Will Don Lemon and Fellow Church Agitators Be Charged Under the KLAN Act, with Aronberg and Davis

What this episode is about

The discussion revolves around potential federal charges under the KLAN Act against individuals involved in a disruptive incident at a church, described as an act of terrorism targeting innocent attendees. Key points include concerns about the timeline for arrests following the incident and the legal process required for charging individuals, highlighting the scrutiny and challenges anticipated from civil rights organizations.

Key takeaways

• When church disruptors become 'protesters,' does intent drown out impact? Intent matters, but harm speaks volumes.
• Charging under both Face Act and Klan Act could elevate penalties from misdemeanor to serious felonies — watch out!
• Federal courts closed for MLK day: the irony of pursuing justice against those disrupting a service on a holiday.
• Is targeting a pastor linked to immigration enforcement 'animus'? Legal history suggests intent will be a tightrope walk.
• Federal law protects houses of worship; targeting them for protest raises questions about the fine line between activism and crime.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Megyn Kelly (Guest) · 5 min speaking
• Mike Davis (Guest) · 6 min speaking
• Dave (Guest) · 5 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Har Dylan, Face Act
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Face Act, Ku Klux Klan
3. 6:00 – 9:00: David Easterwood, Birch Gold Group
4. 9:00 – 12:00: Face Act
5. 12:00 – 15:00: Face Act

Notable quotes from "Will Don Lemon and Fellow Church Agitators Be Charged Under the KLAN Act, with Aronberg and Davis"

• Going to face federal criminal charges and there are two federal statutes that are directly on point here. There's the federal face act passed in 1994 by Bill Clinton to…

  about Face Act · at 2:07

• It's also a violation of the Ku Klux Clan statute 18 USC section 241 conspiracy against rights. When you have a mob of people going into churches to disrupt the churches because of their.

  about Ku Klux Klan · at 3:08

• Easterwood. He is the pastor of that church who is also an ice guy. He's like high up somehow on ice in that area. If Easterwood had been on a golf course they would have…

  about David Easterwood · at 6:24

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Har Dylan — Person · Referenced government official (Civil Rights leadership at DOJ, per transcript) · 2 mentions · first at 0:46
  Named as the DOJ Civil Rights leader expected to be involved in charging decisions; used to bolster the claim that DOJ will pursue federal charges.
  Because I have a feeling you're more in the loop than I am. Well, I I think that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Har Dylan along with…
• David Easterwood — Person · Referenced local figure (pastor; alleged target of protest) · 1 mention · first at 6:22
  Identified as the pastor of the church involved and described as connected to ICE; used in the debate about whether animus was against Christians or against ICE activity.

Companies & orgs

• Birch Gold Group — Company · 1 mention · first at 7:03
  Means new financial goals, like making sure your savings are secure and diversified. Will this be the year you decide to talk to somebody from Birch Gold Group? you've been…

Concepts & topics

• Face Act — Concept · 7 mentions · first at 2:14
• Ku Klux Klan — Concept · 1 mention · first at 3:08

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Let's just start with the I mean I thought it was an act of terrorism what we watched in that church on Sunday. I don't call it a protest. I it wasn't a riot exactly. It was more of like an act of terrorism targeting innocent people minding their own business WHO HAD DONE NOTHING and trying to scare them. Yeah, there's a little bit of it. Um even Don Lemon admits on the tape that he saw little children frightened and scared. Didn't care. Neither did the protesters who clearly wanted to scare the people there. And what we heard Christine Gnome say last night on Fox Mike or No, it was on maybe Newsmax was you're going to see arrests within hours. Now before I before I officially toss it to you, a lot of people saying they're taking too long. Pam Bondi Harit runs civil rights.

0:49 Um Pam Bondi is of course the overall um AG. It's taking too long. But it when you're in federal court, when you're the DOJ, you have to bring charges with a criminal complaint and a warrant. And that requires a judge's signature. This happened on Sunday. Courts are closed. Monday, courts were closed because of MLK day, which gives them Tuesday uh to possibly get all this stuff ready, cross all the tees and dot the eyes because this is going to be challenged and scrutinized and there's going to be 10,000 ACLU type groups looking to poke holes in whatever they file. So, it is important that they be very careful here. But I think today is the day, Wednesday, that we'll probably see arrest. And if not today, then tomorrow.

1:34 You take it from there, Mike Davis, because I have a feeling you're more in the loop than I am. Well, I I uh I I think that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Har Dylan along with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch, FBI Director Cash Pat Battel, they have all made it crystal clear that people who terrorize church services, people who trespass into Sunday services, disrupt the service, they're they're going to face federal criminal charges and there are two federal statutes that are directly on point here. There's the federal face act passed in 1994 uh uh by Bill Clinton to protect both abortion clinics from obstruction and as a compromise for Republicans to get the 60 votes to get this passed in the Senate. They also passed the face act to include houses of worship. So that is a federal crime to obstruct uh churches uh to obstruct synagogues and mosques. And

2:44 it's very clear that that's what Don Lemon and his co-conspirators, his modernday clansmen did when they went into this Minnesota church and disrupted the service. Don Lemon actually went up to the pulpit and disrupted the pastor during the middle of the service. This is a slam dunk Facebook act violation. It's also a violation of the Ku Klux Clan statute uh 18 USC section 241 conspiracy against rights. When you have a mob of people going into churches to disrupt the churches because of their Christian faith, because of their race.

