Don Lemon and How Two Grifters Make Liars Out of Pam Bondi

They keep doing this. So we will be keep call them out every time they selectively bring the law on people.

“Make no mistake, under President Trump’s leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely,” said Bondi in a video published on Twitter Friday after the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. “And if I haven’t been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.”

The arrests stemmed from a Jan. 18 protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in St. Paul, Minnesota, where demonstrators interrupted a Sunday morning service at Cities Church after they asked about the pastor’s work with ICE. Nine persons in total have been charged with conspiracy against rights of religious freedom and an attempt to injure while exercising religious freedom in the two-count indictment. It is the rights of Lemon and the others arrested, however, that have been the concern of those watching this latest attempt from the Trump Administration to silence those criticizing him.

There is more than just the violation of these same First Amendment rights that Bondi recognizes on the part of Cities Church. It is also her selective enforcement. Attention is being given to two right-wing grifters who could have committed the same offenses but are not being given the same treatment.

Video is going viral of Valentina Gomez, a anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim extremist who had run for office in Missouri and is currently a candidate for congress in Texas, crashing services at Faith Church New Braunfels, Texas in November. The church is LGBTQ-friendly and describes themselves as an ‘open and affirming’ congregation who ‘celebrate diversity.’ Gomez was escorted out of the building after she would not leave when asked to. Gomez posted a video to her Twitter account with the caption, “Pedophile churches don’t like it when you quote The Bible. These pedophiles use the name of Jesus in vain & lead others astray. Tolerance of sin is not a Christian virtue.” In response, The Faith Church New Braunfels posted a statement to their Facebook account saying: “Some people have too much time, too much fear, too little information, and too much hypocrisy… far too many people claim to be Christian but exhibit no love, awareness of Jesus’ teachings, and no sign of practicing his qualities.”

In another video produced in 2024, just over a year before she went to Faith Church, Gomez railed against LGBTQ-friendly churches, saying they promote, “Satanic and pedophile garbage.” She said that her response to those churches would not be to “turn the other cheek” and would result in her going to jail. The video then cuts to a photo of herself holding a rifle.

In response to those asking why she hasn’t been arrested, Gomez tweeted, “Calling for my arrest or deportation will never work. Don Lemon got arrested because he disrupted a religious service. I didn’t get arrested because the fake pastor ASKED for my opinion. WE ARE NOT THE SAME.”

The following month, EPIC City, a Muslim community being built in Texas, saw a rally by Islamophobic neo-fascists who wanted to prevent the project from going forward. YouTuber Nick Shirley, who is behind a dubious video that he claimed exposed what he alleged are bogus childcare centers stealing government money in Minnesota, livestreamed the rally and community, saying, “there was a concern that Sharia Law was taking place here.” Shirley eventually was told to leave the grounds. There hasn’t been any comment from Bondi or Shirley regarding Shirley’s activities.

Lemon was released Friday on a no-cash bond and has denied wrongdoing. Experts say there is a strong case in his favor. “I have spent my entire career covering the news,” Lemon said after his release. “I will not stop now.”