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Why is the Trump administration arresting journalists and activists over a protest inside a Minnesota church? The official reason the government cited Friday—when it arrested independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, as well as two others—was that they were part of a “coordinated attack” on Cities Church in St. Paul. It’s a strange claim: Videos from the incident, which occurred Jan. 18, showed protesters being loud in interrupting a worship service, but not physically touching anyone or damaging any property. The protest may have been unpleasant for those in the pews—videos showed at least one man haranguing people for their complicity in supporting ICE—but it’s hardly an “attack.”

The incident has, however, gone viral in conservative media—proof positive of the degeneracy of the Minnesota protesters and yet another example of the left’s anti-Christian bigotry. Critics of the protest portrayed it as an intrusion of vulgar politics into a sacred refuge from daily life, a faceoff between vicious activists and apolitical (and bewildered) parishioners. For an administration obsessed with firing up its base supporters, arresting participants has an obvious political use. That’s especially true of Lemon, who because of his former job at CNN is a household name and much-reviled figure on the right.

But this isn’t just a case of red meat for the base. These activists have, perhaps........

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