Nekima Levy-Armstrong, a longtime Minneapolis civil rights activist and lawyer, and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, a St. Paul School Board member, have been arrested for their role in a protest against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown at Cities Church in St. Paul.
“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi attorney wrote on X Thursday, announcing the arrests.
The demonstrators were there Sunday because the pastor, David Easterwood, is an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Easterwood, who is a named defendant in a class action lawsuit filed by ACLU of Minnesota seeking redress for ICE’s aggressive tactics, was not leading the service that day.
Armstrong and the protesters sough to point out the contradiction between working for ICE and preaching the Christian Gospel.
“You cannot lead a congregation while directing an agency whose actions have cost lives and inflicted fear in our communities,” she said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. “When officials protect armed agents, repeatedly refuse meaningful investigation into killings like Renée Good’s, and signal they may pursue peaceful protesters and journalists, that is not justice — it is intimidation.”
Gov. Tim Walz has said he doesn’t support protesting in houses of worship: “The governor has repeatedly and unequivocally urged protesters to do so peacefully,” Walz’s office said in a statement to Fox News. “While people have a right to speak out, he in no way supports interrupting a place of worship.”
The Star Tribune reported that the church is considering legal action.
The White House admitted it digitally altered an image of Levy-Armstrong to show her crying as she was being detained by a federal officer. Her skin tone also appears to have been darkened in the image. When the White House was asked by news outlets about the doctoring, Kaelan Dorr, deputy communications director, wrote on X, “Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.”
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