After a religious service in Minnesota was disrupted, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has launched an investigation
The US Justice Department has launched an investigation after anti-ICE activists disrupted a church service in Minnesota on Sunday.
The Democrat-run state has witnessed heightened tensions following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis on January 7. The Department of Homeland Security stated that Good attempted to ram agents with her car. Minnesota Democrats claimed the shooting was unjustified.
On Sunday, dozens of protesters entered Cities Church in St. Paul, chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.” The activists alleged that one of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, heads an ICE field office.
Shocking footage from Cities Church in Minneapolis this morning (an SBC church) where an anti-ICE mob stormed the service and disrupted their worship, alleging one of the church’s lead pastors is an ICE agent.
— Center for Baptist Leadership (@BaptistLeaders)
According to MinnPost, Easterwood has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging excessive use of force by ICE agents. He was also photographed standing beside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a press conference in October.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the DOJ is looking into whether the protesters violated federal civil rights law “by desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshipers.” Officials are reviewing possible violations of the 1994 FACE Act, which safeguards worshipers from intimidation or physical obstruction at religious sites.
Nekima Levy Armstrong, one of the protest organizers, denied any wrongdoings and accused the federal government of “unleashing barbaric ICE agents upon our community.”
After returning to the White House last year, President Donald Trump initiated a crackdown on illegal immigration, vowing to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history. The intensified ICE raids have triggered protests, with Democrats accusing the federal government of abusing power.