A group of anti-ICE demonstrators burst into a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, during a service on Sunday, confronting the pastor and alleging that he was working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Members of the Racial Justice Network pushed their way into Cities Church and publicly confronted resident pastor David Eastwood, accusing him of moonlighting as ICE's acting field office director in Minnesota. While a person named David Eastwood does appear on the field office's employee list, it remains unclear whether that person is the same man who leads the church. The people who disrupted the service shouted familiar chants heard at dozens of other protests that have unsettled Minneapolis.
Chanting Good's Name
Some of the protesters were invoking the name of Renee Nicole Good, a slain anti-ICE activist and mother of three. Others went further, directly accusing Eastwood of betraying the values of his faith by supporting ICE.
"This cannot be a house of God while harboring someone directing ICE agents to wreak havoc on our community. I am a reverend on top of being a lawyer and an activist, so I come here in the power of the almighty God," one protester, Nekima Levy-Armstrong, told ousted CNN host Don Lemon during his livestream.
Eastwood was not present at the Sunday service.
Addressing the congregation, lead pastor Jonathan Parnell condemned the disruption as "shameful" and firmly asked those who were not there to worship to leave the church.
The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the protest at the church, examining whether it violated civil rights laws by potentially interfering with Christian worshippers, according to a post on X.
The Department of Homeland Security also weighed in, reposting one of the videos showing the church disruption on X. "Agitators aren't just targeting our officers. Now they're targeting churches, too. They're going from hotel to hotel, church to church, hunting for federal law enforcement who are risking their lives to protect Americans," DHS wrote.
Crisis Continues
Federal authorities from the Department of Homeland Security and Minnesota's top elected officials — especially Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — have been publicly at odds over the role and presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Twin Cities.
The conflict escalated after Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother, was shot and killed by ICE officer Jonathan Ross during a Jan. 7 protest — an incident federal authorities have described as self-defense.
In the aftermath, the federal government sent additional agents into Minneapolis, though their immigration operations have frequently been disrupted by protesters.
DHS has maintained that ICE "will not be deterred" and has accused Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey of fueling the unrest and then allowing it to spiral out of control.
In response, Frey said in an interview on "60 Minutes Sunday" that ICE was "terrorizing people simply because they are Latino or Somali."
"People in Minneapolis are speaking up. They're speaking up peacefully. They're standing up for their neighbors. And this is not just about resisting Trump. This is about loving and caring for people that call this city home. And it's been inspiring," Frey said.
