Two individuals linked to the disruption at a Minnesota church, reportedly led by a pastor who is an ICE agent, have been apprehended.

On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrests of Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen.

The charges allege that both women participated in an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest at Cities Church in St. Paul earlier in the week.

The protest also saw the involvement of former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who defended his participation by citing his ‘First Amendment right’ to enter the place of worship.

Bondi stated that Armstrong, a leader of one of the organizing groups, is accused of playing a central role in planning the coordinated demonstration against the church.

Armstrong was seen speaking with Lemon at the demonstration, accusing the church of ‘harboring’ an ICE agent, pastor David Easterwood. 

‘This will not stand, they cannot pretend to be a house of God, while harboring someone who is commanding ICE agents to terrorize our communities,’ she said. 

Easterwood serves as the acting director of the St Paul ICE field office, and he has defended the agency’s heavy-handed tactics.

Two protesters linked to the storming of a Minnesota church where an ICE agent allegedly serves as pastor have been arrested. They include Nekima Levy Armstrong (pictured)

Chauntyll Louisa Allen (pictured) was also taken into custody on Thursday, AG Bondi said 

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday that Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen had been taken into custody over the protest in St Paul, Minnesota 

The demonstration was coordinated by groups including Racial Justice Network, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and Black Lives Matter Twin Cities.

Armstrong leads Racial Justice Network, a local grassroots civil rights organization.

She condemned the actions of ICE agents, such as the recent killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, as ‘barbaric’, adding that it was ‘almost unfathomable’ that a senior official from the federal agency also serves as a pastor in the same city. 

The storming of the Cities Church was livestreamed on social media, and Easterwood did not lead the part which was shown on camera. It’s unclear whether he was even present in the church.  

Kristi Noem has also confirmed Armstrong’s arrest in an X post. 

The Department of Homeland Security tsar shared a photograph of the activist looking downcast as she was escorted into custody wearing handcuffs. 

‘Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States – there is no first amendment right to obstruct someone from practicing their religion,’ Noem wrote. 

The Trump administration has given fewer details about Allen, but she frequently posts about anti-ICE resources on her social media accounts. 

She serves as a Saint Paul School Board public official, according to her Facebook page.  

Armstrong (pictured) was allegedly among those at the anti-ICE church protest in St Paul 

Pictured: The clash between protesters and church leaders at the Cities Church on Monday 

Pictured: Federal agents detain a man in Minneapolis on Wednesday, January 21, 2026 

Easterwood has made headlines due to his work with ICE in recent months, after he responded to a lawsuit brought by local Minneapolis protester Susan Tincher.

Tincher alleged that she was detained for asking an ICE agent to identify herself, which she says led several agents to pull her to the ground and handcuff her face-down in the snow.

In a January 5 court filing, Easterwood defended ICE’s tactics in Minnesota such as swapping license plates and spraying protesters with chemical irritants. 

He wrote that federal agents were experiencing increased threats and aggression and crowd control devices like flash-bang grenades were important to protect against violent attacks. 

Easterwood testified that he was unaware of agents ‘knowingly targeting or retaliating against peaceful protesters or legal observers with less lethal munitions and/or crowd control devices.’ 

In response to the church demo, US Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said she is investigating alleged violations ‘by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.’

‘A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws!’ she said on social media.

Don Lemon is seen beaming on the day he joined anti-ICE protesters storming the church 

US Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said her agency is investigating federal civil rights violations ‘by these people desecrating a house of worship’

Armstrong, who is also an ordained reverend, dismissed the DOJ investigation as a sham and a distraction from federal agents’ actions in Minneapolis-St. Paul. 

‘When you think about the federal government unleashing barbaric ICE agents upon our community and all the harm that they have caused, to have someone serving as a pastor who oversees these ICE agents, is almost unfathomable to me,’ she said. 

‘If people are more concerned about someone coming to a church on a Sunday and disrupting business as usual than they are about the atrocities that we are experiencing in our community, then they need to check their theology and the need to check their hearts.’