Several people were arrested for protesting at a St. Paul church. Here’s what we know
By Taylor Romine, CNN
(CNN) — Two of the three people facing federal charges after denouncing federal immigration agents in a protest at a St. Paul church on Sunday have been released from custody, their attorneys told CNN.
Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and former NAACP leader, and community organizer Chauntyll Louisa Allen were freed Friday, following “aggressive attempts” by federal prosecutors to delay their release, the NAACP said in a news release.
“We stood in protest because families are being torn apart, communities terrorized, and constitutional rights trampled. And we will not be intimidated into silence,” Levy Armstrong said in a statement shared by the NAACP.
The two women and another protester, William Kelly, were charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and taken into custody Thursday, according to the Department of Homeland Security, after they and several others disrupted a Sunday service with chants denouncing Immigration and Customs Enforcement over a pastor’s apparent role at the agency.
The charges are based on accusations the protesters prevented churchgoers from engaging in religious worship, Levy Armstrong’s attorney Jordan Kushner said.
The arrests come as federal agents continue intense immigration enforcement, an incursion repeatedly criticized by state and local officials as unwanted, especially after the death of Renee Good. Despite Thursday’s arrests, people remained out in the streets protesting the Trump administration’s crackdown on the region.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey denounced the arrest of one of the protesters, calling it “a gross abuse of power,” while the White House celebrated — and also posted an altered photo of one of the protesters who was arrested.
Here is what we know about the arrests of the protesters:
What the protest was about
On Sunday, a group of people entered Cities Church in St. Paul during a service. Protesters characterized it as peaceful, while prosecutors described parishioners as being scared and injuring themselves to get out of the church.
An affidavit unsealed Friday afternoon gave new details on the government’s account. On Sunday morning, protesters gathered at a shopping center parking lot to discuss their protest before heading to the church, according to an affidavit. The meeting and portions of the protest were recorded by someone, the affidavit said, but their name was redacted.
Levy Armstrong said the protest was called “Operation Pullup” and described it as a “clandestine” operation, the affidavit said. The meeting beforehand was led by her and Allen, according to the affidavit.
Protesters then got in their cars, drove to and entered Cities Church, the affidavit said. The camera that was recording didn’t enter the church, but a person whose name was redacted brought in audio equipment that made it possible to hear inside the church, the affidavit said. One of the protesters interrupted the service “approximately one minute and forty-seven seconds after (they) entered Cities Church,” according to the affidavit.
Protesters sat in the church and listened to the pastor preach, Levy Armstrong told CNN’s Erin Burnett. She was one of the people arrested Thursday and is also an ordained Christian clergywoman.
After the pastor finished praying, Levy Armstrong rose and repeated one of his statements, saying, “You just prayed that God would chasten you and help you get your house in order,” she told CNN in another interview. “And he said, ‘Correct.’ I felt that was an invitation for dialogue.”
She said she asked him about David Easterwood, who is listed as a pastor at the church and appears to be the same David Easterwood who is a top ICE official in the Twin Cities.
Easterwood was recently named as a defendant in a case brought by protesters who allege immigration agents violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights. A DHS spokesperson declined to say whether Easterwood was employed with ICE, saying, “DHS will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.”
When Levy Armstrong mentioned Easterwood’s name, she said the pastor started saying, “Shame, shame.”
“And that is when I led us in chants: ‘Justice for Renee Good’ and ‘Hands up, don’t shoot,’” she said.
Video of the protest obtained by CNN shows people in the church sitting down as one person’s voice can be heard yelling. A man’s voice is heard saying, “You are interfering,” and people started to get up from their seats and chant, “Justice for Renee Good.” Another video obtained by CNN shows protesters chanting “ICE out.”
The affidavit described parishioners as scared and trying to leave. Several people tried to leave the church and fell on their way out, including one person who broke their arm, the affidavit said. Several of the parishioners investigators spoke to described the protest as frightening, as they didn’t know what was going on and couldn’t get their children out of the day care center downstairs, the affidavit said.
After officers responded to multiple calls reporting up to 40 protesters in the church, the protesters then moved outside, St. Paul police spokesperson Nikki Muehlhausen told CNN Monday. The incident is actively being investigated as disorderly conduct, she added.
Cities Church said in a statement Tuesday it is considering its legal options after “a group of agitators jarringly disrupted our worship gathering” in an act which is “protected by neither the Christian Scriptures nor the laws of this nation.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, posted on X within hours of the incident and said her office was investigating. She said the protesters were “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”
Who were the people charged?
So far, three people have been charged related to Sunday’s protest: Levy Armstrong, Allen and William Kelly, but more arrests could be coming.
All three people were charged with conspiracy to deprive rights, according to arrest warrants unsealed Friday.
Prosecutors tried to charge the protesters with a FACE Act offense, but a magistrate judge eliminated the charge because there was no probable cause for it, according to court records. The judge did not elaborate on his reasoning for why he found a lack of probable cause in striking the charge.
It does not appear Levy Armstrong, Allen or Kelly entered a plea during court hearings Thursday or Friday.
Levy Armstrong’s attorney, Kushner, said after court Thursday the case against his client is “political” and “is not a legitimate prosecution.”
James Cook, an attorney for Allen and Kelly, told CNN he believes his clients were charged because they are outspoken critics of the Trump administration.
