Overview
- Cities Church pastor Jonathan Parnell published an account describing the Jan. 18 disruption as an intentional provocation that terrorized worshippers and children.
- Parnell wrote that congregants fled fearing an active-shooter scenario and said a man who questioned him during the service 'did not leave' and was 'in on the terror.'
- Former CNN host Don Lemon, indicted with eight others, has pleaded not guilty to FACE Act and Ku Klux Klan Act charges tied to the incident.
- Lemon told Jim Acosta he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist, argued he was there to report, and suggested his being Black affected how parishioners perceived him alongside mostly Black protesters.
- The indictment alleges Lemon coordinated with protest leaders, discussed plans to 'disrupt business as usual,' and obscured the target location on his livestream before the church was entered.