The DOJ is looking into whether protesters broke federal civil rights laws after they disrupted a Sunday service at a St. Paul church where a local ICE official is a pastor. This incident has intensified the political battle over immigration enforcement tactics in Minnesota.
A livestreamed video from Black Lives Matter Minnesota, one of the organizers, shows protesters interrupting the service at Cities Church in St. Paul while chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.” This refers to 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month.
Protesters claimed that David Easterwood, one of the church’s pastors, heads the ICE office in St. Paul. They argue that ICE has used violent tactics and made unlawful arrests. Reports from CBS News and the Associated Press indicate that Easterwood’s personal details match those of the David Easterwood mentioned in court documents as the acting director of the ICE St. Paul office.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ Civil Rights Division, announced that her office is investigating “federal civil rights violations” linked to the protests. She called the disruption “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers,” according to CBS News.
“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,” Dhillon posted on social media.
Attorney General Pam Bondi also expressed her views, stating that the department opened the investigation at her request. She warned that prosecutors would pursue any violations of federal law. CBS News reported that Bondi spoke with the pastor of the targeted church, assuring that the Justice Department would respond with the “full force of federal law.”
Cities Church did not respond to requests for comments on Sunday, and it remains unclear if Easterwood was present during the service. Reports from CBS News noted that Easterwood did not lead the part of the service that was livestreamed.
In a court filing on January 5, Easterwood defended ICE’s tactics in Minnesota, which include changing license plates and using chemical irritants on protesters. He described increased threats and hostility toward federal agents and argued that crowd-control tools can help protect officers from violent attacks. He also claimed he was unaware of any agents “knowingly targeting or retaliating against peaceful protesters or legal observers with less lethal munitions and/or crowd control devices.”
ICE condemned the church disruption, portraying it as part of a larger pattern of harassment against federal officers. “Agitators aren’t just targeting our officers. Now they’re targeting churches, too,” ICE stated in a press release, as reported by CBS News. “They’re moving from hotel to hotel, church to church, searching for federal law enforcement who put their lives on the line to protect Americans.”
Nekima Levy Armstrong, who took part in the protest and leads the Racial Justice Network, called the DOJ’s actions a “sham.” She argued that it distracts from the federal actions in the Twin Cities. “When you consider the federal government unleashing brutal ICE agents on our community and the harm they have caused, it is almost unfathomable to have someone serving as a pastor who supervises these ICE agents,” Armstrong said.
“If people care more about someone disrupting a church service than the atrocities we face in our community, they need to reevaluate their beliefs and their hearts,” she added.
Monique Cullars-Doty, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, stated that organizers acted on the belief that a church leader is involved in directing ICE activities. “If you have someone in a church leading and orchestrating ICE raids, my God, what has the world come to? We can’t just stand by and watch people be misled,” Cullars-Doty said.
