Civil Rights Activists Arrested After ICE Surveillance and Church Protest
Civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong and other organizers were arrested following ICE surveillance and a protest connected to federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota. A judge later ordered their release, calling the Justice Department’s evidence speculative.
Two local Black women, civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong and a community member who requested to remain anonymous, were unknowingly under constant surveillance as federal agents circled an undisclosed hotel in the early hours of Tuesday, Jan. 20. Despite hotel staff asking the agents to leave, they lingered in the lobby.
Around 3 a.m. the agents misidentified the community member as Armstrong and tackled her. Armstrong, who wanted to turn herself in, did not know where to go. “No one in Minnesota knew about the case because it was being handled in Washington, D.C., by political operatives,” said Armstrong’s attorney, Jordan Kushner.
Eight people were charged, and at least four — Armstrong, St. Paul School Board Member Chauntyl Allen, activist William Kelly, and Monique Cullars Doty — were arrested on Jan. 22 in connection with a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on social media with AI-generated photos.
“This is not a legitimate prosecution. This is political persecution,” Kushner said.
Armstrong, Allen and Kelly were booked into Sherburne County Jail on Thursday night. A judge ordered their release Friday, calling the Justice Department’s evidence “simply speculative.”
Civil rights activists called for St. Paul ICE Field Director David Easterwood to resign as pastor of Cities Church during a press conference in downtown Minneapolis on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Easterwood did not appear when Armstrong, an ordained minister, arrived at the church with a dozen activists and two journalists.
“Dear Lord, we pray as part of this prayer that you will chasten us and that you will help us to get our house in order,” Pastor Jonathan Parnell said to his City Church congregation.
Armstrong pressed Parnell: “Well, help me understand, how is David Easterwood both a pastor and an ICE agent?”
Protests had erupted following the shooting of Renée Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, with activists demanding an investigation into the killing. Six prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota resigned in protest after the Justice Department refused to launch a probe. Protesters chanted: “Justice for who? Renée Good!”
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and Black Press journalist Georgia Fort had no advance knowledge of the church demonstration. They responded to a graphic circulated online reading: “ICEOUT Action in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Weekend #OPERATIONPULLUP.”
“This is unacceptable,” Parnell told Lemon, criticizing the interruption of a worship service. Lemon, citing First Amendment protections, continued interviewing activists and church members.
“He looked like a deer caught in the headlights,” Armstrong said of Pastor Parnell. She clarified that Toussaint Morrison and Michelle Gross were not part of the demonstration.
Morrison criticized the use of churches for federal enforcement. Gross added, “ICE should have no business in churches, schools, clinics, or hospitals,” and called attention to what she said were inconsistencies in federal investigations of religious-targeted violence.
Minneapolis City Council Members Soren Stevenson and Robin Wonsley condemned what they described as a retribution campaign by the Trump administration. “This is fascism showing up in our communities. They are taking people for political speech. It’s totally wrong. It’s totally un-American,” Stevenson said.
Wonsley described Armstrong as “a consistent civil rights champion” and said the arrests demonstrate “the escalation of intimidation tactics … now picking up political prisoners.”
Activists highlighted a double standard: The DOJ prosecuted church protesters while federal agents operate inside religious sites with minimal oversight. Kelly, who attended the demonstration, dared the Justice Department to pursue charges. “Pam Bondi, you want to come and arrest me. You want to give me charges,” he said.
Easterwood defended agents’ use of chemical irritants at earlier protests in a Jan. 5 court filing, asserting officers faced heightened threats. Kelly and Armstrong described receiving numerous death threats following the demonstration.
Armstrong recounted a threatening email implying the shooting of Renée Good was justified: “You’re very lucky I wasn’t in church when you idiots came in. Good deserves what she got, and you would have gotten the same dumb b****.”
Other incidents cited by activists included the death of Victor Manuel Diaz while in ICE custody and the coma of Fadumo Cusman Mohamed at HCMC after being detained. One family reported a six-month-old was hospitalized after federal agents threw a tear-gas canister under their SUV.
“Their proceedings went on a recess because the opposition didn’t have a warrant present when they took them,” said Angel Smith-El. “Now they’re trying to gather up the warrant quickly so they can proceed.”
As of this writing, activists said they were unsure whether other demonstrators had been detained.
Clint Combs welcomes reader responses at combs0284@gmail.com.