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Bondi pushes back on First Amendment claims after Don Lemon, others arrested over church disruption

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Bondi pushes back on First Amendment claims after Don Lemon, others arrested over church disruption

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Attorney General Pam Bondi pushed back Saturday against First Amendment criticisms after the Trump administration arrested journalist Don Lemon and other anti-ICE agitators accused of storming a Minnesota church, warning that attacks on houses of worship will not be tolerated.

“When we say God bless America, we mean it. We’re going to protect America, and if you do that in any house of worship in this country, we’re going to find you. We’re going to indict you, and I’m going to prosecute you,” she said on “My View with Lara Trump.”

Her remarks come amid criticism that the arrests violated the agitators’ First Amendment rights, something she dismissed by pointing to Title 18’s Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 as evidence to the contrary.

“You also have a First Amendment right to worship freely and safely. On a Sunday morning, all of those parishioners, so many of them thought they were going to be involved in a mass shooting. They didn’t know what was happening,” she said. 

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DON LEMON RELEASED FROM CUSTODY AFTER LA COURT APPEARANCE

Attorney General Pam Bondi conducts a news conference at the Department of Justice on Dec. 4, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“People have the right to go to church, to synagogue, to a mosque, wherever you worship and feel safe while you are there, and under the Donald Trump administration, we’re going to make that possible for them.”

Bondi described the incident as a coordinated operation that unfolded as families arrived for worship, with the agitators caravanning to the church, entering and sitting in the pews alongside those there to worship.

“These parishioners are coming in, and they didn’t realize they had already been infiltrated. They had part of these attackers walking in with them, sitting next to them in the pews. They’re there to worship God,” she said.

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According to Bondi, the group stormed the church from multiple directions, shouting chants in unison as the service was underway, leaving congregants scrambling for safety. 

DON LEMON REMAINS DEFIANT, DARES TRUMP DOJ TO ‘MAKE ME INTO THE NEW JIMMY KIMMEL’ AS POTENTIAL CHARGES LOOM

Anti-ICE agitators stormed Cities Church in St. Paul, disrupting services last month. (Validated UGC, Black Lives Matter Minnesota via The Associated Press)

She said parents were temporarily blocked from reaching their children at Sunday school, while others were prevented from exiting the building as panic spread through the sanctuary.

“Some of the lucky women ran out the side door, falling on the ice, legs up in the air. One woman hurt her arm so badly she had to go to the hospital,” she recounted.

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“Parishioners were blocked from exiting the church. Don Lemon, on video, blocked one of them. Screaming, yelling at the pastor. That’s illegal in this country.”

Lemon, a former CNN anchor, was charged in Los Angeles Friday afternoon on allegations of conspiring to violate someone’s constitutional rights and alleged FACE Act violations.

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Now an independent journalist, Lemon said he had been attending the demonstration as a reporter, not as a protester. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Lemon remarked, “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group.… I’m a journalist.”

Lemon and his defenders argue that the arrest violated his First Amendment rights.

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Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.

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Illinois

April in Illinois Was Warm, Wet, & Wild

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The preliminary statewide average April temperature was 58.6 degrees, 6.4 degrees above the 1991–2020 normal, 7.1 degrees above the 20th Century average, 5.8 degrees above the most recent 30-year average, and the second warmest April on record statewide. The preliminary statewide total April precipitation was 6.37 inches, 2.13 inches above…



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Indiana

7 Indiana legislators face Trump-backed primary challengers after bucking him on redistricting

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7 Indiana legislators face Trump-backed primary challengers after bucking him on redistricting


Seven Indiana Republican state senators are facing off Tuesday against primary challengers backed by President Donald Trump as he seeks to exact revenge over a failed redistricting plan.

Trump’s intervention in the typically quiet local primary races have brought a flood of money and national attention to the state. Roughly $12 million has been spent on advertising across the seven contests, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, most of which has come from Trump-allied outside groups opposing the incumbents.

The Republican-led state Senate dealt Trump a rare rebuke when it voted down a redrawn congressional map he backed that was designed to result in two additional seats for the GOP. It was part of a broader mid-decade redistricting battle playing out across the country ahead of this fall’s midterm elections, when control of the narrowly divided U.S. House will be up for grabs.

