US federal authorities have arrested 30 more individuals in connection with a protest at a Minnesota church in January, bringing the total number of people charged to 39, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday. The demonstration targeted Cities Church in St Paul over its pastor's alleged role as acting field director for the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office.
Bondi stated that 25 of the newly charged individuals have been arrested, with 'more to come'. The arrests follow earlier detention of organisers and journalists, including civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong and independent reporters Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, who maintain they were covering the event.
The protest on 18 January disrupted a church service to highlight Pastor David Easterwood's purported dual role. Demonstrators also sought to draw attention to two fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis: Renee Good and Alex Pretti, which occurred amid intensified immigration enforcement in the area.
'We thought congregants would want to know they have a pastor in their church doubling as the director for the ICE field office in Minnesota,' Levy Armstrong wrote, adding that ICE has been 'terrorising our neighbors, brutalising people, and even murdering people'. The Trump administration condemned the protest, with Bondi posting, 'YOU CANNOT ATTACK A HOUSE OF WORSHIP.'
A congregant has filed a federal lawsuit against those charged, claiming the disruption caused fear and interfered with religious freedom. Independent journalist Brixton Hughes, named among those arrested Friday, reported 'Feds at my door' on Facebook.