3:29 And Don Lemon made it very clear in his uh in his so-called reporting that's why he did it. That's why his his co-conspirators did it. He's also going to face charges under the clan statute. I I I I'm with you, Megan. I wish that Don Lemon would have been charged under the clan statute on MLK day. It would have been so rich. But the grand juries are not in service on federal holidays.

3:58 Yes. So, we looked into it and it does appear to me, Dave, that the likely charges coming are going to be exactly what Dave what what Mike just said. It's not just going to be the Face Act. It's not just going to be the Clan Act. It's going to be both. And if you charge both, then you have the effect of basically raising the Face Act from a misdemeanor to a felony. You, if you use the Clan Act, you can charge a felony. And there was just case law out of the 11th circuit which oversees where you are down in Florida. Um this of course happened in Minneapolis, but it's persuasive and it's it's um not binding out of the 11th circuit over Minnesota, but it's persuasive. Saying that the violation of rights under the clan act can be like you can charge somebody with violation of rights under the clan act if they have violated the face act. So if they have obstructed physically or intimidated anyone attending a religious

4:56 service, that can be the predicate violation for a violation of the Clan Act, which raises what would otherwise be a misdemeanor to a felony, potentially up to 10 years in jail. I mean, no one is really expecting that to be the penalty, but it does make this a lot more serious than a misdemeanor, which could be more of a slap on the wrist. Your thoughts on it,

5:16 Megan? Good to be back with you and Mike. Thank you, by the way, for your nice words. I I I heard them on a previous show about me that I'm one of the good good liberals, although I don't consider myself a liberal sort of a centrist, but I appreciate the nice words. Thank you.

5:31 All heartfelt. Thank you. Well, I I disagree with my friend Mike. I know that surprised you, but when it comes to the Klux Clan Act, and then we can talk about the Face Act, but the Klux Clan Act uh has to face the Supreme Court decision from 1983. It's it's called Bray versus Alexandra Women's Health Clinic. Uh the issue is you have to show that they blocked the church because they had animist towards Christians. And Justice Scalia was the one who wrote for the majority in that opinion. He said that the opposition to abortion, this was an abortion clinic case, opposition to abortion did not equate to animus against women. So the K cause clan act did not apply. The protesters targeted women only because they were the ones obtaining abortions.

6:14 The goal was to stop the activity not to hurt the class. So if you if you apply that here that the reason why they were there was not because they hated Christians because they went after David Easterwood. He is the pastor of that church who is also an ice guy. He's like high up somehow on ice in that area. If Easterwood had been on a golf course they would have protested there. So I don't think you can show the animous against Christians there. I think that the cuc does not apply. You could have trespass. You could have disorderly conduct, but I don't think there's a federal trespass.

6:45 Yeah, I and I agree. You have trespass dead to rights, but that's a state crime, and we probably aren't going to see a state prosecutor that wants to pursue it. So, we have to stay in federal lane if we actually want to get these folks charged. 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 somebody from Birch Gold Group? You know, you've been thinking about it. They use an educated approach with a deep understanding of macroeconomics.

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7:59 Now, Mike Davis, this is an interesting argument though about is there animous by the protesters so-called against the church. I know you've raised this. Their number one protester, Don Lemon, seems to have served Pam Bondi up a beautiful dessert on a silver platter here with the following comments. because he can't keep his stupid mouth shut. He decided to go talk all about his great feats on the Angry Leftist Ladies podcast and said a couple of things about these churchgoers. I'm going to play 31 and 32. Listen.

8:33 Um Jesus turned the the tables over in the temple, right? He flipped the tables because he was he was tired of them, you know, not doing what they're supposed to do uh in his father's house and not living up to the tenants of of Christianity. And so, you know, it is it is surprising to me if it is true that this person is somehow works for ICE uh and that and also it is true that they're not understanding now of the the protesters is that they're doing the exact opposite of what Christianity is supposed to be about. I think that there is obviously this there's racism in it.

9:07 The whole point of it is that they're trying to they're detaining people on the streets because of accents and the color of their skin. Uh and they're also targeting they're targeting people of color and black people uh as well as as brown people. So there is uh a certain degree of racism there and there's a certain degree of entitlement. I think people who are you know in the religious groups like that, it's not the type of Christianity that I practice, but I think that they're entitled and that that entitlement comes from a supremacy, a white supremacy. and 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. It's religious freedom but only if you're a Christian and only if you're a white male pretty much. And so yeah, I absolutely 100% but it's an intimidation tactic.

