Attorney General Pam Bondi announced federal charges on Friday against 30 more people who are accused of civil rights violations in a January protest inside a Minnesota church where a pastor works for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Bondi said on social media that 25 people were in custody and more arrests would follow, per the AP. The new indictment comes a month after independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort and prominent local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong were charged for their alleged roles in a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul. Bondi accused the group of attacking a house of worship.
"If you do so, you cannot hide from us—we will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you," Bondi wrote on social media. A livestreamed video on Facebook shows people interrupting services at Cities Church on Jan. 18 by chanting "ICE out" and "Justice for Renee Good," a reference to the woman who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Protesters descended on Cities Church after learning that one of the church's pastors also serves as an ICE official. The protest drew swift condemnation from Trump administration officials and conservative leaders for disrupting a Sunday service.
In total, 39 people now face charges of conspiracy against religious freedom and interfering with the right of religious freedom. The new defendants had initial court appearances and were released. Lemon and Fort said they were at the church as journalists covering news. Levy Armstrong, meanwhile, was the subject of a doctored photo posted by the White House showing her crying during her arrest. The three have pleaded not guilty. The new indictment says the "agitators" entered the church in a "coordinated takeover-style attack" and engaged in acts of intimidation and obstruction.
"Young children were left to wonder, as one child put it, if their parents were going to die," the indictment says. A lawyer for the church praised the Justice Department for charging more people. "The First Amendment does not give anyone—regardless of profession, prominence, or politics—license to storm a church and intimidate, threaten, and terrorize families and children worshipping inside," Doug Wardlow said in a statement. The revised indictment adds new allegations when compared to the original filed in January, noting that two people "conducted reconnaissance" outside the church a day before the protest and recorded their visit on video. More here.
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