Women arrested over anti-ICE church protest in St Paul freed from detention [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Fri 23 Jan 2026 19.06 EST
Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen, who were arrested and charged for their role in an anti-ICE demonstration that disrupted Sunday church services in St Paul, Minnesota, have been released. Video of the two women posted online showed them emerging from detention on Friday, raising their fists and embracing their loved ones. “Thank you all for being here,” Levy Armstrong said. “Glory to God!”
A federal judge ordered their release, ruling that the government had failed “to meet its burden to demonstrate that a detention hearing is warranted, or that detention is otherwise appropriate”. A judge has also ordered the released of a third activist involved in the church protest, William Kelley, saying he was not a danger to the public, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
On Thursday, the White House was caught posting a digitally altered image of Levy Armstrong’s arrest on social media, which had been manipulated to falsely portray her as crying, and to darken her skin. The photo was captioned in all caps: “Arrested far-left agitator Nekima Levy Armstrong for orchestrating church riots in Minnesota.”
The deception was uncovered by the Guardian and other news outlets, in part because the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, had earlier posted the original image which showed Levy Armstrong looking composed.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/23/st-paul-ice-protest-women-released
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.230689/gov.uscourts.mnd.230689.22.0.pdf
REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143603533
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