Protesters disrupt St. Paul church service; DOJ opens FACE Act investigation

The disruption prompted condemnation from Christian leaders across denominational lines while exposing divisions among American Christians over immigration enforcement and the limits of protected protest at religious sites.

About three dozen anti-immigration-enforcement protesters entered Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, during Sunday services on Jan. 18, with some walking toward the pulpit and others loudly chanting “ICE out” and “Renee Good” — the name of a woman an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. The service ended prematurely, the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention said.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced it has opened a civil rights investigation into the disruption. Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said her office is investigating “potential violations of the federal FACE Act,” calling the protest “un-American and outrageous.”

One of Cities Church’s pastors, David Easterwood, leads the local ICE field office. The protest was led in part by Nekima Levy Armstrong, a prominent local activist whom the Associated Press also identified as an ordained pastor.

Convention and mission board condemn the disruption

The Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention called the disruption “an unacceptable trauma,” saying the service was “forced to end prematurely” as protesters shouted “insults and accusations at youth, children, and families.”

“I believe we must be resolute in two areas: encouraging our churches to provide compassionate pastoral care to these (migrant) families and standing firm for the sanctity of our houses of worship,” said Trey Turner, who leads the convention, in a statement to the AP. Cities Church belongs to the convention.

Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board — the Southern Baptist organization that employs Jonathan Parnell, the pastor who led the disrupted service — issued a statement condemning the action. “No cause — political or otherwise — justifies the desecration of a sacred space or the intimidation and trauma inflicted on families gathered peacefully in the house of God,” Ezell said. “What occurred was not protest; it was lawless harassment.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned in a social media post that “President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.”

In a statement to the AP, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s spokesperson said that while people have a right to speak out, the governor does not support interrupting a place of worship.

The FACE Act investigation

The 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act prohibits interference with “any person by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship,” according to the law’s text.

Also on Monday, the DOJ notified a federal appeals court that it will appeal a separate ruling barring federal officers in the Minneapolis area from detaining or using tear gas against peaceful protesters not obstructing authorities. That case was filed in December on behalf of six Minnesota activists.

Christians divided on immigration enforcement

Faith leaders drew divergent conclusions from the episode, with several calling for better church security while others expressed conflicted views on the underlying tensions.

Miles Mullin, vice president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said faith leaders can and often have led protests on social issues, but those should never prevent others from worshipping. “This is something that just shouldn’t happen in America,” Mullin said. “For Baptists, our worship services are sacred.”

Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the protesters’ tactics unjustifiable. “For Christians, the precedent of invading a congregation at worship should be unthinkable,” Mohler said. “I think the political left is crossing a threshold.”

Brian Kaylor, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-affiliated minister and leader of the Christian media organization Word&Way, called having an ICE official serve as a pastor “a serious moral failure.” But Kaylor, who has spoken out against the Trump administration’s treatment of immigrants, said he was “very torn” by the protesters’ action inside a church. “It would be very alarming if we come to see this become a widespread tactic across the political spectrum,” he said.

On Facebook, Levy Armstrong wrote about the protest in religious terms: “It’s time for judgment to begin and it will begin in the House of God!!!”

Background: enforcement surge and protests

The recent surge in immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota has involved more than 2,000 federal immigration officers, according to the AP, pitting them against community activists and protesters. The Trump administration and Minnesota officials have traded blame for the heightened tensions.

Cities Church is housed in a Gothic-style, century-old stone building next to a college campus in St. Paul. It had not returned AP requests for comment.

The federal government announced in January 2025 that immigration agencies could make arrests in churches, schools, and hospitals, ending the previous protection of sensitive spaces. No immigration raids during church services have been reported, but some churches have posted notices on their doors barring federal immigration officers, and others have reported drops in attendance during enforcement surges.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, protesters braved temperatures that dipped below zero to rally in St. Paul. Dozens also staged a brief sit-in at a Target store in St. Paul, demanding the retailer bar entry to federal agents. Target, headquartered in Minneapolis, has faced criticism from activists after a video showed federal agents detaining two employees at a store in Richfield, Minnesota.