Pastor Jonathan Parnell of Cities Church, site of the January 2026 church invasion which involved disgraced CNN anchor Don Lemon, reacted with outrage after Saint Paul, Minnesota officials declined to prosecute agitators and terrorists who stormed into their sanctuary during the middle of Sunday church services.
Parnell released a video and several social media posts blasting woke city prosecutors who said they didn’t have enough evidence to garner a guilty verdict while also pretending that the anti-Christian terrorists who invaded the private religious property had a right to protest.
“The city of Saint Paul has officially determined the January 18 invasion of our church and the desecration of our worship to be a “peaceful protest,’” Parnell wrote on X alongside a brief statement calling out the illegal immigrant mayor of the deep blue state’s capitol city. “Here’s my question for Mayor Her:”
“Mayor Hur, on April 20, in your address on the state of St. Paul, you said that you are committed to listening and to acting and to lifting St. Paul higher to its full potential, but I wonder do you include evangelical Christians in that commitment, or do you only care about those you agree with? You’ve, you have left us to wonder this,” he said in the video.
Quote-tweeting the above post, Parnell then pointed out the absurd standard being set, obviously knowing a similar terroristic invasion of a different house of worship would result in hate crimes. “According to the city attorney’s logic, it is perfectly fine for agitators to invade a mosque, a cathedral, or a temple, shout in people’s faces, terrorize their children, and shut down their religious gathering. Just call it a “protest.” That is the kind of city Kaohly Her and Irene Kao want,” he wrote.
The Irene Kao being mentioned in Parnell’s scathing social media post is the city’s attorney, whose office reviewed the videotaped evidence and witness testimony of those traumatized b being held captive in their own pews and decided no charges needed to be brought. A statement was released to Minnesota Public Radio, which stated:
“Our office has a legal and ethical obligation to file charges only when the available evidence establishes probable cause and supports a reasonable likelihood of conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. Following a careful evaluation of the video footage, investigative reports, and other available materials, prosecutors determined that the current evidence is insufficient to meet that standard for criminal charges under Minnesota state statutes.”
Not done, the city attorney added the meaningless balance that not prosecuting didn’t equate to promoting the protection to practice religious beliefs. In other words, if Parnell’s vision of an interruption of a mosque were to occur, Kao could later go after them.
“The right to peacefully protest is protected, as is the right to exercise one’s religious beliefs. Balancing these equally important rights is paramount to our decision today,” she wrote. Watch a video of Lemon on the day of his invasion getting in the face of Parnell:
Featured image: Screen shot from embedded video