1. What happened during the Jan. 18 church service in St. Paul?
Approximately 40 agitators invaded Cities Church during a service, yelling at parishioners and blocking exits, causing families to flee. The disruption targeted David Easterwood, a church pastor who also leads the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office. The invasion forced the service to end early, with one woman breaking her arm while fleeing and children separated from parents who couldn’t reach the downstairs childcare area because agitators blocked the stairs.
2. Who has been charged in connection with the incident?
The Trump Justice Department filed civil rights violation charges against three people: William Scott Kelly (who goes by “DaWokeFarmer”), Nekima Valdez Levy-Armstrong (a civil rights activist and former NAACP Minneapolis chapter president), and Chauntyll Louisa Allen (who heads Black Lives Matter Twin Cities and sits on the St. Paul School Board). The department also sought to indict former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who live-streamed the protest, but judges would not sign the warrant despite one judge saying there was sufficient evidence.
3. How did witnesses describe what they experienced?
According to a newly unsealed 19-page affidavit from Homeland Security, parishioners described being corralled in front pews, unable to leave through the main entrance, while agitators shouted threats including the word “shoot.” One witness said it felt like being in a mass shooting, while another reported Mr. Kelly screaming “Nazi” in people’s faces and telling children their parents were Nazis who would “burn in hell.” Multiple witnesses described children crying and people running in fear, with one child later telling his father, “Daddy, I thought you were going to die.”
SEE ALSO: Church invaders in Minnesota targeted crying children, affidavit shows
4. What are the specific charges against the three defendants?
The three were charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act by conspiring to “injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate the rights of other persons … the free exercise of religion at a place of religious worship.” Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrests on civil rights violations on Jan. 20, and the affidavit was unsealed days later, providing probable cause that offenses had been committed.
5. How did Minnesota’s attorney general respond to the incident?
State Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, essentially dismissed the severity of the disruption, which contrasted sharply with political conservatives, the affected churchgoers and the Trump Department of Justice, who all took the incident seriously enough to pursue federal charges.
Read more: Church invaders in Minnesota targeted crying children, affidavit shows
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