Federal agents began arresting suspects linked to a chaotic Sunday anti-deportation protest at a Minnesota church on Thursday morning, officials announced.
Activists Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen were detained for their alleged role in invading and interrupting a service at Cities Church in St. Paul, which protesters claimed was tied to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), federal officials said on X.
Both women held leadership positions in Minnesota Black Lives Matter (BLM) groups, and Armstrong was formerly president of the Minneapolis National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), reports and professional profiles show.
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Armstrong, a civil rights attorney, faces a conspiracy against rights charge, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who posted an image of her being restrained and escorted by a federal agent. Armstrong played a “key role in orchestrating” the protest, Noem said. Armstrong is also the head of the Minnesota-based Racial Justice Network, which did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Allen serves on the board of St. Paul Public Schools, including its “Equity Committee” and “Afrocentric School/Program Work Group,” her school profile shows. St. Paul Public Schools did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon previously said she believed the Sunday demonstration violated churchgoers’ civil rights based on footage.
Protesters arrived at the church service, waited until a leader was speaking to the crowd and began chanting, “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” while congregants began filing out of the door, footage captured by former CNN host Don Lemon showed. The mob remained in the church, shouting, as a pastor asked them to leave.
“More to come,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday. “WE WILL PROTECT OUR HOUSES OF WORSHIP.”
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