Feds Make Dozens of New Arrests in Connection With Saint Paul Church Invasion

The Justice Department is charging 30 more people who interrupted services in a Saint Paul church last month as part of an anti-ICE protest that churchgoers described as a violation of their First Amendment right to assemble and practice their religion.The indictment unsealed on Friday uses the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to accuse protest organizers of a “takeover-style attack.” The FACE Act, as it is known, prohibits the use of force or threats to interfere with access to health clinics or places of worship.“As of this morning, the FBI executed a joint operation with our @HSI_HQ partners arresting over 20 of these individuals – with additional arrests to come,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in an X post.A group of protestors breached the church on January 18 to confront one of the pastors whose day job is as a supervisor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The leaders of Cities Church said agitators “jarringly disrupted” their service during the incident.“They accosted members of our congregation, frightened children, and created a scene marked by intimidation and threat. Such conduct is shameful, unlawful, and will not be tolerated,” a statement from the church reads.Activist Nekima Levy Armstrong and three others allegedly organized “Operation Pullup,” according to the 19-page indictment. Prosecutors say they promoted it on their Instagram and Facebook pages. The protesters met for a pre-operation briefing at a shopping center on the morning of the incident. They then caravanned to the church.“Once at the church, all of the defendants entered the Church to conduct a takeover-style attack and engaged in various acts in furtherance of the conspiracy,” the indictment claims.Nine other people, including fired CNN star Don Lemon and Ms. Armstrong, are already facing federal charges of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshippers.Ms. Armstrong previously said she and others were being targeted for speaking out against the “the tyranny of the Trump administration.”Mr. Lemon has claimed he was covering the protest as a journalist, and had a First Amendment right to be at the church. Federal agents arrested Mr. Lemon at Los Angeles in late January as he prepared to cover the Grammy Awards. He is also facing a lawsuit brought by one churchgoer who is seeking damages for “emotional trauma” from the demonstration.Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the superseding indictments in an X post Friday afternoon.“YOU CANNOT ATTACK A HOUSE OF WORSHIP. If you do so, you cannot hide from us — we will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you,” Ms. Bondi said.“This Department of Justice STANDS for Christians and all Americans of faith,” Ms. Bondi added in her post.President Trump has previously called for the protesters to face jail time.“Just watched footage of the Church Raid in Minnesota by the agitators and insurrectionists. These people are professionals! No person acts the way they act. They are highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics, in a certain manner, just like they are doing,” he wrote on Truth Social two days after the incident.

Feds Make Dozens of New Arrests in Connection With Saint Paul Church Invasion

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