Nekima Levy Armstrong — described as an organizer of a disruption inside a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, staged to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations — may have complicated matters for those involved by publishing names tied to the incident on social media.
Video Armstrong posted Sunday on Facebook shows a group entering a worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul and chanting, “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.”
Armstrong, who leads the grassroots civil rights organization Racial Justice Network, according to ABC News, included a caption describing the demonstration and identifying a church leader connected to federal immigration enforcement.
In her post, she wrote: “Friends, Here is a clip of our demonstration this morning at Cities Church in St. Paul. David Easterwood is a Pastor at this church and the Acting Field Director for the ICE office in St. Paul. It’s time for judgment to begin, and it will begin in the House of God!!!”
She also thanked several people by name, writing: “Thank you to all of the activists who showed up + independent journalists Georgia Fort, Don Lemon, DawokeFarmer2, Brixton Hughes. Special thanks to Monique Cullars Doty, Chauntyll Allen, Satara Strong-Allen for co-organizing this mission from Black Lives Matter Minnesota & Black Lives Matter Twin Cities Metro, along with Racial Justice Network.”
ABC News reported that the assistant pastor Armstrong referenced, David Easterwood, was not overseeing Sunday’s worship service and that it was not even clear whether he was present at the church during the incident.
During the disruption, Cities Church pastor Jonathan Parnell told former CNN host Don Lemon that the conduct was “shameful.”
“This is unacceptable… It’s shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship,” he said.
Lemon responded by pointing to constitutional protections: “There’s a Constitution with freedom of speech and freedom to assemble in protest.”
Parnell pushed back, saying the service was centered on religious worship: “We’re here to worship Jesus, because that’s the hope of these cities, that’s the hope of the world, is Jesus Christ,” he said.
The clash quickly escalated beyond the church walls, drawing a response from the White House and senior Justice Department officials.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday: “President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship. The Department of Justice has launched a full investigation into the despicable incident that took place earlier today at a church in Minnesota.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi added: “I just spoke to the Pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.”
On Monday, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said in an interview with conservative podcast host Benny Johnson that federal authorities intend to bring charges.
“We will pursue charges in this case,” she said. “Exactly what they are, I’m not going to flag, but the FACE Act has been mentioned as one of the predicates there.”
Dhillon referenced the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, noting it also covers interference with religious worship. The law makes it a crime to “intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
She also cited the Ku Klux Klan Act, describing it as a statute that makes it illegal “to terrorize and violate the civil rights of citizens.”
“Everyone in the protest community needs to know that the fullest force of the federal government is going to come down and prevent this from happening and put people away for a long time,” she concluded.
With an investigation now underway and potential federal charges being discussed publicly, the social media trail — including posts that identify participants by name — may become part of the story prosecutors and investigators examine next.
