Lemon is being charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and violation of the FACE Act and interfering by force of someone’s 1st Amendment rights, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told The Times. After the church protest, senior Trump administration officials attempted to charge eight people, including Lemon, citing a law that protects people seeking to participate in a church service. The 1st Amendment does not automatically apply to private spaces. Some legal experts suggest Lemon’s defense based on the 1st Amendment could depend, in part, on whether the church’s Sunday service was open to the public. AdvertisementKatie Townsend, former legal director of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, noted that both the Department of Justice and Lemon were pushing 1st Amendment claims.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 30, 2026 18:46 UTC