Faith leaders call for protection of worshippers after Minnesota church protest
Protesters interrupted a St. Paul Southern Baptist service, confronting an ICE-affiliated pastor; faith leaders, DOJ and officials responded amid divided views over immigration enforcement policy.
Overview
About three dozen protesters, including activists from Racial Justice Network and Black Lives Matter Minnesota, entered Cities Church during Sunday service and chanted "ICE out" and "Renee Good".
Protesters targeted the church because one pastor, David Easterwood, is identified as leading the local ICE field office amid heightened federal immigration operations in Minnesota.
Southern Baptist leaders condemned the interruption as traumatic and unlawful while other Christian voices expressed conflicted views balancing sanctuary for migrants with respect for worship spaces.
The U.S. Department of Justice opened a civil rights probe and its civil rights chief cited possible violations of the 1994 FACE Act protecting access to religious worship.
The incident intensified tensions in the Twin Cities over immigration enforcement, prompting calls for improved church security and legal appeals over protesters' and federal officers' conduct.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the incident as primarily an attack on religious liberty and community safety, foregrounding institutional condemnation and legal response while downplaying protest rationale. Examples include a lede stressing protection of worshippers’ rights, repeated clerical and DOJ/White House statements, and only brief activist attribution (a Facebook post and chant description).
Sources (3)
FAQ
David Easterwood is a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul and the acting director of the ICE St. Paul field office, overseeing local immigration enforcement operations.
Protesters from groups like Black Lives Matter Minnesota interrupted the service chanting 'ICE out' and 'Justice for Renee Good' to target Pastor David Easterwood for his ICE leadership amid a surge in federal immigration operations, including the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent.[1]
The DOJ opened a civil rights investigation into the protesters for potentially violating the 1994 FACE Act by interfering with religious worship, as stated by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.[1]
Southern Baptist leaders, including Kevin Ezell and Miles Mullin, condemned the disruption as unlawful harassment and desecration of a sacred space, while some activists like Reverend Armstrong defended it citing community harms from ICE actions.
Tensions have escalated due to a surge in ICE operations involving over 2,000 federal officers against community activists, with debates between Trump Administration enforcement and local blame, amid divided Christian views on immigration.
History
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