Federal Agents Arrest Three Activists Over Anti-ICE Protest at a Minnesota Church

Trump administration officials said Thursday that federal agents arrested three activists over an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest that disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that Homeland Security Investigations and FBI agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who she said helped organize a “coordinated attack on Cities Church.” Bondi said a second person, Chauntyll Louisa Allen, was also arrested.

The White House posted later that a third person, William Kelly, was also arrested. Bondi shared a video earlier of Kelly, known as “DaWokeFarmer” on TikTok, daring Bondi to “arrest” him. The attorney general posted a check mark.

Levy Armstrong is an attorney and the former president of the Minneapolis NAACP. Allen is a member of the St. Paul Board of Education.

On Sunday, protesters interrupted a service at Cities Church and chanted “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.” They called on one of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, who is believed to be the same David Easterwood who leads ICE’s local field office, to resign.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a X post that Levy Armstrong will be charged under a federal law that makes it a crime to conspire to violate someone’s rights. Allen and Kelly are also being charged under the same law.

“There is no First Amendment right to obstruct someone from practicing their religion,” Noem said.

Levy Armstrong has defended the protest.

“We did not rush into that church. We actually went and sat down and participated in the service,” Levy Armstrong said on CNN on Wednesday evening.

“I think the question should be what would lead a church like Cities Church to have someone in a role that presents an inherent conflict of interest as being both a pastor as well as not just an ICE agent, but the director of ICE in Minnesota,” she added.

A federal magistrate judge declined to approve charges against former CNN anchor Don Lemon connected to the same incident, CBS News reported, citing sources familiar with the proceeding. One source told CBS the attorney general was angry about the judge’s decision, while another said prosecutors could still pursue other routes to bring a case.

Lemon appeared alongside the protestors and spoke with the pastor afterward. He said that he was there as a journalist, not as a protester.

A federal magistrate judge did approve complaints involving Levy Armstrong and Allen, CBS News reported.

The arrests come as protests have spread in Minnesota over a deportation surge there and the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Renee Good by an ICE agent earlier this month.

This article has been updated with additional information.