Former CNN host Don Lemon was present during the disruption and stated he was attending “not as an activist, but as a journalist.”
Editor's note: A previous version of this story said that the Cities Church was in Minneapolis. This has been corrected.
BREAKING UPDATE: The US Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the disruption of a St Paul church service, citing potential violations of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
The FACE Act makes it a federal crime to use force, threats, or obstruction to interfere with individuals exercising their right to religious worship, including entering or participating in services at houses of worship.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon confirmed the probe in a post on X, writing:
“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.”
She tagged Attorney General Pam Bondi in the post.
https://twitter.com/aagdhillon/status/2013003168179724426
Original story follows:
Anti-ICE protest disrupted a Sunday church service in St Paul after a group of activists entered a congregation and forced worship to stop, according to footage shared online.
The incident occurred at Cities Church, a Southern Baptist Convention congregation, where protesters stormed into the sanctuary chanting anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement slogans. The group alleged that one of the church’s lead pastors was affiliated with ICE, a claim the protesters repeated while interrupting the service.
Video from inside the church shows congregants visibly shaken with the service ultimately being shut down. It is unclear how the protesters obtained the information that led them to target the church.
The shutdown of the church worship service in was co-organized by BLM activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, reports The Post Millennial's Andy Ngo. Levy Armstrong used to be the president of the NAACP in Minneapolis.
https://twitter.com/mrandyngo/status/2013035331826659797
Former CNN host Don Lemon was present during the disruption and stated he was attending “not as an activist, but as a journalist” to document the event.
https://twitter.com/GoldenAgeTimes2/status/2012979737279217959
"This is the beginning of what's going to happen here," Lemon says on his stream, rationalizing the disruption. "When you violate people's due process, when you pull people off the street, and you start dragging them and hurting them and not abiding by the Constitution, when you start doing all of that, people get upset and angry. And if you remember what the Civil Rights Movement was about, the Civil Rights Movement was about these very kinds of protests.
"And for some reason, in our modern era, people think that in order to have protests, you've got to be cordoned off to a certain area, and what time you can protest. There's nothing in the Constitution that tells you what time you can protest. You can protest at any time.
"That's the whole point of it, is to disrupt, is to make uncomfortable. And that's what they're doing. And that's what I believe when I say everyone has to be willing to sacrifice something. You have to make people uncomfortable in these times. If you see how uncomfortable people, uncomfortably and how harsh people are being treated on the streets, you have to be willing to go into places and disrupt and make people uncomfortable."
Protesters were heard on video chanting Renee Good's name.
Protests come after the January 7 shooting of Good in Minneapolis during an ICE operation. ICE agents were conducting targeted enforcement actions when a group began blocking officers from clearing the roadway. Video footage shows an agent positioned in front of Good’s vehicle as she accelerated forward, striking the officer. The agent then fired his weapon.
After the shooting, Good’s vehicle continued down the street before crashing into a parked car. Multiple angles of the incident circulated online, and the shooting remains under investigation.
Democratic fundraiser groups have capitalized on fundraising off the fatal shooting of Good, calling for ICE agents to be arrested and prosecuted, while planning to erect billboards threatening federal officers.
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
Text messages have circulated from Hollywood Democrats urging supporters to donate money to fund billboards reading, “ICE AGENTS: BREAK STATE LAW. GO TO JAIL.” The messages direct recipients to donate through ActBlue, the primary payment processor used by Democrat camps and progressive organizations.
Last night in Minneapolis, protests escalated after Jake Lang, an anti-Islam activist, was attacked and assaulted by left-wing agitators. Lang, who was also pardoned from his criminal activities on January 6, was in Minnesota for his "March Against Fraud" event and was met with violent pushback.
Photos and videos showed blood on Lang after he was dragged from a ledge and then beaten by a mob of left-wing agitators in Minneapolis. Lang then attempted to get away from the scene in a red sedan. Video posted to X showed the left-wing protesters trying to attack him as he entered the car.
About 1,500 active-duty service members are on standby for a potential deployment to Minnesota as protests continue over the federal government’s efforts to arrest illegal immigrants.
The Washington Post reported that Defense Department officials said a deployment remains on the table if unrest worsens. The troops come from two battalions assigned to the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, which is headquartered in Alaska. The units have been placed under prepare-to-deploy orders amid concerns that violence in Minnesota could escalate.
The White House said in a statement that it is routine for the Pentagon “to be prepared for any decision the President may or may not make.”
President Donald Trump has previously said he is weighing whether to invoke the Insurrection Act, a federal statute that allows the president to federalize a state’s National Guard or deploy active-duty forces domestically in response to a “rebellion.” The law was most recently used in 1992, when President George HW Bush sent troops to Los Angeles during the riots that followed the Rodney King verdict.
On Thursday, Trump warned that he would use the law if activists continue attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Kevin Posobiec, reporting on the scene for Human Events, stated: "we're downtown St. Paul right now, just out front of the church where anti-ICE protesters disrupted a church service saying that the pastor was pro-ICE and therefore they needed to disrupt the Sunday church service down here.
"And what do you know, Don Lemon coincidentally seemed to be there too, recording this about an hour ago here. It’s all cleared out right now, but really this is a larger pattern we're seeing here.
"People continuing to disrupt churches. This is a Christian church. I mean, obviously we've seen fires being lit in historic churches nationwide and worldwide, honestly.
"We have recent reports from Pope Leo calling for Christian unity around the world. It just so happens this is unacceptable. I hate to see it, but for the time being, it seems like they just conducted this little protest, I guess mostly peaceful.
"I don't even know anymore, but this has got to stop. This has to stop."