Federal officers examine church disruption by protesters in St. Paul

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Whereas federal officers weigh doable civil rights violations over the invasion of a Minnesota church service on Sunday, leftist Christian leaders are cheering the anti-ICE protesters, casting the disruption of worship as a justified act of judgment.

A mob of anti-ICE agitators stormed Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota , because the service started, with protesters claiming a pastor inside was affiliated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Video confirmed agitators chanting "Justice for Renee Good" contained in the chapel, as anti-ICE demonstrations flooded the Twin Cities.

Church officers wrote in an announcement Tuesday "agitators jarringly disrupted" their worship gathering , accosting members of the congregation, scary kids and "creat[ing] a scene marked by intimidation and risk."

<source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/343/192/anti-ice-protesters-storm-into-minneapolis-church-shout-down-parishioners.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/686/384/anti-ice-protesters-storm-into-minneapolis-church-shout-down-parishioners.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="192" width="343"><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/672/378/anti-ice-protesters-storm-into-minneapolis-church-shout-down-parishioners.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/1344/756/anti-ice-protesters-storm-into-minneapolis-church-shout-down-parishioners.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/931/523/anti-ice-protesters-storm-into-minneapolis-church-shout-down-parishioners.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/1862/1046/anti-ice-protesters-storm-into-minneapolis-church-shout-down-parishioners.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"><source media="(min-width: 1280px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/720/405/anti-ice-protesters-storm-into-minneapolis-church-shout-down-parishioners.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/1440/810/anti-ice-protesters-storm-into-minneapolis-church-shout-down-parishioners.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="405" width="720"> Anti-ICE protesters contained in the Cities Church in Minneapolis. (Fb/DawokeFarmer2)

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"Such conduct is shameful, illegal, and won't be tolerated," the church wrote. "Invading a church service to disrupt the worship of Jesus—or another act of worship—is protected by neither the Christian Scriptures nor the legal guidelines of this nation. … Church buildings are supposed to be locations of peace and solace, the place worshipers can hear and reside out this message. We subsequently name on native, state, and nationwide leaders to guard this basic proper. We're evaluating subsequent steps with our authorized counsel."

Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) of the Southern Baptist Conference, stated it was "absurd" that protesters would disrupt a Sunday morning worship service.

"As protesters trespassed contained in the church, yelling within the worship service, ex-CNN reporter Don Lemon caught a mic in [the church's lead pastor, Jonathan Parnell]'s face asking don’t they've a constitutional proper to public protest," Ezell wrote in an X publish. "No, they don’t have a proper to enter non-public property & disrupt worship."

Anti-ICE protesters focused the Cities Church in Minneapolis on Sunday, shouting down churchgoers in the midst of companies. (Fb/DawokeFarmer2)

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"If elected officers gained’t include lawlessness, [the NAMB] will present safety for our church buildings," Ezell added.

Nevertheless, some pastors, together with Louisiana minister Rodney Kennedy , are applauding the protesters' ambush.

"MAGA church buildings should not being persecuted for righteousness however for not loving their neighbors. They're being persecuted by sudden judgment, like Jesus cleaning the temple," Kennedy wrote in an opinion article on Baptist News Global . "… I believe God is utilizing sudden prophets to guage Cities Church."

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Kennedy went on to assault the church itself, questioning "how a church bearing the title of Jesus promotes the themes of resentment, nativism, nationalism, racism and militaris."

" MAGA evangelicals have been elevating hell in American politics. Their motion is crammed with financial angst, racism, non secular bigotry, antifeminism and hostility towards immigrants, science, the media and democracy," he wrote. "They've given start to a Christian nationalism that's neither Christian nor patriotic."

Kennedy added he believes the church demonstration was probably "solely spherical one."

An anti-ICE agitator berates Christians in a Minnesota church. (DawokeFarmer2/Fb)

VIDEO SHOWS ANTI-ICE AGITATOR BERATING CHRISTIANS IN MINNESOTA CHURCH SERVICE

"As a substitute of whining about worship being violated, they need to ask what led protesters to take such a drastic method to speak," he wrote. "I pray MAGA evangelical church buildings all over the place will uncover gospel causes for dealing with the persecution and outrage of the tradition. Till then, the Sunday protest in Minneapolis was most likely solely spherical one."

Hours after the church protest, officers with the Department of Justice 's Civil Rights Division stated they might examine the disruption.

"The @CivilRights is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these folks desecrating a home of worship and interfering with Christian worshipers," Assistant Lawyer Normal for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon wrote in an announcement on X. "Contemplating and investigating different associated crimes as effectively. @FBI activated too!"

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The Freedom of Entry to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) Act, a federal regulation handed in 1994, makes it unlawful to make use of drive, threats or obstruction to intervene with folks in locations of worship.

Violations of the FACE Act can set off felony penalties, together with fines and imprisonment, or civil penalties.

Alexandra Koch is a Fox Information Digital journalist who covers breaking information, with a deal with high-impact occasions that form nationwide dialog.

She has lined main nationwide crises, together with the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror assault, and Texas Hill Nation floods.