The far-left agitators who stormed a St. Paul, Minn., church on Sunday and made sure it became a viral moment aren’t new faces to staged demonstrations.
One of the most confrontational demonstrators has been identified as William Kelly, aka “DaWokeFarmer” on TikTok, who reportedly spent months harassing congregants at Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s church in Washington, D.C.
Kelly is the obnoxious, loud-mouthed man who can be heard shaming and shouting at parishioners and getting in their faces.
After weeks of protests and escalating violence against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Twin Cities, Sunday’s startling scene inside Cities Church sent shockwaves across the nation.
The sanctuary spectacle also prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice as a violation of the FACE Act and calls to arrest the over-the-top agitators.
About 30 demonstrators joined by independent journalists ready to livestream the organized protest marched into the sanctuary, yelling “ICE Out” and other antagonistic chants as startled parishioners began to pray or get up a leave.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, announced an investigation within hours, calling the protesters’ actions “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”
Kelly’s involvement raises several red flags considering his confrontational behavior, which was captured on video, and the fact he is not local to the Minneapolis area. He has reportedly harassed families in Washington, D.C., who attend Christ Church.
A member of Christ Church, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital that he immediately recognized Kelly as a part of a group of agitators in D.C.
“William Kelly is a regular outside our church, he screams incredibly vile and gross things at families, at children at people, he’s called my wife a c—, a whore and a Nazi breeder, all sorts of fun things,” the Christ Church member said.
His behavior during Sunday’s demonstration at Cities Church was equally disturbing.
The anti-ICE activists walked in yelling “Justice for Renee Good” and “ICE out” chants as members of the group shouted at parishioners for “being comfortable white people.”
One protestor—now identified as Kelly—can be heard yelling at parishioners and sticking the camera in their face.
“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 communities?” he yells.
I didn’t really want to watch this video but finally viewed it all just now. We really need to require our liberal friends and relatives to view it. It’s so terrible.
— SteveAustinWI (@SteveAustinWI) January 19, 2026
Kelly’s identity is well known among the DC churchgoers after six months of “social media sleuthing.”
Kelly, who goes by “DaWokeFarmer” on TikTok, has over 66,000 followers. He regularly posts politically charged videos attacking ICE, President Donald Trump and members of his administration with profanity.
According to Christ Church members, Kelly was arrested by the United States Secret Service in December. In one caught-on-camera confrontation, Kelly berates a man as a “Nazi,” cusses at him and follows the man who is walking with his family.
He is described as “the jobless leftist agitator who spends all day in D.C. harassing and following DC guardsmen and Trump supporters.” Another video Kelly posted on TikTok shows him following and harassing National Guard members.
This is just disgusting…
Several weeks ago two National Guardsmen were shot and liberals are back it it again berating our National Guardsmen
He has allegedly been identified by social media users as William Kelly on TikTok with a username DaWokeFarmer
What a disgusting human… pic.twitter.com/vDVB5XNBP7
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) December 11, 2025
Kelly started tormenting people near the church in the fall, and “he’s been off and on since then,” the member said. After his arrest in December, “he’s been on a road trip, out and about.”
The “DaWokeFarmer” TikTok account also links to a GoFundMe page that identifies him as William Kelly. The account has raised over $40,000.
“Road Trip!! Help me travel the Nation scolding the gestapo for their bad decisions! No rest for demons! Our goal is to encourage people to stand up for what’s right across the nation! Stand up For Humanity,” he wrote when asking for donations.
On Monday, DaWokeFarmer admitted to participating in the Minnesota church takeover on TikTok. He was also tagged in a Facebook post by civil rights attorney, activist and organizer Nekima Levy Armstrong.
“Yesterday, I went into a church with [activist] Nekima Armstrong, and I protested these White supremacists. The pastor of the church is a f—ing ICE leader in the city. How can you be a f—ing pastor and be a f—ing agent? F— ‘em, they wanna come after me? F— ‘em,” DaWokeFarmer said.
“How can they live so comfortably while the f—ing people from Somalia that are in this country legally, they have f—ing citizenship, can’t even go to their mosque and pray,” he continued. “How do they deserve any f—ing different? F— those f—ing Nazis. Come and get me, Pam Bondi, you f—ing traitorous b—-.”
In another video shared on social media, Kelly says “My name is William Kelly. I’m a combat infantry veteran, I’m a patriot, and I’m a defender of human dignity.”
William Kelly, better known as DaWokeFarmer, got booted from the U.S. Army with a bad-conduct discharge.
He was in from about 2007 to 2011, but his stories don't add up—no combat infantry vet, no Afghanistan deployment, no Warrant Officer gig.
Reality check: He was just an HR… pic.twitter.com/xditx6dbFd
— Patriot_Pack (@dig_metal) January 21, 2026
“Ice is the complete opposite of Christianity,” Kelly said. “You cannot be an ICE agent and be a pastor.”
The social media poster noted that Kelly was court-martialed for stealing and “got booted from the U.S. Army with a bad-conduct discharge.”
William Kelly, better known as DaWokeFarmer, got booted from the U.S. Army with a bad-conduct discharge.
He was in from about 2007 to 2011, but his stories don't add up—no combat infantry vet, no Afghanistan deployment, no Warrant Officer gig.
Reality check: He was just an HR… pic.twitter.com/xditx6dbFd
— Patriot_Pack (@dig_metal) January 21, 2026
Christ Church associate pastor Joe Rigney also confirmed Kelly is the same man who stormed the Minnesota church, Fox News Digital reported.
Kelly also admits in another video that he is at Hegseth’s church “almost every Sunday and I miss him every time.”
William Kelly, who uses the social media handle "dawokefarmer” and has nearly 65,000 followers on TikTok, said in December that he is at Hegseth's church "almost every Sunday." pic.twitter.com/cfdHN02CLv
— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) January 19, 2026
Rigney said he previously worked with his security team and law enforcement to determine the man’s identity.
“Kelly stood out because he was one of the more aggressive, angry, vile, profane protesters who would follow people to their car, yell at them, yell at children… profanity-laden attacks on normal church members,” Rigney told Fox News. “When we saw the video come out of Cities Church in St. Paul, our security team flagged it for me and said, ‘That’s the same guy.’”
Justin Overbaugh, the deputy under secretary of War for Intelligence and Security, also alleged the man storming Twin Cities church in Minnesota was Kelly.
“Ahhh I see DaWokeFarmer a.k.a William Scott Kelly, is harassing parishioners in MN. We’ve missed him outside @ChristKirkDC stalking us after service,” Overbaugh posted on X in response to Sunday’s chaos at Cities Church.
Ahhh I see DaWokeFarmer a.k.a William Scott Kelly, is harassing parishioners in MN. We’ve missed him outside @ChristKirkDC stalking us after service. Tell the good folks in the twin cities to send him back.
He definitely doesn’t know what time it is.
— Justin Overbaugh 🇺🇸 (@JustinOverbaugh) January 18, 2026
