Several people were arrested for protesting at a St. Paul church. Here’s what we know

By Taylor Romine, CNN

(CNN) — Three people who denounced federal immigration agents in a protest at a St. Paul church on Sunday were arrested on federal charges and kept in custody Wednesday — and more arrests could be coming.

The protesters were charged with conspiracy to deprive rights, according to the Department of Homeland Security, after they and several others disrupted a Sunday service with chants denouncing Immigrations and Custom Enforcement over a pastor’s apparent role at the agency.

“They are trying to turn a peaceful, nonviolent demonstration into a crime,” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, one of the protesters arrested Thursday in an interview the night before her arrest, saying the focus should instead be on “what ICE has done” and their ”extremely brutal” enforcement actions in the campaign across the Twin Cities and Minnesota at large.

“I just don’t understand how this man looks himself in the mirror, and I don’t know how anyone who claims to be Christian could condone his behavior and the dual nature of the roles that he plays,” she said.

The arrests come as federal agents continue intense immigration enforcement, an incursion repeatedly criticized by state and local officials as unwanted, especially after the death of Renee Good. Despite Thursday’s arrests, people remained out in the streets protesting the Trump administration’s crackdown on the region.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey denounced the arrest of one of the protesters, calling it “a gross abuse of power,” while the White House celebrated — and also posted an altered photo of one of the protesters who was arrested.

Here is what we know about the arrests of the protesters:

What the protest was about

On Sunday, a group of people entered Cities Church in St. Paul during a service, where they sat and listened to the pastor preach, Levy Armstrong told CNN’s Erin Burnett. She was one of the people arrested Thursday and is also a Christian reverend.

After the pastor was finished praying, Levy Armstrong rose and repeated one of his statements, saying, “You just prayed that God would chasten you and help you get your house in order,” she told CNN in another interview. “And he said, ‘Correct.’ I felt that was an invitation for dialogue.”

She said she asked him about David Easterwood, who is listed as a pastor at the church and appears to be the same David Easterwood who is a top ICE official in the Twin Cities.

Easterwood was recently named as a defendant in a case brought by protesters who allege immigration agents violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights. A DHS spokesperson declined to say whether Easterwood was employed with ICE, saying “DHS will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.”

When Levy Armstrong mentioned Easterwood’s name, she said the pastor started saying “Shame, shame.”

“And that is when I led us in chants: ‘Justice for Renee Good’ and ‘Hands up, don’t shoot,’” she said.

Video of the protest obtained by CNN shows people in the church sitting down as one person’s voice can be heard yelling. A man’s voice is heard saying “You are interfering,” and people started to get up from their seats and chant “Justice for Renee Good.” Another video obtained by CNN shows protesters chanting “ICE out.”

After officers responded to multiple calls reporting up to 40 protesters in the church, the protesters then moved outside, St. Paul police spokesperson Nikki Muehlhausen told CNN Monday. The incident is actively being investigated as disorderly conduct, she added.

Cities Church said in a statement Tuesday it is considering its legal options after “a group of agitators jarringly disrupted our worship gathering,” in an act which is “protected by neither the Christian Scriptures nor the laws of this nation.”

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, posted on X within hours of the incident, and said her office was investigating. She said the protesters were “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”

Who were the people charged?

So far, three people have been charged related to Sunday’s protest — Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly.

All three people were charged with conspiracy to deprive rights, according to an X post by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. She also said in a previous version of the X post that Kelly was also charged with violating the FACE Act, which protects religious worshippers from use of force or obstruction. The post has been updated to no longer mention the FACE Act charge.

Charging documents for the three protesters were not available, as the cases are sealed. CNN has reached out to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, which is prosecuting the case, for more information on the charges.

It does not appear Levy Armstrong or Allen entered a plea during a court hearing Thursday.

Levy Armstrong’s attorney Jordan Kushner said after court that the case against his client is “political” and “is not a legitimate prosecution.” He also said they tried to make arrangements with federal prosecutors for Levy Armstrong to turn herself in, but that they insisted that she be arrested at her hotel room.

James Cook, an attorney for Allen and Kelly, told CNN he believes his clients were charged because they are outspoken critics of the Trump administration.

“We’re talking about, basically, what amounts to a peaceful protest in the church,” Cook said.

Kelly, who described himself as a combat infantry veteran during a news conference Tuesday, defended the protest as fighting for communities impacted by ICE enforcement. Despite the “hundreds and hundreds of death threats” he’s gotten, he said he would “continue my mission to stand for the republic, to stand for the constitution and to stand for humanity.”

Before Sunday’s protest, Levy Armstrong was already well-known in the Twin Cities for her work as a civil rights attorney, activist, and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP chapter. She gained notoriety for helping to lead protests in the cities following the police killings of Black men including George Floyd, CNN affiliate KARE reported.

Allen is also an active part of the community as a member of the St. Paul School Board, where her biography describes her as a youth advocate and educator. She ran for city council in St. Paul last year, where her priorities included community safety, economic stability and creating more housing.

What laws do federal prosecutors say they broke?

While it’s not clear whether FACE Act charges have been filed against the protesters, Dhillon previously said her office was looking into charges using the federal statute.

Enacted in 1994, the federal FACE Act prohibits “the use of force or threat of force or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, or interfere with or attempt to injure, 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.”

The Department of Justice has filed more than 15 FACE Act actions in at least a dozen states as of 2024, including a lawsuit against demonstrators who “targeted” a synagogue in New Jersey during a protest that turned violent.

Dhillon also cited the Ku Klux Klan Act as another path for charges. The Civil War-era KKK Act was passed in 1871 to further protect the rights listed in the Fourteenth Amendment, which had been ratified three years earlier. The act made it a federal crime to deny any group or person “any of the rights, privileges, or immunities, or protection, named in the Constitution.”

The federal statute is rarely used, but it has been cited in lawsuits against the Trump administration and other complaints in recent years.

More charges could still come

While three people have been charged so far, there were more protesters inside the church.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, who announced the three arrests in posts on X, hasn’t indicated whether other protesters will be charged, but acting ICE director Todd Lyons promised Thursday that more charges were coming.

“President Trump made it clear that under his administration, these anarchists, these domestic terrorists, won’t disrupt law and order, and especially won’t disrupt a house of worship,” Lyons told FOX News’ Laura Ingraham.

While it’s not clear if others will be charged, journalist Don Lemon appears to be a focus in the case.

A federal magistrate judge rejected the Justice Department’s initial attempt to bring charges against Lemon for appearing alongside protesters who breached a Minnesota church over the weekend, a source told CNN.

“The Attorney General is enraged at the magistrate judge’s decision,” a person familiar with the matter said. Bondi has been on the ground in Minnesota for two days meeting with federal prosecutors from the state.

Lemon, a former CNN host who now makes content independently, was with the protesters at Cities Church when they interrupted the service — but said he was there as a journalist.

In a video of the episode that he posted on YouTube, Lemon says “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group … I’m a journalist.” CNN has reached out to representatives for Lemon.

While there are no charges filed against Lemon, it is possible the Department of Justice could try to once again bring the charges.

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CNN’s Andy Rose, Elise Hammond, Hannah Rabinowitz, Julia Vargas Jones and Sarah Moon contributed to this report