‘He will pay!’ GOP commentator rages at Don Lemon over interrupting ‘God’s people’

Former CNN host and journalist Don Lemon is under fire from right-wing circles for his coverage and alleged involvement in an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service in Minnesota, and on Saturday, conservative radio host Melanie Collette insisted that Lemon must “pay” for having "interrupted God’s people.”

Protesters disrupted a Minnesota church service last weekend accusing its pastor, David Easterwood, of working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid increased ICE activity in the state. Lemon covered the incident by interviewing demonstrators and accompanying them into the church.

Appearing on Newsmax, Collette was asked about Lemon’s involvement, and whether or not his actions “overlapped into joining the agitators,” an assessment she did not hesitate to agree with.

“Of course it's overlapping to join the agitators! He shoved a microphone in the pastor's face, he interrupted a service!” Collette said. “

Understand, he interrupted worship, he interrupted God's people, he interrupted a leader, and he is absolute playing with fire. I hope he will pay for this – if he doesn't pay for this, by Caesar, secularly, he will pay for it in the long run, trust me!”

Lemon has become a target of the Trump administration, with a top Justice Department official floating this week potentially charging him under an 1871 law originally designed to combat the Ku Klux Klan.

“Whenever anyone conspires to violate the protected civil rights of American citizens, the Klan Act can be used to bring a conspiracy charge,” said Harmeet Dhillon, a top DOJ official at the agency’s Civil Rights Division, speaking earlier this week about the potential charges Lemon could face on “The Benny Johnson Show.”