DOJ vows to press charges after activists disrupt church where Minnesota ICE official is a pastor

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JACK BROOK
Updated 9:46 PM CST, January 18, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice said Sunday it is investigating a group of protesters in Minnesota who disrupted services at a church where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apparently serves as a pastor.

A livestreamed video posted on the Facebook page of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, one of the protest’s organizers, shows a group of people interrupting services at the Cities Church in St. Paul by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.” The 37-year-old mother of three was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month amid a surge in federal immigration enforcement activities.

The protesters allege that one of the church’s pastors — David Easterwood — also leads the local ICE field office overseeing the operations that have involved violent tactics and illegal arrests.

U.S. 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 and interfering with Christian worshippers.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-ice-doj-church-protest-st-paul-46dac5c5595ec78e3360ec927eef92d2

[Srkdqltr]

1. What would Jesus do?

[SunSeeker]

4. Jesus would cast David Easterwood out of the temple. nt

[marble falls]

45. With a whip and overturning of tables in great anger. ...

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling [a]doves; 16 and He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple grounds. 17 And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they began seeking how to put Him to death; for they were afraid of Him, because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching. Mark 11:15-18


13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And within the temple grounds He found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 And He made a whip of [a]cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away from here; stop making My Father’s house a place of business!” John 2:13-16

[ret5hd]

2. that will fix this too...right?

and this…right?:

[SunSeeker]

3. Seems to me ICE is the one "desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers."

ICE actually entered churches and illegally kidnapped churchgoers. That's a lot more disruptive than what these protesters did. And they weren't protesting the church, they were protesting Easterwood's ICE involvement.

[Ocelot II]

5. Yet ICE goons can and do invade churches.

[Joinfortmill]

6. Now I've heard everything. ICE employee, a pastor?

[travelingthrulife]

16. Many of these ICE thugs are certain they are christians. They haven't a clue what

that book they are beating you over the head with says.

Welcoming strangers is like #1 on Jesus' list

[3Hotdogs]

7. Imagine what his sermons must be like.

Is anyone taking bets on if the protestors will be convicted? I wouldn't be surprised if D.O.J. sends their top prosecutor, A.D.A., Pirro, to prosecute the case.

[Grokenstein]

8. Given her record, that would be great.

[BurnDoubt]

9. If he's teaching Trumpism for Christianity, he's an Apostate Heretic. That is ALL.

[Puppyjive]

10. Botox Barbie doesn't want their identities revealed

You can't try them in a court of law if you don't know who they are.

[C Moon]

11. I'm not surprised. I'm sure pastors very often push right wing crap in their sermons.

A childhood friend (from 1st, 2nd grade) showed up on FaceBook.
I said hi to him. He went on to tell me he's a very popular minister and has lots of followers (he was very proud of himself)...I looked at his page and he's a maga.

[marble falls]

43. And how.

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. This regime 'investigating civil rights violations'.

But, only those that they don't like. The atrocities that their own thugs are doing are perfectly fine.

[SunSeeker]

13. The protesters committed trespassing, at most. Nobody's civil rights were violated.

It's not like what ICE does, breaking into churches and kidnapping people without due process.

Trespassing is usually just a misdemeanor.

[bluestarone]

50. I'm not event sure about tresspassing charges, unless there was a sign that said NO TRESPASSING.

Church's usually say all welcome here? So we'll see i guess.

[travelingthrulife]

17. They won't even perform a show trial for the ICE thug who murdered Renee in cold blood.

[purr-rat beauty]

14. Fascist in a Frock

No quiet for them if they believe they can terrorize the community Monday through Saturday and pretend to be peaceful on Sunday

[MarineCombatEngineer]

15. Oh well, just another case they'll lose in court. nt

[travelingthrulife]

18. Yes. But their goal is chaos and disrupting people's lives.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

20. Oh, believe me, I get that,

but one day, hopefully soon, these criminals will be facing their own charges and juries and, again, hopefully, convictions and long prison sentences.

[travelingthrulife]

47. From your lips to God's ears!

[Rafielyo]

22. They will be charged with violating 18 U.S.C. § 248

The law applies to anyone who
&quot 2) by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship..."

[Prairie Gates]

24. No they won't

Welcome to DU, by the way.

[Rafielyo]

26. What will the charges be, you think?

?

[Prairie Gates]

27. There won't be any charges

It's simple bluster, the usual garbage from the MAGAfascist infested DOJ.

[TBF]

25. Being charged & being convicted are 2 different things. nt

[Rafielyo]

28. Conviction will depend on whether the service was interrupted

According to the FACE Act.

[TBF]

30. Are you an attorney? nt

[Rafielyo]

31. No. But like you, I can make a prediction

Based on the video and what the law says

We all do it. Two in this thread have predicted the outcome. . Are they lawyers?

