Anti-ICE protesters disrupt church service in Minnesota, Department of Justice investigation

Anti-ICE protesters disrupted services and shouted down parishioners inside a Christian church in Minnesota over the weekend for not challenging the Trump administration’s immigration operations.

Dozens of demonstrators entered the Church of the Cities in Minneapolis on Sunday and shouted at the crowd for not participating in anti-customs demonstrations.

One protester was heard shouting: “Where are your people? Why don’t you… fight for humanity.”

Live video of the incident was posted online by Black Lives Matter Minnesota. Protesters were heard chanting “ICE is out” and “Justice for Renee Judd” amid services in front of shocked churchgoers.

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Dr. Joe Rigney, a former pastor at Cities Church, said the church is not political.

“It’s great to see this kind of thing in America,” he said on “The Story with Martha MacCallum.” “To watch people disrupt children, scare them and harass churchgoers who are simply trying to worship God.”

“Instead of going to a normal Sunday, they have loud, angry, vile people yelling and chanting at them,” he added.

Protests against ICE grew in Minnesota after Good was killed by an ICE agent. The Trump administration said Judd was trying to run the agent over with her car when he opened fire.

Protesters allege that one of the church’s pastors — David Easterwood — also leads the local ICE field office that oversees operations that have included allegedly violent tactics and illegal arrests.

Easterwood was at the church at the time of the protest. The Ministry of Justice said it was investigating the incident.

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“I just spoke with the pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Published on X Sunday. “Attacks against law enforcement and intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.”

“If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain on standby to prosecute federal crimes and ensure the rule of law,” she added.

Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon, said they were investigating the incident.

“This heinous act that occurred in Minnesota yesterday is receiving the highest level of attention from @TheJusticeDept,” Dillon said to publish On X. “@AGPamBondi and I are working around the clock, because there is no right in our Constitution more sacred than the freedom to assemble and pray to God.”

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Anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis took to the streets as they clashed with authorities in the wake of Judd’s death. On Monday, protesters also staged a sit-in at a Target store in nearby St. Paul demanding that the retailer stop allowing ICE to operate in its parking lot.

A spokesman for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he did not support protesters boycotting church services.

“The governor has repeatedly urged protesters to do so peacefully,” the spokesperson told Fox News. He added: “While people have the right to speak out, in no way does he support a boycott of a place of worship.”

Rigney said Walz and other local officials encouraged “lawlessness” amid ICE’s “legal mission.”

“However, the Governor of Minnesota encourages them to urgently and loudly protest these actions,” he said. “Not only does he object to law enforcement actions, he follows law enforcement agents to their places of worship, harasses their families, intimidates their children, and anyone associated with them, and demands that they denounce them.”

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“These are terrible tactics and it is shameful that the governor has been so lukewarm in condemning them,” he added.