003: Weaponizing “Religious Freedom”: Trump’s DOJ, "Religious Liberty," and the Attack on a Free Press

Last week, the Department of Justice escalated its prosecution of anti-ICE activists at a St. Paul, Minnesota church by arresting two journalists who were covering the protest: Emmy Award–winning independent reporter Georgia Fort, vice president of the local chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, and Don Lemon, a former CNN host now reporting independently. Charging journalists with conspiring to violate worshipers’ religious freedom simply for documenting a newsworthy protest is a blatant assault on press freedom and the First Amendment. The DOJ’s unprecedented use of the 1994 FACE Act—long applied to physical blockades of abortion clinics—to criminalize peaceful protest and journalistic coverage inside a church marks a dangerous expansion of state power.

This episode examines how the case reveals the Trump administration’s broader project: recasting Christian nationalist grievance as “religious freedom” while weaponizing the law against dissenters.

Host Sarah Posner speaks with Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister, political communication scholar, and author of A Public Witness, about the myth of “anti-Christian bias,” the selective enforcement of the FACE Act, the criminalization of opposition to ICE, and why white evangelicals remain Trump’s most loyal base even as public backlash grows. As protests against immigration enforcement spread nationwide, the administration is once again leaning into persecution narratives to shore up political support—at the direct expense of civil liberties, democratic norms, and the Constitution itself.

Dr. Brian Kaylor is Editor-in-chief of Word&Way. He is also a Baptist minister with a Ph.D. in political communication, and the author or coauthor of several books, including The Bible According to Christian Nationalists: Exploiting Scripture for Political Power and Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism. He writes about religion and politics at his award-winning newsletter A Public Witness.

Additional Resources:

Jem Bartholomew, “‘I Might Get Arrested, People,’” Columbia Journalism Review, February 2, 2026, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/don-lemon-georgia-fort-arrests-church-st-saint-paul-ice-pastor-dhs-maga-media-benny-johnson-tim-pool.php?mc_cid=43c485a738&mc_eid=298969b3fc

Opinion and Order of the Court, Conejo Arias v. Noem, United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Civ. No. A-26-CV-415-FB, January 31, 2026, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txwd.1172886492/gov.uscourts.txwd.1172886492.9.0.pdf

Quinta Jurecic, “The Case Against Don Lemon Is Junk, and Dangerous,” The Atlantic, January 30, 2026, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/don-lemon-arrest/685840/?mc_cid=43c485a738&mc_eid=298969b3fc

Ryan J. Reilly, Matt Lavietes, Chloe Melas and Dennis Romero, “Don Lemon arrested after covering protest at Minnesota church,” NBCNews, January 30, 2026, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/don-lemon-arrested-federal-authorities-attorney-says-rcna256680

Amanda Becker, “Journalist Georgia Fort arrested over reporting on anti-ICE protest,” The 19th, January 30, 2026, https://19thnews.org/2026/01/georgia-fort-arrested-journalist-minnesota/

Laura Kelly Fanucci, “I’m a Minnesota Catholic mom. Here’s what my neighbors are saying about ICE.,” America, January 30, 2026, https://www.americamagazine.org/faithinfocus/2026/01/30/im-a-minnesota-catholic-mom-heres-what-my-neighbors-are-saying-about-ice/

Hannah Hartig and Jocelyn Kiley, “Confidence in Trump Dips, and Fewer Now Say They Support His Policies and Plans,” Pew Research Center, January 29, 2026,  https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/01/29/confidence-in-trump-dips-and-fewer-now-say-they-support-his-policies-and-plans/?utm_source=AdaptiveMailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=26-01-29%20W185%20Main%20Report&org=982&lvl=100&ite=17283&lea=4830404&ctr=0&par=1&trk=a0DQm00000AFTqLMAX

Dana Blanton, “Fox News Poll: 59% of voters say ICE is too aggressive, up 10 points since July,” Fox News, January 28, 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-59-voters-say-ice-too-aggressive-up-10-points-since-july 

Brian Kaylor, “GOP Judge Blasts ICE Pastor for ‘Extraordinary’ Court Order Violations,” Word and Way, January 28, 2026, https://wordandway.org/2026/01/28/gop-judge-blasts-ice-pastor-for-extraordinary-court-order-violations/

Sarah Posner, “Trump just promised an authoritarian ‘task force’ to impose Christian ideology,” MSNOW, January 7, 2024, https://www.ms.now/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-2024-christian-right-truth-social-rcna132082

Glenn Thrush and Adam Goldman, “No Bias Found in F.B.I. Report on Catholic Extremists,” New York Times, April 18, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/18/us/politics/catholic-extremists-fbi.html

Sarah Posner, “Trump’s ‘Christian Day of Visibility’ tantrum is also a warning,” MSNOW, April 4, 2024, https://www.ms.now/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-christian-day-of-visibility-trans-rights-rcna146225

Sarah Posner, “Why Trump targeted Christians with his darkest promise yet,” MSNOW, July 31, 2024, https://www.ms.now/opinion/msnbc-opinion/christian-nationalist-trump-speech-voting-rcna164091

Sarah Posner, “Jim Jordan’s new myth: an ‘anti-Catholic’ FBI,” MSNOW, April 15, 2023, https://www.ms.now/opinion/msnbc-opinion/jim-jordan-anti-catholic-fbi-myth-rcna79815

Sarah Posner, “The Southern Baptist Convention’s Deal With the Devil,” The Nation, September 12, 2022, https://www.thenation.com/article/society/southern-baptists-roe-gop-dobbs/

Creator: Sarah Posner: https://www.sarahposner.com/

Producer and Engineer: Dr. Ger FitzGerald

Executive Producer: Dr. Bradley Onishi

Production Assistance: Kari Onishi

Generous funding provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.