Two individuals connected to the intrusion of a Minnesota church, where a pastor is purportedly linked to ICE, have been detained.
On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed that Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen were arrested.
The two women are charged with participating in the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest that took place at Cities Church in St. Paul on Monday.
The event also saw the presence of former CNN journalist Don Lemon, who justified his participation by citing his ‘First Amendment right’ to enter the religious venue.
Bondi stated that Armstrong, a leader of one of the organizing groups, is accused of playing a significant role in orchestrating what she described as a coordinated assault on the church.
Armstrong was observed talking with Lemon during the protest, where she criticized the church for allegedly ‘harboring’ ICE agent and pastor David Easterwood.
‘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,’ she said.
Protesters targeted the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, also serves as the acting director of the St Paul ICE field office.
Nekima Levy Armstrong (pictured) was among those at the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) church protest in St Paul earlier this week
Chauntyll Louisa Allen (pictured) was also taken into custody on Thursday, AG Bondi said
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday that Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen had been taken into custody over the protest in St Paul, Minnesota
The demonstration was coordinated by groups including Racial Justice Network, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and Black Lives Matter Twin Cities.
Armstrong leads Racial Justice Network, a local grassroots civil rights organization.
Easterwood did not lead the part of the service that was livestreamed, and it was unclear if he was present at the church Sunday.
Noem also confirmed Armstrong’s arrest, and shared a photograph of her looking downcast as she was escorted into custody wearing handcuffs.
‘Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States – there is no first amendment right to obstruct someone from practicing their religion,’ Noem wrote on X.
He has made headlines due to his work with ICE in recent months, after he responded to a lawsuit brought by local Minneapolis protester Susan Tincher.
Tincher alleged that she was detained for asking an ICE agent to identify herself, which she says led several agents to pull her to the ground and handcuff her face-down in the snow.
In a January 5 court filing, Easterwood defended ICE’s tactics in Minnesota such as swapping license plates and spraying protesters with chemical irritants.
He wrote that federal agents were experiencing increased threats and aggression and crowd control devices like flash-bang grenades were important to protect against violent attacks.
Easterwood testified that he was unaware of agents ‘knowingly targeting or retaliating against peaceful protesters or legal observers with less lethal munitions and/or crowd control devices.’
Pictured: The clash between protesters and church leaders at the Cities Church on Monday
Pictured: Federal agents detain a man in Minneapolis on Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Don Lemon is seen beaming on the day he joined anti-ICE protesters storming the church
US Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said her agency is investigating federal civil rights violations ‘by these people desecrating a house of worship’
In response to the church demo, US Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said she is investigating alleged violations ‘by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.’
‘A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws!’ she said on social media.
Armstrong, who is also an ordained reverend, dismissed the DOJ investigation as a sham and a distraction from federal agents’ actions in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
‘When you think about the federal government unleashing barbaric ICE agents upon our community and all the harm that they have caused, to have someone serving as a pastor who oversees these ICE agents, is almost unfathomable to me,’ she said.
‘If people are more concerned about someone coming to a church on a Sunday and disrupting business as usual than they are about the atrocities that we are experiencing in our community, then they need to check their theology and the need to check their hearts.’
This is a breaking news story with updates to follow.
