A mob of anti-ICE demonstrators stormed into a St. Paul, Minn., church on Sunday, causing a disturbing spectacle that the U.S. Department of Justice is now investigating.
The group of activists—who surprisingly weren’t wearing masks, so they should be easy to identify—disrupted the Jan. 18 Sunday service at the Cities Church, staying for about 30 minutes until they cleared most of the sanctuary and were told to leave.
The radical activists pre-planned the publicity stunt and had several journalists on the scene to livestream the hostile takeover of a house of worship — the latest in a growing list of coordinated anti-ICE resistance efforts intended to create chaos and sow division in the Twin Cities.
As the footage quickly spread on social media, many Conservative influencers and commentators said it was a clear violation of the FACE Act.
The Justice Department responded that it will investigate potential FACE Act violations, with Attorney General Pam Bondi vowing prosecutions and speaking directly with the pastor.
“I just spoke to the Pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law,” Bondi shared on her X account. “If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails.”
I just spoke to the Pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.
If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 19, 2026
The DOJ also shared a post by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who added: “President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship. The Department of Justice has launched a full investigation into the despicable incident that took place earlier today at a church in Minnesota.”
President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.
The Department of Justice has launched a full investigation into the despicable incident that took place earlier today at a church in Minnesota.
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 19, 2026
Around 30 demonstrators from several activist groups entered Cities Church, claiming Pastor David Easterwood works for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Pastor Easterwood was not there. Instead, Jonathan Parnell, lead pastor of Cities Church, was on stage leading the service when protestors interrupted.
The disrupters walked in yelling “Justice for Renee Good” and “ICE out” chants as members of the group shouted at parishioners for “being white.” One protestor can be heard yelling, “you drink your coffee, you got your jewelry, you have your nice clothes, but what do you do? What do you do to stand for your Somali and Latino community?”
They chanted slogans heard at many of the other protests causing chaos and violence around Minneapolis, while continue to fan the flames over slain anti-ICE activist Renee Nicole Good. Others targeted Easterwood for his alleged affiliation with ICE.
Pastor Parnell yelled “Shame on you, shame on you. This is the house of God.”
Disgraced CNN host Don Lemon livestreamed the scene, interviewing Parnell who called the disruption unacceptable.
“It’s shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship,” the pastor told Lemon in another video circulating on social media. “We’re here to worship. We’re here to worship Jesus because that’s the hope of these cities, that’s the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”
ANTI-ICE protesters ransack Church in St Paul, Minnesota during service.
Don lemon disgraced News host one of the instigators.
This is what's going on in our country now. Christians must stand up. These people are our enemies they cannot be reasoned with. Stand your ground. pic.twitter.com/eLCvViHEZU— Marcus4Rochester (@Marcus4Roc) January 18, 2026
Lemon tried lecturing Parnell on the First Amendment and defended the group’s actions as protected protest speech, pressing him further, “Do you think Jesus would be understanding and love these folks?”
Lemon, an independent broadcaster since his departure from CNN, posted footage of the protestors organizing before they entered the church. They admitted it was a “clandestine operation” where they show up and disrupt “business as usual.”
He then followed the group inside as they chanted “ICE out” and accused a pastor of collaborating with the agency.
“This will not stand, they cannot pretend to be a house of God, while harboring someone who is commanding ICE agents to terrorize our communities,” protester Nekima Levy Armstrong told Lemon before moving inside.
Lemon noted in his report that police officers had waited outside the church but made no move to intervene to keep the peace.
The Civil Rights department of the Justice Department announced that it would launch an investigation into what happened.
“The @CivilRights is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon wrote on X.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE, Act of 1994, which created a legal protection for reproductive health clinics and places of worship, making it a crime to use force against, obstruct, or seek to intimidate anyone operating in such venues.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told FOX New’s “America’s Newsroom” that the rights of worshipers were “trampled on” after anti-ICE agitators stormed Minnesota church and she hopes to see mugshots soon.
“This is outright hysteria we are seeing from the left,” McLaughlin said. “This should be the easiest thing in the world for Tim Walz and Mayor Frey to condemn. This shouldn’t be a Republican or Democrat issue. These are worshipers who are practicing their First Amendment rights to worship, and yet those rights were trampled on by these protestors who trespassed and began intimidating these Christians worshiping.”
According to Minnesota journalist Scott Johnson, who also appeared on “America’s Newsroom” Monday morning, there is an organized, well-funded resistance to ICE in the Twin Cities that has been encouraged by elected officials.
One of the organizers behind Sunday’s spectacle is Nekima Levy Armstrong, the former president of NAACP Minneapolis. Local Black Lives Matter groups and Racial Justice Network were behind the protest.
Armstrong took to her own Facebook page to share the footage, tagging several journalists and activist groups.
“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.
Some worshipers stood up and defended the demonic invasion with prayer, while others in attendance got up and left, with one churchgoer quoted as saying: “These people have come into our house and they’ve interrupted our worship. Everybody’s gone home, their point has been proven worthless and so, in the end, I think they lose. I feel violated, I feel interrupted, I feel angry.”
Clips of the ungodly scene quickly spread on social media, sparking outrage by conservatives, with the MAGA Voice account calling for Lemon to be investigated by the Department of Justice and FBI.
Influencer Benny Johnson claimed that the journalist’s actions amounted to “not just an obscene violation of the FACE Act — it’s likely a hate crime.”
“Stop what you’re doing and look at this,” Johnson shared on X. “A Christian pastor is trying to preach the Word of God to his Minnesota congregation. Don Lemon storms the church, rushes the altar in the middle of the sermon, harasses and threatens the pastor on a live feed then further incites a left-wing mob against the Christians worshipping.”
The FACE Act was also cited by other right-wing personalities like Matt Walsh and Will Chamberlain and by Baptist minister Paul Chappell, who wrote: “We condemn the actions of Don Lemon and the group of activists who stormed Cities Church today in St Paul, Minnesota, in clear violation of the FACE Act.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, conducted an interview with Lemon earlier in the day and thanked him for “being on the ground in Minnesota to help lift up this fight for truth and fairness.”
Even when barriers are put in our way, my team and I stay focused on seeking justice and accountability for our communities.
Grateful to Don Lemon for being on the ground in Minnesota to help lift up this fight for truth and fairness. pic.twitter.com/AAFxj7Y8a0
— Keith Ellison (@keithellison) January 18, 2026
Democratic politicians in the state, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, have continued to use carefully crafted messaging to encourage the anti-ICE protestors to resist ICE and record what they are doing.
While they have yet to comment publicly on Sunday’s stunt at Cities Church, they have fueled the sharp divide between federal and local officials regarding immigration operations and amplified civil unrest in the state.