“We’re talking about, basically, what amounts to a peaceful protest in the church,” Cook said.
Kelly, who described himself as a combat infantry veteran during a news conference Tuesday, defended the protest as fighting for communities impacted by ICE enforcement. Despite the “hundreds and hundreds of death threats” he’s gotten, he said he would “continue my mission to stand for the republic, to stand for the constitution and to stand for humanity.”
Before Sunday’s protest, Levy Armstrong was already well-known in the Twin Cities for her work as a civil rights attorney, activist, and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP chapter. She gained notoriety for helping to lead protests in the cities following the police killings of Black men, including George Floyd, CNN affiliate KARE reported.
Allen is also an active part of the community as a member of the St. Paul School Board, where her biography describes her as a youth advocate and educator. She ran for city council in St. Paul last year, where her priorities included community safety, economic stability and creating more housing.
What laws do federal prosecutors say they broke?
Court documents unsealed Friday show the three protesters are charged with conspiracy against rights.
The charge “makes it unlawful for two or more persons to agree to injure, threaten, or intimidate a person” for exercising any rights secured under the Constitution or laws in the United States, according to the Department of Justice. It’s a felony charge, punishable with up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Prosecutors also tried to charge the protesters with another violation under the FACE Act, which Dhillon previously said her office was looking into charges using the federal statute.
Enacted in 1994, the federal FACE Act prohibits “the use of force or threat of force or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, or interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
The Department of Justice has filed more than 15 FACE Act actions in at least a dozen states as of 2024, including a lawsuit against demonstrators who “targeted” a synagogue in New Jersey during a protest that turned violent.
While a magistrate judge eliminated the FACE Act charge for the protesters, prosecutors can also seek an indictment through a grand jury, which would limit a judge’s ability to immediately quash charges brought.
Dhillon also cited the Ku Klux Klan Act as another path for charges. The Civil War-era KKK Act was passed in 1871 to further protect the rights listed in the Fourteenth Amendment, which had been ratified three years earlier. The act made it a federal crime to deny any group or person “any of the rights, privileges, or immunities, or protection, named in the Constitution.”
The federal statute is rarely used, but it has been cited in lawsuits against the Trump administration and other complaints in recent years.
Protester describes trying to turn herself in
In the days before she was arrested, Levy Armstrong realized she was being surveilled by federal agents, she told CNN’s Erin Burnett Friday.
Her attorney reached out to the US Marshals office to see if there was an arrest warrant for her and was told there was not. The US Attorney’s office did not share any information on whether there was a plan for an arrest, she said.
Because of that, she decided to stay in a hotel downtown so she could be close to the courthouse and make it easier to turn herself in. While she was staying there, her friend left the room, where a federal agent ended up grabbing her, she said.
“An FBI agent stormed out of the room across the hall from me and chased her and slammed her to the ground,” Levy Armstrong said, adding she believes the agent thought it was her. Her attorney then tried to arrange for her to turn herself in, but federal prosecutors would not allow it, she said. CNN has reached out to the US Attorney’s Office for Minnesota about the allegations.
“They treated this as if I was a fugitive on the run, that I had committed murder. And they’re doing all this, putting all these resources into tracking down one Black woman when they will put zero resources into holding Jonathan Ross accountable,” she said, referring to the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good.
After she was arrested, the White House posted a fake image of Levy Armstrong from her arrest on X, which made it look like she was crying as she was being detained. A photo posted by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem earlier in the day shows the original image, where Levy Armstrong has a serious, closed-mouth expression and no tears.
When CNN asked the White House via email whether it had posted an altered photo, its press team responded with a link to an X post from spokesperson Kaelan Dorr in which he implicitly confirmed the White House had done so. Dorr wrote, “Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Kushner, said she was “completely calm and composed” at the time of her arrest.
“This is outrageous defamation, and it just shows the racism and fascism of this administration, that they’re willing to literally invent reality to serve their narrative,” Kushner said.
More charges could still come
While three people have been charged so far, there were more protesters inside the church.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who announced the three arrests in posts on X, hasn’t indicated whether other protesters will be charged, but acting ICE director Todd Lyons promised Thursday more charges were coming.
“President Trump made it clear that under his administration, these anarchists, these domestic terrorists, won’t disrupt law and order, and especially won’t disrupt a house of worship,” Lyons told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.
Several names of people who allegedly participated in the protest were redacted from court documents unsealed Friday.
While it’s not clear if others will be charged, journalist Don Lemon appears to be a focus in the case.
A federal magistrate judge rejected the Justice Department’s initial attempt to bring charges against Lemon for appearing alongside protesters who breached a Minnesota church over the weekend, a source told CNN.
“The Attorney General is enraged at the magistrate judge’s decision,” a person familiar with the matter said. Bondi has been on the ground in Minnesota for two days meeting with federal prosecutors from the state.
Lemon, a former CNN host who now makes content independently, was with the protesters at Cities Church when they interrupted the service but said he was there as a journalist.
In a video of the episode he posted on YouTube, Lemon says, “I’m just here photographing. I’m not part of the group … I’m a journalist.” CNN has reached out to representatives for Lemon.
While there are no charges filed against Lemon, it is possible the Department of Justice could try to once again bring charges.
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CNN’s Andy Rose, Elise Hammond, Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, Julia Vargas Jones, Sarah Moon and Karina Tsui contributed to this report
