Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Harmeet Dhillon Tells Megyn Kelly DOJ Will Pursue Don Lemon Charges To ‘Ends Of The Earth’ After Judge Balks

Screenshot/YouTube/Megyn Kelly

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon vowed on “The Megyn Kelly Show” Friday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would continue pursuing charges against former CNN host Don Lemon after a judge refused to sign off on them.

Lemon challenged President Donald Trump’s administration in a Thursday TikTok video to arrest him after Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko reportedly refused to approve charges against him for following and filming protesters who disrupted a Sunday service at Cities Church in St. Paul. Dhillon told Kelly on her show that the judge’s refusal did not mean Lemon would evade legal accountability.

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“We are going to do it because that’s what is required for justice here. And from Sunday, when I first saw the video that Don Lemon himself put out about his conduct that day, it was clear to me that we had the predicates for pursuing FACE [Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances] Act and conspiracy,” Dhillon said. “We did our homework, sent prosecutors there to the ground, took affidavits, took evidence. They buttressed the case that we could witness from Lemon’s own testimony and statements and admissions against interest in his own videos.”

“And we have aggressively and very rapidly sought legal process. Now, I will say it’s been a little frustrating because for 48 hours, between the time that we sought these arrest warrants and the time that we were able to make arrests, and say what the judge did in refusing to sign off on Lemon’s, you know, it had to stay silent,” she continued. “We have certain protocols here at the Department of Justice. But he is not out of legal jeopardy. And he has lawyered up, he has a prominent lawyer. And we’re going to pursue this to the ends of the earth.”

Lemon was seen in his own original footage following a crowd of activists around town, entering the church before their protest commenced and staying inside to record their chants and yelling while a pastor asked everyone to leave.

Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin reported on X on Thursday that Micko’s wife serves as an assistant attorney general in Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office, citing multiple sources. A woman named Caitlin Micko holds the position, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“Look, I stand proud and I stand tall,” he told his audience after news that the DOJ failed to secure charges against him. “This is not a victory lap for me because it’s not over. They’re going to try again, and they’re going to try again, and guess what? Here I am. Keep trying.”

Moreover, although Lemon has asserted that he entered the church as “an act of journalism,” Dillon said on “The Benny Show” that did not protect him from being “an embedded part of a criminal conspiracy.”

The DOJ has looked into whether the participants in the demonstration breached the FACE Act, which bars the obstruction of houses of worship and religious services. The department has also looked into whether they violated the Ku Klux Klan Act, which criminalizes conspiring against a person’s civil rights.