Feds arrest activists involved in St. Paul church disruption

Sarah Nelson, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan 22, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — FBI and Homeland Security agents arrested Minneapolis civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong and St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Louisa Allen in connection with the disruption of a church service on Jan. 18.

A third arrest of a protester involved was announced later Jan. 22.

Attorney General Pam Bondi in a post on X said Armstrong played a “key role in organizing” the interruption at Cities Church in St. Paul on Sunday by activists who determined one of the pastors is the acting director of the local ICE field office. FBI Director Kash Patel said Armstrong and Allen’s arrests are tied to a violation of the federal FACE Act.

“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” Bondi said.

The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to Armstrong and Allen, who joined the St. Paul Public School Board in 2020, for comment. Both were arrested at the Aloft Hotel in downtown Minneapolis where they were staying, according to a source.

The Trump administration swiftly promised to investigate the church ambush after cellphone video showed the activists entering the church on Jan. 18 chanting “justice for Renee Good” upon discovering one of the congregation’s pastors David Easterwood, who was not leading the service, helmed the ICE field office. Pastor Jonathan Parnell, who was leading the service, was confronted by the group and can be heard telling the activists “shame on you.”

Also listed among the defendants in Levy Armstrong’s case is former CNN host Don Lemon. . But a federal magistrate judge rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to bring charges against Lemon, who noted he was there as a journalist covering the event, CNN reported Thursday morning.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest of protester William Kelly just after noon Jan. 22.

Armstrong told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan. 21 that she became aware of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s comments about arresting activists through her comments made Tuesday on Newsmax.

“She said within hours there would be arrests,” Levy said. “I don’t know all the people who participated in the process. For those that I’m aware of, I reached out to check in with them and give them that heads up. And no one has contacted me to say that they have been arrested,” she said.

Erica Wacker, a spokesperson for St. Paul Public Schools, said the district is aware of Allen’s arrest and is “following all applicable policies and procedures.” She declined to comment further, stating the district does not comment on pending legal cases.

Armstrong said proving activists violated the FACE Act “will be very difficult to prove because we are people of faith calling out other people of the same faith for an injustice.”

According to the Justice Department, the federal FACE Act “prohibits the use or threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services or to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”

Leaders at Cities Church previously told the Star Tribune they are contemplating legal action in the wake of the disruption. In its statement, the church referred to the matter as “shameful, unlawful and will not be tolerated. Invading a church service to disrupt the worship of Jesus — or any other act of worship — is protected by neither the Christian Scriptures nor the laws of this nation.”

Armstrong said Sunday’s act was a nonviolent protest “raising valid and truthful concerns about their conduct and the harm that they’re doing.” She said the protest “started out as a dialogue with me and the pastor, but the moment I mentioned Dave Easterwood, he tried to shut me down and say, ‘Shame.’”

“You should be ashamed not telling your congregation that this man is a director for ICE,” she said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Facebook called the arrests a “gross abuse of power.”

“The federal government is picking and choosing who to investigate – going after protestors and not the person who shot and killed one of our neighbors. I am calling for Nekima to be released immediately," he said.

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