9:50 Okay, Mike, thoughts? Uh Don Lemon is probably the dumbest person on television right now. He just admitted to his criminal intent under the clan statute when he made it very clear that they were going into that church because they are Christians A and B because they are white Christians. So you have religious bigotry and racial bigotry which makes this fall squarely into the clan statute. Uh Don Lemon. Uh he is if I if I'm not uh if I were a betting man, I would put everything on the line that Don Lemon will be indicted under the Face Act and the Clan Statute under felony charges. Now remember, under the Face Act as well, it is a class A misdemeanor uh up to one year in jail for firsttime offenders. But if there is repeat offenders or if there is uh violence as part of the face act violation, it becomes a felony. So he could face two felony charges if you are threatening people inside the the church

10:57 like they did. You saw the terrified child. I don't think any jury's going to be

11:02 Does he have to do it, Mike? Mike, does does he have to do the threatening? No, it's part of the conspiracy. It everyone who's involved with the conspiracy is responsible for the conspiracy. So, I think Don Lemon is is totally screwed here. Uh, you know, he's he's the non-awyer, non- attorney. Don Lemon is going out there telling people what the law is. He's trying to cover his ass. It's not going to work. Pam Bondi and Harvey Dylan are almost certainly going to indict him.

11:32 He did something very dumb, Dave. And it was the same thing that Timothy Busfield did. He spoke out about his alleged crime in a way that no lawyer would have wanted him to. Timothy Busfeld spoke directly to police and made a bunch of admissions that came back in his face yesterday. And Don Lemon speaking with the angry lady made a bunch of admissions there about targeting these churchgoers for a specific reason that they they're doing the exact opposite of Christianity. That he believes they target people of color. they're racists, they're white supremacists, they they have a sense of entitlement, that they don't practice Christianity the way I practice Christianity. That's what he actually said on camera. I mean, it went on and on. He he like it's not enough to say he triple down. He like quintupled down on this messaging, which is not great for his defense lawyer.

12:26 Well, I watched the interviews that he had on his channel and he was showing people on both sides of this debate and I didn't get that he was anti-Christian. He may have said they have a different interpretation of the religion as I do, but Justice Scalia himself said that protesting an activity like ICE enforcement is not the same as hating a class of people. They were chanting slogans like justice. They were chanting uh slogans like ICE out. They weren't chanting anti-Christian slogans. So, I don't think they can get there on this.

12:54 In fact, to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt. The one thing I agree with Mike is that I do think that they'll all be indicted because we saw this with the Trump administration with going after James Comey and Leticia James, but I think he'll meet the same fate where he'll get dismissed before it ever gets to a jury. One last thing on this. Uh

13:12 just for Don, just to just be clear, are you talking about just for Don or you you're saying all the protesters? There's no criminal charges against all the protesters.

13:18 I think against Don, it's weaker than the others because he is a journalist. I think the others I think I think they'll all be charged, but I don't think you can get the federal crimes here. I think they could be convicted of trespass and disorderly conduct, but those are low-level misdemeanor. You're right. They're state charges, not federal charges. I don't see them being convicted of either the KKK act or the Face Act, which is what we mentioned earlier, which is supposed to protect houses of worship because also they didn't block people from leaving. They were chanting. They were they were really made people uncomfortable. But the standard is in the eighth circuit, which is a conservative circuit, that you got to block people from leaving.

13:56 It's like chaining yourself to an abortion clinic. That's a no no. Chanting outside of abortion clinic, that's free speech.

14:02 No, no, no, no. Okay. Just so we know what the statute says. I I'm going to give it to you, Mike, but let me just read the statute in part, the Face Act, 18 US Code, section 248. Um, whoever by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts attempts by again this is by force or threat of force or physical obstruction. You can do it by any one of those means. You can use force against the people. You can threaten to use force against them or by physical obstruction. If you do by any of those means, if you attempt to intimidate, injure, or interfere with any person who is trying to exercise their first amendment right of religious freedom, you're done. You're like, you're guilty.

14:51 So that's the question. Did they by force, by threat of force, or by physical obstruction intimidate or interfere with someone exercising their First Amendment right of religious freedom? I mean, Mike, to me, that is so clear. It's so clearly a yes.

15:11 It's crystal clear. 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 "Will Don Lemon and Fellow Church Agitators Be Charged Under the KLAN Act, with Aronberg and Davis"?

Megyn Kelly (Guest), Mike Davis (Guest), Dave (Guest).

What is "Will Don Lemon and Fellow Church Agitators Be Charged Under the KLAN Act, with Aronberg and Davis" about?

The discussion revolves around potential federal charges under the KLAN Act against individuals involved in a disruptive incident at a church, described as an act of terrorism targeting innocent attendees. Key points include concerns about the timeline for arrests following the incident and the legal process required for charging individuals, highlighting the scrutiny and challenges anticipated…

What is mentioned in this Megyn Kelly episode?

5 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Face Act, Ku Klux Klan, Har Dylan, David Easterwood, Birch Gold Group. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Will Don Lemon and Fellow Church Agitators Be Charged Under the KLAN Act, with Aronberg and Davis"?

The episode runs 15 min; the transcript is about 2,752 words in 27 timestamped sections.

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