An activist who disrupted a Minnesota church service on Sunday has defended her actions, saying they were necessary. Chauntyll Allen, leader of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, was part of the group that entered the church, and she spoke to TMZ about the reasons behind the protest.

Allen accused U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of “terrorizing our women and our children” and referred to the recent shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer as “the most graphic murder.” This incident has fueled anger among activists and was a catalyst for the protest.

The decision to target the Cities Church in St. Paul was made after discovering that one of its pastors, David Easterwood, shares a name with the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office. This perceived connection prompted the group to take action.

“To have the head of this entire operation standing at a pulpit and preaching every Sunday morning was unacceptable to us,” Allen explained, referring to Easterwood’s alleged ties to ICE.

During the protest, Easterwood was present in the church. The Justice Department has since announced that it is investigating the event.

“I believe that’s what needed to be done to get the message across,” Allen said in defense of storming the church. “I mean my mother’s a pastor and so I grew up in Christianity, I grew up in the church. And one of the things I remember about Jesus Christ himself is that when things weren’t going right in the church, he went in and he flipped tables.”

Video shows a mob of anti-ICE agitators storming the church and chanting “Justice for Renee Good” inside the sanctuary.

In another clip, the person filming says demonstrators positioned themselves in the middle of the sanctuary as the pastor was speaking. The person filming then described the disruption as a “clandestine mission” and claimed agitators had just learned one of the pastors at the church was connected to ICE.

Anti-ICE agitators are seen inside the Cities Church in St. Paul. (Facebook/DawokeFarmer2)

Anti-ICE agitators in Minneapolis have taken to the streets where they have clashed with authorities in the wake of Good’s death.

Federal officials have said agents were attempting to make arrests when Good tried to use her vehicle as a weapon against officers, prompting an ICE agent to fire in self-defense.