A federal prosecutor who quit amid concerns over how the Trump administration was handling the investigation into Renee Nicole Good’s killing is now representing journalist Don Lemon. <\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Joseph H. Thompson entered a notice of appearance<\/a> for Lemon, a former CNN anchor, in a case that accuses Lemon of violating the religious freedom of worshippers following his coverage of protesters who interrupted services at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.<\/p>\n Lemon faces charges brought by the Trump administration<\/a> in connection with his livestream of the protest, which targeted a pastor who demonstrators alleged worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a time when federal law enforcement personnel were clashing with protesters amid an immigration crackdown in the area.<\/p>\n Thompson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his representing Lemon. <\/p>\n Thompson recently quit the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Minnesota, the office prosecuting Lemon, over ethical concerns<\/a> about the Trump administration’s handling of the fatal shooting of Good<\/a>, 37, who was killed by an ICE officer during the federal surge into the Minneapolis region.<\/p>\n Before he resigned, Thompson oversaw a successful federal fraud investigation that long predated the viral<\/a> YouTube video<\/a> by a conservative influencer that drew attention to the state\u2019s Somali population. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was an honor and privilege to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in both the District of Minnesota and Northern District of Illinois,\u201d he wrote Monday in a LinkedIn post<\/a> that announced a pivot for his career. <\/p>\n He said he was leaving the Justice Department after 17 years and launching a firm with former Justice Department colleague Harry Jacobs. <\/p>\n \u201cThompson Jacobs is a boutique law firm focused on white-collar defense, international investigations, complex commercial litigation, and crisis management,” Thompson wrote. “We will also offer anti-corruption and compliance services to private and public sector entities looking to mitigate and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night. <\/p>\n Lemon was covering the protest on Jan. 18. \u201cI went there to chronicle and document and record,\u201d he told Jimmy Kimmel last week<\/a>. \u201cThere is a difference between a protester and a journalist.\u201d<\/p>\n The federal government cited the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act to justify the arrests of protesters who were present that day. It prohibits using force or intimidation against anyone trying to access reproductive services, but it also includes provisions that cover houses of worship.<\/p>\n Harmeet Dhillon, the Trump administration\u2019s top civil rights official in the Justice Department, conceded weeks ago that using the statute against protesters at a church and journalists covering them would lack historical precedent.<\/p>\n \u201cIn all these years up until I was the assistant attorney general for civil rights, nobody ever used that houses of worship part to prosecute protesters or criminals blocking access to a house of worship, so we\u2019ve started to do that,\u201d Dhillon said in a video<\/a>.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump previously pardoned a number of anti-abortion protesters prosecuted under the FACE Act, and federal prosecutors dismissed other pending cases.<\/p>\n A Justice Department memo issued days after<\/a> Trump was inaugurated last year said FACE Act prosecutions and civil actions will be permitted only in extraordinary circumstances.<\/p>\n