platform and you're the biggest name. Of course, you're going to be the person that they single out and they're going to make the headline because it plays to their base and their base is full of racist bigot bigoted homophobes like Nicki Minaj by the way."

9:36 Okay. So, he tried. There's a lot in there. Gay black man. Gay black man. I don't know if you are aware that Don Lemon is a gay black man. Michael, he never mentioned it.

9:44 He doesn't know. That's It's news. I'm hearing it for the first time. It's news to me.

9:50 So, there he is mentioning it again before the DOJ. He said it before he got fired from CNN just to just remind everybody I'm gay and I'm black. Um, didn't work. Didn't work here again. You'd think he'd stop doing it. Nicki Minaj did have thoughts on Don Lemon. She sat down with Katie Miller and here's how that went. 32.

10:10 You called for Don Lemon's arrest over his church stunt in Minneapolis. He since called you racist, unhinged, homophobic, and out of your death. Anything you'd like to say to Don Lemon. stop.

10:28 Wow. It's dangerous to play with people who do not give an F. I also don't really get So he he's upset because Nicki Minaj likes Trump and she showed up to America Fest, sat down with Erica Kirk, then she just was with the president the other day. So she's she's out in the open. She's she's on the American right. That's great. And so he says she's a homophobe and this and that. But he also said she's an antilack racist, which I think weakens his argument because I'm not super familiar with Nicki Minaj's UV, but uh it seems to me that that's a hard claim to make.

11:02 Uh yes, that that whole interaction with Don Lemon, it reminds me of a clip, this was years ago with David Webb. It was on Fox. He was doing his radio show and someone called in and he was making a conservative argument and the the person just lazily said, "Well, that's just your white privilege talking." And David started laughing. Yes. For the for the listeners who are not familiar, David Webb, very much a black man, but this was radio. And so the caller didn't didn't know that. And it was just this uh gut, you know, knee-jerk reaction, this lazy kind of attack to say, well, you know, you're only attacking me cuz I'm black or a woman or this or that. So that's that's what Don Lemon's doing.

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12:32 Claim your eligibility today. Again, just text MK to the number 989898. Thanks so much for watching. If you like what you just saw, hit the subscribe button for more clips and full episodes.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Don Lemon and His Fellow Agitators Claim Church Stunt Arrests are Racist, with Michael Knowles"?

Megyn Kelly (Guest), Michael Knowles (Guest), Nikima Levy Armstrong (Guest), Don Lemon (Guest).

What is "Don Lemon and His Fellow Agitators Claim Church Stunt Arrests are Racist, with Michael Knowles" about?

The discussion centers on the recent arrest of several activists, including Don Lemon, in connection with a church stunt, with commentators claiming the arrests are racially motivated. Key figures in the conversation include Naima Levy Armstrong, who likens her experience of being shackled during her arrest to slavery, as well as commentary on the backgrounds and implications of their arrests…

What is mentioned in this Megyn Kelly episode?

9 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Don Lemon, Nikima Levy Armstrong, Naima Levy Armstrong, Georgia Fort, Trey Hearn Jean Cruz, Jamal Lidell Lundy. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Don Lemon and His Fellow Agitators Claim Church Stunt Arrests are Racist, with Michael Knowles"?

The episode runs 13 min; the transcript is about 2,263 words in 26 timestamped sections.

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