Federal agents make 3 arrests in connection with anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church

Federal authorities arrested three individuals Jan. 22 in connection with an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a Sunday church service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, Jan. 18.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on X that FBI agents and officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, a protestor who “allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack” at the church.

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

In subsequent X posts, Bondi said agents also arrested Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said both Allen and Kelly were arrested for their involvement in the St. Paul protest. 

According to Noem, Armstrong is being charged under 18 U.S. Code 241, the “conspiracy against rights,” which makes it a crime to conspire “to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate” individuals in the free exercise of their constitutional rights, including the right to religious worship.

Kelly and Allen face the same charge, Noem added in other X posts.

As CatholicVote previously reported, the protestors — who entered Cities Church chanting and disrupting prayer — alleged that one of the church’s pastors had ties to ICE. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon joined the protesters and livestreamed the incident. The Department of Justice later launched a civil rights investigation into the protest and placed Lemon “on notice.”

President Donald Trump in a Jan. 20 Truth Social post called for prosecution, accusing the protestors of being “agitators and insurrectionists” who are “highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics.” 

“They are troublemakers who should be thrown in jail,” he added, “or thrown out of the Country.”

In a Jan. 20 statement, Cities Church said the protestors “jarringly disrupted” their service, intimidated congregants, and frightened children, CatholicVote reported. Invading a church during an act of worship, they said, is “shameful, unlawful, and will not be tolerated.”