But ultimately, the heavy-handed pressure campaign from Trump and his allies backfired. Now, they are revisiting similar lines of attack in their bid to unseat the seven lawmakers, turning the contests into another test of Trump’s grip on the Republican Party.

The most expensive of the primaries is for the seat represented by state Sen. Spencer Deery, who’s facing a challenge from Paula Copenhaver, an aide to Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith. More than $3 million has been poured into ads in a district of approximately 135,000 people. Deery served as an aide to former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels when he was the president of Purdue University.

Greg Goode holds a microphone
Indiana state Sen. Greg Goode.Christine Tannous / IndyStar via USA Today Network

State Sen. Greg Goode is running in a three-way primary against two unrelated candidates with the same surname: Vigo County Council member Brenda Wilson, who has Trump’s endorsement, and Alexandra Wilson, a network engineer.

As NBC News reported last month, White House officials and Trump allies aggressively sought to push Alexandra Wilson out of the race, fearing she’d act as a spoiler in the race and help Goode survive.

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People sit inside of a senate chamber around a poster of a congressional map
A new congressional map in Indiana that Trump lobbied for would have created two additional GOP-leaning seats.Christine Tannous / IndyStar via USA Today Network file

State Sen. Travis Holdman, who’s been in office since 2008, serves in leadership as the third-most powerful Republican in the chamber. He is facing challenge from Blake Fiechter, a real estate agent who is backed by Trump. Fiechter briefly left the race in February, telling local media he was overwhelmed, but changed his mind after a White House visit in March.

State Sen. Greg Walker was set to retire last year after 20 years in the chamber, but reversed course amid the redistricting fight, where he notably broke down in tears speaking about his fear for the future if his party caved to Trump’s intimidation. State Rep. Michelle Davis, who was already planning to run for his seat, stayed in the race after his reversal and won Trump’s support. Walker’s campaign has spent just $73,000 on ads, while outside groups have funneled more than 1.3 million in ads in support of Davis.

Greg Walker speaks
Indiana state Sen. Greg Walker. Mykal McEldowney / IndyStar via USA Today Network file

State Sen. Jim Buck, 80, has served in the state Legislature since 1994, first in the state House before heading to the state Senate in 2008. He’s facing his first primary since joining the state Senate from Tipton County Commissioner Tracey Powell. Powell has Trump’s endorsement, while Buck has the backing of former Vice President and former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

Jim Buck, center, seated next to two people seen in the foreground
Indiana state Sen. Jim Buck. Christine Tannous / IndyStar via USA Today Network file

Elsewhere, state Sen. Linda Rogers, who owns and manages a golf course and a home building company, is running against Dr. Brian Schmutzler, an anesthesiologist who said on his campaign website that he opposes “government health mandates” and tax hikes. He’s also said he was motivated to run by the redistricting fight.

And state Sen. Dan Dernulc, who represents a district in the northern part of the state near Chicago, has faced far less outside spending in his fight against two challengers, Trump-endorsed Trevor De Vries, an insurance broker, and financial analyst Nader Liddawi. While the six other races have each seen more than $1 million in ad spending, Dernulc’s primary has only hit $346,000.

Trump also waded into one of the open primaries for the seat currently held by retiring state Sen. Eric Bassler, who voted against the redistricting effort. The president backed former state Rep. Jeff Ellington, who is facing two Republican opponents on Tuesday.



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Iowa

VP JD Vance visits Iowa during Tuesday visit

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VP JD Vance visits Iowa during Tuesday visit


Vice President JD Vance is headed to Iowa on Tuesday, expected to speak at a manufacturing facility. Tuesday’s visit will mark the first since taking office last January.

Vance is making the trip to campaign on behalf of Rep. Zach Nunn, who will be facing off in a competitive race to keep his seat in the Des Moines area in the November midterm elections. He is accompanied by his son Vivek on the trip, making a stop in Cincinnati to vote in Ohio, where he previously served as Senator, and then made an appearance in Oklahoma City to hold a fundraiser as the finance chair of the Republican National Committee.

Vance’s visit to Iowa was originally slated for last week, but the timing was changed because the House moved to pass a farm bill that Nunn was due to vote on.

He also had been prepared to appear last week at an Iowa State University event with Turning Point USA. However, the organization said it was not able to reschedule the event with the university until the fall.

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Vance’s visit to Iowa also offers him the chance to test his reception before Iowa voters, who make up a crucial voter bloc for the next presidential election.



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