Donald Trump cosigned a call for former CNN anchor Don Lemon to be imprisoned for 40 years for livestreaming an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church on Sunday.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump, 79, reshared an error-ridden X post from an account called 'MoniFunGirl' demanding the strict sentence.
The poster pointed to an unspecified instance where a 'small group of elderly ladies were protesting at an abortion clinic and were given 40 years in prison for violating the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act.'
While it was unclear what incident the poster was referring to, Trump last year pardoned a number of anti-abortion activists convicted under the FACE Act, which prohibits interference with those seeking reproductive care or religious services.
Multiple women in their 70s received sentences of two to nearly five years after being convicted of forcefully blocking the entry of a Washington, DC, abortion clinic in the 2020 incident.
The poster said 'I would like to see the same kind of sentence of Don Lemon,' before later acknowledging they meant 'months' and not 'years',
Trump, however, reposted the message without comment.
Lemon, 59, livestreamed from Minneapolis Sunday as he followed anti-ICE protesters who stormed a church in St. Paul.
Don Lemon is facing calls to be imprisoned for livestreaming an anti-ICE protest at a Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota on Sunday. Prosecutors say the protest violated the FACE Act, which prohibits interference with those seeking reproductive care or religious services
Taking to Truth Social, Trump, 79, reshared an error-ridden X post from an account called 'MoniFunGirl' demanding the strict sentence. It appeared to reference how Trump last year pardoned a number of anti-abortion activists convicted under the FACE Act
The Justice Department said it would pursue charges against all who participated, with Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon singling out Lemon specifically.
'Well, look, we have a presumption of innocence in this country, so I want to preserve my ethical duties here,' Dhillon told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson on Sunday.
'But let me just say that, you know, he's a journalist - he was a journalist, I don't know he is now, but he - journalism is not a badge or a shield that protects you from criminal consequences when you are part of a crime. And I think the videos show how close he was to these folks,'
She continued: 'I think further evidence will show more information about that. But he clearly knew and he stated before going into the facility, it's on his own video, what was going to happen there.'
Dhillon then cited possible enforcement of a crucial a 1871 federal law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which enables the president to use military force and prosecute state officials in certain instances.
The act was passed during Reconstruction to deter intimidation tactics from the KKK during elections and government operations.
It was enacted at President Ulysees S. Grant's request to combat violence and anti-black conspiracies, and and restore federal authority in the post-Civil War South.
Dhillion suggested to Johnson that the law could be used on the grounds that Lemon interfered with parishioners' right to worship.
The Justice Department said it would pursue charges against all who participated, with Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon singling out Lemon specicifally
She later singled out Lemon in a pointed post on X where she wrote that the longtime legacy media journalist is 'on notice' for his involvement in the incident. During an interview with Glen Beck on Monday, she told Lemon to 'lawyer up'.
Lemon - who was pushed out of CNN in 2023 after making an off-color remark about women - has since addressed the backlash, telling podcaster Jennifer Welch he is purposely being propped up as a pariah by the current administration.
'I was on with my producers this morning... My producers were saying, I said, "How did I become the face of this?", and my producers said Don, you're a gay, black man in America.
'And you have a platform, and you're the biggest name. Of course you're going to be the person that they single out, and they're gonna make the headline because it plays to their base, and their base is full of racist, bigoted homophobes.'
When contacted by the Daily Mail on Monday, Lemon's husband, Tim Malone, declined to comment on the controversy.
One of the pastors at Cities Church, where the incident took place, leads the local field office for ICE.
Lemon maintains his participation in the protest was as a journalist and is protected by the First Amendment.
Trump pardoned all of those convicted in the 2020 abortion clinic incident after he took office early last year.