First Amendment
April 30, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Star Tribune — I think it must be reporter Jeffrey Meitrodt — has come into possession of confidential FBI witness interviews in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud case. By motion dated April 28, the prosecutors state: [O]n April 21, 2026, the government learned that a reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune had contacted a lawyer representing a cooperating witness in the Feeding Our Future case. The reporter stated
»
April 24, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Free Beacon’s Jessica Costescu draws attention to the recent speaker (via video) at Berkeley Law School: The University of California Berkeley law school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter hosted a convicted Palestinian terrorist who detonated a car bomb that burned an Israeli police officer, an event a spokesman for the school told the Washington Free Beacon is “Constitutionally protected expression.” Israa Jaabis, who was freed from prison
»
April 14, 2026 — Scott Johnson
I want to draw attention to the remarks of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon on the case of the assault on TPUSA reporter Savanah Hernandez yesterday (video below). Two of the perpetrators at risk of federal charges are Chris “suburban dad” Ostroushko and daughter Paige. They both assaulted Ms. Hernandez on property outside the fencing around the Whipple Federal Building. The local authorities are a joke. Are the Ostroushkos at
»
March 31, 2026 — Scott Johnson
As John notes in the adjacent post, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 today in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado’s law banning “conversion therapy” was unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Justice Jackson opined that the Court’s decision “opens a dangerous can of worms.” In addition to thinking unclearly, Justice Jackson apparently can’t write well either. She inclines to cliché and redundancy. Or she thinks in
»
March 25, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Do you remember the massive Biden-era censorship case that was litigated mostly as Missouri v. Biden? I wrote about the case in several posts including “Walk away, Joe.” The case resulted in a disappointing Supreme Court opinion that avoided the merits on the ground of standing in Murthy v. Missouri. I anticipated the result after the oral argument of the case which I summarized in “To the Supreme Court” (citing
»
March 3, 2026 — Scott Johnson
This past week a federal Minnesota grand jury handed up a 19-page superseding indictment naming 30 additional defendants in the Cities Church riot of January 18. I have uploaded a PDF of the superseding indictment to Scribd and embededded it below. The full roster of defendants now numbers 39, including ringleader Nekima Levy Armstrong and reporter/promoter Don Renaldo Lemon. The superseding indictment charges the same two counts as the original
»
February 6, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon concisely deconstructs Don Lemon’s claimed First Amendment immunity to violate the law. There is no such immunity. The only question is whether Lemon’s conduct in connection with the Cities Church riot violated the law: “Whether you’re a journalist or not, you can’t break into a church. You can’t make children cry. You can’t prevent parents from getting to their children in Sunday school to rescue
»
February 3, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Late last week a Minnesota grand jury indicted nine defendants in the Cities Church riot. I posted the unsealed indictment here. All defendants are charged with violation of the law prohibiting “conspiracy against rights” and with violation of section (a)(2) of the FACE Act. The indictment specifies the statutory provisions in issue. Two of the defendants are journalists: Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. The fog machine at the Star Tribune
»
January 31, 2026 — Scott Johnson
A Minnesota grand jury indicted nine defendants in the Cities Church riot. The indictment was unsealed yesterday. I posted a copy here. All defendants are charged with violation of the law against conspiracy to violate the civil rights of third parties and with violation of the FACE Act. The indictment specifies the statutory provisions in issue. Two of the defendants are journalists: Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. The fog machine
»
January 30, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Jake Tapper has made the text of the indictment against Don Lemon et al. for their participation in the Cities Church riot accessible via the X post below. Lemon is not indicted as a journalist. He is indicted for his participation in the conspiracy to deprive the Cities Church worshipers of their First Amendment rights (Count I) and for violation of the FACE Act (Count II). The conspiracy count is
»
January 30, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The first three defendants charged in the Cities Church riot were arrested under a criminal complaint approved by a magistrate judge. The magistrate judge did not approve five other charges for which probable cause was made out, in my opinion, by the underlying affidavit. That was also apparently the opinion of the United States Attorney for Minnesota and a Minnesota grand jury, which has now indicited Lemon. He was reportedly
»
January 27, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Trump administration has appealed the preliminary injunction entered by Judge Kate Menendez in Tincher v. Noem to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Yesterday the Eighth Circuit granted the administration’s motion to stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal. I have embedded the Court’s per curiam (i.e., unsigned) opinion below via Scribd. I wrote about Judge Menendez’s 82-page order granting the preliminary injunction in “The Menendez obstruction” and followed up
»
January 23, 2026 — Scott Johnson
We are observing the “ICE out of Minnesota Day” strike in our very own way today. We are declaring our support of ICE in Minnesota and celebrating the arrest of certain supporters of the strike who might be otherwise engaged. Attorney General Pam Bondi has come to town to oversee the arrest of rioters among the mob that assaulted the Sunday morning service at Saint Paul’s Cities Church this past
»
January 21, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has advised Don Lemon that the federal criminal statutes bearing on the riot disrupting Sunday’s service at Cities Church in St. Paul don’t apply to the rioters’ misconduct. “People have a right to lift up their voices and make their peace. None of us are immune from the voice of the public,” according to Ellison. “Quite honestly, I think you’ve got the First Amendment freedom
»
January 20, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Don Lemon enthusiastically covered the riot disrupting the Sunday service at Cities Church in St. Paul. With the threat of criminal prosecution now hanging over his head, Lemon has gone from coverage and participation to cover-up of his participation. That is what I take from Chuck Ross’s Free Beacon story “‘You Have To Make People Uncomfortable’: How Don Lemon Helped Anti-ICE Activists Storm a Minnesota Church.” This is Ross’s introductory
»
January 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson
I was invitred to discuss the illegal and disgusting disruption of yesterday’s service at Cities Church on America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer this morning. Some of the news stories describe Cities Church as a Minneapolis Church, but it is located on Summit Avenue in St. Paul in the neighborhood of Macalester College. Nekima Levy Armstrong has claimed responisibility for organizing the disruption along with a few other groups she has
»
January 17, 2026 — Scott Johnson
On December 17 six named plaintiffs filed a purported class action lawsuit in federal court here seeking declaratory and injuncitve relief against Kristi Noem et al. The case is styled Tincher v. Noem. The complaint in the lawsuit is accessible here. It alleges a variety of illegal misconduct by ICE officers against the named plaintiffs. The lawsuit is a project of the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union
»