[TBF]

32. I have no idea who is an attorney and who is not in this thread -

but I do need to look up what happened and find out what resulted in all these allegations. All I've seen this afternoon was part of a story from Jim Acosta about Don Lemon being targeted by the Trump's DOJ. Which does not surprise me. But he's a reporter, so he's just covering a story. Whether the protest itself could be illegal is a different subject.

[marble falls]

42. So that would apply to ICE walking into places of worshop, too???

[bluestarone]

19. So, my questions. Were the members aware of this? Did the request the pastor resign?

Did the STOP coming to this church? Would like to hear more about this NON CHRISTIAN PASTOR!!

[Ocelot II]

21. This church is a conservative evangelical church apparently affiliated with the Southern Baptists.

They are, of course, free to believe what they want (which includes the usual anti-LGBT stuff, https://www.citieschurch.com/beliefs), but it's not surprising that an ICE official is also a Bible-thumper (I was also a bit disheartened to see that they have seriously uglified the interior of what was once a beautiful Episcopal church).

[Prairie Gates]

23. They can trespass them

That's about it. Disrupting a church service is not a civil right violation.

[Rafielyo]

33. Here's what 18 U.S.C. § 248 says

&quot a) Prohibited Activities.—Whoever—
...
(2) by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship...

[Prairie Gates]

34. Yeah, you posted it above too

There's no crime here and you're way too eager for there to be one. This is your first few hours on DU, trying to get everyone to believe that the protestors are bad and not the MAGAfascist ICE scumbags?

They're not going to get charged, and no jury in Minnesota would convict them.

And the MAGAfascist trashbags can troll and have tantrums all they want.

[bluestarone]

51. AGREE!!

100%.

[surfered]

38. Here's the law

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section248&num=0&edition=prelim

Written primarily to protect women’s rights to enter a reproductive clinic.

[Rafielyo]

39. (1) is about reproductive rights and (2) is about religious practice

It’s not only about reproductive rights.

To say that sections listed as number 2 in a law don’t exist is just not how law works.

[GP6971]

40. Welcome to DU!

[Prairie Gates]

41. Let's do a thought experiment

Let's say an evangelical Baptist pastor r*ped a thirteen year old girl in his youth group (as evangelical Baptist pastors seem to do far too often!). Let's say the victim's father found out about the r*pe, and decided to confront the pastor in front of the whole congregation on the following Sunday. The father plans what he is going to say, goes to the church, sits for the first few minutes knowing full well what he is going to do, and then, at the time he feels is right, stands up and begins yelling at the pastor who r*ped his daughter, absolutely going off on the guy and refusing to either leave the building or stop his tirade. He inveighs against the pastor for minutes until people start giving up. The pastor is yelling back, people are trying to get him to leave but he refuses, and the whole Sunday service breaks down into chaos. Eventually, people start leaving and the service ends when the pastor leaves as well.

In your view, has the father violated 18 U.S.C. § 248?

Would you have this father charged for violating this statute?

[marble falls]

44. I don't think that law means what you think it does. Peaceful demonstration would't break that law, though it may ...

... break simple trespassing laws.

Are you sure you're at the right web site?

[Brother Buzz]

36. They can't be charged with trespassing...

Unless they were issued a legal trespass notice. Me thinks the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, the dunderhead, neglected to initiate one.

[Prairie Gates]

37. Correct

They can trespass them the next time.

[Klarkashton]

29. More right wing bullshit. They get spanked and then it's

A federal case. Fuck them.

[TBF]

35. So, what I've read so far (NYTimes) is that the protesters were chanting.

Which is hardly "by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction".

I think unmasking an ice agent - showing that they are clergy - is what DOJ is really pissed off about.

[Deep State Witch]

46. Payback Is A B*tch

I'm a Pagan. For YEARS now, we have had our public rituals interrupted by Christofascists who felt it was their right and duty to preach over us and tell us that we were going to Hell. This happened most recently on Halloween in Salem, MA, but it has happened elsewhere. The Christofascists are even preaching at the Buddhist monks doing the Walk for Peace across the South. So, when THEIR services get interrupted by a bunch of real Christians protesting their fascist pastor, they whine and say that they're being oppressed. Well, fuck them all. The next time you decide to invade someone's public worship, think about this. Like I said, I'm a Pagan. I stopped doing this "turn the other cheek" stuff.

[electric_blue68]

48. Much respect to our witches, and warlocks...

Very sorry to hear your services/gatherings have been interrupted!

Off hand I don't know anyone face 2 face that practices The Craft.

[electric_blue68]

49. Maaaybe they should have done it right as the service finished...

Other than that; I'm certainly glad they highlighted this "pastor's" hypocrisy!

[Clouds Passing]

52. Aw 😢 poor widdle davie, thinks he's up against goliath. He's nothing but a delusion peddler.

[sboatcar]

53. Doubtful that a grand jury would indict them here.