One of the activists who disrupted a church service in Minnesota on Sunday is also accused of repeatedly harassing worshipers outside a Washington, D.C., church attended by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Protesters entered the Cities Church sanctuary in the Twin Cities area, interrupting the service and demanding attention over claims that one of the church’s pastors is the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office. Churchgoers said the group shouted “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good” during the disruption.
A man in the group was identified as William Kelly, who uses the name “DaWokeFarmer” on TikTok. Kelly has more than 66,000 followers and frequently posts politically charged videos criticizing ICE, President Donald Trump, and administration officials, often using profanity.
A member of Christ Church in Washington, D.C., who requested anonymity, said he recognized Kelly immediately and described him as a regular presence outside their services.
“William Kelly is a regular outside our church, he screams incredibly vile and gross things at families, at children at people, he’s called my wife a c—, a whore and a Nazi breeder, all sorts of fun things,” the member said.
The anonymous congregant said Kelly’s identity became widely known among church members after months of “social media sleuthing.” The same individual also said Kelly was arrested by the United States Secret Service in December in an incident that was captured on video, and that Kelly later claimed in a TikTok post that the Secret Service was “moving forward with disorderly conduct charges.” The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Members of Christ Church said they simply want to worship without disruption and view the vulgar shouting as unacceptable.
“It’s been a good education for my children to understand what type of people use these words,” the anonymous member added.
“He probably first showed up in September or October, he’s been off and on since then,” they continued. “Since he was arrested by the Secret Service in early December, he’s been on a road trip, out and about.”
The congregant said Metro PD has helped keep worshipers “physically safe,” but claimed authorities have been unable to prosecute Kelly.
Christ Church associate pastor Joe Rigney said he believes the same person seen in Minnesota has been involved in repeated disruptions in D.C.
“We’ve had regular protests at our D.C. services for the last few months, a combination of paid, professional agitators, as well as people who just show up periodically. We became aware of William Kelly because through that, he was one of the regular protestors each week,” Rigney said.
Rigney described Kelly as one of the most aggressive individuals, alleging he would follow worshipers to their cars, yell at adults and children, and direct profanity-filled insults at families.
“Kelly stood out because he was one of the more aggressive, angry, vile, profane protesters who would follow people to their car, yell at them, yell at children… profanity-laden attacks on normal church members,” Rigney said. “When we saw the video come out of Cities Church in St. Paul, our security team flagged it for me and said, ‘That’s the same guy.’”
Rigney said he does not believe Kelly confronted Hegseth directly, but added that he has previously worked with security staff and law enforcement to identify him.
Justin Overbaugh, the deputy under secretary of War for Intelligence and Security, also alleged the man seen in the Minnesota footage was Kelly.
“Ahhh I see DaWokeFarmer a.k.a William Scott Kelly, is harassing parishioners in MN. We’ve missed him outside @ChristKirkDC stalking us after service,” Overbaugh wrote in response to video posted on X.
“This has been going on for months,” he added. “While MPD provides security, they take no action when the mob uses bullhorns to disrupt services, which is in clear violation of the law.”
Kelly did not immediately respond to a TikTok direct message.
The TikTok account also links to a GoFundMe page identifying him as William Kelly. In the fundraising pitch, he wrote: “Road Trip!! Help me travel the Nation scolding the gestapo for their bad decisions! No rest for demons! Our goal is to encourage people to stand up for what’s right across the nation! Stand up For Humanity.”
The page has raised more than $40,000, according to the post.
Protests against ICE have increased in Minnesota following the fatal shooting of Good by an ICE agent. The Trump administration said Good was attempting to ram the agent with her vehicle when the agent opened fire.
Protesters have alleged that one of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, also leads the local ICE field office responsible for operations they claim involved violent tactics and illegal arrests. Easterwood was in the church during the disruption, according to the report. The Justice Department said it is investigating the incident.
On Monday, Kelly addressed the situation in a TikTok video, describing entering the church with activist Nekima Armstrong and using a string of profane insults to condemn the congregation and the pastor, while also attacking officials by name.
