Feds Arrest Two In Connection With Anti-ICE Protest That Stormed Minnesota Church

Federal authorities arrested two alleged agitators who participated in the anti-ICE mob that stormed a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday.

Attorney General Pam Bondi first announced on Thursday morning that agents with the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations nabbed Black Lives Matter activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, who is accused of playing “a key role in organizing the coordinated attack” on Cities Church. Minutes later, Bondi said authorities had arrested Chauntyll Louisa Allen, who leads Black Lives Matter Twin Cities and serves on the St. Paul Public Schools board.

“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” Bondi wrote.

The group allegedly stormed the church service and harassed worshippers, asserting that one of the pastors is a top ICE official in Minnesota. Since then, Trump administration officials have pledged to make arrests and use the FACE Act, which has long been weaponized against pro-life protesters, to prosecute the protesters, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who was seen on video with the mob under the guise of functioning as an independent journalist.

The FACE Act penalizes those who “by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts 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.”

Armstrong, who is the former president of the Minnesota NAACP, defended her actions during a CNN interview earlier this week. She said the group peacefully sat in the service and waited to confront the pastor about his colleague, who is allegedly a top ICE official in Minnesota, until after he prayed.

“We did not rush into that church, we actually went and sat down and participated in the service. And after the pastor prayed, that is when I stood up and asked him a question in response to his prayer, and then he responded to me, and then I proceeded to ask him about Pastor David Easterwood and how is it possible for him to serve as both a pastor and the director of ICE for Minnesota,” Armstrong said.

“And instead of responding to me, as soon as I said the name David Easterwood, the pastor said ‘shame, shame’ and that is when I led us in chants ‘Justice for Renee Good’ and ‘Hands up don’t shoot,'” she said, adding “We didn’t rush in, we didn’t bust in, we were a part of the service until I got up and posed that question to the pastor.”

Allen also spoke to the media after the incident, telling TMZ that the Trump administration should focus its resources on investigating Good’s death.

“I see this as a distraction from the real issue that is ICE is in Minnesota right now, terrorizing our communities … they’re murdering people,” she said.

She also doubled down, saying activists “should continue to interrupt spaces and make sure that people are very much aware of the people that they’re following, where their dollars are going and how we can start to disrupt that overall system that continues to want to oppress black and brown and indigenous people.”

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Republican who represents Minnesota, told The Daily Wire during an interview Thursday that he hopes the activists “get prosecuted to the full extent.” He also mentioned Don Lemon, whom he called “that failed reporter, that loser, that Lemon loser,” and said he should face accountability for joining the mob. Lemon claims he was covering the group as an independent journalist.

“They’ve been led to believe that this type of behavior is acceptable. 
I mean, we’ve got [Minnesota Democratic Governor] Tim Walz and [Attorney General] Keith Ellison, literally doing everything they can to obstruct the lawful actions of federal law enforcement,” Emmer said.

Emmer also touched on the arrests that have already been made.

“Why am I surprised that this clearly immature school board member thinks that it’s okay to try to obstruct and confront federal law enforcement trying to do their job. It’s unfortunate, but she should be arrested and she should also be held accountable,” Emmer said.

“It’s not enough just to say, ‘Oh, don’t do that again.’ No, people have got to see there are consequences for this type of behavior. This has been the problem in Minnesota. 
There have been no consequences,” he said.