Overview
- A court filing on Tuesday shows Joseph H. Thompson, a former senior prosecutor in Minnesota who resigned last month, has joined Lemon’s team alongside lead counsel Abbe Lowell.
- Thompson previously served as acting U.S. attorney, led major fraud prosecutions, and left the office after disputes over the Justice Department’s handling of the ICE shooting of Renée Good, according to multiple reports.
- Lemon remains indicted on conspiracy to deprive religious freedom and FACE Act counts tied to a Jan. 18 protest inside St. Paul’s Cities Church targeting a pastor who also serves in ICE.
- Defense lawyers say Lemon was reporting as an independent journalist and plan for him to plead not guilty at an arraignment scheduled for Friday in federal court in St. Paul.
- The Justice Department’s use of the FACE Act’s houses‑of‑worship provision is drawing scrutiny, and the case advanced after a magistrate first declined a complaint before a grand jury returned indictments; Lemon was arrested Jan. 30 and released without bond.