A Sunday morning church service in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota was interrupted by a group of anti-ICE protestors. This is yet another point of escalation between the Trump administration and the citizens of Minnesota and comes shortly after Trump threatened the Insurrection Act if the feud did not subside.
Sunday Morning Church Service
On January 18, 2026, dozens of people rushed into the Cities Church in St. Paul, disrupting the church service and chanting “ICE out!” as the lead pastor and congregants confronted them. Many videos surfaced showing the activists protesting against David Easterwood, who is listed as the church’s pastor and presumably the same David Easterwood who is a top ICE official in the area.
The Saint Paul Police Department received multiple calls regarding the Sunday morning protest and responded to the scene, where they found 40 protestors in the church. Attorney General Pam Bondi took to X to warn those who go against law enforcement, what will happen if state officials refuse to handle it themselves.
“I just spoke to the Pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law,” she wrote. “If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails.”
Pastor ICE Agent
Protestors said they were there to protest Pastor David Easterwood, who was recently named as a defendant in a case where protestors allege immigration agents violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights. “David Easterwood, out now!” they shouted in church before moving it outside and walking down a nearby alley.
According to police spokesperson Nikki Muehlhausen, the incident is being investigated by officials and handled as disorderly conduct. It is unclear if Easterwood was in the church that morning since he was not seen in any of the videos posted by protestors. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also refused to affirm his connection to ICE. “DHS will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers,” they said.
A Federal Investigation
Within hours of the protest, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon promised a federal investigation. She called the protestors’ actions “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.” She cited the FACE Act, a federal law that “prohibits the use or threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to … exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
Dhillon also posted on X, reaffirming that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and AG Pam Bondi “will pursue federal charges in this case.” She clarified that while Minnesota state prosecutors could have arrested individuals, the DOJ had to obtain an arrest warrant from a federal judge.
Local Activist Offers Insight
One of the organizers of the protest at the church, Nekima Levy Armstrong, a former president of the local NAACP chapter, said she could not comprehend how an ICE agent could also be a Pastor. She does not “know how anyone who claims to be Christian could condone his behavior and the dual nature of the roles that he plays,” she told CNN.
“The reality is that it’s unconscionable and unacceptable for someone to claim to serve as a pastor while also being responsible for a lot of what is happening here in our community as a result of thousands of ICE agents descending upon the state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities in particular.”
Armstrong expressed her frustration with the situation, claiming officials should not be more concerned about being doxed than the protestors. She argued that the Trump administration “rolled back protections” for people who attend church by allowing federal agents to infiltrate a protected space. The protest was not against the religious service but against the federal officials abusing their position of power to intimidate and target vulnerable people.
“As a result of the fear and trauma that they have inflicted, people aren’t even going to church on Sundays who are immigrants,” she said. “And yet peaceful protesters who go into a privileged, predominantly White church to help them understand what’s going on are being demonized — that’s unacceptable, it’s unconscionable, and we’re not going to stand for it.”
