Perhaps the most outrageous act committed by anti-ICE agitators over the weekend was their storming of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, during a Sunday morning worship service due to the pastor’s alleged ties to ICE. The mob burst into the church’s sanctuary and chanted “Justice for Renee Good” and “Who needs justice, we need justice.”
Fired CNN host Don Lemon live-streamed the event. “This is the beginning of what’s going to happen here, he said. “They’ve stopped the service — a lot of people, a number of people have left.” He claimed, “This is what the First Amendment is about, the freedom to protest. I’m sure people here don’t like it, but protests are not comfortable.”
Lemon compared the unrest in Minneapolis to the protests of the Civil Rights Movement. This is what happens, he said, “when you violate people’s due process, when you pull people off the street,” and “when you violate the Constitution.”
Lemon lectured the pastor:
NEW: Don Lemon tries lecturing a pastor on the First Amendment after a mob of far leftists stormed a church in Minneapolis.Pastor: “This is unacceptable. It’s shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship…”Lemon: “Listen, there’s a constitution, the First Amendment to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest.”Pastor: “We’re here to worship Jesus because the hope of the world is Jesus Christ…”Lemon: “But did you try to talk to them?”Pastor: “No one is willing to talk. I have to take care of my church and my family so I ask that you would also leave this building.”Imagine storming a church mid worship and thinking you are the good guys.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice, Harmeet Dhillon, saw the incident quite a bit differently. Responding in a series of social media posts on Sunday evening, Dhillon wrote, “The @CivilRights is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act [Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act] by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers. @AGPamBondi.”
The relevant portion of the FACE Act of 1994 states:
Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit: … (2) intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering with, or attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere, any person by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.
In a second post, Dhillon indicated she was “considering and investigating other related crimes as well. @FBI activated too! @TheJusticeDept.”
“We are on it @CivilRights, working with the USAO [United States Attorney’s Office] in Minneapolis. This is un-American and outrageous,” she wrote in another.
The DOJ is unlikely to have much difficulty identifying members of the anti-ICE group “Operation Pull-Up” who carried out the so-called “mission,” given the participants’ uncharacteristic transparency. Departing from their usual practice of concealing their identities, conservative influencer Will Chamberlain noted on X that they arrived at the church “unmasked” and later “posted on FB about their conduct.” He added that observers should “expect to see a LOT of mugshots.”
Chamberlain attached a social media post from Nekima Levy Armstrong that thanked several activists and organizers by name and explicitly stated the group’s motive. It read:
Friends, Here is a clip of our demonstration this morning at Cities Church in St. Paul. David Easterwood is a Pastor at this church and the Acting Field Director for the ICE office in St. Paul. It’s time for judgment to begin and it will begin in the House of God!!! Thank you to all of the activists who showed up + independent journalists Georgia Fort, Don Lemon, DawokeFarmer2, Brixton Hughes. Special thanks to Monique Cullars Doty, Chauntyll Allen, Satara Strong-Allen for co- organizing this mission from Black Lives Matter Minnesota & Black Lives Matter Twin Cities Metro, along with Racial Justice Network.
[According to Fox News, “Cities Church lists eight pastors of varying roles, including David Easterwood, who shares the same name as the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office. … Fox News Digital has reached out to ICE to verify whether the two individuals are the same person.”]
A Facebook post from the Lynnwood Times reported, “Leftist agitator William Kelly, who travels state to state harassing ICE, joined Lemon in storming the church and demanded churchgoers publicly denounce ICE and stand with Somalians and Latinos while swearing at parents and children.”
You may recall the FACE Act was used to prosecute pro-life activists by the Biden administration’s DOJ. At the same time, the Biden DOJ ignored violence against pro-life centers committed by pro-abortion activists.
It appears that agitators were unaware that this law also applies to places of worship. Regardless, whether they understood it or not, their actions crossed a clear legal and moral line. Peaceful protest does not include the right to interrupt worship, intimidate congregants, or desecrate a house of faith in pursuit of a political grievance. As the DOJ’s response makes clear, the First Amendment protects the free exercise of religion no less than it protects speech — and when activists trample one constitutional right in the name of another, accountability is not only appropriate, but necessary.
New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino spoke for many Americans in her response to the incident on X: “If you’re literally storming a church to force your political views on people, you are NOT the good guys in ANY way whatsoever.”
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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