The Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a civil rights investigation after protesters on Jan. 18 interrupted worship at a Minnesota church with calls for federal agents to leave their city.

The protesters chanted “ICE out,” referring to the acronym for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The animus was directed at the pastor, who has served as an ICE official.

The incident and subsequent investigation added to tensions in the city, which have been building as a result of ICE’s presence and the shooting death of a U.S. citizen by a federal officer.

Here’s what we know about the protests and investigation.

The Disruption 

Protests have been in full swing in opposition to Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale immigration enforcement initiative spearheaded by ICE and supported by other agencies.

The operation began in December 2025 and proceeded in the wake of widespread allegations of fraud centered around the ethnic Somali population in Minneapolis.

Tensions came to a head when Renee Good, 37, was fatally shot by an ICE agent after allegedly striking the officer with her car on Jan. 7.

Following the shooting, demonstrations hit a fever pitch, including rioting in the streets and eventually the church disruption. The church was targeted because one of the pastors, David Easterwood, has served as the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul Field Office.

A livestream of the protest was posted on Black Lives Matter Minnesota’s Facebook page, showing organizers interrupting the services and shouting “Justice for Renee Good.”

Former CNN journalist turned YouTuber Don Lemon livestreamed the incident.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon responded to a post on X quoting Lemon, saying that a house of worship isn’t a forum for public protest.

“It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws!” Dhillon, who leads the Office of Civil Rights, said in a Jan. 18 post on X. “You are on notice!”

Lemon was later arrested and charged with federal civil rights crimes on Jan. 29.

Lemon’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said his client was taken into custody in Los Angeles and released the next day without having to post bond.

Official Response

President Donald Trump responded to news of the event, saying that participants who stormed the church should be prosecuted. He also asked the DOJ to investigate local Democratic politicians over the issue.

Trump spoke out on Truth Social early on Jan. 27, criticizing the protesters, whom he called professional agitators.

He also said he believed the individuals in question should be “thrown in jail, or thrown out of the country.”

Dhillon opened an investigation into potential federal civil rights violations.

During a Jan. 22 news conference in Minneapolis, Vice President JD Vance said that although he might “disagree with their politics,” he encourages peaceful protests, and he said that violations of the law will be prosecuted.

“If you go and storm a church, if you go and insult a federal law enforcement officer ... we’re going to use every resource of the federal government to put you in prison,” he said.

Arrests 

FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Jan. 22 that three arrests had been made in connection with the Jan. 18 events. Nekima Levy Armstrong was the first to be arrested, and Patel said she helped coordinate the disruption.

Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly were also arrested, and all three were charged with violating the FACE Act.

The FACE Act, or Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, was enacted in 1994. It 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 statute is frequently used in conjunction with protests at abortion clinics. A 2024 DOJ explanation of the act states that the department has pursued 15 prosecutions under the FACE Act in more than a dozen states.

After the Minneapolis arrests, Patel said on social media: “Every last individual who allegedly targets our brave federal law enforcement, targets places of worship, or in any way pays for or facilitates such illegal activity will be pursued. And will be caught.”

A motion filed on behalf of the defendants alleged that the government had initiated a “political prosecution” and that the activities in question were “nonviolent expressive activity” that should not have led to detention.

The charge of conspiracy against rights was rebuffed by the defendants’ attorneys, who asserted that there was “no intent to deprive anyone of their right to worship, but the desire to initiate a debate about religious values.”

“The action was not only an exercise of free speech but also an expression of the Defendants’ own religious beliefs,” the attorneys said.

On Feb. 2, Attorney General Pam Bondi reinforced the DOJ’s position and announced more arrests in the case, saying: “We have made two more arrests in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota: Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson.

“If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the defendants’ attorneys for comment but received no response.