A liberal activist who helped organize the disruptive storming of a Minnesota ICE church protests raked in more than $1 million in compensation from a tax-exempt anti-poverty nonprofit, according to financial records, as federal immigration enforcement ramps up across the state. The Minneapolis ICE protest organizer, Nekima Levy Armstrong, has been identified as a central figure behind the protest that targeted a house of worship amid heightened Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Minnesota.
Nekima Armstrong, who describes herself on her personal website as a civil rights attorney and “scholar-activist,” played a key role in organizing the Minnesota ICE church protest that erupted inside Cities Church in St. Paul on Sunday. In the days leading up to the disruption, she claimed in a Facebook post that one of the church’s pastors held a leadership role within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an allegation that circulated widely among activists before demonstrators entered the Minneapolis sanctuary mid-service.
Nekima Levy Armstrong is a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney, activist and ordained minister. On Sunday, she helped lead a protest at a Saint Paul church, where one of the pastors also leads a local ICE field office in the Twin Cities area.
“I believe that if someone… pic.twitter.com/SdI2PoOkfl
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) January 21, 2026
Beyond her activism, Nekima Armstrong has business interests outside the nonprofit sector. She is currently the founder and chief executive of a cannabis company called Dope Roots, while previously serving as executive director of the Wayfinder Foundation for at least six years, from 2019 through 2024, according to the organization’s tax filings, according to a Fox News report. During that period, the nonprofit paid Armstrong substantial compensation while she remained heavily involved in organizing Minnesota ICE protests and political activity across the state.
Financial disclosures reveal a striking imbalance between executive compensation and charitable giving. In 2024, despite the foundation’s stated mission of funding anti-poverty community initiatives, the Wayfinder Foundation awarded just $158,811 in grants. That same year, Armstrong received a salary of $215,726, along with an additional $40,548 in health benefits, benefit plan contributions, and deferred compensation. In 2023, the nonprofit distributed $133,698 in grants, while Nekima Armstrong collected a $170,726 salary plus $44,300 in other compensation. The pattern held in 2022 as well, when the organization awarded $161,325 in grants and Armstrong received $175,000 in salary alongside an estimated $33,126 in additional compensation.
Taken together, filings from 2019 through 2024 show that Armstrong earned approximately $936,395 in salary as executive director of the Wayfinder Foundation, plus roughly $201,313 in health benefits and other compensation, bringing her total take to well over $1.1 million. Over that same six-year span, the foundation disbursed about $700,052 in grants, even as it reported roughly $5.24 million in total revenue.
Don Lemon interviews a black woman who led an assault on a church full of mostly white Christians in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Friday.
This activist, Nekima Levy Armstrong, is vile and Lemon is gross for promoting her instead of alerting police of her attack.
(donlemon on TT) pic.twitter.com/1HhxMPokpF
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) January 18, 2026
The nonprofit’s funding sources further highlight its reach. Financial filings show the Wayfinder Foundation counted the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation among its donors. In a 2023 tax filing, the group reported a $20,000 contribution to Wayfinder designated for activities described as educating and supporting Black communities. The foundation also received substantial backing from the Walton Family Foundation, the philanthropic arm associated with the family behind Walmart’s founding. Between 2018 and 2024, the Walton Family Foundation donated approximately $2.34 million to Wayfinder, making it one of the nonprofit’s most significant financial supporters.
Although the Wayfinder Foundation’s website is now offline, archived versions reviewed after its removal provide insight into how the organization described its mission. Promotional materials stated that its signature Community Activist Fellowship program was designed to channel resources toward specific groups, saying it “intentionally invest[s] in Black women and Latina activists, organizers, and change agents who are using their social, political, and financial capital to challenge the status quo and to disrupt business-as-usual within systems that perpetuate oppression.”
In a direct appeal to potential donors published on the former website, Nekima Armstrong framed the organization’s work as a vehicle for systemic disruption rather than traditional charity. “Where others see deficiencies, lack, and want, Wayfinder sees opportunity for little revolutions that place demands on power and change systems for the better,” the Minnesota ICE protester wrote. “We get there by investing directly in the most basic unit of change in a child’s life, their mother.”
The financial revelations come as Armstrong faces growing scrutiny for her role in the church storming, where demonstrators confronted congregants and disrupted worship to protest ICE operations in the Twin Cities. The incident prompted condemnation from faith leaders and triggered a federal civil rights review, with authorities stressing that targeting a religious service raises serious legal concerns regardless of political motive.
Nekima Armstrong’s past public statements have also drawn renewed attention. In a social media post dated September 26, she praised Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, who was convicted in 1977 for the murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster before later fleeing to Cuba. Armstrong described Shakur as “a brave, wise, powerful, and revolutionary Black woman,” language critics say underscores the ideological views of the activist now linked to the Minnesota ICE church protest.
The incident has become a flashpoint in the broader battle over immigration enforcement in Minnesota. As federal authorities continue reviewing the church disruption and ICE operations press forward, the protest — and the money, messaging, and mission behind its organizer — continues to draw national attention.
