Anti-ICE agitator, organizer from DC storms church, harasses worshipers, following arrest and release

An anti-ICE agitator who was part of Operation Pull Up, the mob of agitators that stormed a St Paul, Minnesota church service on Sunday has been identified as Washington, DC-based organizer William Kelly. He had been arrested on Friday and released.

Former CNN host Don Lemon was embedded with the group on Sunday weekend. He asked Kelly if ICE agents are patriots. "No, no, they’re terrorists," Kelly replied. "They’re traitors."

Kelly was a part of Sunday’s storming of the Cities Church service in St Paul, where agitators harassed churchgoers. Kelly filmed himself inside, saying, "As you can see, all these pretend Christians, all these comfortable white people, who are living lavish, comfortable lives while children are dragged into concentration camps. He filmed churchgoers as he walked through the church rows, yelling at one group that they were doing nothing to help their "Latino and Somali brothers and sisters."

Kelly launched a GoFundMe back in November, urging people to donate to "help me scold demons for their bad life decisions." As of Monday morning, the fundraiser has received over $39,000. The fundraiser states, "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!"

The group of agitators stormed the sanctuary of Cities Church, chanting anti-ICE slogans and alleging that one of the church’s lead pastors was affiliated with ICE. The shutdown was organized by former Minneapolis NAACP president Nekima Levy Armstrong.

Kelly was seen being hauled away by law enforcement on Friday. He said in a video posted to his TikTok after the fact, "I got arrested for being in a street. I wasn't impeding traffic. I was just scolding Nazis for their bad decisions. And they came up, they lined up, and then they sprinted after me, and they chased me for blocks. I was running for my life. I was scared. I don't know what they're gonna do to me. They're fucking Nazis."

He said he jumped in the back of a woman’s minivan, claiming, "They came up and they put a gun to her face. They pulled a pistol on her and put a gun to her face. This is not America. This is not freedom. This is fascism. It's here now." He claimed that he and others were put "into a cell without ventilation," and said they were "just coughing the whole time" because they had been pepper-sprayed. "They didn't read me my rights. They didn't read any of their rights. No one got to speak to a lawyer."

The DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon has said that her division is investigating the incident for potential violations of the FACE Act. She added in regards to Kelly being released only to storm the St. Paul church, "Catch and release of domestic agitators has consequences."

Along with protecting abortion clinics, the law prohibits obstructing, injuring, or intimidating people who are exercising their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of worship and prohibits people from destroying places of religious worship.

Over the weekend, Kelly posted a video saying that it was an "honor" to be invited to a local Somali mosque for dinner, which he described as "beautiful." He claimed that attendees are "scared to come out." He said seeing the building "made me feel good about my actions in that white supremacist church earlier."