Three people who denounced federal immigration brokers in a protest at a St. Paul church on Sunday have been arrested on federal costs and stored in custody Wednesday — and extra arrests may very well be coming.
The protesters have been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights, in response to the Department of Homeland Security, after they and a number of others disrupted a Sunday service with chants denouncing Immigrations and Custom Enforcement over a pastor’s obvious function at the company.
“They are trying to turn a peaceful, nonviolent demonstration into a crime,” mentioned Nekima Levy Armstrong, one among the protesters arrested Thursday in an interview the night time earlier than her arrest, saying the focus ought to as a substitute be on “what ICE has done” and their ”extraordinarily brutal” enforcement actions in the marketing campaign throughout the Twin Cities and Minnesota at massive.
“I just don’t understand how this man looks himself in the mirror, and I don’t know how anyone who claims to be Christian could condone his behavior and the dual nature of the roles that he plays,” she mentioned.
The arrests come as federal brokers proceed intense immigration enforcement, an incursion repeatedly criticized by state and native officers as undesirable, particularly after the demise of Renee Good. Despite Thursday’s arrests, people remained out in the streets protesting the Trump administration’s crackdown on the area.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey denounced the arrest of one among the protesters, calling it “a gross abuse of power,” whereas the White House celebrated — and additionally posted an altered picture of one among the protesters who was arrested.
Here is what we know about the arrests of the protesters:
On Sunday, a bunch of people entered Cities Church in St. Paul throughout a service, the place they sat and listened to the pastor preach, Levy Armstrong told NCS’s Erin Burnett. She was one among the people arrested Thursday and can also be a Christian reverend.
After the pastor was completed praying, Levy Armstrong rose and repeated one among his statements, saying, “You just prayed that God would chasten you and help you get your house in order,” she advised NCS in one other interview. “And he said, ‘Correct.’ I felt that was an invitation for dialogue.”
She mentioned she requested him about David Easterwood, who’s listed as a pastor at the church and seems to be the similar David Easterwood who’s a prime ICE official in the Twin Cities.
Easterwood was just lately named as a defendant in a case introduced by protesters who allege immigration brokers violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights. A DHS spokesperson declined to say whether or not Easterwood was employed with ICE, saying “DHS will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.”
When Levy Armstrong talked about Easterwood’s title, she mentioned the pastor began saying “Shame, shame.”
“And that is when I led us in chants: ‘Justice for Renee Good’ and ‘Hands up, don’t shoot,’” she mentioned.
Video of the protest obtained by NCS reveals people in the church sitting down as one particular person’s voice might be heard yelling. A person’s voice is heard saying “You are interfering,” and people began to rise up from their seats and chant “Justice for Renee Good.” Another video obtained by NCS reveals protesters chanting “ICE out.”
After officers responded to a number of calls reporting as much as 40 protesters in the church, the protesters then moved exterior, St. Paul police spokesperson Nikki Muehlhausen advised NCS Monday. The incident is actively being investigated as disorderly conduct, she added.
Cities Church mentioned in a statement Tuesday it’s contemplating its authorized choices after “a group of agitators jarringly disrupted our worship gathering,” in an act which is “protected by neither the Christian Scriptures nor the laws of this nation.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, posted on X inside hours of the incident, and mentioned her workplace was investigating. She mentioned the protesters have been “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”
So far, three people have been charged associated to Sunday’s protest — Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly.
All three people have been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights, in response to an X publish by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. She additionally mentioned in a earlier model of the X publish that Kelly was additionally charged with violating the FACE Act, which protects spiritual worshippers from use of drive or obstruction. The publish has been up to date to now not point out the FACE Act cost.
Charging paperwork for the three protesters weren’t obtainable, as the circumstances are sealed. NCS has reached out to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, which is prosecuting the case, for extra data on the costs.
It doesn’t seem Levy Armstrong or Allen entered a plea throughout a courtroom listening to Thursday.
Levy Armstrong’s lawyer Jordan Kushner mentioned after courtroom that the case in opposition to his consumer is “political” and “is not a legitimate prosecution.” He additionally mentioned they tried to make arrangements with federal prosecutors for Levy Armstrong to show herself in, however that they insisted that she be arrested at her lodge room.
James Cook, an lawyer for Allen and Kelly, advised NCS he believes his shoppers have been charged as a result of they’re outspoken critics of the Trump administration.
“We’re talking about, basically, what amounts to a peaceful protest in the church,” Cook mentioned.
Kelly, who described himself as a fight infantry veteran throughout a information convention Tuesday, defended the protest as combating for communities impacted by ICE enforcement. Despite the “hundreds and hundreds of death threats” he’s gotten, he mentioned he would “continue my mission to stand for the republic, to stand for the constitution and to stand for humanity.”
Before Sunday’s protest, Levy Armstrong was already well-known in the Twin Cities for her work as a civil rights lawyer, activist, and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP chapter. She gained notoriety for serving to to steer protests in the cities following the police killings of Black males together with George Floyd, NCS affiliate KARE reported.
Allen can also be an energetic a part of the neighborhood as a member of the St. Paul School Board, the place her biography describes her as a youth advocate and educator. She ran for city council in St. Paul final 12 months, the place her priorities included neighborhood security, financial stability and creating extra housing.
While it’s not clear whether or not FACE Act costs have been filed in opposition to the protesters, Dhillon previously said her office was looking into charges utilizing the federal statute.
Enacted in 1994, the federal FACE Act prohibits “the use of force or threat of force or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, or interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
The Department of Justice has filed greater than 15 FACE Act actions in at the very least a dozen states as of 2024, together with a lawsuit in opposition to demonstrators who “targeted” a synagogue in New Jersey throughout a protest that turned violent.
Dhillon additionally cited the Ku Klux Klan Act as one other path for costs. The Civil War-era KKK Act was handed in 1871 to additional defend the rights listed in the Fourteenth Amendment, which had been ratified three years earlier. The act made it a federal crime to disclaim any group or particular person “any of the rights, privileges, or immunities, or protection, named in the Constitution.”
The federal statute is never used, but it surely has been cited in lawsuits in opposition to the Trump administration and different complaints in latest years.
While three people have been charged to date, there have been extra protesters inside the church.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who announced the three arrests in posts on X, hasn’t indicated whether or not different protesters can be charged, however appearing ICE director Todd Lyons promised Thursday that extra costs have been coming.
“President Trump made it clear that under his administration, these anarchists, these domestic terrorists, won’t disrupt law and order, and especially won’t disrupt a house of worship,” Lyons advised FOX News’ Laura Ingraham.
While it’s not clear if others can be charged, journalist Don Lemon seems to be a spotlight in the case.
A federal Justice of the Peace choose rejected the Justice Department’s initial attempt to convey costs in opposition to Lemon for showing alongside protesters who breached a Minnesota church over the weekend, a supply advised NCS.
“The Attorney General is enraged at the magistrate judge’s decision,” an individual aware of the matter mentioned. Bondi has been on the floor in Minnesota for 2 days assembly with federal prosecutors from the state.
Lemon, a former NCS host who now makes content material independently, was with the protesters at Cities Church once they interrupted the service — however mentioned he was there as a journalist.
In a video of the episode that he posted on YouTube, Lemon says “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group … I’m a journalist.” NCS has reached out to representatives for Lemon.
While there aren’t any costs filed in opposition to Lemon, it’s potential the Department of Justice might attempt to as soon as once more convey the costs.