Trump officials investigate protesters who interrupted Minnesota church service, targeting ICE official
By Andy Rose, Elise Hammond, CNN
(CNN) — A Sunday morning church service in the Twin Cities interrupted by anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters is the latest flash point in escalating tensions between the Trump administration and demonstrators in Minnesota.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, announced an investigation within hours, calling the protesters’ actions “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”
“Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi posted to X late Sunday night.
Dozens of people rushed into Cities Church in St. Paul Sunday morning, interrupting the church service and leading to tense confrontations, videos posted by activists and content creators show. The Saint Paul Police Department said it responded after receiving multiple calls reporting up to 40 protesters in the church.
“ICE out!” protesters shouted as the lead pastor and congregants confronted them.
The demonstrators said they were there to protest 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. He was recently named as a defendant in a case brought by protesters who allege immigration agents had violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights.
“David Easterwood, out now!” protesters yelled at one point.
The protesters then moved outside and started walking down a nearby alley, police spokesperson Nikki Muehlhausen told CNN Monday. The incident is actively being investigated as disorderly conduct, she added.
None of the videos show Easterwood in the church, and it’s unclear if he was in the building on Sunday. In response to CNN’s inquiry about his connection to ICE, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded, “DHS will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers.”
Federal investigation promised
In announcing the federal investigation, Dhillon cited the FACE Act, a federal law that “prohibits the use or threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to … exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
She reiterated the Justice Department is pursuing federal charges in a post on social media Monday. She said federal officials must first obtain a warrant before making arrests.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News on Monday that the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has sent experts to Minneapolis. The US Attorney’s office, the FBI and DHS are all involved in the investigation, he said.
A surge in immigration enforcement around Minneapolis, known as Operation Metro Surge, brought thousands of additional federal agents to the area and prompted widespread protests, especially after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, on January 7.
The swift promise to investigate the demonstration stood in contrast to the administration’s response to Good’s death, as the FBI quickly shifted an investigation into the ICE agent who shot Good to focus on whether the agent was assaulted, and the Justice Department refused to cooperate with local law enforcement agencies on their own investigation.
Nekima Levy Armstrong, a former president of the local NAACP chapter and one of the organizers of the protest at the church, said some parishioners were unaware of Eastwood’s role as an ICE director. She told CNN she doesn’t “know how anyone who claims to be Christian could condone his behavior and the dual nature of the roles that he plays.”
“The reality is that it’s unconscionable and unacceptable for someone to claim to serve as a pastor while also being responsible for a lot of what is happening here in our community as a result of thousands of ICE agents descending upon the state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities in particular.”
Easterwood does not have a listed phone number, and requests for comment sent to his office were not immediately answered.
Armstrong said protesters — not officials — are the ones who should be concerned about being doxed. Further, she said the Trump administration has “rolled back protections” for people to attend church, by allowing federal officials to perform enforcement actions and make arrests in protected spaces, including churches.
Cities Church has not responded to CNN’s requests for comment. A St. Paul police vehicle was briefly seen parked outside the building Monday morning, and no one answered when a CNN crew rang the doorbell.
Don Lemon facing DOJ scrutiny
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon said he was present at the demonstration as a journalist and not as a protester after Department of Justice officials suggested he could face charges soon.
“We will pursue charges,” Dhillon said during an interview about the protest with conservative influencer Benny Johnson. She continued, saying Lemon could not use his role as a journalist as a “shield.”
“Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility. He went into the facility, and then he began, quote, unquote, committing journalism,” she said.
She singled out Lemon in a post on X, saying that he is “on notice.”
When reached for comment, Lemon said over email to CNN, “It’s notable that I’ve been cast as the face of a protest I was covering as a journalist — especially since I wasn’t the only reporter there. That framing is telling.”
He continued: “What’s even more telling is the barrage of violent threats, along with homophobic and racist slurs, directed at me online by MAGA supporters and amplified by parts of the right-wing press.”
Lemon, an independent journalist, reported from the protest on his YouTube channel. “I’m just here photographing, I’m not part of the group… I’m a journalist,” Lemon is heard saying.
Other faith leaders criticize protests
Several faith leaders have denounced the impacts of the protests on the congregation, while saying migrant families should be treated with compassion.
The Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention called for state and local officials “to ensure that the rule of law is applied consistently and that our houses of worship remain sacred — sanctuary spaces” and said the protests caused “unacceptable trauma,” according to a statement.
“While we recognize the tensions surrounding federal enforcement, the local church is a place for spiritual transformation and biblical teaching, not a platform for political theater or coerced denouncements,” it said. Cities Church is affiliated with the convention, according to its website.
Trey Turner, the executive director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, however, said there are many people caught in the middle. At churches around the state, parishioners are “fearful of being scooped up by larger operations,” he said. Other churches have stopped meeting in person, he added, calling the tension and climate “unnecessary.”
The head of the North American Mission Board, Kevin Ezell, said there is “no cause” that “justifies the desecration of a sacred space” and called for local and state leaders to make sure it doesn’t happen again, he wrote in a statement. Similarly, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention said the governor should “commit to protecting the right of this church” and “to assemble free of threat.”
Who is David Easterwood?
The man targeted by protesters Sunday is the acting field office director in St. Paul for Enforcement and Removal Operations at ICE. In a declaration filed in this month’s lawsuit by protesters, Easterwood said he has worked for ICE since 2015.
Easterwood argued in his statement any order from the court would “further endanger the safety of law enforcement personnel and the public.”
Judge Katherine Menendez found ICE agents had been overzealous in pulling over some demonstrators who were following agents in vehicles.
“The Court has carefully considered and weighed Director Easterwood’s account of how vehicles have been used by observers to protest ICE activity in the Twin Cities,” Menendez wrote. “But, even crediting his statements about incidents of misconduct among other people following Operation Metro Surge, it simply does not establish reasonable, articulable suspicion to stop as to these particular plaintiffs.”
Despite Easterwood’s testimony, Menendez issued a largely symbolic injunction ordering agents not to detain people “who are engaging in unobtrusive protest activity, including observing the activities of Operation Metro Surge.”
The Department of Justice has appealed the order.
Just days after taking his current position, Easterwood appeared alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a news conference on immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities.
“Our officers demonstrate every day what it means to serve with honor and dedication,” Easterwood said in October.
“Agitators aren’t just targeting our officers. Now they’re targeting churches, too,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN. She also blamed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey “for whipping these mobs into a frenzy and then allowing them to run rampant.”
With emotions running high and confrontational tactics escalating on both sides, Sunday’s protest highlights the growing tension between protecting free expression and silencing opposing voices.
“The question that we’re coming to is how law enforcement is going to protect the rights of protesters to engage in their First Amendment-protected activity, and at the same time not be intimidating other people for whatever rights they are engaged in,” CNN legal analyst Carrie Cordero said.
CNN’s Julia Vargas Jones, Sarah Moon, Even Pérez, Hannah Rabinowitz and Ramishah Maruf contributed to this report.
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