MINNEAPOLIS — A prominent civil rights attorney and at least one other person involved in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church have been arrested, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday, just as Vice President JD Vance is set to visit the state.
Bondi announced the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong in a post on X. On Sunday, protesters entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor. Bondi later posted on X that a second person had been arrested.
The Justice Department quickly opened a civil rights investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting "ICE out" and "Justice for Renee Good," referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.
“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP," the attorney general wrote on X.
Cities Church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood, who leads the local ICE field office. Many Baptist churches have pastors who work at least part-time in other jobs.
Vance threatens the protesters with prison terms
Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and prominent local activist, had called for the pastor affiliated with ICE to resign, saying his dual role poses a “fundamental moral conflict.”
“You cannot lead a congregation while directing an agency whose actions have cost lives and inflicted fear in our communities,” she said Tuesday. “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.”
Prominent leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have come to the church's defense, arguing that compassion for migrant families affected by the crackdown cannot justify violating a sacred space during worship.
Vance, speaking in Toledo ahead of his Minnesota visit, said the church protesters scared “little kids.”
“Those people are going to be sent to prison so long as we have the power to do so. We’re going to do everything we can to enforce the law," he said.
A swift civil rights investigation into the protest but not Good's death
A longtime activist in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Levy Armstrong has helped lead local protests after the high-profile police-involved killings of Black Americans, including George Floyd, Philando Castile and Jamar Clark. She is a former president of the NAACP's Minneapolis branch.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a photo on X of Levy Armstrong with her arms behind her back next to a person wearing a badge. Noem said she faces a charge under a statute that bars threatening or intimidating someone exercising a right.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that Chauntyll Louisa Allen, the second person Bondi said was arrested, is charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services or seeking to participate in a service at a house of worship.
It's unclear who Allen's attorney is.
Saint Paul Public Schools, where Allen is a member of the board of education, is aware of her arrest but will not comment on pending legal matters, according to district spokesperson Erica Wacker.
The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church disruption stands in contrast to its decision not to open a civil rights investigation into Good’s killing by an ICE officer. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week there is “no basis” at this time for a civil rights investigation into her death.
Administration officials have said the officer acted in self-defense and that the driver of the Honda was engaging in "an act of domestic terrorism" when she pulled forward toward him. But the decision not to have the department's Civil Rights Division investigate marked a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials.
The Justice Department has separately opened an investigation into whether Minnesota officials impeded or obstructed federal immigration enforcement though their public statements. Prosecutors this week sent subpoenas to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties, according to a person familiar with the matter.
VP visiting Minnesota
Vance, a Republican, is due to arrive amid tense interactions between federal immigration law enforcement authorities and residents, including state and local elected officials who have opposed the crackdown that has become a major focus of Department of Homeland Security sweeps.
His visit comes less than a month after Renee Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7. Vance called Good's death a "tragedy of her own making."
Vance said the “far left” has decided the U.S. shouldn't have a border.
“If you want to turn down the chaos in Minneapolis, stop fighting immigration enforcement and accept that we have to have a border in this country. It’s not that hard," Vance said.
Federal appeals court this week suspended a decision barring federal officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was persuaded to freeze a judge’s ruling that bars retaliation against the public in Minnesota, including detaining people who follow agents in cars. The government is pursuing an appeal.
After the court’s stay, U.S. Border Patrol official Greg Bovino, who has commanded the administration’s big-city immigration campaign, was seen on video repeatedly warning protesters on a snowy Minneapolis street “Gas is coming!” before tossing a canister that released green smoke into the crowd.
Bovino on the ‘current climate’
Bovino, speaking Thursday during a news conference, told reporters undocumented people who are accused of crimes were “walking the streets less than 24 hours a go.”
Bovino urged better cooperation from local and state officials in Minnesota, and blamed an “influx of anarchists” on the contributing to the current anti-ICE climate in the state.
“How much better can we do what we do and how much better this work can be for you ... for the taxpayer?” Bovino asked. “The current climate confronting law enforcement ... is not very favorable right now in Minneapolis.”
The Associated Press emailed and left phone messages for the Minneapolis Police Department requesting its response to Bovino’s comments.
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Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Chris Megerian in Washington and Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, contributed.