Keith Ellison Defends Disruption Of Minnesota Church Service After Leftist Protest

After a group of leftist activists and ex-CNN host Don Lemon disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday, on Monday Lemon hosted Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison on a podcast, where Ellison insisted that the activists had a right to disrupt the service.

The Daily Wire reported:

Dozens of protesters crowded into Cities Church in St. Paul on Sunday as part of a “clandestine operation” to “disrupt business as usual,” activist leader Nekima Levy-Armstrong told Lemon, who embedded with the protest group. The protest lasted roughly 30 minutes and effectively ended the church service as it drove congregants out.

Lemon asked Ellison about the church invasion, prompting this response:

The protest is fundamental to American society; this country started in a protest. It’s freedom of expression; people have a right to lift up their voices and make their peace. None of us are immune from the voice of the public. Quite honestly, I think that you got the First Amendment, freedom of religion and the freedom of First Amendment and freedom of expression. I think it’s just something you gotta live with in a society like this.

Ellison ignored the 1994 FACE Act, which made it to prevent people from exercising religious freedom at places of worship. It states: “Whoever by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship” could be prosecuted under the law.

“This administration is real tender about things when it comes to their own interest,” Ellison claimed. “But they don’t care about the same things when the things don’t lie in their favor. So they’re getting tender about a church service now.”

“They’re arresting people in clinics, schools, churches, anywhere they choose to do it,” he alleged. “They don’t really care about sacred and sensitive places unless it works in their favor.”

Ellison somehow segued to President Trump’s criticism of Jimmy Kimmel for his remarks about the death of Charlie Kirk, then threw in this completely unrelated remark about Trump: “The mad king won’t let you say jokes about him.”

Tim Pearce contributed to this article.