Attorney General Pam Bondi announces more charges in anti-ICE church protest

Louis Krauss, Star Tribune on Feb 27, 2026

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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced charges against 30 more people involved in an anti-ICE demonstration at a St. Paul church last month.

“At my direction, federal agents have already arrested 25 of them, with more to come throughout the day,” Bondi said on social media. “YOU CANNOT ATTACK A HOUSE OF WORSHIP. If you do so, you cannot hide from us — we will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you."

The case relates to a demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul, where on Jan. 18 protesters disrupted a church service after determining one of the pastors, David Easterwood, is the acting director of the local ICE field office.

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon, Minneapolis civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, independent journalist Georgia Fort and others were charged in the incident. The defendants were accused of crimes of conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and violating the FACE Act, which typically protects houses of worship.

According to an indictment filed Thursday and unsealed Friday, Nekima Levy-Armstrong and three others organized the protest, which they called “Operation Pullup,” and promoted it on Instagram and Facebook. They allegedly met at a shopping center for a “pre-operation briefing,” and provided instruction on how it would commence.

“Once at the church, all of the defendants entered the Church to conduct a takeover-style attack and engaged in various acts in furtherance of the conspiracy.”

Doug Wardlow, an attorney for the church, said in a statement following the mass indictments: “Houses of worship are off limits for those who would use chaos and intimidation to advance a political agenda. The invasion of Cities Church was a planned, coordinated effort to disrupt a worship service and interfere with religious exercise that placed congregants, including children, in fear for their lives. The First Amendment does not give anyone—regardless of profession, prominence, or politics—license to storm a church and intimidate, threaten, and terrorize families and children worshipping inside."

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