April 9 is the deadline for pretrial motions in United States v. Levy Armstrong et al. — the federal case in which journalist Don Lemon is one of 39 defendants charged in connection with a January anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church. Three days from now, the defense will have filed its motions. Then the court will have to decide what a trial actually looks like.

The case, which was reviewed in this paper's earlier coverage, has accumulated considerable legal complexity since Lemon's arrest in late January. He was charged — along with eight others initially, then 30 more in late February — with conspiracy to deprive the congregants of their civil rights and interfering with religious freedom in a house of worship. The charges stem from a January protest in which demonstrators blocked immigration enforcement agents from accessing a church where a pastor had been sheltering a man sought for deportation.

Lemon, who was at the church filming for his online channel, pleaded not guilty on February 13. His attorneys and those of co-defendant Reverend Levy Armstrong filed legal challenges arguing that the charges mischaracterize what happened — that Lemon was reporting, not conspiring, and that Armstrong was exercising religious sanctuary, not organizing a rights violation.

In late February, a federal judge granted what Newsweek described as a "legal win" for Lemon's side, rejecting a prosecution motion that would have further complicated the defense's position. But the Department of Justice subsequently filed a superseding indictment — a revised set of charges — raising questions about whether the prosecution is narrowing its theory or expanding it.

The case is also leaking. Co-defendants have filed motions that, while not public in their entirety, have been partly described in press reports — including a 24-page motion by one co-defendant seeking full dismissal of the indictment on the grounds that the defendant "did not use force against any" protected party.

A separate civil lawsuit filed by a Minnesota woman who attended the church service alleges emotional distress against Lemon and other protest participants. That case runs on a parallel track.

What April 9 will reveal: the precise legal theories the defense intends to pursue, and whether they include First Amendment challenges, arguments about the scope of the civil rights statutes invoked, or both. The prosecution has so far not explained publicly how it distinguishes Lemon's press credential from a protest participation credential — a distinction that will be central to any trial.

-- ANNA WEBER, Berlin

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