A Black Lives Matter (BLM) leader who is also a school board member, along with another ringleader of an anti-ICE mob that disrupted a Sunday church service in Minnesota, have been arrested, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Thursday morning. Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen have been taken in custody, Bondi announced.
Authorities and Bondi said that both women were among the demonstrators who played key roles in the anti-ICE protest at Cities Church in St. Paul earlier this week. The disruption was also attended by former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who later claimed that it was his “First Amendment right” to enter the church during the service.
Behind the Bars
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“We have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” AG Bondi said in a statement on X. “Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” she said.
Bondi added that Armstrong, a leader of one of the groups involved, is accused of playing a key role in planning and coordinating the organized assault on the place of worship.
Armstrong allegedly led members of the Racial Justice Network — including Lemon — into the church, where they confronted the congregation and singled out resident pastor David Eastwood. The group claimed he was secretly serving as the acting ICE field office director for Minnesota.
During the protest, Armstrong was seen speaking with Lemon as she accused the church of “harboring” an ICE official. “This will not stand, they cannot pretend to be a house of God, while harboring someone who is commanding ICE agents to terrorize our communities,” she said.
A photo showing Armstrong being escorted away in handcuffs was posted Thursday morning by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on X.
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Armstrong now faces a charge of “conspiracy against rights,” a federal offense that applies when someone is accused of intimidating or interfering with another person’s constitutional rights, including the freedom to worship.
“Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States – there is no First Amendment right to obstruct someone from practicing their religion,” Sec. Noem said on X.
No Tolerance Policy
Meanwhile, Allen, a BLM activist who also sits on the Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education, had previously likened her actions to those of Jesus, saying she was motivated by his biblical act of cleansing the temple.
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“I grew up in the church and one of the things that I remember about Jesus Christ is that when things weren’t going right in the church, he went in and he flipped tables,” Allen told TMZ, adding that her mother was a pastor.
Eastwood who serves as the acting head of ICE’s St. Paul field office has publicly defended the agency’s aggressive enforcement approach.
The protest was organized by several groups, including the Racial Justice Network, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and Black Lives Matter Twin Cities. Armstrong is the head of the Racial Justice Network, a local grassroots civil-rights organization.
She fiercely criticized ICE’s actions — especially after the recent killing of Renée Nicole Good in Minneapolis — calling them “barbaric.” Armstrong said she found it hard to believe that someone she saw as connected to those actions could also be serving as a pastor in the same city.
The entire demonstration was livestreamed. Footage from inside the church shows that Easterwood, the pastor they challenged, wasn’t leading the part of the service that was filmed, and it’s still unclear whether he was actually inside the building during the protest.
