http://nypost.com/2026/01/30/opinion/poetic-justice-democrats-own-law-boomerangs-on-don-lemon/
Opinion by Bob Capano
New York Post
January 30, 2026
Don Lemon with Nekima Levy Armstrong who allegedly led the group from the Racial Justice Network to storm the church and call out resident pastor David Eastwood, accusing him of moonlighting as the acting field office director for ICE in Minnesota. | Don Lemon / YouTube
Few political stories rival the delicious irony unfolding right now in Los Angeles.
That’s where federal agents arrested former CNN anchor Don Lemon, charging him with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
The offense: His role in livestreaming and allegedly aiding disruptive anti-ICE protesters who stormed Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., during Sunday worship earlier this month.
They interrupted the service to target a church pastor they believed worked for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Lemon claims he was just “doing journalism,” but the Justice Department sees clear interference with First Amendment religious rights — exactly what the FACE Act forbids.
But this isn’t just enforcement; it’s poetic justice.
The FACE Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, was a Democratic Party priority born out of outrage over pro-life activism.
Back then, the anti-abortion “rescue movement” was staging frequent sit-ins and prayer chains at abortion clinics, impeding access to abortion services.
Democrats, led by Rep. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Ted Kennedy, crafted the FACE Act in response, to criminalize physical obstruction at reproductive health facilities, along with the use of force or threats against them.
It passed with bipartisan support — 17 Republicans voted yes in the Senate — but make no mistake: This was a Clinton-era triumph, designed primarily to shield abortion clinics from conservative protesters.
Here’s where the irony thickens.
During legislative negotiations, the law was broadened to add those same protections for houses of worship.
The final version prohibits anyone from using force or obstruction to interfere with a person’s religious freedom at a church, synagogue or similar space.
Republicans didn’t force this as some partisan ploy; lawyers added it to make the bill broader and more balanced, guarding against its dismissal on First Amendment grounds.
Democrats went along, never imagining the weapon they forged against pro-lifers would one day ensnare one of their own media darlings.
Fast-forward three decades: A left-leaning journalist, once a fixture on CNN, now faces the very statute his ideological allies championed.
Pro-life activists have long decried the FACE Act as an unconstitutional overreach — one that Democratic presidents, particularly Joe Biden, wielded enthusiastically against peaceful demonstrators.
President Donald Trump pardoned 23 such protesters, freeing them from lengthy prison sentences.
In a Truth Social post last week, Trump noted that “a small group of elderly ladies were protesting at an abortion clinic and were given 40 years” — and called for Lemon and the church invaders to face similar accountability.
Now, under a Republican administration, the law is being applied equally — to disruptors on the left.
And how are Democrats responding?
Predictably, they’re not condemning Lemon; they’re howling about overreach.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the arrest as having “zero basis,” calling it an attack on the First Amendment from an “illegitimate” Justice Department.
Lemon’s attorney Abbe Lowell echoed the press-freedom theme, calling his client a “journalist whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”
No prominent Democrat has said, “Hey, this is the law we passed — own it.”
Instead, they pivot to victimhood, ignoring that the FACE Act’s religious provision exists precisely because of the need for bipartisan compromise and constitutional protection.
Their selective outrage exposes their double standard.
When pro-lifers get hit with FACE charges, leftists cheer “rule of law.”
When it’s Don Lemon — a vocal critic of Trump and conservative Christianity — the same law becomes a “weaponized” tool of oppression.
Republicans have long argued the FACE Act is unevenly enforced, used against peaceful sidewalk counselors but not against pregnancy-center arsonists.
Now the shoe is on the other foot, and Democrats squirm.
The arrest is appropriate. If Lemon crossed into obstruction, he violated federal law.
The First Amendment protects reporting, but doesn’t grant immunity to interfere with sacred worship.
In the end, this case underscores a timeless truth: Laws written to target one side can boomerang.
Democrats built the FACE Act to protect their constituencies, but included protections for faith communities to seal the deal — and now, one of their stars faces its teeth.
Will they finally admit the law can fairly be applied neutrally?
Or keep pretending it’s only unjust when it hurts their team?
Republicans aren’t gloating — they’re enforcing the law Democrats wrote.
If the left truly believes in equal justice, they’ll let the process play out.
But we know they won’t. They’ll complain, deflect and cry foul.
That’s not principle; that’s partisanship.
Bob Capano, a former senior aide to New York Republican and Democratic elected officials, is an adjunct professor of political science.
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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