A Minnesota churchgoer is speaking out after what he alleges are continued anti-United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests disrupting church services.
Caleb Phillips, who regularly attends Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., told Fox News that protesters have attempted to interrupt Sunday services over the past two weeks. However, police officers have prevented them from entering the church and creating further disruption. Those incidents follow the Jan. 18 disruption that led to several arrests, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon.
“It says in scripture that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but is against the spirit, the evil spiritual forces of the world,” Phillips said. “And I think that this is a situation where that is very much true.”
Phillips told Fox News that protesters have also heckled his girlfriend, who is Asian, and directed racist comments toward her. One agitator accused her of “hanging out with Nazis,” even as Phillips and his partner tried to pray with those who interrupted the service.
Shocking footage from Cities Church in Minneapolis this morning (an SBC church) where an anti-ICE mob stormed the service and disrupted their worship, alleging one of the church’s lead pastors is an ICE agent. pic.twitter.com/hS2FhzrFc4
— Center for Baptist Leadership (@BaptistLeaders) January 18, 2026
“What is happening right now [is] not about that woman who is shouting those terrible things at my wonderful, lovely girlfriend,” the 21-year-old Phillips said. “It is about something deeper.”
The Jan. 18 incident went viral after protesters stormed Cities Church and began screaming at the pastor, whom they accused of working with ICE. Lemon, who is now an independent journalist, was on the scene and conducted several interviews, including one with a pastor who asked Lemon and the protesters to leave the church.
Federal agents arrested Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy last Friday morning. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the Jan. 18 protest a “coordinated attack.” Lemon told Jimmy Kimmel earlier this week that he had offered to turn himself in, but federal agents declined.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon previously announced that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was investigating the protesters for potentially violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994. The FACE Act prohibits protesters from using force against, obstructing, or attempting to intimidate anyone operating at reproductive health clinics or places of worship.
🚨 BREAKING: Don Lemon indictment has been UNSEALED by the court, officially showing he has been charged with TWO FEDERAL FELONIES for participating in the attack on Cities Church in St. Paul
FAFO, Lemon.
COUNT 1: 18 U.S.C. § 241 – Conspiracy Against Right of Religious Freedom… pic.twitter.com/FXfCOKpUD1
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 30, 2026
Phillips did not specifically discuss Lemon when he spoke with Fox News.
Anti-ICE protests have continued throughout the new year, particularly in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Americans organized a National Shutdown Day last Friday, a movement that called for people to forego working, attending school, and spending money as part of nationwide protests tied to federal immigration policy.
“We’re not going to hate anyone,” Phillips said. “We’re going to love these cities, we’re going to love the people of our church, and we’re going to love those who hate us and pray for those who persecute us.”
